Cannes DAY 8- Nelson Mandela? Naomi Campbell's B-Day, Harvey Weinstein, Tyson Beckford, Benecio Del Torro, and Jeff

THE COMMANDER

Slept in most of the day. Took a nice relaxing bath. Cleaned the apartment. Prepped my bag for Nelson Mandela. Went to the American Pavilion to sell a few credits and met some amazing folks who really loved the concept, including Shevaun Wilder- who will try to put us in touch with Bono, and Michael Mennies who runs an animation production company in Russia and might be able to put us in touch with David Lynch. Also met Otto Nicolayssew, head of the Norwegian Film Commission who invited me to his country to join a documentary workshop residency-

its great to start meeting so many people from different parts of the world who understand what we are trying to do with this. Ultimately, we will need people in every country of the world helping us to set things up. Its still an overwhelming thought, and we need to get some more financial resources before we can start to tackle the logistics. Ran home about 9 to change into fancy pants. I skipped the beach party that The Commander was at- I wanted to get over to VIPs ASAP because I wasn’t sure what time Mr. Mandela might appear. I got to VIPs by about 9:30 and noone was there yet. They were still setting up, so I scoped out the scene. There was a large private tent being set up which gave me hope that maybe Mr. Mandela would in fact be there. I was filming a meeting between the party planner and the security guards when I got asked to leave. Note to self: don’t film the security meetings when you sneak into a party. But I didn’t really care because I was supposed to be on the guest list…for once. As I was being escorted out I asked what time Nelson Mandela might be arriving. They looked surprised- no, they said, Mr. Mandela was not on the list. I came back later when they started to let people in and as it turned out, I was not on the list either. I sat by the water looking at the boats holding my letter to Nelson Mandela as Penelope Cruze, Naomi Campbell, Ivana Trump, and all these other people loaded into the scene. I was pretty bummed. Eventually The Commander showed up with all his models…but he couldn’t get past the mob scene outside the door, so he went into VIPs first. It’s easy for him to get past the VIP door guys. I went in with him and looked for a way to sneak in to the neighboring tent party. I found a curtained partition that I contemplated crawling through, but the risk of getting caught was too high, and I had seen these security guards toss out a couple of people in no uncertain terms. If Mr. Mandela was next door, I might have tried it, but I decided it wasn’t worth it, so I left the Commander inside VIPs and went back outside. There I saw Harvey Weinstein who was also having a hard time getting in. I tried to give him a flier, and he remembered me from when Craig and I chased him down at Sundance. I told him we now had formed a foundation and had Julie Taymor involved, if that might make him more interested. But he didn't really give me the time of day. he said he had other charities that he supports and that he was very busy. So I left it at that. Luckily, we have producers like Aaron and Jeremy Weinstein (no relation) and thousands of other supporters, so we will be just fine without Harvey. The line eventually died down, and just before they shut the door for good, The Commander rolls in. I tag on and slide in as the very last one. The doors close behind me. Inside the party is jamming. Kid Rock and Tyson Beckford are manning the turntables while Cirque de Solei performers are dancing about; the crowd is packed with the kind of good looking people you might expect at a supermodels birthday party. I run into Benecio Del Torro again, but he is just about to dip- he is really nice and says he wants to hear about the project- he tells me to get in touch back in LA. Again, I forget to ask him to autograph a tin of hint mints.

I meet up with Tyson Beckford and give him the pitch; Tyson is really cool and down to earth- he gives me $20, a quick interview, and some really kind wishes. Tyson said he missed his perfect moment- it was the moment his son was born, and that if he could, he would want to go back and be there for that moment. I wondered why Tyson wasn’t able to be there… Toward the end of the party I find myself next to Naomi Campbell, I wish her a happy birthday and ask her if there is any chance of seeing Nelson Mandela because I have an important letter to give him…she suggests I mail it to his foundation- which I will do. Naomi is pretty busy being the life of the party so I excuse myself and wander. I run into Damien, who owns the sound post-production studio in LA that Rachel brought us to shortly before we left, and we dance with some lovely ladies. Just before day break the party came to an end and everyone who could made there way to the docks where little boats transported the party goers to an 800 foot yacht. The Commander took all his girls out there…but the wait was too long…and they were too cold. Probably 30 minutes passes before the girls went over to VIPs to warm up, and I decided to call it a night. The Commander went looking for his girls when I saw a little boat come to pick up a small group standing on another pier. I tagged along and they let me on. I was surprised to see Tyson on the little boat with me. The sun was rising and the sky was the beautiful blue-black. I asked Tyson why he had missed the birth of his son- he was working… We loaded onto this absolutely absurd yacht. This thing was huge. Everyone was still dancing. I wandered around the deck taking in a beautiful sunrise. I didn’t really feel like pitching the one. Again, I had The 1 Second Film stuff in the bag, and I have been carrying it with me everywhere. It doesn’t accessorize well with a tux, but whatever. Kid Rock gave me a five for again getting to the spot. And Naomi Campbell gave me grief for videotaping- so I put my camera away. The music finally stopped at about 8:30 and I got on a little boat and loaded off. The boat dropped us off a good distance away from the palais and the main hotels, so I found myself walking next to a man named Jeff. We decided to split a cab and to walk till we found one. Jeff was a laid back guy wearing a gold sarong and gold vest. I had definitely noticed him throughout the night, and now we fell into a casual conversation. Jeff grew was born and raised in New Jersey but works as a designer based in New York. He asked me how long Ive known Naomi, and I told him that I didn’t know her at all and that I had come here in the hope of meeting Nelson Mandela. Jeff liked that quite a bit, and before long I was explaining to him the concept of The 1 Second Film. But I couldn’t get very far because Jeff was so into it, he kept interrupting me. He was getting so excited about the idea- we ended up walking all the way to the hotel without even noticing. On the way, we passed Damien walking the other direction with two friends, we stopped to say hello, and Jeff was so going off about The 1 that I was starting to feel a little embarrassed because he was going really big with his compliments. I just tried to stay out of it and videotape the interaction. Then while the five of us were talking, Benecio Del Torro comes walking by. It’s moments like this that I’m glad I’m filming- and I managed to get this second all on video (one-handed shaky style + hissing audio). Benecio asked if I was filming a movie, and I told him it was making a documentary about the making of The 1 Second Film. He had to go, but reiterated that we should meet up in LA, but before he left I asked him to sign a tin of Hint Mints. I told him it would mean $500 for the film. He gave me the autograph and said he wanted $25 from the deal. It was pretty funny. Jeff and I said good bye to Damien and his crew, and I walked Jeff to his hotel. We agreed to meet up in June when I will be in NY for my friends wedding. Jeff says he really wants to help out, both financially and logistically- and wants to introduce us to people he knows who can help us to get this done. Im really starting to look forward to New York!

It was a pretty absurd and eventful day, and even though I now realize I am not going to meet Mr. Mandela here at Cannes, I am glad that I tried, and a lot of good has come from this trip…and I still have a few more days to fill.