This story first appeared in the May 16 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.
Actors, producers, directors -- you expect to run intothose types at the Cannes Film Festival. But who's the Chinese guy spraying champagne all over the beach? Or that Saudi dude on that yacht chock-full of fashion models? Cannes always is loaded with characters, especially these last two weeks of May, when a movable circus of oil tycoons, obscure royals and pampered socialites are drawn to the white-hot lights of the Croisette like moths -- if moths drove Ferraris -- to a flame. Below, THR identifies the six main types of partyboys (and girls) to be found this time of year, year after year, on the French Riviera.
PHOTOS:When Brigitte Bardot Stormed the Beach
24-Hour Fete People
They own mansions in multiple cities, fly in private jets and prefer to entertain and be entertained on a global scale. These are the nomadic super-wealthy who look at the Cannes Film Festival as just one more stop on their perpetual world-party tour. "The people we see in Cannes," says one regular festival attendee, "it's the same crowd we see in St. Barts, Sardinia, Ibiza, Miami, New York, Gstaad and Courchevel." Some super-rich come to Cannes and at least pretend to do movie business, like the Saudi prince who invited a producer aboard his yacht under the pretense of investing in the producer's film slate, then decided he'd rather lift anchor and sail off to party in St. Tropez. "The engines started revving, and girls were appearing from every corner of the boat," recalls the producer, who didn't go to St. Tropez ("I had a meeting with the Japanese"). A few jet-setters, like socialite Denise Rich, ex-wife of pardoned billionaire trader Marc Rich, have become institutions on the Riviera (Kanye West and Kim Kardashian were overnight guests on her yacht a couple of years ago). But lots of folks entertaining on barges in the harbor are just passing through (they're usually the ones blasting club music at full volume). These Cannes wannabes are easy to spot on the beaches, as well. A few years ago, a luxury concierge and "lifestyle management" service called Quintessentially (its motto: "Anything, anywhere, anytime") helped a super-rich Chinese client host a Cannes beach party. He paid for 2,500 bottles of bubbly to be distributed to his guests so that he could break into the Guinness Book of World Records with the largest champagne spray in history (tragically, Guinness has yet to recognize the achievement).
The Young and Loaded
Think spring breakers, but with their father's AmEx Black card, plus fat-walleted finance guys who jet down from London and Zurich. They tend to spend their Cannes nights on the far end of the Croisette, in places like the VIP Room, Baoli or mega-club Gotha, where bottle service for a methuselah (six liters) of Dom Perignon Ros costs upward of $200,000. "Rich kids from all over come in and spend thousands and thousands," says one Cannes observer. "These are people who have a lot of money and who will spend a fortune to hang with celebrities."
The Bling Ringers
Yes, there are some bargains to be found, if you're rich enough. Some lucky folks even manage to finagle a complimentary trip to the festival. Every year, luxury brands like the jewelry company Chopard, one of the festival's official sponsors, fly their biggest-spending clients to Cannes, whisk them in all-access cars to premieres, dinners and afterparties, and treat them to lymphatic drainage massages and other perks worth tens of thousands of dollars. Just a small token of appreciation for the hundreds of thousands the clients spend on brilliant-cut diamond necklaces.
STORY: Cannes--6 Hot Mediterranean Yacht Trips (Even for Non-Billionaires)
Continue reading here:
Cannes: 6 Types of Tacky Festival-goers, From Rich Eurotrash to Arabs in Bugattis