MARKET
The Cannes Film Market has launched Cannes Investors Circle, which will commence with a keynote introduction by Liesl Copland, Participant’s executive VP, content and platform strategy, who will offer her perspective on the modern media landscape. The initiative will also feature a panel discussion titled Navigating Film Finance in a Changing World that aims to offer insights on global financing and market trends in 2023 and beyond. The panelists will include Elisa Alvares, finance expert at Jacaranda Consultants; Rikke Ennis, CEO of REinvent Studios; Emilie Georges, co-founder and CEO of Paradise City; Mike Goodridge, U.K. producer at Good Chaos who is also presenting Jessica Hausner’s “Club Zero” in the festival’s official competition; with film festival consultant Wendy Mitchell moderating.
The event will also include an invitation-only session where VIP private investors will listen to pitches of nine new global film projects at the investment stage. The projects include films budgeted at up to €12 million and feature producers and directors who have previously won the Palme d’Or and Berlin’s Golden Bear.
“The aim of the Marché du Film with the Cannes Investors Circle is to support artistically and financially ambitious film projects,” said Guillaume Esmiol, executive director of the market. “For the first time, we are selecting projects of the highest caliber to present to top-tier investors. In light of the current financial landscape and Cannes’ unique positioning, we believe it’s relevant to explore new opportunities for funding through private investment, and we hope this inaugural event will grow in the coming years.
The event will take place on May 21 at the market’s new venue, Plages des Palmes.
FESTIVAL
Highlights of the 69th Taormina Film Festival (June 23-July 1) include the Italian Premiere of “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” directed by James Mangold and featuring Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antonio Banderas, John Rhys-Davies, and Mads Mikkelsen with the cast in attendance; and the world premieres of “The Worst Days,” directed by Edoardo Leo and Massimiliano Bruno, and featuring Edoardo Leo, Massimiliano Bruno, Anna Foglietta, Renato Carpentieri and Fabrizio Bentivoglio and “Lo Sposo Indeciso,” directed by Giorgio Amato and featuring Gianmarco Tognazzi, Ilenia Pastorelli, Stefano Pesce, Francesco Pannofino and Morena Gentile.
The festival will also feature the Italian premieres of “Little Richard: I Am Everything,” a documentary about the life and career of the legendary musician, directed by Lisa Cortes, “A Thousand and One,” directed by A.V. Rockwell and featuring Teyana Taylor, and “Jeanne du Barry,” directed by Maïwenn and featuring Johnny Depp.
A retrospective on the career of director John Landis, featuring films selected by Landis himself, will be showcased throughout the week at the Palazzo dei Congressi in Taormina. In addition, a retrospective of actor Willem Dafoe and director Abel Ferrara celebrating their collaboration and friendship will screen the seven films the duo made together including “New Rose Hotel” (1998), “Go Go Tales” (2007), “4:44 Last Day on Earth” (2011), “Pasolini” (2014), “Tommaso” (2019), “Siberia” (2020) and “Sportin’ Life” (2020).
90th Anniversary Celebration of Warner Bros., featuring a selection of 25 of the greatest films in their catalog, and a documentary presentation of the history of the studio will feature at the festival. The week of festivities will kick off with the star-studded “Pavarotti Forever” opening gala at the Teatro Antico di Taormina, benefitting the Luciano Pavarotti Foundation.
Arts and entertainment veteran Barrett Wissman, who for the last 20 years has been the chair of IMG Artists, is the festival’s executive and co-artistic director.
ACADEMY
The European Film Academy has added a record 462 new members, who will all be eligible to vote. Members are invited once per year. Among the new members, 50% are women, 49% are men and 1% defines as non-binary. The country-wise membership break up is Germany (68), France (38), Switzerland (37), Poland (36), Italy (33), Spain (24), UK (28) and Ukraine (26). In addition, members have joined from the Netherlands (19), Sweden (13), Serbia (11), Austria (10), Norway (9), Bulgaria, Finland, Iceland, Turkey (all 8), Belgium and Denmark (both 7). A fifth of the new members joining are under 36 years old.
New members include Michiel Dhont (Belgium), Karim Aïnouz (Germany), Frank Petzold (Germany), Willem Dafoe (Italy), Jerzy Skolimowski (Poland), Kutluğ Ataman (Turkey), Anastasia Karpenko (Ukraine) Christina Tynkevych (Ukraine) and Mia Bays (U.K.).
CONFERENCE
The Royal Television Society conference is set to take place in Cambridge this year from Sept. 20-21. This year’s program is titled Too Much to Watch with industry execs and thought leaders gathering to discuss the “opportunities and impact of changing consumption habits reshaping global television.”
The headline partner for the conference will be Channel 4, with the network’s CEO Alex Mahon chairing the event. Among the industry names attending are CAA co-chair Bryan Lourd, BBC director general Tim Davie, Sky’s group CEO Dana Strong and ITV CEO Carolyn McCall.
APPOINTMENTS
Kash Bennett will serve as Society of London Theatre‘s (SOLT) president, initially serving as VP until 2024, and then taking over from current president, Eleanor Lloyd. Holding the post of managing director of National Theatre Productions for over seven years, as well as serving three years on the SOLT board, Bennett is responsible for delivering all live theatre performed outside of the National Theatre, including the West End, Broadway and all U.K. and international touring productions.
***
U.K.-U.S. producer October Films has appointed Mohammed Adnan as its New York-based head of development, U.S. Adnan was previously global head of development at Pulse Films, where he was responsible for helming the company’s non-fiction arm in the U.S., U.K. and Europe. His credits include “Harry Potter 20th Anniversary: Return To Hogwarts” (HBO Max), “Inside Missguided” (Channel 4) and “Hair Power: Me and My Afro” (Channel 4).
October has a co-production partnership with Octavia Spencer’s ORIT Entertainment, producing two true crime series, “Highway 20” (working title) and “FEDS” (working title) for Warner Bros Discovery.
NETWORKING
The Female Film Club’s online networking space is opening again on May 8, prior to their attendance at the Cannes Film Festival. A selected 200 filmmakers will be able to enter the networking space within the members club free of charge and gain access to the already 400+ existing members, as well to exclusive in-person and online events. Filmmakers who are attending Cannes or want to be in touch with the filmmakers attending are encouraged to apply. To gain access to the space filmmakers require to have one of the following: worked on a feature film; worked a minimum of three years in the film industry; worked on a short film that won an award at an Oscar qualifying film festival.
The Female Film Club is the online members club for international filmmakers that want to champion women’s voices and connect with other successful filmmakers worldwide.
