An advertising creative comes home to tell his husband – a struggling fine artist/house husband – that his commercial for ‘cheesy bread’ is going to be in ‘that museum in New York you’re always talking about.’ It turns out, he has made it into the AICP Awards and the news that his work will be on display at the legendary Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). His partner is incredulous. The creative decides he has to go and see it.

And so, The Journey, a humorous nine-minute short film for AICP Week 2024 begins. It’s a parody of creatives’ aspirations created with love – a metaphor for every creative’s struggle to get to MoMA, the AICP Awards and AICP Week. The film was co-written by O Positive’s David Shane, Ian Reichenthal and Michael Clancy and directed by Shane. It was executive produced by 2024 AICP Show chairperson, Ralph Laucella, and Marc Grill. The film was edited by MackCut’s Gavin Cutler.

“Making a short film is different from making an ad or a branded content film,” Shane stated. “It’s not just a collection of jokes. It has to have a story that sustains itself, and hopefully this does. We made ‘The Journey’ as both a parody of – and a little love letter to – creatives like us who aspire to make ads that are art adjacent. Journeys, like the creative process, can be winding and treacherous, as our hero exemplifies. Added Ian, “We read a book that said you’re supposed to torture your main character, and with this piece we feel like we accomplished that.”

The film ends with a message urging viewers to attend AICP Week. Passes are available here.