Talent Programmes

We organise Competitions to challenge young creatives from every corner of the communications industry. For under 30s ready to showcase their talent in front of our prestigious Young Lions Jury, over 450 fellow competitors and the international festival community. Gold winners receive a complete Cannes Lions Festival pass including accommodation for next year’s Festival, and are celebrated at the Cannes Lions Awards Show.
To apply, contact one of our reps.

LIONS Members are able to register to work on ‘The Brief’ – selected pro-bono briefs for not-for-profit causes, requiring a wide range of disciplines. Whether you want to use your creativity for good and drive societal change, or you’d like to offer that opportunity to your teams, The Brief is for you. By participating you’ll get to present your work to a Jury of industry leaders and potentially win tickets to next year’s Festival.

To take part in The Brief in August 2023, become a Member.

The LIONS Academies help rising young talent, aged 30 years and under, fast-track their careers and become the next generation of industry leaders. They combine inspiring classroom sessions with world-class speakers, hands-on learning and coaching from industry legends. The early bird price expires on 27th April 2023.

The Roger Hatchuel Student Academy is a unique learning experience designed to help students interested in pursuing a creative path in advertising launch their careers. It is open to full-time students, aged 18-23 years old, in their last year of studying.

Selected candidates will learn first-hand from the world’s greatest brands, creative minds and industry leaders.

Applications are now closed.

Designed to support the next generation of underrepresented talent, the scholarship offers a group of young people from around the world a fully-funded place on the Cannes Lions Brand Marketers and Creative Academies, which take place during the Festival in June 2023.

The ‘See It Be It’ talent programme was founded in 2014 by Cannes Lions with the mission to achieve equal gender representation of creative directors and leaders across the global industry. Over the past 9 years, we’ve elevated a worldwide community of 100+ creatives - positively impacting the gender representation we set out to equalise.

The application process is now closed.

Future Lions is AKQA’s annual initiative that celebrates bold and progressive ideas from students all over the world aged 18-25 years old or less than 6 months’ industry experience. Five winning teams are granted full access to the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, and honoured with a limited edition Future Lions trophy.

Competitions applications open on 20th March and close on 14th April.

#CannesForAll is an initiative launched by Brixton Finishing School in London, UK, DigiLearning Foundation and Lollipop Mentoring that aims to place their emerging and diverse talent at the heart of the Festival. In support of the initiative, Cannes Lions will provide Festival access to the 12 talents chosen for the programme.

This year, Cannes Lions will continue its partnership with Cephas Williams and the Black British Network. As part of the initiative Cannes Lions will provide Festival passes for Black talent and work with Cephas on a curated Festival programme that provides an incredible experience, opportunity and access for Black talent.

The Perifa education programme runs throughout the year, culminating in a brief-led competition where four winners will receive complimentary passes to Cannes Lions.

In partnership with Cannes Lions, Perifa Lions, founded by Leticia Rodrigues (See It Be It Alumni), Irina Didier and Flavio Salcedo, is on a mission to bring young people from the Brazilian peripheries to Cannes Lions - all paid for. The programme runs throughout the year, promoting several activities to highlight and connect diverse talents with big names and opportunities with leading agencies.

The Black Executive CMO Alliance, BECA, launched in 2021 with a mission to increase retention and representation of Black marketing professionals in the C-suite. With four core pillars; share, learn, elevate, and pay-it-forward, the pillar of pay-it-forward is accomplished through “The BECA Playbook,” a 2-year bespoke program for Black mid-level marketers co-developed with Deloitte. Future Leaders from The BECA Playbook will compete for eight slots to attend the 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity. For the second consecutive year, Ascential and LIONS will sponsor airfare, hotel, and Festival passes for all.