June 8th would have been Joan’s 90th birthday…my wife and I were lucky enough to work with her for years, and she was the nicest – and funniest – person we were ever lucky enough to meet…
There are true Icons in entertainment, and Joan was one, and when people began to share stories about her, it reminded me of the times I too Joan nd Melissa Rivers to the Cannes Film Festival!
Joan and Melissa’s Cannes Fashion Review!
My wife Alex and I shot with Joan and Melissa for years, creating the “Live From The Red Carpet” award live events as well as the “Fashion Review” series.
23 years ago, we took Joan and Melissa to the film festival to review the celebrity red carpet fashions, and that year I managed to convince the famed Carlton Hotel to allow us to shoot the show on their famous dock!
Yes, we filmed a TV special on the end of the Carlton Hotel’s dock!
It was a blast to take Joan and Melissa to the world’s most illustrious film festival to talk fashion – and we shot the entire show with the French Riviera as our backdrop…
Joan and Melissa were a pleasure to work with – no one worked harder! We shot in Cannes several times with them, and Joan was as recognizable there as anywhere – always stopping to pose for pictures, sign autographs, or just have a nice conversation with fans – she NEVER turned anyone down.
This is Alex at the shoot as well – she had a great relationship with Joan and Melissa!
Joan always flew with a copy of the script, and when she arrives it would be covered in her handwriting – all new jokes she came up with on her flight!
As you can see, she was always up for a fun bit to keep things lively – and working with Melissa was also a dream: she also produced with us and always had inventive ways to make the shows better…what a team they were:
You can see more of our Cannes adventures with Joan and Melissa by clicking on my story here:
I got to hang out with some big stars in Cannes – like the time my Host Michael Castner was interviewing Arnold Schwarzenegger:
That’s me in the orange shirt on the left…you can click here to see the entire story of Arnold’s interview, with one of the funniest moments with the Superstar ever!
Another highlight of that time was interviewing Jim Carrey on the Croisette as well:
He was hilarious, about to become a superstar thanks to “The Mask” – and we got to interview his new co-star Cameron Diaz as well…check out the video:
You can read the whole story here:
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Categories: Books / Media, Cannes Film Festival, Exotic Travel, Hollywood, Memoirs, Pop Culture, Talent/Celebrities, Travel, Travel Adventures, Travel Memoir, TV Show
johnrieber 
This is a wonderful post, John. I saw Joan in the 70’s in San Francisco. Never laughed so hard! I’m always glad to know that a star is also a good person. What a dock overlooking the French Riviera- wow!
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What a lovely job you have! Much better than mine!
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how lucky you both were to have worked on those shows with them and to know them. I’m glad to hear what great people they are/were.
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It is nice to read that someone had positive experiences with Joan and Melissa.Maybe my 2 experiences with them just caught them on a bad day.
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Sorry to hear that! How recently?
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Probably in the 90’s.
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Cannes ‘95: still one of the greatest travel experiences for Grant and me!
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Indeed it was a blast, wasn’t it?
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I never failed to laugh at Joan when I saw her on TV. I adored her bitchiness!
Best wishes, Pete.
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Hi John, I remember reading about your friendship with a Joan Rivers before. She’s hounds like a great person.
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