Manu is a Fortune 500 Creative Director with 16+ years of experience and over 100 awards at the most prestigious advertising festivals. Prior to joining TogetherWith, Manu worked as South America’s Regional Creative Director for General Motors at McCann Colombia and before McCann, at Lanfranco & Cordova New York.

How many years have you been a judge?

5+ years

What excited you about judging for the Telly Awards?

I’d say the opportunity it gives to immerse yourself in fresh ideas, innovative storytelling and stunning craft. Learning and contributing to a process that recognizes and encourages the power of visual storytelling it’s really something!

What was your first job in the industry? What did it teach you?

My first job in the industry was as a Junior Copywriter. During that time, I wrote a 30-second spot for a Domino’s Pizza promo, it was recognized by the New York Festivals. It showed me the magic and feeling of what’s possible if you really put in the work.

What do you look for to determine excellence in video?

Excellence in video I believe is determined by combination of an unusual idea, inciting storytelling, stunning craft, and impact. But also about how the idea works, taking in consideration media consumption.

What are your current roles and responsibilities and what do you love most about your job?

One of my many responsibilities is to write scripts for a wide range of media. From broadcast to digital to OOH and even presentation decks. Storytelling is in everything I do. What I love the most about my job is that almost every day I have the opportunity to bring to life something I imagined. Going from script to production is one of the best feelings ever.

Do you have any specific practices you lean on to spark creativity?

Yes. In my line of business I first need to understand the brief really well. I make sure I have something interesting to say, then a lot of creative research, a lot of iteration, rewrite, rewrite and then boom, get a script that I love and ready to be produced.

What inspired you to pursue your career path?

My mom. She really encouraged me to pursue a creative career. I leaned more towards advertising because she gave me a set of DVDs called “1001 of the best TV commercials 1950-1960”. I fell in love with video format executions as a way to communicate ideas.