Compared to the final days of the Film Festival, the Cannes
Lions festival came to an end rather quietly.
Sure, there was the final awards ceremony, just as with the Film Festival,
but for some reason much of the energy just wasn’t there. Maybe it was the heat, or the fact that we’d
been out late the night before for YouTube Pride, but I found it odd considering
that the Film Festival had gone on for four additional days in comparison.
Needless to say, I was exhausted.
We spent the morning in the Debussy Theatre, the only place
where talks were happening for the entire day.
Courtney, Ellis, Shona, Paige, Asunta and I generally stayed in the same
seats for four hours watching talks, with some adjustments as people left and came
back. Me? I will admit I took a nap. But nevertheless, I also took notes.
The first talk we went to, I Fell in Love with an Asshole, was an unexpected gem to be found
during this session. The talk, hosted by
The Martin Agency, featured speakers Jenny Rooney of Forbes Media, David
Fleming of Donate Life, Joe Alexander of The Martin Agency, and filmmakers Will
Speck and Josh Gordon, who came together with Fleming and Alexander to create the
ad campaign The World’s Biggest Asshole for
Donate Life.
The advertisement itself was hilarious, winning a Gold Lion
later in the evening. The talk, however,
focused more on its effectiveness at getting young men between the demographics
of 18 and 35 to sign up as organ donors.
A large issue was with the fact that the advertisement didn’t appeal to
women, taking a risk by labelling itself so blatantly as an ad for “assholes”. However, this was not the intended
demographic.
It put into light a lot of discussion that the Cannes Lions
festival had overall regarding women in the advertising industry. Because, while diversity is certainly
necessary, is there a point where diversity can actually hinder
creativity? If a specific demographic
needs to be reached, are all opinions equally as valid? These are the questions that were brought up
during the production of this commercial.
Personally, I feel that this specific campaign was a special case that,
while it paid off, needed more support from a millennial agency than from an
older generation, simply for the humor they were going for. In this same way, that is a demographic of
diversity that is starting to make its way into the industry.
The majority of the talks for the rest of the morning passed
fairly quietly. Facing Our Fear: Live was an interesting experiment in a live
presentation that came across too distant and similar to a TED talk. This
Talk Isn’t Very Good – Dancing with My Inner Critic was short, and also
fleeting. And of course, The Titanium Trend Briefing: The One to Win.
The One to Watch. became a preview of the award show that, honestly, almost
spoiled it.
However, one talk in between these that stood out
tremendously was by Michelle Morgan from Livity. When
your Passion Burns out Suddenly and Violently was a tremendous look at how
to avoid being overworked, and how to address mental illness. We all have to take our mental health
days. However, I know that I am guilty
of pushing myself too far and taking on too much, burning myself out. (Not to mention the struggle I face with ADD,
anxiety, depression, and severe paranoia that is symptomatic of PTSD.) Morgan touched the audience with her own
story of her struggle, and it’s one that reached many of us personally.
It was a highlight of the day, giving us all a moment to sit
back and reassess our own roles and how to manage ourselves knowing our own
limits. I know that I need to take a
break every once in a while. Even
further, I know that I need to find a job where it’s not so much stressful as
it is exhilarating. That’s probably why
I’m going into film; it’s easy to find passion there, whenever I’m on set.
Following this talk, we had three hours to kill, so we got
an early dinner at an Italian restaurant.
However, still feeling a little burnt out from the day as a whole (and
probably from the entire festival), I left dinner to get in line early and have
a moment of solitude.
I ended up sitting with Dominique, Brittany, Sahar, KC, and
Raina during the awards show, which, thanks to the Titanium Lions Briefing,
were just as predictable as I had expected.
Still, Juan Senor is a god of a man, and I think I might miss him the
most.
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