Former Head of Presentation and Promotions at BBC Wales, John Morgan, has picked up the acclaimed John Hefin Lifetime Achievement Award for his work within the creative industry in Wales.
John, who now runs JM Creative, secured the accolade at this year’s Carmarthen Bay Film Festival and was commended for his ground breaking, innovative and lateral productions in the field of television promos and adverts. His short films, which cover sport, music and social action, have been met with professional admiration across the globe, securing a number of television and marketing awards in the UK, Europe and the U.S.A. John has also received a special award for his outstanding contribution to television from the Royal Television Society.
Perhaps one of John’s most notable compositions to date was the simple but effective 1993 Five Nations ad campaign, BEATABLE. Created as part of the BBC Wales pre-match build- up, John combined a series of clips that saw England’s side struggling and denoted that Wales, captained by Ieuan Evans, could easily beat them. Proving an accurate prophecy, Wales won the match at the National Stadium in Cardiff 10-9.
Collecting his lifetime achievement award, John said: “I was overwhelmed to get this recognition, I was blown away.”
The Carmarthen Bay Film Festival, which has become one of the most highly regarded film festivals in the UK, was founded by Kelvin Guy in 2011. Kelvin said: “One of the main aims of the festival is to support and encourage the creative industries here in Wales and the rest of the country. That’s why, with the full backing of John Hefin’s family, we established the lifetime achievement award in his memory. We are really pleased that John Morgan accepted this very prestigious award, which we felt as an organisation was very well deserved.”
John established JM Creative in 1997 and now works as managing director alongside business partner, Tony Lakin, specialising in TV promos, commercials, corporate communications, animation and presentation training.
Further honours to his name include golds in the Campaign Advertising Awards, the Celtic Media Festival, BAFTA and the CIPR Excellence Awards. JM Creative’s current clients include the Welsh Government, NHS England, Wales Millennium Centre, S4C and Cardiff University.
Previous recipients of the John Hefin Lifetime Achievement Award include Euryn Ogwen Williams, Endaf Emlyn and Beti George.
