Campaign to showcase emerging talent launched with Paul Mescal ‘Lockdown’ film

The campaign encourages arts students and creators from the UK and Ireland to film and submit audition-style performances to Instagram using #SamsungSpotlight for a chance to feature in a new advertisement for the brand. 

Samsung Spotlight is a new initiative from Samsung which champions emerging performers in the arts who have been adversely affected by the pandemic. 

Having shot to fame following Normal People, Mescal launches the campaign with a short film entitled Lockdown, in which he performs a contemporary dance to an imaginary audience of mannequins. 

Paul Mescal said, ‘This project took me totally out of my comfort zone as I am not a dancer. Movement is something I loved doing at drama school and something that I’ve missed doing since entering the industry.

‘There are thousands of performers in the arts industry that have been affected by the closures of theatres, venues and stages who have and are going through an incredibly challenging time.

‘I’m really proud to launch Samsung Spotlight which aims to help performers by giving them a platform to showcase their talents. I can’t wait to see what type of performances people come up with and I’m looking forward to judging the entries.’

Tom Morey, director of corporate marketing at Samsung UK said, ‘Following the events of this year and impact on the arts industry, Samsung wanted to provide a spotlight for arts students and creators across the UK and Ireland who have had their stage taken away from them.

‘Samsung Spotlight has been created to give performers the opportunity to share their talents and get the chance to have their work shared with the world.’

The campaign is open to all performance artists from across the UK and Ireland. An audition-style performance of up to 90 seconds should be submitted via Instagram using #SamsungSpotlight. 

Performances can include any type of artistic style, such as dance, physical theatre, mime, self-expression, poetry or acting, but must be an original piece of work. 

Find out more here.