ORGY OF EUPHORIA GRIPS AD FESTIVAL Hard Times Forgotten, Cannes Crowds Celebrate June 22, 2001 By Anthony Vagnoni CANNES (AdAge.com) -- Business may be convulsed by financial disaster back in the U.S. but you'd never know that strolling along La Croissette here. As palpable as the warmth of the Mediterranean sun, a sense of euphoria permeates virtually all activities of delegates to this Photo: Anthony Vagnoni.. Unwinding at a restaurant in the old port section of Cannes are Carol Case, managing partner of Case Giraldi Productions, New York (left), and Michelle Curran, executive producer of Amber Music, London. LISTEN to Anthony Vagnoni's audio report from the Cannes waterfront. International Advertising Festival. The restaurants are packed, the bars are full and the Carlton Terrace, now the epicenter of giddy U.S. agency nighttime social life, is jammed until the wee hours. "It's a stark contrast to the San Francisco Show six months ago, where everyone had that deer-in-the-headlights look," says Geoff Thompson, worldwide creative director for True North's FCB. Mr. Thompson's sentiments were echoed by other senior agency creative directors. Sure, times are tough at home, they acknowledge, but that doesn't mean that Cannes has to become a dirge. 'Full orgy' "It's been a tough six months, and we've all had to make some sacrifices," says Rick Boyko, co-president of Ogilvy & Mather's New York office and chief creative officer for the U.S. "But this event is still a vital part of what we do. It's the one place where you can still have a full orgy of advertising and not feel guilty about it." "This is like a pure place, where we can talk about the work and not worry about the revenue," adds Bob Scarpelli, chairman of DDB Worldwide's Chicago office and its U.S. chief creative officer. "It's Photo: SEMEC, Cannes.. Agency executives call Cannes 'a pure place.' Here, a balcony view from a room at the Carlton Hotel. about what's important, not P.B.T. [profit before taxes] or laying off people." While Mr. Scarpelli and other top creatives repeatedly said that Cannes presented them with an opportunity to focus on the industry's creative product, most people didn't seem to be talking about the work much at all. The shortlist In fact, the first hint of work-related excitement didn't appear until Thursday evening when the list of TV spots that made the cut to the vaunted Cannes shortlist first began to appear at small gatherings and cocktail parties. Suddenly the scorekeeping mentality kicked in, as top agency executives began taking stock of how many -- or how few -- ads their respective networks had amassed on the list. The shortlist contained few surprises, and according to sources privy to the jury deliberations, no clear favorites had emerged as a likely Grand Prix winner late Thursday night, guaranteeing a long day in the Palais for the film jury today. 'Freestyle' fizzles? Top U.S. contenders were said to be spots from Cliff Freeman & Partners for Fox Sports and VW work from Arnold Worldwide, Boston. The biggest surprise seemed to be the failure of Nike's "Freestyle" ad to impress Cannes' international jury. A widely admired black and white piece of tightly choreographed basketball dribbling mixed with breakdancing, the ad was touted as a potential Grand Prix. Suddenly, Photo: Anthony Vagnoni.. Making multiple appearances at festival seminars was legendary director Joe Pytka, shown here on Thursday in Cannes. rumors were rife that the spot might come away emptyhanded, leaving many U.S. creatives scratching their heads. Lowering pirate flag There have been some memorable Cannesian moments this year. For example, Lee Clow, chairman and worldwide creative director of TBWA, reported that the French Coast Guard approached the TBWA yatch and ordered them to lower the Jolly Roger, which has long served as the agency's emblem of irreverent rebelliousness. Seems French law requires ships only fly recognized flags signifying nationality. "We said we won't rape, we won't pillage and we won't plunder," Mr. Clow noted, "but they still said no." Highly visible Joe Pytka Another noteworthy aspect of this year's festival was the high visibility of legendary director Joe Pytka. While Mr. Pytka's work has not dominated this show for years (he three-peated on the Palme d'Or, the award presented to the highest-scoring production house in the competition, back in the mid '90s), it was clearly All Joe All The Time this week. Mr. Pytka was part of a packed creative seminar Wednesday afternoon that also featured the actor Dennis Hopper. Then he did back-to-back presentations on Thursday, one for the Leo Burnett Co. and another for the North American Heads of Production Association, a group of agency directors of broadcast production. In each presentation, Mr. Pytka talked about his approach to making commercials, railed about agency interference in the production process and bemoaned the dearth of great writing in television advertising these days. Dealing with digital age Burnett's Pytka party was one of two major events the agency hosted this year, part of a larger trend in which multinational networks have begun to compete for visibility during the Festival's jam-packed schedule. DDB Worldwide's Tribal DDB subsidiary, for example, mounted a major presentation on dealing with the digital age, as did Euro RSCG. Saatchi & Saatchi and FCB both hosted seminars on directors and filmmaking, while other agencies, including Bates, TBWA/Chiat/Day, Young & Rubicam, Ogilvy & Mather and D'Arcy used the Festival week for some form of internal meeting, network reception or exhibition. Anthony Vagnon is the creative editor of Advertising Age and AdReview.com. © 2001, Crain Communications Inc. Editor@AdAge.com ..