Cannes Film Festival Diary
Posted Wednesday May 25th, 2011 by Total Management
Day 1
After an early wakeup call and a frantic dash to Gatwick airport we arrived at the easyJet desk to be hit with a big extra baggage fine – do these people not know we have 11 days of a pact party schedule and glamour to compete with like you have never seen before – a Kaftan is just not going to cut it! So after a not so glamorous start and a kick in the wallet we head to begin our Cannes journey and the team are in top gear and ready to get this festival started!
After arriving in Nice we head to our apartment where we set up our office for the duration of the festival and split our time between here and on board the ever so glamorous Octavian Yacht which is moored right at the Old Port and in excellent Company with some of the finest Super Yachts that will house some of the biggest names in Film, fashion and music.
First stop we head to Nikki Beach for lunch that turns in to late afternoon drinks. This year Nikki Beach have a pop up on the beach front opposite Le Grand Hotel on La Croissette and although not packed as of yet, once the ‘it’ crowd begin to arrive over the next few days everyone will be after a table. We are joining a friend who has positioned himself at a table with a great view of both the beach with the incoming yachts and the bustling restaurant. A masseuse is working on his neck and shoulders whilst he sips a cold glass of Laurent Perrier, an odd scene to meet in say perhaps a busy London restaurant but in Cannes during the film festival, that’s just how it is!
After lunch we headed across to the old port to do a site visit on Octavian, the yacht on which we are planning to base ourselves for the week and host an event later on in the festival. It has just been completely refitted and absolutely everything inside is brand new. With the view to chartering it out in the future the owner brought Total Management on board to host an event that will showcase the yacht as both an events space and an excellent alternative to a hotel. The yacht looked great which meant we just needed to add the final details and get ready to party!.
Day 2
Busy day today making last minute arrangements for our clients who are attending the opening ceremony. We have over 50 clients in Cannes over the festival and we are responsible to make sure they get the best seats to all the red carpet premiers and make sure they are on the red carpet on time and camera ready. Not an easy task at the best of times but during the festival it’s hectic! This was going to be the first of many very stressful crazy days. However when our clients appear on the red carpet looking chic, it makes it all worth it!
During Cannes film festival there are about 5 big parties to attend daily and it’s important to attend at least two of these key parties. So after we have our clients safely on the red carpet we rush back to the yacht and it’s now our turn to get party ready and try and make ourselves look glamorous – not easy after having spent most of the day rushing around and checking constant emails with changes happening by the minute! Sarah Jessica Parker was hosting one of the biggest parties in Cannes with Vitamin Water at the Martinez Hotel and we only thought it fitting to start with this event to get our Cannes party shoes geared up! And it did not disappoint with everyone from Jude Law, Rosario Dawson, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn plus many more showing up to support SJP! I have to say that Jude Law looked even better in the flesh and given his new single status was certainly chatting to all his female admirers! To top of the evening Lady Gaga performed a private gig right out on the beach front at the Martinez! Doesn’t get much better than that! This set the bar high for all the parties that were to follow on over the next 10 days!
Day 3
Nobu – Pop-up...on the rooftop of The 314 Hotel. Total Management was invited to come along and sample some of Nobu’s finest cuisine at this amazing Pop up restaurant in Cannes - the epitome of style with DJ Bobzilla on the decks had everyone in the party mood! . Japanese inspired cocktails were served throughout the dinner, notable beverages include the Murasaki Shikibu – Vodka and lavender syrup topped with soda water and the Saketini – Vodka, plum liquor, cranberry juice and triple sec. Delicious! As a group we opted to sample a variety of the chef’s recommended dishes which included yellow tail sashimi with jalapeno, lobster salad with spicy lemon dressing, rib-eye steak with truffle teriyaki and grilled shrimps with anticucho. An expensive way to dine but the chef’s at Nobu worldwide are masters and despite this Nobu not being a regular fixture on the Cannes strip, the cooking was as good as ever. Next stop we were invited to go and check out VIP who were hosting a private party with a performance by Duran Duran. We had a number of our Access members in attendance as luckily this was something we could open out to our members. Everyone had an amazing night and some great faces turned up to dance on the revolving dance floor which included Rob Lowe and Owen Wilson. For all of you who have ever watched “About last night “– Yes Rob Lowe is still to die for…
Day 4
Today’s a big day for Total Management. The screening of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides takes place this evening and we are working alongside VW to ensure that all the talent get delivered safely to the red carpet and to any after parties that they are attending. Our fleet of brand new VW convertibles whisked stars off to their desired locations and it was our job to ensure that everything ran as smoothly as possible. When you’re working with the likes of Vanessa Hudgens, Rosario Dawson and Michelle Rodriguez anything could happen but our team were on hand to make sure that all the stars were safely placed in their cars and whisked off to their destinations.. Miramax were hosting the most glamorous party of the evening and with Ron Tutor inviting all his show biz pals it was never going to be a dull evening. With DJ Philly pumping out some of the best tunes in Cannes and the vodka cocktails and Champagne flowing the party rocked on well into the night with many of the stars rocking in after the Pirates of the Caribbean Premiere to throw some shapes on the dance floor!
Day 5
With slightly sore heads we head to breakfast to have a production meeting to discuss our upcoming filming schedule – We are being featured in a documentary about Cannes and they are doing a feature on Total Management and want to follow me around for 3 days to capture some of the more glamorous sides to Cannes and to find out what really goes on behind the scenes in producing some of these high profile events happening in Cannes! So with the schedule finalised we head back to the Octavian to begin preparation for our member’s party on board the Octavian the following day! No rest for the wicked! The sun is out and the morale is high so we can’t complain – this is Cannes Film festival after all – It was never going to be tea and biscuits and early to bed.
Day 6
Today Total Management is hosting an exclusive BBQ for all our Total Access members in Cannes. It’s a nice gathering just to let everyone mingle and enjoy the amazing views on board the Octavian while sipping vodka cocktails and Champagne! With word that Jude Law is popping in to say hi and the general buzz of the festival catching up with everyone – It was a pretty good party all round!! To view pictures, click here.
Day 7
Total Management are hosting a private lunch today with the Art of Elysium honouring Kirsten Dunst. We have 35 guests on board the amazing Lady Joy Super Yacht. It was a wonderful lunch and I think it was great to bring awareness to a truly fantastic Charity. Next stop we had to go and do some filming. We were focusing on the glamour side of Cannes and I visited some of the gifting suites in Cannes and focused on hair and make – up and getting red carpet ready! We work with the wonderful team from In Parlour who had flown down to the festival to add a touch of glamour by supplying some of our VIP client’s hair and makeup all in the comfort of their Super Yachts... You can’t beat the level of glamour this team bring in terms of pampering!
Day 8
Final day of filming today and that’s a wrap people, Cannes continues with more glittering parties and everyone is now starting to feel the pace – The Total Management team start to pack up and we don’t quite have the same bounce in our stride heading to the Easy Jet counter as we did flying over but wouldn’t of missed a minute of it! The team did an amazing job and pulled everything out of the bag just at the right time!
