Publicists Awards: Nominees Discuss Favorite Campaigns, IATSE Issues and Embracing the ‘Art of the Pivot’ During a Challenging Year

variety.com:

Carolyn Giardina In advance of Friday’s 61st annual International Cinematographers Guild (Local 600) Publicists Awards luncheon, the Guild gathered several nominees who spoke with Variety about their favorite campaigns, issues that will affect them during IATSE‘s contract negotiations, and how they embraced “the art of the pivot” during a challenging year.

The luncheon, which also raises funds for the Guild’s scholarship fund, will be held Friday at the Beverly Wilshire hotel. It’s an exciting but rapidly changing time to work in publicity, says Chris Garcia Nutley of Warner Bros. “It’s causing all of us to have to become more flexible than we would normally like to be,” he admits. “But I think it’s learning the art of the pivot [and] really leaning into authenticity.

There’s just so much content out there, and I think it’s about being able to cut through that, and to me, the key is authenticity.” This year, Garcia Nutley worked on juggernaut “Barbie.” “It was about being big, being bold and very much leaning into all things Barbie for that release campaign.

So not hiding or running away from the pink, but embracing the pink,” he says. The takeaway from the fan-driven “Barbenheimer,” he finds, is counter-programming works. “I think that giving audiences high quality movies and transporting them in very different ways to different places, whether it’s the real world or whether it’s Barbie Land, is exciting.