This was my first year to attend Cannes. I went with no expectations, no meetings planned, no grand agenda to check off. I was in the area (doing two workshops on film marketing and distribution, one in London and the other in Amsterdam) and thought I might check it out. What I knew of the festival was the typical red carpet coverage seen on the tabloid TV shows, but I knew there was a film market as well and some opportunities to attend panel discussions with some of the influential names in the industry, studio and independent. I figured if I am in the industry, I should go where the industry congregates; off I went.
You may wonder what does microbudget film have to do with Cannes? A reasonable question because the "movie star" aspect of Cannes certainly doesn't lend itself to micro films. However, I did find that a fair amount of micros are represented in the market and that the topic was being covered in panel discussions. As such, I'll give you an overview of those two situations.
The Cannes market (Marche du Film) is immensely educational. Think your film is something special? Something never seen before? Will absolutely set the world on fire, people will clamor to see its genius simply because it is so amazing? Yeah, so do the thousands (THOUSANDS!!) of other films being touted at the market and you have to see that to believe it. For those who proclaim if you create an amazing story, people will simply discover its genius, they are the most in need of a visit to a film market. The full gamut of films is represented with the smaller companies representing smaller budget films housed in the main Marche building. The larger sales agencies were in the prestigious hotels across the street and along the Croisette.
This education seems easier to grasp at Cannes than at AFM (The American Film Market in Santa Monica, CA in November) because it is much more trade show in spirit. The market floor is open with stands and it is easy to navigate the aisles. AFM is housed in hotel suites and less open to perusal by the non buying filmmaker. Everywhere you look is key art of every genre of film. Some with "stars," lots with blood and zombies, family friendly animals and fantastical animation. Some with strong imagery but most were utterly forgettable. I saw enough to know that if your film didn't have its audience identified and gathered before it reached the Marche floor, you were in for immense competition for attention from buyers.
I did attend many discussions in the UK Film Center Pavilion (the American Pavilion charges 10 euros a day for a pass) on succeeding in festivals, the future of microbudget filmmaking, and success in short films. All free and very intimate. If nothing else, visit Cannes just to hang out in the International Village pavilions to meet the speakers, heads of film funds and film commissions, to talk about co-production opportunities. There was also lots of talk about the need for better marketing and distribution opportunities for independent film. You know I was all over that discussion, but our European counterparts do seem a few years behind in their thinking about this issue. Maybe it is all of that film fund money clouding their entrepreneurial judgment.
