Five NZ entries made the shortlist round of the Film Craft category of Adfest. But it’s been slim pickings for Kiwis in most other categories.

Mark Forgan and Jamie Standen started their ad careers at Clemenger BBDO Wellington, then six years later moved to the opposite side of the world and become French, at least a little bit. The pair’s journey has been covered in some detail in a Q+A on Australia’s Campaign Brief site.

King St Advertising copywriter Konrad Smith died suddenly at his home in Hamilton on Saturday. “He leaves behind his wife Nicole and two beautiful children – daughter Charlie (4) and son Karter (5 months).

Hard on the heels of the Kiwi FM announcement (below), MediaWorks has today unveiled a new nationwide radio brand, Magic, which will launch on Monday 20 April.

Another network of FM stereo frequencies – in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch – seems destined to come on the market after MediaWorks announced that Kiwi FM will close on Tuesday 31 March.

Clemenger BBDO NZ picked up three Gold Pencils at Australia’s AWARD Awards held overnight in the Sydney Town Hall. Clemenger’s Mistakes won Chairman’s Choice; and Colenso BBDO’s Matt Lawson was named Creative of the Year. DDB Auckland was named NZ agency of the year.

The Image Centre Group has swallowed The Collective, the small indie agency established by celebrated former Saatchi ECD Mike O’Sullivan when Droga5 NZ shut its doors in 2012.

NZ agencies appear to have stayed away from Adfest 2015 in droves. Either that, or the work from NZ doesn’t count for much in Asia.