Angels hanging from ropes from the sky, throwing jewels from the heavens; 45,000€ bottles of champagne; Martha Stewart and Robert Redford; fireworks over the Mediterranean; countless cocktails, three course meals and 30 degree+ heat… Just a glimpse into my life in Cannes for the past 11 days at the Cannes Lions Festival. For 11 days I lived this ridiculously glamorous, but simply exhausting life, experiencing things I never even imagined I would, whilst taking them for granted within hours. If I ever see another glass of Rosé or olives, it will be far too soon.
You’re probably thinking I sound like a right Pratt, and you’re right – I do, but it really is amazing how quickly you grow tired of glamour and delicious food, and long for an early night with Marian Keyes and some peanut M&Ms. I loved the festival and Cannes of course, but as I write this I am still feeling absolutely shattered, so much so that I’m too tired to chew the delicious sugar jam donut sitting across from me as I type! My precious whanau, I think this conveys how truly tired I really am.
So where to begin? Perhaps the day that seems so long ago – 16 June, 2011…
Alison and I flew into Nice and were met with the most stunning views of the Mediterranean sea. You hear how beautiful the Cote d’Azur is, but it really does blow your mind well and truly! After being dropped at our hotel where we were upgraded to suites (!) that were ‘inspired by the Moulin Rouge’, we spent a good half hour squealing and taking countless photos, before heading to the Majestic Hotel beach, where we spent the rest of the evening sipping cocktails on a sun lounger, before heading to a rooftop bar for a few more, followed by a beautiful dinner. Not a bad start, but Alison was quick to assure me that this wouldn’t be my life for the next 11 days, rather we were savouring the precious few hours of calm before the storm that is Cannes arrived. She was very right, but it was lovely to have a day or so to get my bearings, relax and soak up some sun, before being thrust into madness.
Friday night we headed to Baoli, which is this amazing club and celebrity central during the Film Festival, where 45,000€ bottles of champagne were bandied about like nobody’s business. Sadly our budget didn’t extend to this, but we had a wonderful time nonetheless, which included bars lit up on fire, staff that seemed to come straight out of a Miss World pageant with the politeness and good service the French are renowned for (irony intended), as well as oil billionaires practically bathing in jewels and hair gel. A great night and such a cool experience!
Saturday the games began! A particular highlight was working with the Young Lions Competition, which saw the top two creatives from each country across the world come together to compete. They were given 24 hours to work on a brief provided by the charity, and the work that came out was just outstanding. My favourite part? When Australia were announced as the winners, and it turned out they were both Kiwis! Even better, was the fact that it turned out we had mutual friends – blimmen New Zealand, isn’t that always the way!? They were lovely and it was so nice to be able to share in their excitement a little – I had to stop myself from choking back tears of joy and ripping into a haka right on the spot!
The pattern continued all week, with a full day of work, followed by a full night of eating, partying and networking. Sounds amazing and believe me it was, but as you had to be so on form 24 hours a day, it was truly exhausting. You didn’t have a spare moment to yourself, but as everyone was on the same page you just got on with it and loved each moment. That’s not to say Brad didn’t get some stressed out phone calls, but bless him – he played the moral support part so well, it was like I had my own personal cheerleader right beside me the entire time.
Every night was a different party, most of which were on the beach – from bare-footed raves, to angels hanging from beams throwing glitter and jewels down on party-goers… It was beyond amazing, but I must admit the glitter got a little old quite quickly. I noticed an older guy trying to work his way through the crowds to get off the dance floor and he was absolutely covered head to toe in gold glitter. I couldn’t help but burst out laughing and when he saw me, he simply said ‘Oh f*** it – it’s worse than I thought isn’t it?!’
Picture the most extravagant beach wedding you can, right on the Mediterranean coast, times this by ten, and then you will have an idea of the opening and closing galas. Fireworks, champagne, gourmet food, seafood galore, world-class DJs – let’s just say I know have very high expectations for my 30th birthday!
It was the most amazing career experience and even when I was just metres away from Robert Redford and Martha Stewart, I still couldn’t believe I was there. I did feel rather close to Brad Pitt however, as I walked the same red carpet he did just days before, and drunk Rosé from his very own vineyard. It was so inspiring, particularly my main man Robbie Redford, but let’s save that for a Skype conversation!
I’m making it sound like it was all play and no work, which believe me isn’t the case, but the two were mutually exclusive and the 11 days just sort of merged into one whole sleep-deprived, crazy experience, where you were operating at 110 per cent the entire time. Now I just need a few weeks to come back down to zero and thankfully July seems to be the month this will happen – the sun is shining in London (finally) and so far we have had two days of sun… Although, the forecast is for an electric storm tonight with monsoon rain, so it seems the pilot was right in his prediction when we touched down in London: “Summer is finally here, so make sure you make the most of it as it’s only going to last two days!” Ah feck it – back to reality!
Love to all and looking forward to some catch up Skype sessions. Ring my PA to book an appointment!
J’taime! x
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