2023 AAF Toledo American Advertising Awards Winner's Book

by Jacob Parr

FROM THE PRESID E NT

Welcome back! This is the first Toledo American Advertising Award presentation since 2019 and you are all winners! On behalf of AAF Toledo, congratulations to each one of the 2023 winners and entrants! We are honored to recognize and showcase northwest Ohio’s creative talent in a variety of advertising, marketing, and public relations categories.

In mid-January, we received 155 professional and 35 student entries from agencies, businesses, and individuals throughout the Toledo area. A significant increase over last year. In fact, AAF Toledo had the largest increase percentage-wise of entries for all of District 5. So, give yourself a pat on the back!

Due to our virtual competition, we were able to invite judges from outside of our surrounding area to evaluate each entry. Thank you to G. Williams, owner of Grova Creative located in Tallahassee, Florida; Corey Favor, Sr. Director of Community Engagement, Talent and Culture at Orange Barrel Media, located in Columbus, Ohio; and Darren Steuber, Senior Art Director at the Munroe Agency In New York City.. We greatly appreciate the time they took evaluating each entry.

ACongratulations to Rhonda Sewell, Director of Belonging and Community Engagement at the Toledo Museum of Art, for taking home the most prestigious award of the evening, the 2023 Silver Medal Award. This award recognizes Rhonda’s outstanding contributions to the community while further advancing the industry’s standards, creative excellence, and responsibility in areas of social concern. Rhonda will join a remarkable group of Silver Medal Award winners (some who are here tonight!) that represent the Toledo creative and advertising community.

Scott Grosteffon AAF TOLEDO PRESIDENT

ABOUT THE AWARDS

The American Advertising Awards (The ADDYs), is the advertising industry’s largest and most representative competition, attracting over 40,000 entries every year in local AAF Club competitions� The mission of the American Advertising Awards competition is to recognize and reward the creative spirit of excellence in the art of advertising�

SILVER MEDAL AWARD

The American Advertising Federation’s Silver Medal Award Program was established in 1959 to recognize men and women who have made outstanding contributions to advertising and who have been active in furthering the industry’s standards, creative excellence and responsibility in areas of social concern.

Annually, AAF member clubs bestow this honor upon outstanding members of the local advertising community.

Conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation (AAF), the local club phase is the first of a three-tier, national competition. Concurrently, all across the country, local entrants vie to win ADDY Awards - recognition as the very best in their markets. At the second tier, local ADDY winners compete against winners from other local clubs in one of 15 district competitions. District ADDY winners are then forwarded to the third tier, the national stage of the American Advertising Awards. Entry in the AAF Toledo competition is the first step toward winning a national ADDY.

Entering the American Advertising Awards supports the entire advertising industry because the AAF and its local and district affiliates use the proceeds to enhance advertising through programs such as public service, internships, advocacy groups, advertising education, and consumer awareness.

The most creative entry in each category is determined by a scoring process in which a panel of judges evaluates all creative dimensions of every entry. A GOLD ADDY is recognition of the highest level of creative excellence.

For many local clubs, awarding the AAF Silver Medal Award is the highlight of their year. It enhances the image of advertising by recognizing a locally wellknown person for their advertising and community involvement. Candidates are nominated by AAF Toledo members and the recipient is selected by a panel of judges (three previous winners).

C RITERIA Contribution to His/Her Company

The recipient must have achieved success in one of the following areas of work: advertising agency, advertiser, media or advertising service.

Creative Ability

The recipient must have shown a consistent, high degree of original thinking in their field.

Contributions to the General Advancement of Advertising

The recipient must have worked to increase the stature and raise the standards of the advertising profession.

Contributions to the Community

The recipient should be someone who has been active in civic, religious, or other groups dedicated to human or social welfare.

RHONDA S EWELL

Rhonda Sewell is Toledo Museum of Art’s first Director of Belonging & Community engagement. Prior, she was the Media Relations Coordinator, then Director of Governmental and External Affairs for the Toledo Lucas County Public Library, where she worked with local, state and federal legislators as well as community stakeholders in the areas of library funding, advocacy and systems change.

Before her 15 years at the Library, Rhonda worked 18 years as an award-winning journalist for The Blade newspaper, which included assignments in six countries. She also served as an adjunct instructor in ethnic studies and mass communications at Bowling Green State University's Department of Journalism and Public Relations, School of Media and Communication, and was a faculty adviser to the student Association of Black Journalists.

Rhonda is a proven community leader, founding in 2012 Real Men READ-y, an ongoing mentoring and early literacy program designed for underrepresented African American boys in Kindergarten and first grade. She helped plan Toledo's first TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference by serving on the logistics and strategy team.

She has received numerous accolades such as: YWCA Northwest Ohio Milestones: A Tribute to Women honoree in 2017 in the category of Volunteerism; Girl Scouts of Western Ohio’s 2018 Woman of Distinction; a multiple award-winner of the Ohio Newspaper Women's Association and the National Association of Black Journalists; Toledo Jack and Jill chapter's "Distinguished Mother of the Year,"; the Rabbi Morton Goldberg Community Service Award, presented by the city of Toledo's Board of Community Relations; Alpha Xi Lambda Fraternity's Drum Major Award (given to people or organizations who have served the community in the spirit of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.); a top 10 Jefferson Award finalist; and was a 2012 African American Legacy Project's Emerging Leader award winner.

She is the current president-elect of The Arts Commission Board of Trustees; a member of the Board of Trustees representing Special Districts and Authorities for the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments (TMACOG); past President of Northwest Ohio Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, Inc.; member of Community Outreach and Social Justice committee for the Toledo Opera (co-chair for I Dream); a cabinet member and donor of Girl Scouts of Western Ohio; and Joint Council member, immediate past co-chair of the African American Leadership Council (AALC) of United Way. She has previously served on numerous key corporate boards, including a maximum six-year tenure on ProMedica's formerly titled Toledo Children’s Hospital Foundation Board, where she served as chair. Rhonda also served on the boards of the YWCA of Northwest Ohio, the American Heart Association, Toledo Ballet, the Art Tatum African American Resource Center, and The Media Foundation Board of the Independent Collegian Newspaper at the University of Toledo, among others.

A self-described servant leader, Sewell also stays deeply engaged with the community through her active membership in various leading service organizations such as Toledo Press Club; The Links, Inc.; Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Jack and Jill of America, Inc.

Sewell holds a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism from Michigan State University; she also completed Graduate Studies in International Journalism at the City University of London in England.

Rhonda has two adult twin daughters, Sarah and Savannah. Her mother, the iconic Mrs. Billie Johnson, is the President/CEO of the Area Office on Aging of Northwestern Ohio.

SILVER MEDAL AWARDEE

SALES & MARK E TING

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Claude’s Menu Design

ENTRANT

Madhouse

CREDITS

Madhouse Concept and design

Jeff Dinnebiel & Megan

Lingsweiler

Benchmark Restaurant Group

ADVERTISER

Benchmark Restaurant Group

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Art Matters Magazine

ENTRANT

Toledo Museum of Art

CREDITS

Gary Gonya

Director of Brand Strategy

Morgan Butts

Writer & Editor

Aly Krajewski Designer

Mark Yappueying

Designer

ADVERTISER

Toledo Museum of Art

GOLD ADDY AWARD

3D Tower

ENTRANT

The University of Toledo

CREDITS

The University of Toledo

ADVERTISER

The University of Toledo

OUT-OF-HOME & AMBIENT M E DIA

“On The Road” Outreach Truck

ENTRANT

Toledo Museum of Art

CREDITS

Aly Krajewski Designer

Mark Yappueying Designerw

State of the Art

ENTRANT

Toledo Museum of Art

CREDITS

Andrea Gardner

Senior Director of Collections & Curatorial Affairs

Claude Fixler Exhibition Designer

Aly Krajewski Designer

Paula Reich Manager of Gallery Interpretation & Learning

Mike Deetsch

Senior Director of Learning & Interpretation

Gary Gonya

Director of Brand Strategy

SILVER ADDY AWARD

BGSU Website

ENTRANT

Bowling Green State University

CREDITS

Robb Nardecchia

Beth Detwiler

Amy West

Colleen Rerucha

Craig Bell

Justin Camuso-Stall

Amy Karlovec

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

BalanceGrille�com

ENTRANT

Electric Fun

ADVERTISER

Balance Pan-Asian Grille

CREDITS

Jon Spencer

Co-Founder

Joel Trzcinski

Co-Founder

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Falcons’ art is out of this world

ENTRANT

Bowling Green State University

CREDITS

Laren Kowalczyk

Ariel Ellis

Justin Camuso-Stall

Haven Conn

Campbell Holben

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Annual Report 2021/2022

ENTRANT

Madhouse

CREDITS Madhouse Design & Development

Toledo Museum of Art Marketing & Communications

ADVERTISER

Toledo Museum of Art

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Worthington Website Redesign

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Metrie Website Redesign

ENTRANT

Hanson Inc ADVERTISER

CREDITS

Marley Wilson Functional Architect

Joe Holub

Functional Architect

Hailey Altman

Visual Designer

Jordan Rees Senior Project Manager

Kate Whetsel

Account Executive

Zori Ivanova Senior Strategist

Chris Sculthorpe Engineering Technical Lead

Worthington Industries

Jenny Koeppel Senior Front-End Developer

Dave Rodriguez Managing Director, Front-End

Charles Ryder

Managing Director, Creative

Brian O’Donnell Front-End Developer

Kelly Sullivan Quality Assurance

ENTRANT

Hanson Inc ADVERTISER Metrie

CREDITS

Mike Louviere Director, Front-End Development

Miranda Ebraheim Senior Front-End Developer

Brian O’Donnell

Front-End Developer

Jordan Rees Senior Project Manager

Jacob Parr

Associate Creative Director

Lauren Verroco

Senior Account Executive

Joe Holub

Functional Architect

David Williams Software Engineer

Maria Simmons Engineering Technical Lead

Josh Jacob, Director Engineering

Dave Rodriguez Director, Front-End Development

Dani Weigand Visual Designer

GOLD ADDY AWARD

In The Round

ENTRANT Bowling Green State University

CREDITS

Jenn Stucker Creative Director/Designer

Jessie Walton

Printmaking elements

ADVERTISER Bowling Green State University

GOLD ADDY AWARD

Ohio Liquor | Recipe Video Series

ENTRANT HART

CREDITS HART

ADVERTISER

Ohio Liquor

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

I’m More Than Enough

ENTRANT

VOXHUB

CREDITS

VOXHUB

ADVERTISER Mosaic Family Zone

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Fair Ways

ENTRANT Hart

CREDITS

Hart

Dream Louder Music

Composer

ADVERTISER ProMedica

SILVER ADDY AWARD

MoistureShield 360 Performance

ENTRANT

Interrupt

ADVERTISER

Oldcastle – MoistureShield

Decking

CREDITS

Anita Holman

Executive Creative Director and Brand Strategist

Chris Graver

Chris Graver

Hayley Kandik

Graphic Designer

Ernest Turner

Senior Copywriter

Shannon Yocom

Production Manager

Emily Johnson

Strategic Account Manager

Bill Giacci

Project Manager

ABC 3D Rendering MoistureShield Client Team

SILVER ADDY AWARD

The Course Ahead

ENTRANT

Madhouse

ADVERTISER

Hobart & William Smith Colleges

CREDITS

Madhouse

Concept, writing, filming, and postproduction

Level 2 Audio

Audio Mixing

Cathy Williams & Jared Weeden

Hobart & William Smith Colleges

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Stella the Teller TV Spots

ENTRANT

Madhouse

ADVERTISER

Madhouse

Concept, Writing, Filming, 3D modeling, Animation, Post-production

Level 2 Audio

Audio Production

-

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Library Back to School Campaign

ENTRANT HART

ADVERTISER

Toledo-Lucas County Public Library

CREDITS HART

SILVER ADDY AWARD

RISE Trailer

ENTRANT LoudKid Films

CREDITS

Spencer LeGros Director

Alex Hinsch Director

ADVERTISER University of Toledo Wrestling

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Science is for Everyone

ENTRANT Madhouse

CREDITS

Madhouse

Concept, Writing, Filming, 3D modeling, Animation, Post-production

Level 2 Audio

Audio Production

ADVERTISER Imagination Station

Andi Roman, Amy Mohr, and Lori Hauser Imagination Station

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Whatever You Can Imagine

ENTRANT Madhouse ADVERTISER

CREDITS

Madhouse

Concept, Writing, Filming, Post-production

Purdue University

Marketing & Communications

SILVER ADDY AWARD

The Course Ahead

ENTRANT Madhouse

ADVERTISER

Hobart & William Smith Colleges

CREDITS

Madhouse

Concept, writing, filming, and postproduction

Level 2 Audio

Audio Mixing

Cathy Williams & Jared Weeden

Hobart & William Smith Colleges

Purdue University

Level 2 Audio

Audio Mixing

Dream Louder Score

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Stella the Teller TV Spots

ENTRANT

Madhouse

ADVERTISER

Madhouse

Concept, Writing, Filming, 3D modeling, Animation, Post-production

Level 2 Audio

Audio Production

CROSS PLATFORM

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Wink Wink Food & Drink branding

ENTRANT

Melissa Wehrman Designs

ADVERTISER

Wink Wink

CREDITS

Melissa Wehrman

Creative Director, Illustrator, Writer

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Ohio Liquor | Making Spirits Bright

ENTRANT

Hart

ADVERTISER

Ohio Liquor

CREDITS

Hart

E LEMENTS OF ADV E RTISING

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Glass City Center Identity

ENTRANT

Hanson Inc

CREDITS

Jacob Parr

Associate Creative Director

Charles Ryder

Managing Director, Creative

Sandra McLendon

Account Executive

ADVERTISER

Glass City Center

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

LF Studios Branding

ENTRANT

Hanson Inc

ADVERTISER

LF Studios

CREDITS

Jacob Parr

Associate Creative Director

Maddie Wentz

Visual Designer

Zori Ivanova

Senior Strategist

Emily Mohn

Account Director

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Fiberon Lighting

ENTRANT

Madhouse

ADVERTISER

Fiberon

CREDITS

Madhouse

Concept, Writing, 3D modeling, Animation, Post-production

Michael Sells

Sr Marketing Specialist, Fiberon

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

BalanceGrille�com

ENTRANT Electric Fun

CREDITS

Jon Spencer Co-founder

ADVERTISER Balance Pan-Asian Grille

SILVER ADDY AWARD

Outdoor Furniture 3D Renders

ENTRANT Madhouse

CREDITS

Madhouse

3D modeling, Texturing, Rendering

ADVERTISER Fiberon

R E SPONSIBILITY & PUBLIC SERVICE

GOLD ADDY AWARD

Belong @ TMA Campaign

ENTRANT

Toledo Museum of Art

CREDITS

Joy Goodner, Lisa Keyes, Sandhya Holston, Rhonda Sewell, Jessica Hong, and Katie Shelley

TMA’s DEAI Committee

Mark Yappueying Designer

Maria Iafelice Strategic Impact Specialist

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

University Counseling Center PSA

ENTRANT Madhouse ADVERTISER The University of Toledo

CREDITS

Madhouse

Filming & Post-production

Matt Foss

University of Toledo, Writer & Director

GOLD ADDY AWARD Reflag Toledo

ENTRANT

Jacob Parr ADVERTISER The City of Toledo

CREDITS

Jacob Parr Vexillographer

Chris Hatfield Video Editor

Scott Deca Photographer

MSELF-PROMOTION

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Presidents Birthday Card

ENTRANT

Bowling Green State University

CREDITS Amy Karlovec

design2influence Perspective Videos

ENTRANT MadAveGroup

CREDITS

Jacob Stutz

Videographer

Cory Brown

Videographer

Michael L. Seay Director

ADVERTISER design2influence

GOLD ADDY AWARD

Fearless Day + Night Beverages

ENTRANT Interrupt

CREDITS

Anita Holman Executive Creative Director and Brand Strategist

Troy Hester Art Director

Jen Molnar Director of Brand Content

Shannon Yocom Production Manager

Bill Giacci

Project Manager

Karen Torok Senior Project Manager - Digital

Andre Nadon, Tracy Tesch Metzgers Printing & Mailing

Toledo Spirits

Grace Imaging, Interrupt Client Team

SILVER ADDY AWARD

MOSAIC AW A RDS

MOSAIC EDUCATOR

Merc´e Culp

Toledo Museum of Art

MOST PROMISING MULTICULTURAL STUDENT

Ayln Martinez

University of Toledo

MOSAIC CHAMPION

Linda Parra

Nuestra Gente Radio Station and Nuestra Gente Community Projects, LLC

MOSAIC ADDY AWARD

A Letter From Home

ENTRANT

MULTICULTURAL TALENT IN ADVERTISING

James Dickerson dirtykics

LoudKid Films

CREDITS

Spencer LeGros, Alex Hinsch Directors

Corey Channell Production Assistant

Jason Graven

Founder of Task Force 20

ADVERTISER Task Force 20

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

In The Round Speaker Series

ENTRANT

Bowling Green State University

CREDITS

Jenn Stucker

Project Co-creator, Creative Director and Designer

Heidi Nees

Project Co-creator

Jessie Walton

Printmaking elements

Doug Hinebaugh

Event Photography

GOLD ADDY AWARD

Toledo Opera “Blue” Toledo Stories

ENTRANT

Madhouse

CREDITS Madhouse Filming and Post-production

Alyssa Greenberg, Suzanne Rorick

Toledo Opera

ADVERTISER Toledo Opera

STUD E NT AW A RDS

SILVER STUDENT ADDY AWARD

17th Annual Melodic Expressions

ENTRANT

Cassandra Watson Owens Community College

SILVER STUDENT ADDY AWARD

All In The Timing Theatre

Poster

ENTRANT

Cassandra Watson Owens Community College

BRONZE STUDENT ADDY AWARD

All In The Timing Theatre

Poster

ENTRANT

Abigail Brown Owens Community College

-

GOLD STUDENT ADDY AWARD

Plant Wise

ENTRANT

Sophia Llamas

Bowling Green State University

BRONZE STUDENT ADDY AWARD

Editorial Portrait

ENTRANT

Madilyn Williams Owens Community College

GOLD STUDENT ADDY AWARD

It Starts With a Sketch

ENTRANT

Corey J Channell

Bowling Green State University

BRONZE ADDY AWARD

Alaska Airlines

Re-Brand

ENTRANT

Kiley Sabo

Bowling Green State University

-

BRONZE STUDENT ADDY AWARD

Frankenstein Book Cover Design

ENTRANT

Noah Ackerman Owens Community College

BRONZE STUDENT ADDY AWARD

Lush Magazine Cover Design

ENTRANT

Mackenzie Hoot Owens Community College

BRONZE STUDENT ADDY AWARD

Moby Dick Book Cover

ENTRANT

Ramona Wolff Owens Community College

BRONZE STUDENT ADDY AWARD

Horror Magazine Cover Design

ENTRANT

Victoria Leu Owens Community College

My picks for this year's Judges Choice Awards are Let's Build That Together, campaign by ProFed Credit Union. I really love the diversity showcase within this ad.

The animations were smooth and they complimented the visual storytelling very well.

I want to thank all the applicants for their submissions. It was a pleasure to serve as a judge this year. Thank you again for this wonderful opportunity and keep up the great work.

Corey Favor

SR DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT TALENT AND CULTURE, OBM

The outside the everyday campaign for Moisture Shield is smart, displaying the product's durability within unique environments and weather scenarios. This campaign utilizes eye-catching visuals combined with graphic assets that are bold, engaging, and fresh, and best of all, the look and feel have been applied to various mediums, from digital to signage and print with a well done professional execution.

Darren Stueber SR ART DIRECTOR, THE MUNROE AGENCY

I absolutely adored that campaign. I loved how it was cohesive in all platforms that it was used in. It immediately felt like summer to me.

The campaign really kept my attention, and I really thought that the actor and the production and the set value was really on point. I love the attention to detail. We always say pay attention to detail, and I really felt like they immersed themselves into these drinks and made sure the drinks look picture perfect every time.

And I loved the social media, and how they carried through everything. It was super well thought out, put together, and every time I would see the social media ad, I just wanted to immediately grab a drink. I wanted a drink that looked like five stars just from their ads. So, congratulations to the creators of the campaign.

It's a rockstar campaign. Stellar loved it!

Giavona Williams CEO, GROVA CREATIVE

In The Round Speaker Series

ENTRANT

Bowling Green State University

CREDITS

Jenn Stucker

Creative Director/Designer

Jessie Walton

Printmaking elements

The In the Round Speaker Series uses a visual brand that is flexible enough to feature various speakers with warmth and richness, along with consideration for the voices of contemporary artists of indigenous people. A wide breath of visual applications convey a welcome yet serious invitation to listen and explore each of the speakers lectures.

Darren Stueber

DIRECTOR,

SILVER ADDY AWARD

SR ART

THE MUNROE AGENCY

JUDG E S

Giavona Williams

CEO, GROVA CREATIVE

Giavona packs so much into everything she does that she goes by one letter — G. Over the last decade, G has worked on national and regional accounts such as; Pilot Pens, World of Beer, Cooper Tires, Urban Plates, Dollywood, and the Cayman Islands to name a few.

Before starting her agency, Grova Creative, in 2016, she previously worked at O, The Oprah Magazine, Sachs Media Group, BowStern Marketing and Communications, and served in the United States Navy. G’s award-winning work has covered everything from print, T.V., radio, digital, and social. She recently was bestowed the “RockStar Award” at the 2021 Women Who Mean Business Awards. Furthermore, her agency was awarded “Agency of the Year” in 2019 and 2020 in the Tallahassee area. In addition, Grova recently won “Best of Show” at the 2021 Florida Angel Awards for its campaign to support Black lives and end injustice in the black community.

G is also heavily involved in the American Advertising Federation (AAF) and serves as the first Black Governor of AAF District 4, representing Florida and the Caribbean.

G earned her B.A. in graphic design from S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.

Outside of working hours, G is an avid soccer player and enjoys riding motorcycles with her husband.

Darren Stueber

SR � ART DIRECTOR, THE MUNROE AGENCY

A talented art director with a comprehensive background in advertising, editorial design and web media, Darren has earned industry recognition for his work in developing visually arresting creative solutions for clients ranging from financial services and real estate to education and nonprofit sectors.

Corey Favor

S R DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

TA LENT AND CULTURE, OBM

Corey brings over 20 years of experience in art direction, business development, and community engagement to his role leading OBM’s public benefit and art initiatives by establishing and expanding partnerships and programs to maximize the positive impact of our media platform.

Corey also leads recruitment and culture initiatives to ensure top talent are selected, engaged, and supported in their roles. He is a member and serves on the board of several arts and community organizations, including Columbus College of Art and Design, the Africentric Personal Development Shop (APDS), and board member for the Gateway Film Center.

JUDG E S

Tonnisha J� English-Amamoo

TJE COMMUNICATIONS

Tonnisha J. English-Amamoo is a mom, wife, and full-time business owner at TJE Communications. Tonnisha provides digital marketing solutions to small business owners and non-profits throughout Central Ohio and has been doing so for nearly 10 years. Her mission is to help her clients level the playing field between themselves, and large corporations, through digital marketing solutions.

Ryan Wright

CINEMATOGRAPHER

Ryan Wright is a cinematographer working in the commercial production industry in Detroit, Michigan. As a child, Ryan always knew he was creative at heart. His passion for art began as a boy through drawing his favorite cartoons, video games, and comic book characters — even winning a few drawing contests along the way. After taking several broadcasting, film, and television classes throughout middle school and high school, his passion for drawing grew into a love for filmmaking.

While attending Central Michigan University, Ryan continued to develop his craft as an image maker by working in several different capacities within the video production industry including: corporate videography, wedding videography, live broadcast production for PBS, as well as taking a few internships including one for Toledo’s own, Madhouse.

After graduating from CMU, Ryan has gone on to work as a cinematographer for brands such as Rocket Mortgage, State Farm, Meijer, Forbes, and The Cleveland Cavaliers. His projects have taken him all across the U.S. from Detroit and Toledo to Miami and Santa Fe, with projects ranging in scale from smaller social media campaigns to larger scale national broadcast commercial productions. Though utilizing cameras, lenses and lighting to create images and tell stories is Ryan’s true passion, getting to work with the incredible professionals, artists, craftspeople, and just all around kind-hearted people that make up the cast and crew on a film set is what makes his work so enjoyable.

Brigette Burnett C HOICE PRODUCTIONS

Emmy award-winning journalist Brigette Burnett is the CEO of Choice Productions, a video production and marketing company. Burnett has a passion for helping people through storytelling.

The ability to command a room and engage an audience has allowed Burnett to secure moderating roles with Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Sally Field, Natalie Morales, and Tiffani Thiessen. In her new role as a film producer, she was recently on tour with New Edition and has worked on live and recorded shows such as Live with Summer Walker, Jeanie Mai’s Hello Hunnay, Real Housewives of Potomac, and Unsung.

Burnett currently volunteers for Corners Outreach, an organization focused on serving underprivileged children. She's from Michigan but her career in television has taken her to stations throughout the midwest and now throughout the world.

Crystal Gale Phelps

TOLEDO MUSEUM OF ART

Crystal Gale Phelps is an advocate for Toledo with a passion for collaboration, empowering others, and innovation. She is an arts marketing professional, independent artist, and curator with deep roots in northwest Ohio. A mover, a shaker, and rabble rouser, Crystal is unafraid to push the boundaries of existing structures. Her passion to move the community forward is entrenched in mutual aid, trust building, and equitable practices that contribute to the deconstruction of colonial patriarchal structures.

Deke Ludwig

MADHOUSE

Deke Ludwig is a director of photography at Madhouse. Deke studied cinematography for a year at Columbia College Chicago and spent some time in India studying overpopulation, poverty, global supply chains and women’s issues before transferring to the University of Vermont, where he got a degree in environmental studies. His passion is making beautiful films that will hopefully make the world a better place. He’s also quite handy. If a wheel falls off the equipment cart or the Madhouse van needs retrofitting to accommodate gear, Deke makes it happen.

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Congratulations

2023 Winners

2023 AAF TOLEDO

O FFICERS:

Scott Grosteffon – President

Supply Source

Valerie Thompson – Vice President

Leap Graphics

Bethany Hefflinger – Secretary

/Acting Executive Director

Wynhouse

EX-OFFICIO:

Sally Stearns

Owens Corning

PRESIDENTS ADVISORY

COUNCIL:

Ashley Yoakam

Toledo Public Schools Foundation

5TH DISTRICT GOVERNOR, NATIONAL AAF BOARD MEMBER:

Michael Seay

MadAveGroup

BOARD OF GOVERNORS:

Alexander Hinsch

LoudKid Films

Greg Reece HOT Graphic Services

Kayla Lewandowski

Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority

Will Mellon

The Ability Center

THANK YOU TO THE FOLLOWING:

Jacob Parr

Hanson Inc.

HOT Printing & Graphics

Penta Career Center

The Juice 107.3

Neenah Paper

Metzger’s

The Toledo Museum of Art

Bowling Green State University

Blink Marketing Logistics

Level 2 Audio

MadAveGroup

HOST:

Charlie Mack

PRESENTERS:

Jerry Brown

Scott Greggory

Steve Hanson

Candice Harrison

Kristi Hoffman

Debra Hogan

Rich Hogan

Kim McBroom

Meaghan Mick

Mark Reiter

Michael Seay

MUSIC:

Decorative Sound / Michael Baginski

AFTER PARTY MUSIC:

DJ Kaj Boogie

VOICEOVER:

Scott Greggory

Amy Scott

PENTA CAREER CENTER VIDEO

PRODUCTION TEAM:

Em Faye Book

Annie LaGesse

Tucker Brooks

Russ Grycza, Instructor

ADDY JUDGES:

G. Williams, Grova Creative

Corey Favor, Orange Barrel Media

Darren Steuber, The Munroe Agency

MOSAIC JUDGES:

Crystal Gale Phelps

Tonnisha J. English-Amamoo

Deke Ludwig

Brigette Burnett

Ryan Wright

SILVER MEDAL AWARD

VOTING COMMITTEE:

Kim McBroom

Scott Greggory

Mark Reiter

INDIVIDUALS:

Sally Stearns

Scott Grosteffon

Spencer LeGros

Alexander Hinsch

Valerie Thompson

Bethany Hefflinger

AND TO EVERYONE WHO MADE THIS EVENING AND AWARDS PRESENTATION POSSIBLE

2023 American Advertising Awards

March 9 at The Summit