The Freelancers Unite (or FU) Awards honoured 10 freelancers at an award show in Toronto Thursday night, bringing to a close a new award program that celebrates the tremendous talent that exists inside the communications industries, but not necessary inside agency walls.
The awards, started by Toronto agency Co-Op, were judged by a panel of experts looking at work across creative disciplines that are essential to successful marketing campaigns.
“We’ve all seen a seismic shift in terms of top talent choosing to go out on their own,” said Peter Brough, managing director at Co-Op, in a release. “Though not always spoken aloud in boardrooms, our industry relies heavily on freelancers and there was really nothing out there to acknowledge this talented group of people. We created the FU Awards to shine a light on this community who, despite their immense contribution, often find themselves on the fringe when it comes to industry recognition.”
The first ever FU winners are:
• Ashley Howell, freelance designer
• Bill Keenan, freelancer copywriter, creative director, filmmaker
• David Horovitch, creative director
• Patrick Tomasso, director, creator
• Sumit Ajwani, freelance integrated producer
• Melanie Lambertsen, freelance producer
• Sarah Foelske, art director
• Nicholas Bujnak, freelance designer, director
• Rosalinda Graziano, art director
• Loren Maisels, marketing consultant, event production
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- Bill Keenan
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- Melanie Lambertsen
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- Sumit Ajwani
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- Rosalinda Graziano
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- Patrick Tomasso
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- Loren Maisels
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- David Horovitch
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- Ashley Howell
Not pictured: Sarah Foelske, Nicholas Bujnak
