Tristan Viney and Carl Robertson’s Cannes Diary

Tristan Viney (right) and Carl Robertson (left), a young creative team from GPY&R Brisbane, are competing in the Film category of the Cannes Young Lions competition. Here they give a rundown of the night before.

What does it feel like to be going to Cannes?

Like a kid at Christmas, that’s what.

But I’m not talking about a garden-variety kid at like you and I. Not the kind of kid who grew up grazing their knees, hitting cane toads with a 9-iron and sharing a single, sticky copy of Pokemon Blue on a Gameboy Color. Oh no…

We’re talking about the kind of kid who knew Santa was a fraud and orchestrated their very rich and very divorced parents into a nuclear arms race-style gift buying frenzy every Christmas. The kind of kid who couldn’t even see the Christmas tree through all the gifts.

That kind of kid.

It’s the only way to describe it. Because right now it’s 3:25am and, for the first time in years, I can’t sleep due to excitement. And after the horrible 43 hours it took us to get here, my body is screaming, “Tristan, shut down the fucking laptop and get some fucking rest you fuck.” But I can’t. I’m just laying here wide-awake because, just like that diabolical Richie Rich at Christmas, I have no idea what to expect, but I know it’s going to be awesome.

Now, I’m not rambling on about this to gloat, but in an attempt to demonstrate just how fortunate Carl and I both feel to have this opportunity. We’ll definitely be soaking up as much creative inspiration as possible from the likes of Spike Jonze, David Droga and many, many others.

Our 48-hour FILM briefing is on Wednesday afternoon at 4pm and we’re going to give it everything we’ve got for Australia, for GPY&R Brisbane, and for sticky Gameboy Colors everywhere.