Clio is presenting awards dedicated to the work of digital creators for the first time this year through a separate programme, Clio Creator. Launched in partnership with YouTube and the company Influential, the programme encompasses original content, collaborations between creators and brands, and student work. It focuses on the ideas and execution of content created for digital platforms, from short videos to podcasts and series.
The region is represented on the inaugural shortlist by Slovenian studio Digital Da Vincis and its founder and creative director Kirill Karnovich-Valua, with the project Red Blue Yellow Black Again. The work is a finalist in the Creator segment, in the AI / Innovation – AI-Driven Creativity category, where only one other project was shortlisted: AI Slop vs. Art by American director and content creator Adrian Per.
Red Blue Yellow Black Again is an experimental short film created in partnership with the platform Magnific. Using generative tools, it reinterprets the work of photography pioneer Aleksandr Rodchenko and revisits the question of how new technology changes our understanding of art. Its starting point is a time when photography itself was struggling for recognition as an artistic medium, while Rodchenko’s work challenged established perceptions of its possibilities.
For the Ljubljana-based studio, founded in 2023, this is another recognition for the same project at international and regional competitions. The film won gold at the Slovenian Advertising Festival (SOF), received a nomination for Webby Awards 2026 and was shortlisted for this year’s SoMo Borac in the SoMo AI category.
The inaugural Clio Creator competition has 204 shortlisted entries from 21 countries: 103 in the Brand segment, 95 in the Creator segment and six in the student segments. Kingdom is represented with 14. In the Creator segment, Molly Burke has six nominations, Colin & Samir and Jon Youshaei have three each, and MrBeast has two. Finalists in the Brand segment include Amazon, Samsung, Google Pixel and National Geographic, while Verizon leads the segment with seven shortlisted entries.
The work is judged by a jury bringing together creators and representatives of the marketing industry. Members include Grace Wells, Josh Scherer and My Nguyen, as well as Perry Fair from Beast Industries, Marisa Hammonds from TikTok and Kenny Gold from Edelman.
The awards ceremony will take place on November 18 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles, with a live stream on YouTube. The organisers have announced that Bronze, Silver and Gold awards will be revealed during October, while the Grand winners will be unveiled at the ceremony. The Slovenian project is currently listed as a finalist in the official gallery.
