Young Arrows targets the future

In its fourth year, and its second as a free-to-enter awards show, the Young Arrows has opened its doors once again to spotlight and celebrate the best incoming talents in the UK’s advertising industry. 

“It’s celebrating people people doing the boldest and most original work.”

With 20 categories open to creatives with less than three years’ experience in their current role, this year’s chairs, Jane Dilworth, owner and Executive Producer at Work Editorial, and James Guy, Chief Production Officer at Uncommon Creative Studio, are about to meet up with the Chairman and Managing Director of the British Arrows respectively, Simon Cooper and Lisa Lavender, to appoint a jury and set the ball rolling for the awards show in October. 

Above: Jane Dilworth of Work and James Guy of Uncommon are the chairs for this year's Young Arrows. 

“I’ll have had my company for 20 years next year, and I’ve always really loved watching young people come through and grow and change,” says Dilworth, “So when I was called and asked to be a co-chair, I was thrilled.” One of her editors won a second prize at the first Young Arrows Awards, and she remembers the impact it had. “It was so exciting for him and gave him so much confidence for his career and his life. It does bring confidence and recognition, and a trust in the future, and right now you have to be positive for the future. Young people live in their moment,” she adds. “It’s us, the older generation, that needs to recognise them, and not be frightened of using, engaging and fostering young talent.” 

“It’s celebrating people people doing the boldest and most original work,” agrees Guy. “The Young Arrows gives them that platform.” ‘Bold and original’ is what he expects, too. “The young talents at Uncommon lack any creative fear, so that anything is possible because of what’s been introduced to their world in terms of technology and creative inspiration.” 

“It’s us, the older generation, that needs to recognise them, and not be frightened of using, engaging and fostering young talent.” 

Four years after it was established, the Young Arrows is a powerful scene shifter, introducing and raising new talents that enable the industry to renew itself. “For younger people to be acknowledged means they have a platform early on,” says Guy. “It redefines what success looks like at the start of a creative career. You’re opening up the industry, and it’s a confidence booster at the same time.” 

Above: Last year's New Director winner was Milo Blake for his spot for Paralympic Team Belgium, The Empty Seat.

Guy sees a creative landscape that has changed radically in just a few years. “The biggest change is the speed at which everything moves,” he says, “from coming up with ideas and the creative, to the making. At Uncommon, they come in and pump out work, but it brings pressure as well as possibility.” 

As such, today’s potential Young Arrows are often expected – and capable – of wearing several creative hats at once. “They blow your mind,” says Guy. “They can do so much. They can turn their hand to AI, design, directing, producing. They’re more well rounded, because everything is thrown at them and they can learn so much, and it’s so important to see fresh voices, approaches and ideas that take creative risks.” 

"Being free to enter, that is massive. It gives them that opportunity to be seen and heard without costing a fortune.”

Promoting a diversity of access into the creative industries is fundamental to the Young Arrows remit, which is why an entry fee has been waived for the second successive year. “Creating a space for younger voices to emerge is really important,” says Guy, “and the industry is progressing in terms of different voices, but the playing field is not yet level. For a lot of young people, just trying to get in the room is a battle. The key thing is being supported and being able to thrive. It isn’t easy, but the Young Arrows is incredibly important in doing that. Having industry-leading figures on the jury means young talents are already getting on the radar of the agencies. And being free to enter, that is massive. It gives them that opportunity to be seen and heard without costing a fortune.” 

Above: Rebecca Treloar, of adam&eveDDB London, won the Junior Agency Producer award in 2024 for Amazon's The Grit.

“You could be a runner, you could be working another job, but still making films and entering,” agrees Dilworth, “It’s a good way to recognise young talent and get them to focus and be positive about the future. And it’s a way of opening the doors, too, so that it’s not just the privileged few.” 

What kind of work do they expect to see as chairs of the jury? “There’s such a breadth of talent now,” says Guy. “All these young people are coming into an industry that doesn’t stay still anymore. Everything’s shifting – all the platforms, audiences, the access to those audiences, the technology that changes overnight – they are at the coalface of all that. They’re learning it as it happens, and its not daunting to them in the way it is for older people in the industry, which makes it more important to have all these young talents. They are so much more relevant, not just to the technology and creative processes coming in, but also to the audiences. They don’t work across one specific skill set, they can do whatever they want, and that’s probably a necessity.” 

"[Young talent] can just go nuts and do whatever they like. The question still is, how do you stand out?” 

That sense of flux, flow and perpetual change is a major focus for Dilworth, too. “Everyone now does a little bit of everything,” she says. “A director who edits, who colours, who writes. Everyone is their own brand, so the traditional stream of coming through has changed. People are more confident in expressing themselves and not having to follow the pattern. Its a different playing field we’re on, you can see how they are able to challenge their skill sets more. They can just go nuts and do whatever they like,” she adds. “The question still is, how do you stand out?”