Another edition of Cannes came to an end last week. What I call a grand circus turned out to be quite a low-key puppet show. The consensus was unanimous?the film festival and market this year had been a sore disappointment, never mind all the glamorous soirees and A-list attendance. The calibre of films, with exceptions, selected in the competition category was not at par with the pre-release hype.
The rainy skies that hovered over this year?s Cannes washed way the optimism and monies, literally?for one, the dollar slumped against the Euro making this year?s outing far more expensive. Another problem was a direct hangover from previous soft markets (like Berlin), which left a glut of product, squeezing prices.
The recession saw a 30% fall in attendance from the US. American buyers, for the first time in years, went home empty-handed without a single acquisition, not even Sony Pictures Classics, who are usually quite bullish on foreign-language fare.
There was no shortage of avid shoppers but with the product clutter, executives did not get seduced easily?on the contrary, they were extremely careful about selecting the product on which the bucks were going to be put. In today?s climate, there?s no room for risk, and as opposed to the concept of pre-buying, the wait-and-watch attitude is in practice.
That?s not to say there was no business at all?in fact, plenty happened, existing relationships were strengthened and brand new bridges were created. It?s just that it was all solid but not spectacular, especially when compared to the previous editions of the festival. Furthermore, the splurge in the number of producers and projects looking for finance was annoying for the sellers who had a completely different singular objective of being there.
As this year?s winds downed, what remained were carcasses of numerous producers, filmmakers and sellers, who returned to their countries poorer than before. They may be forced to adjust both expectation and strategies at future fests. A new game-plan will be needed to jumpstart the market.
Distributors (especially the Indian ones) will have to concentrate on transacting hard sales and taking care bottom-lines as opposed to fishing for perception-creating headlines to do with showing off the enormous public and private funds in their coffers.
Hopes for a rebound spring eternal! Hopefully, the 2009 edition of the market will make good the 2008 lull. Even if it doesn?t, the sellers and buyers will continue to throng the palm-lined town of Cannes because no one wants to be left out of the big fat French party!
?The author has a breadth of experience in film production, marketing and distribution. At present, he heads marketing & distribution for the UK & Europe at Studio 18. He can be reached at garg.tan@gmail.com