Spy Films director jeff eamer is last year’s First Cut winner and recipient of a trip to last month’s Cannes International Advertising Festival. Playback asked him to pen his experiences on the trip.

‘It was in many ways, to quote Charles Dickens, `the best of times’ and `the worst of times.’ ‘

Excerpts from letters from Cannes…

06.21.98

i didn’t have to wait too long for the bus. It arrived promptly at 9 a.m., and, as it turned out, I was the only one on it, for the entire trip. What a way to arrive in Cannes. I felt like some sort of Parisian country and western star.

At the concierge, I overheard a guest request a helicopter, to take him to his yacht I would suppose. The several-mile stretch of sandy beach is dotted with Hummers, Harleys and harlots. Welcome to the playground of the mega-rich.

Out in front of the Cannes Festival Pavillion, there were six backlit posters featuring Saatchi & Saatchi’s New Directors’ Showcase event: a clapper board marked SCENE 1 TAKE 578; a disposable diaper with a coil of exposed 35mm film in it; a scene from the infamous Pamela/Tommy Lee home video; and a baby’s first view of a doctor from inside the womb, looking out of the cervix. Ah oui, this is Cannes.

06.22.98

all week, they screen the commercials entered in the competition (over 4,500), so you can get a chance to see everything… ‘we’ll be right back after a word from our sponsors… ‘

I went down to the festival this morning to see some of the screenings (walking in the surf nearly the whole way), and no sooner had I sat down, than I saw the spots David McNally and I cowrote and directed for Lemon-Aid. What are those odds?

I had my first crap on a completely automated, electronic toilet: 1. Push a button and the toilet seat lowers, complete with paper lining. 2. Dump. 3. Flush by pushing another button, and, presto, the seats lifts back up again.

The French are so hard to figure out, they either have you dumping in a hole, or on a computer.

I just left the pavilion, having watched about two hours of commercials – all in the fashion/ footwear category. My eyes are bleeding. Only about one in 20 is good, but when it is good, it is great.

I have only met two Canadians so far, Emily and Noemi from Toronto production company filmblanc. A group of Canadians may try to get together later in the week, although I won’t hold my breath.

06.23.98

the highlight of the festival this morning was meeting a dear friend, Juan Carlos Ortiz. We worked together on an exchange program in Toronto at Leo Burnett in ’94. He is now a creative director in Bogata, Colombia.

06.24.98

i headed down to the New Directors’ Showcase ceremony.

It is with sadness that I report that the event organizers of the Showcase mishandled my submission and it was omitted at the screening.

06.25.98

adversity is truly one of life’s greatest teachers; it allows you the opportunity to focus. We never know how we are going to feel in any situation, until we encounter it face to face. It is in these moments that we are given the gift of ‘choice.’

My sights are set on movies; advertising and commercial direction has been – and will continue to be – a great stepping stone.

06.26.98

we will head down to the festival to view the tv short-list winners (they select 500 commercials), then I have an interview with MediaTelevision. Following that, I will meet with David Perry, director of the Showcase. I hope he will shed some light on the unfortunate events of Wednesday morning.

06.27.98

i found out that one of the two spots David and I did, ‘Cruel World,’ is on the short list. Tonight, we will see if it wins a big prize.

06.28.98

i am safely aboard – and seat-belted into 29D – Air France flight 7701 to Paris (then home to Toronto). I encountered several of the Canadians at the check-in counter: Tina Petridis of Radke Films, Boris Damast of Bedford Falls/Angel Films and Carl Jones of bbdo, Mexico. Also in the lineup was Joe Pytka, one of the most famous directors in the world.

We all felt that the experience was so rewarding, and that the ‘international’ component was the ‘something’ that made it so incredible. Though there are many cultural differences, we are all the same in many ways; how we feel about family, friends, love and freedom seems to be so universal.

Some of the winners would have been clearly understood in any language, and still others needed only minor translation.

The screening of the winning spots was spectacular. Though some got whistles (booing European style), most of the work was applauded. How wonderful it was to be in a room with people who cared so much about their work, their peers, their industry and their country.

I left having made friends from all over the world. The people of the international commercial and film community make Cannes and the festival incredibly young, vibrant, and charming.

I am sure that I will return many times, for both my commercial and my movie career, and will share, laugh, cry, support, compete, win, lose, and most of all, live.