Vogue has joined with the Fragrance Foundation to bring you one of the best contests we've ever heard of:
The Fragrance & Film Festival.
In honor of the 36th Annual Fifi Awards (it's like the Oscars for perfume,) Vogue is calling upon the creative masses to shoot a short (2 - 3 minutes!), inspirational film about any of the participating fragrances for a chance to win a trip to the 2008 Fifi Awards in NYC (where the film will be shown to industry execs and celebrities), national exposure on ShopVogue.tv, and, oh yeah, $10,000.
The winner will be chosen based on "creativity and the ability to express the brand identity of the featured fragrance."
And which fragrances can you choose from for inspiration? Missoni, Gucci by Gucci, Paris Hilton's Can Can (this is no joke), and Usher for Men and Usher for Women.
Oh, one catch - you cannot make fun of the fragrances in any way, so no to everything that popped into your head when you read "Can Can."
Hopefuls must submit their shorts by May 1.
But you can send us your entry at any time.
posted by guest
Mar 13, 2008 2:09PM
Interesting to see the Fragrance Foundation run with this idea...I proposed the following film to Annette Green in 2002! If this idea sounds a little like the concept of Bond No. 9, well, I thought so too....hmmmm
February 6, 2002
Ms. Annette Green
The Fragrance Foundation
145 East 32nd Street, 8th Floor
New York, NY 10016
Re: Crazy FiFi Idea
Dear Ms. Green,
I get the impression that you’re starting to open up the FiFi Awards to a wider general audience. Toward this end, why not surprise the industry at this year’s FiFi Awards by presenting a 2-4 minute movie that spoofs the idea of a "nose."
As one writer wrote: While Mademoiselle" Chanel herself may have created her famous No.5, which is
still among the world's most famous perfumes, that age is well and truly gone. Today, creating a "liquor" is
the prerogative of a handful of inventors particularly skilled at handling essences: they are known as
"noses". It is not a profession that comes with a diploma since, above all, it requires a love of and a gift for fragrances as well as many years of
apprenticeship not to mention the fact that a "nose" does not smoke and avoids anything and everything that might ruin his or her talent.
For casting, I would try to get Owen Wilson who recently starred in The Royal Tennenbaums. I don’t know if you know this actor, but he’s quite funny and
his nose is actually crooked. It looks like he might have broke it as a kid and never had it fixed.
The spoof would go something like this: He’s been hired to create the most expensive perfume in history by a mysterious female patron. The problem: lack of inspiration and possibly a cold. To get inspired, he walks New York City, absorbing the smells of the various neighborhoods: fish market, a famous
restaurant kitchen, botanical garden, flower market, etc. While he’s visiting each of these places, a man dressed in black wearing dark sunglasses keeps
appearing (the idea is to have a real nose play this role). As a spoof of A Beautiful Mind, this man begins to talk to our nose, guiding him on his journey. The final inspiration could come while he’s sitting in Carnegie Hall. During a lull in a very intimate piece of music, he achoos repeatedly. He’s booed out of the auditorium and goes for a walk
through Central Park, stopping at the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon.
He sees the word "Imagine," closes his eyes, and we see a montage of images from his day around the city.The film ends with our mysterious patron walking
down Fifth Avenue wearing the new perfume…followed by a line of black tuxedoed men…the men suddenly break
out into a dance number as Bobby Short, playing piano nearby on the sidewalk, sings "Manhattan." The final image is a close-up of the patron, who’s riding on the shoulders of two men, wearing a full-length red Valentino dress and diamonds from Harry Winston…as she
sprays on a touch of Manhattan perfume.
The idea is that Manhattan and all its vitality are priceless (especially after September 11th) and by combining all its "scents," you end up with the most
expensive perfume in the world. Each location would be selected for cameos by famous New Yorkers.
Well, it’s just a thought. It sure would be fun to shoot. I like the idea of ambushing the audience with a little fun.
Your truly,
Christopher Peterson