After much agonising and deliberation over a superb range of entries from hugely talented Irish and international filmmakers, the winners of the Hot Press Shoot To Thrill competition, run in association with Carlton Screen Advertising, have been selected.
Two winners were unveiled in front of invited guests at Odessa Club and their work will now grace Carlton Screen Advertising screens in cinemas across Ireland over the coming months.
In alphabetical order, the winners are:

London-based director, Scott Altman. Altman, who started out on large-scale film and television FX at Ardmore Studios at the age of 17, has worked for MTV International and UK on a number of Europe Music Awards, as well as Nickelodeon. He is currently pitching and directing shoots for a number of artists and major record labels. Working independently since last winter, recently he has been busy working with renowned British fashion photographer Nick Knight on the VFX for Kanye West’s ‘BLKKK SKKKN HEAD’ music video.

"In coming up with the concept for the ad, I was trying to encapsulate what best represented the Hot Press brand in 30 seconds, while also putting my own stamp on it." said Scott Altman, speaking at the event.
"As a director, it was great to have an almost endless array of classic and intriguing Hot Press covers to work with - from the early Rory Gallagher, Bob Marley, Springsteen and Bowie images right through to today's cover stars like Azealia Banks, Bressie, Katie Taylor, The Killers and The Strypes. Added to that, the soundtrack to the ad (The Strypes' 'You Can't Judge a Book by the Cover') played a fantastic role in bringing it all together."

– Originally from Paris, Matthieu Chardon says that Dublin is one of the best places in Europe to live. Since September 2012, he has been based here, working in the video and photography industry. He is the recent author of a Dublin time-lapse video which has gained plenty of traction online from Irish and international media. The video-maker has recently created promos for Today FM and Newstalk and his work has won acclaim in Canada, the US, New Zealand and Serbia, where Matthieu was invited to present his video on the Belgrade Irish Film Festival.
"The Hot Press brand is truly a 'lovemark'. It's an Irish institution that reaches people's hearts and minds both here and internationally. I was in France recently and I was telling some friends that I was doing an ad for Hot Press and they said 'wow, that's cool, Hot Press is amazing.'
"It has been my childhood dream to have my work shown on the silver screen," Matthieu added. "So I'm really looking forward to visiting the cinema a lot! I had a super cast of friends who helped on the set when I was shooting in various locations across Dublin, after which followed a couple of weeks editing through the night!"

“The standard of the entries was brilliant,” Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. “In fact we were so impressed that we felt that we had to have two winners. Scott Altman and Matthieu Chardon are brilliant directors and they have produced two ads of which they – and we – can be hugely proud. They say different but complementary things about Hot Press, and will be running in parallel on screens nationwide. Cinema is such a great medium, which is so important to our audience, making this a wonderful link-up for Hot Press.”
The two winners were picked by an illustrious panel of judges – director Lenny Abrahamson, McCann Erickson MD Orlaith Blaney, Galway Film Fleadh MD Miriam Allen, Carlton Screen Advertising GM Eoin Wrixon, Windmill Lane Pictures Creative Director Ian Jacobs and Hot Press Editor Niall Stokes.
“We have really enjoyed being involved in the competition,” Eoin Wrixon, general manager of Carlton Screen Advertising said. “It has produced two ads of outstanding quality which reinforce what we already know: that cinema is a great medium for advertisers. We’re really happy with the result, that the combination of an iconic Irish brand – Hot Press – and some exciting creative has produced two ads that are going to look really great in cinema.’’
The competition to create a cinema ad for Hot Press was run by Hot Press and Carlton Screen Advertising, and supported by Windmill Lane Pictures, who provided the winners with post-production time at their state-of-the-art facilities, Ardmore Studios whose facilities include five sound stages and a 4,500 square foot props department and Galway Film Fleadh whose 'Junior' programme is currently in full flight.
The winners, who are likely to be much in demand in the advertising and creative industries, will now see their ads in a massive campaign, which will run in almost every cinema in Ireland. So make your way to your nearest cinema from next Friday to see the results! For more about Scott and Matthieu see [link]www.scottaltman.com[/link] and [link]www.matthieuchardon.net[/link]