New York: The One Club for Creativity has announced that Greg Hahn, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer at Mischief, Brooklyn, will serve as Jury President for the inaugural One Show Indies, a new global competition created to recognise and celebrate the work of independent agencies and creative companies worldwide.
Debuting as part of The One Show 2026, The One Show Indies is open exclusively to independently owned agencies, design firms, freelancers, creators, and production companies that are at least 51% owned by founders or staff and operate no more than four physical offices. To encourage broader participation, entry fees are set at 20% lower than standard One Show rates.
Hahn will lead a jury made up entirely of senior creatives from leading independent agencies across the globe, and will also have a vote on the work judged.
Confirmed members of the 2026 One Show Indies jury include Ajaz Ahmed (Studio One, London), Rolando Cordova (L&C, New York), Noel Cottrell (Murder Hornet, Atlanta), Jolene Delisle (The Working Assembly, New York), Ulrika Karlberg (YARD NYC), Hwee Peng Koh (Blak Labs, Singapore), Suzanne Powers (All&, New York), Brian Murray (Zulu Alpha Kilo, Toronto), Mohammed Sehly (BigTime Creative Shop, Riyadh), Ariel Serkin (ISLA, Buenos Aires), Safaraaz Sindhi (Bananas, Johannesburg), Sam Stuchbury (Motion Sickness, Auckland), and Flavio Waiteman (Tech&Soul, São Paulo).
Commenting on the initiative, Hahn said, “It’s true that indies are having a moment right now. But it’s also true that indies have long been the lifeblood of breakthrough and brilliant work in the corpus of advertising. I’m thrilled to be presiding over the inaugural jury of The One Show Indies. And that I got to use the word ‘corpus’ in a sentence.”
The new competition is designed to level the playing field for independent agencies, making the prestige of a One Show Pencil more accessible while shining a global spotlight on indie creativity.
To further support the independent agency ecosystem, The One Club has partnered with Indie Agency News (IAN), a membership-driven media and visibility coaching platform dedicated exclusively to independent agencies. All qualified entrants to The One Show Indies will receive 40% off the first year of a new IAN membership, granting access to a global network of over 300 indie agencies and consultants, along with editorial coverage, visibility coaching, and two awards programmes focused on indie excellence.
Entry into The One Show Indies is designed to be simple, affordable, and accessible. Eligible entrants may submit up to 10 entries in total, with each piece of work entered into a maximum of three categories. Limits have also been placed on the use of resource-intensive case study films as judging material.
The regular entry deadline is January 23, 2026, followed by an extended deadline on February 6, and a final deadline on February 20, 2026. Finalists and winners will be announced in May during Creative Week 2026 in New York, where Gold, Silver, and Bronze Pencils, Merit awards, and a special Crystal Pencil for “Best of Indies” will be presented.
As a nonprofit organisation, The One Club reinvests revenue generated from The One Show and its other awards programmes into education, professional development, and creative initiatives that support talent at all stages across the global creative industry.
