Audi R8 with Tunerz logo in Cannes

Cannes 2009 was a very different beast from last year. On the one hand, we were attending with a finished script. On the other, the industry is going through a very difficult stage. Prior to going down, there were many horror stories in the press about bankruptcies, the impossibility of raising capital and bad weather. So how did it go?

Cette année à Cannes a été fort différente de la précédente. D’un côté, nous avons un scénario fini. De l’autre, l’industrie subit une crise profonde. Qu’est-ce que ça a donné?

It’s clear that fewer people attended the film market this year. But that is not entirely a bad thing unless you run a restaurant. The meetings we had were productive. Even the discussions that didn’t go the way we would have liked turned out to be productive in that we left with a clear picture of the sort of projects we could come back with. As these discussions were with large French production and distribution houses, the long-term prospects are good.

Transformers on the Croisette

At Cannes, you tend to take more meetings than you strictly need. This led to very constructive discussions with possible co-producers. On a more technical note, we were told that Tunerz might have trouble finding financing as it falls into the “black hole” between €1-4 million. Doing a low budget or going further are the two options, both of which fundamentally change the project and story. What does this mean? Well, we walked past the promo for “Transformers” on the Croisette every morning. That’s a good an example of a B-movie gone large. It’s something worth looking at.

We now have a few major follow-up meetings in Germany and France, plus meetings with directors back home – more of which later.

Maintentant, nous avons une série de rendezvous de suivi en Allemagne et en France. Sans oublier les réalisateurs. A suivre.

Contrairement aux autres années, la seule marque que je n’ai pas vu cette année est la Hummer. Je ne sais pas s’il y a une raison à ça. Le reflexe écologique n’est pas forcément acquis parmi les visiteurs motorisés de Cannes. Click through for the English version

Check the rush hour traffic in Cannes. As I was passing the Palais Stéphanie on the Croisette, I saw this rather unusual sight: two identical white Lamborghinis. The Cannes festival attracts all the luxury cars of the south of France, with an impressive number of Bentleys and Italian cars.

Contrary to previous years, I didn’t see any Hummers – not sure if there’s a reason for that. I can’t say that green issues are exactly a priority for most visitors to the town.