Inside the bakery

August 22nd? What the hell have we been doing for the last month, I’m sure
you asking? Well if you must know we’ve been pretty damn busy down here on
Stephens Mews. Doing what? Well shall we take a spin round the building and
find out?

The digital team have been selling Spooks: Code 9 to the interweb. Imagine if
Paris Hilton was a spy and the entire fate of the human race depended on her
quick wits. Well that little fantasy was made possible by
www.facespook.co.uk. You could upload any mugs face, in fact Deputy Dudley
looked the big dog in it, and they would star in their own little mini
series.

Cake Live took the company to Prague for a weekend for the launch of the new Saints
Row game and ended up in Helga’s World of Pain – the game is supposed to be underground, but this took it a bit literally.

The Comms team has been a bit mad lately as we prepare for 2 massive
events in the next week. Firstly Thursday (25th) sees the launch of our latest
project with Vinspired. Vfavours focuses around reclaiming used clothes and
customizing, remaking them and basically recycling fashion.

And the other big Cake event takes place next Tuesday (30th) with Ford
Fiestas Tango at the Tower. I suppose a cross between Strictly Come Dancing,
Herbie Goes To London, a live orchestra, loads of celebs and an iconic
setting…sounds pretty much like a standard
Cake event then.

I’m sure there’ll be loads of pics to go up, lots of videos and pages and
pages of coverage to go up on the site, so check back in the next few days
and see just how fantastically exciting the world is…

Cake Live pulled off the mother of all brass bands yesterday as over 300 brass band players congregated in Trafalgar Square to play the Neighbours theme tune, led by the legend that is Harold Bishop. Musicians came far and wide to be a part of this poignant moment to mark the end of the soaps long term partnership with BBC 1 and to celebrate a harmonious beginning on Five.

When I heard that one of my heroes was going to be at Trafalgar Square I jumped at the chance to go down and report first hand on this momentous occasion, but it seemed I was not the only one as members of the public turned up by the bucket load….

I fought my way through the crowds elbowing anyone who stood in my way even the bird holding the placard ‘I love Harold’ just to get a glimpse of one of the best loved characters in soap history..and why the hysteria? One man Harold Bishop, a soap icon, a living legend

So what is it we all love about the lovable Neighbours veteran? So many have passed before…the beloved bouncer, Joe Mangel the endearing Helen Daniels and lets not forget Jim Robinson ( who has experienced a glorious revival over the last couple years OC/Ugly Betty/Lost) yet we can’t seem to shake the Godfather of Neighbours, the man who came back from the dead to be re united with his beloved Madge, the caring grandfather and of course lets not forget his sensational Tuba Talents.

As I kicked and bit my way to the front of the Orchestra congregated beautifully on the steps the site of Harold in the flesh made the formation complete! He was every bit as perfect as I imagined him… handsome, polite, and humorous, cracking jokes to his adorning fans I thought to myself if only my Grandma was single…..Harold Bishop my Step-Grandfather (Wow!)

As the band started playing the undisputed Ramsay Street theme tune I couldn’t help but get emotional as flashbacks of Neighbours characters fast forwarded in the corner of my mind….Scott, Charlene, Gail, Annalise, Lance, Beth, Brad- the harmonious sounds of the trumpets, tubas, trombone, and french horns had the audience transfixed….for that sweet short moment we were all living on Ramsay Street!

Thank you Cake Live for a trip down memory lane, for a harmonious rendition of Neighbours and for bringing me within feet of my hero! Here is to a new beginning on Five!

James x

PS I love you Harold!

AMA

Carling Supports saw Carling scour the UK on a mission to unearth the best local music talent. Entrants were encouraged to upload their two best tracks to www.carling.com and four outstanding bands from Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow Liverpool and Newcastle were given the opportunity to play at their local Carling Academy. The prize at stake was a Supporting slot at a Carling venue, priceless exposure in NME and the opportunity to showcase their talents to an industry crowd in London.

Of the twenty-five hopefuls, the five finalists were:

Pinstripe (Carling Supports Bristol)
Page 44 (Carling Supports Birmingham)
Stoneleaf (Carling Supports Newcastle)
The Inventors (Carling Supports Liverpool)
Yoshi (Carling Supports Glasgow)

Armed with a tour bus with their name on it, our five intrepid bands set out on a mission to conquer London in the Carling Supports Showcase and didn’t fail to impress. The event kicked off with the hilarious comedy of award winning Andrew Maxwell, who introduced the bands and ensured there was never a still moment in the two hundred strong crowd.

First up came Pinstripe; showing no signs of a band of eighteen-year-olds who have been playing together for less than two years. They breezed through a string of catchy hits of the future, showing the maturity of group way beyond their years.

Then the crowd were treated to the musical delights of Merseysides The Inventors. The scouse six some looked at home on Supports stage and picked up a room full of fans at the same time. Sounding like a cross between The Coral and The Zutons, they had the room swaying to their quirky grooves from start to finish.

Third on the bill was Birmingham’s Page 44. Taking the night in a rockier direction, they blasted out a string of anthems that would be as home in a stadium as they were to the intimate Supports crowd.

Just as the crowd began to mosh, Yoshi took over and filled the room with a funk injected dance floor explosion. Sounding like a Scottish version of Junior Senior, they rolled out the baselines, plucked the funky licks and rapped to the crowds delight.

Last but not least came Stoneleaf. The Geordie three piece finished the night with a heavy dose of grunge that left the crowd with something to talk about on the way home. It was no surprise to see an entourage of happy fans in attendance for the polished outfit.

Ice-cold Carling, a happy crowd and the best new music made the Carling Supports Showcase the complete live experience! Look out for its return in 2008.

“Thursday night saw the launch of the new Living programme ‘Dirty Dancing: The Time of your Life’ a 10-week dance reality show that takes 16 dancers to the Mountain Lake Resort where the cult classic was filmed to try to win the coveted year long contract with top dance agency Bloc at the Cobden Club.

We invited 9 couples from 9 media agencies to battle it out on the dance floor in order to win a fantastic prize. We gave each couple dancing lessons from a professional choreographer who taught them a dance routine from the film and most importantly showed them how to dance dirty!

All couples on the night put in an amazing amount of effort and performed in perfect Baby and Jonny style in front of around 250 of there screaming peers and 3 judges. Everyone was great but only one couple could be crowned champions…….. and that was the hip shaking Tom Rovery and Carsten Tomkins from PHD who didn’t miss a step and showed the best Dirty Dancing of the evening.

I think its fair to say that not only did everyone have a brilliant evening……they had the time of their lives!!”

Wow, its been quite a summer here at Cake Towers and with Bestival taking place at the weekend so heralds the closure of Cake’s Summer of Love 2007. Over the (non) summer various members of staff worked in a vast array of roles at nearly all the major festivals across the UK (and one member of staff even reached Texas!). Throughout the summer a little tally has been made and herewith are the Cake Festival Statistics. 2007…

Most miles traveled by an employee - 23,208 (by Account Director Tim Pearson)
Media schmoozed – 893
Total Hotel Room nights booked – 431
Famous people met – 263 (A-C list including bands)
Number of Wellies worn – 236
Photographers escorted – 164
Hours of footage filmed for Carlings Festival Postcards - 73
Most Festivals attended – 16 (by Account Director Tim Pearson)
Blisters registered – 14
Minibars emptied – 9
Average number of phone recharges a day – 3.4
Cars stuck in mud – 2
Gigs staged in a truck! - 1