Getty Images Big Idea Films to Premiere at Cannes Fast-Rising Designers and Directors from Across the Globe Explore New Ways to Conceive and Execute Ideas at www.gettyimages.com SEATTLE and CANNES, France(June 21, 2004) – Getty Images, the world’s leading imagery company, will premiere seven short films at the Cannes Lion International Advertising Festival on Friday, June 25. Created by internationally acclaimed designers and directors, the films demonstrate new ways to conceive and execute ideas through a groundbreaking approach and are the result of a simple brief: exploring the one thing that links all creative work – The Big Idea – to produce a 60-second film with at least half of the content originating from the vast collection of digital film and still imagery available at www.gettyimages.com. “Advertising’s quest for ‘The Big Idea’ is not unchanging, but is constantly mutating in its nature as a result of the new resources and restrictions,” said Lewis Blackwell, senior vice president, creative customers, Getty Images. “At the heart of The Big Idea project was the belief that the way you work has a huge influence on your ability to conceive and execute. To explore new ways of doing creative work, we provided some unprecedented resources to the filmmakers, including new tools on our site and access to our extensive film and photography collections. In our presentation at Cannes we’ll talk about our project and discuss the new opportunities and pressures in creative concepting.” In the Big Idea film Hole Hog, Julian Gibbs of London-based Intro used 113 film and still images to create a witty narrative in which suburbia finds itself in upheaval, following the arrival of a flying pig. Gibbs, whose music video for the group Doves last year won a silver D&AD Award for Best Direction, said the Big Idea project was “the kind of technical and creative challenge that Intro thrives on. With an open brief, we embraced the opportunity to think and execute differently with unlimited access to Getty Images’ film and image archive.” Inspired by the journey of an idea and its many stages, Jeremy Hollister, creative director of New York’s Plus et Plus, worked with 156 film and still images to push the boundaries of traditional filmmaking in the Big Idea film, What If, a trip through the collective unconscious. “Surfing through amazing film collections and instantly downloading whatever high resolution materials were needed, straight to the desktop, was a fascinating way to engage in the creative process,” said Hollister, the recipient of multiple Promax and BDA awards. The Big Idea filmmakers’ diverse portfolios feature music videos for major recording artists, and commercial productions for clients such as Nike, MTV, VH1, Sony, Target, Volvo, and Virgin Mobile. In addition to Gibbs and Hollister, the other filmmakers are: Alexei Tylevich and Ben Conrad of Los Angeles-based Logan, featured in Boards magazine as “Directors to Watch”; Koichiro Tsujikawa of Tokyo, winner of the ResFest Audience Music Choice Award for the music video featuring the pop sensation Cornelius; Pleix, the Paris-based collective featured last year in Saatchi and Saatchi’s New Directors Showcase at Cannes; Marc Wilkins of Berlin, winner of a Gold Lion Direct at Cannes; and Jonathan Kneebone and Gary Freedman of Sydney-based The Glue Society, whose work for Virgin Mobile won AdNews’ Campaign of the Year. Getty Images’ seminar, “So What’s the Big Idea?” will be held from 4:30 – 5:15 p.m. (local time) Friday, June 25, at the Debussy Auditorium, Palais des Festivals in Cannes. Journalists can access Big Idea films and related information at www.gettyimages.com/bigidea Gettyimages.com offers time-saving search functionality, access to researchers, large screen viewing (480 x 360 pixel resolution), full screen, frame accurate, non-watermarked preview files for concepts, and more than 70,000 high quality film clips from seven collections that can be downloaded in minutes. About Getty Images Inc. Getty Images is the world’s leading imagery company, creating and providing the largest and most relevant collection of still and moving images to communication professionals around the globe. From sport and news photography to archival and contemporary imagery, Getty Images’ products are found each day in newspapers, magazines, advertising, films, television, books and Web sites. Getty Images’ Web site, www.gettyimages.com, is the first place customers turn to search, purchase and download powerful imagery. Seattle-headquartered Getty Images is a global company, and has customers in more than 50 countries. Media Contacts, North America Beth Mitchell Getty Images (P) 646.613.4074 beth.mitchell@gettyimages.com Sally McGregor MWW Group for Getty Images (P) 206-689-8505 smcgregor@mww.com