Melon Anticipation.

Funtime in Cannes is over, and after the glitz and the glamour it's back to the daily grind in Bucharest. The heat is unbelievable at S7 HQ, making work all the more harder. It's really depressing, really tedious and no fun at all. To make matters worse our mission for the day is a tough one. The question being, "How do you drop an 8Kg watermelon on somebody's head without killing them?"




The Get Loaded feng sui, state of the art, optimal inspiration zone

The Get Loaded crew were shooting a short 15 second tv ad and this was the main stunt, the big action scene. Of course we called up a few of our big shot movie director friends and asked them for guidance. They all came back with the same answer, "special effects". Not having hours to spend in post production we had to come up with an alternative solution. The creative brains retired to the "blue sky thinking room" and with the aid of some hi-tech physics based research came up with...

this.


For the full story you'll have to look out for it on TV. But just to reassure you that all our scientific research paid off, here's the before and after shots.

Brazilian's Young Creative Party

Last night Roxana and I took a couple of hours off from looking after the kids and were fortunate enough to be invited onto a rather exclusive yacht for the Brazilian Young Creatives party. The Brazilians have been quite prolific here this week, winning lots of awards and critical acclaim, and it was great to mingle and chat with some of the prize winners and discover first hand what it's like living in Brazil today and the cultural differences between South America and Europe. It was a great party with good music and a free and vibrant atmosphere. Oh yea, and Brazilian women are sexy as hell!

Chrome Lamborghini

There are quite a few flashy cars cruising the streets of Cannes, almost as many as Bucharest! This Lambo however got the most heads turning. Apparantly 50 cents had his Lamborghini chromed, but he wasn't driving this baby. Saudi number plates and obligatory chick in the passenger seat finished the look.

Digital And Press Awards

Two nights ago we all went to the awards ceremony for the Digital Lions and the Press Lions. Agency wise Saatchi & Saatchi cleaned up with 3 print Grands Prix and 13 Print Gold Lions. Digitally, Nike Plus and the Diesel - Heidis hijack sites won Grand Prix's. Nike Plus has been mentioned 100's of times this week. If you haven't seen them check them here:

NIKE PLUS
DIESEL

Microsoft were the main sponsors of the digital awards and were telling everyone that Hollywood stars were arriving for the show, including Brad Pitt and Johnny Depp. Of course they turned out to be look-a-likes, and fooled everyone for about 5 seconds.

The Haggard Hookers Home

Before I begin I would like to reinforce the fact that this is purely observational and I have in no way participated in this strange phenomenon.

On tuesday night we went to a huge party on the beach. Shit music was made more palatable with free food and drink, as the advertising crowd layed down their best (worst) dancefloor moves. Creativity runs through these people's veins, so why should it stop at the dancefloor! As a delegate part of my job is to look after the youngsters from Romania and as I take this responsibility very seriously I left the party early and walked home with a clear head and clearer conscience.

As I strolled along the sea front I passed a couple of pensioners who were dressed up like Christina Aguilera on a bad day. Each to their own i thought. 50 yards later however I passed another old girl, again looking like a prune in fish-nets and bright red lipstick. As I passed she gave me a knowing look and what looked like a wink (although this could have been the onset of Parkinsons). There was now no mistaking it, these were indeed 'ladies of the night'.

What, in a town full of the rich and the beautiful, are these geriatric hookers doing here, and who's picking them up? It seems very strange to me, and for now, I don't have an answer...

I didn't get a chance to take any pictures of the 'talent', so here's some of the party.

A Sunny Tuesday Afternoon

Today the sun came out for the first time since we arrived. I had been in seminars all morning, so when Sir Bobby Charlton was set to take the stage and talk about the branding of Manchester United !?! I took the opportunity to have a wander along the beach front and take some photos.

The First Award Ceremony

My delegate's badge, sportingly modeled by Keanu Reeves

Last night was the first of the galas and award ceremonies. We all got suited and booted and headed off to watch the show, held in the main Festival Hall.

The compere, who had obviously modeled himself on Nicolas Parsons, introduced some outstanding international work from around the world. After lots of backslapping, self gratification and arse licking the awards were over, so we headed off to the beach for the after party, where the majority of people managed to get blind drunk, even at 10 euros each for a small beer.

Cannes as you can imagine is outrageously expensive. The shortest journey in a taxi will leave you 15 euros short, and a small bottle of Evian from the hamburger caravan is nearly 2 quid!

There were six in the bed...

... and the little one said "Roll Over".

I was told the accomodation for 8 nights in Cannes was going to cost 300 euros. For this price I was to get my own room in a 2 bed apartment. I had heard many people saying they were paying nearer 1000 euros, so this seemed too good to be true... and it was!

The reality of the situation was that a 4 person apartment consisted of one studio room with a small double bed and a sofa bed, which didn't unfold properly! This would be an ideal 4 person accomodation but only if it was two couples who were partial to a spot of wife swapping.

To add to the confusion we had only booked for a week and so an extra day was unaccounted for and we didn't have the money to pay for this, so we had to lose one of the rooms. So, instead of a room of my own I now have to share one room with 6 other people. Mmm, this is going to be comfy!
No matter how hard we tried, this was as far as the sofa bed would unfold, the end pointing 30 degrees upwards!"

The Journey To Cannes

Bonjour Tous Les Mondes! Well, after much anticipation the french adventure begins. I have been invited to go to Cannes for the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival along with 15 young excited students from Bucharest who were chosen from the Gradinita programme for whom I made a seminar at the Orange Concept Store some weeks back. They invited me along to look after them, make sure they don't get into any trouble and enhance their Cannes experience. This is a trip of a lifetime for most of the kids, many of whom have not ventured out of Romania, let alone travel by areoplane.

We all met up at 4am on sunday morning at Otopeni airport. No one had had any sleep due to the exciting prospect ahead. The proposed plan was to fly to Milan, board a train for Nice, then another train to Cannes. Arrival at our final destination was scheduled for 3pm in the afternoon. However on arrival in Milan we found out that the train was fully booked. This meant our already travel weary team would have to hang around in Milan for a further 6 hours. We could try and grab a few hours sleep in the train station but the wooden benches and noisy surroundings didn't make that an appealing option, so we took in the sights of Milan, visiting the renovated cathedral and surrounding area.
Outside Milan Train StationThe "Duomo", Milan's Cathedral


Marbled pavements reflected the exclusive offerings of Prada, Louis Vuiton and the like while the natives strutted by or gossiped in the many cafes's sipping expresso's and gesticulating wildly.

At 3pm we finally boarded the train to Nice and most people got some sleep. The train left Italy and sped on through the French Riviera and reached Nice at 8pm. Another train ride and one hour later and we were at our final destination, Cannes.
The 'space retro' stylings of the foyer in our apartment block. Unfortunately we were in for a surprise when it came to the actual rooms!

Wise Words

When I was a kid growing up in the big wide world my mum (as mums do) frequently offered friendly words of advice. The first of these, as I remember, was please don't get a tattoo. Sorry mum. i didn't pay much attention to that one. The other piece of advice I particularly remember was to visit the dentist on regular occasions. So with this in mind I popped into the local dentist just off Str. Titulescu to get a check up.


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Unfortunately I should have paid more attention to the name of this establishment!! "Romania" and "dentistry" don't translate so well when joined together in english.

TIFF Film Festival - Cluj

Last wednesday the Sector 7 crew jumped on the sleeper train bound for Cluj to catch the Transylvanian Film Festival. 8 hours later with little sleep we were welcomed at the Hotel Transylvania, our home for the next 4 days. The Hotel was ideally situated in the centre of Cluj, Transylvania's capital city. Unfortunately this was the hotel's only redeeming feature. I was holed up in a single bed, windowless room which felt like a prison cell, all be it less well constructed. Within 10 minutes the door had fallen off the wardrobe, the toilet roll holder came away from the wall, then the shower door fell off! Well, it could have been worse, we could have booked into the Hotel Beyfin. (see below)




So, for the next 4 days we decorated the town with Get Loaded animals and stickers, watched loads of films and made new friends. Of those new friends an honourable mention must go to Ragnar Bragason. Ragnar is a big, bald Icelandic director who we met and partied with on thursday night. It turns out he directed the Sigur Ros video with the handicapped people on the beach (youtube it if you haven't seen it) which i absolutely love, and was at the festival because his 2006 fim "Born" was being shown. Unfortunately he was better at directing than he was at holding his drink, for at 6am he was wrapped around the porcelain in our hotel room talking to the toilet. How unfortunate Ragnar! Luckily fortunes change, and that night he was awarded the Best Director award and the smile returned to his pale Icelandic face. Congratulations Ragnar, we hope to see you again.



Friday passed with more films, followed by the Kodak party which was situated in a beautiful casino overlooking a lake. Free food and drink lured us there, but terrible music forced us away. Diesel club was the next destination and we found ourselves amongst the now familiar faces of the various directors, actors and other film people who seem to spend their lives travelling from film festival to film festival with their fringe films. These films all have a similar thread. Firstly they must be depressing. They must be "real" and raw, and they must contain drugs, the struggle for survival, homosexuals and/or incest. Happy endings as you can imagine are a rarity.



Saturday saw much of the same, although I did manage to spend a few hours wandering the streets of Cluj. Cluj is a much more attractive city than Bucharest, very Transylvanian, but somewhat dull. Even though the film festival was on, the city seemed almost deserted. That night we went to the closing party which was situated at a venue on a hilltop overlooking the city. To get to the venue you had to travel down a muddy, potholed road with no lights to guide you, and in typical Romanian style the police had blocked access to cars (a security measure because the Prime Minister was there). So we had to walk, in complete darkness through the shit to get to the party. Difficult at the best of times, this proved too much for many of the ladies in their high heels and dresses! Once again their was free food and drink. Once again this was accompanied by shit music. There is only one thing worse than a Staus Quo record, and that's an appaling covers band playing a Status Quo record.


So to sum it all up, Cluj - good films, terrible music.
Films to see:
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days.
Born (Children)
California Dreaming
When The Road Bends - Tales Of A Gipsy Caravan
Fost Baterist (Ex Drummer)
Antena

Lucky Michaela

Spotted in Unirii. I imagine the conversation went something like this,

"Good evening my dearest. As a token of my undying love for you, i've bought you a little something."

"Oh wow, you're the greatest! What is it?"

"Well, its in the driveway."

"Oh my God, have you bought me a Ferrari?"

"Mmmm, not quite, now get to work."

rOBOTS rEPORT

Saturday was a great night. It was a full house at Web Club. The Robot's drank and ate their records whilst watching the earth people perform strange ritualistic body movements on the dancefloor.