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Festivals
Yes, We Cannes! In-Person Attendance Expected To Beat 2021 Numbers
The Cannes Film Festival, set to take place from May 17 to May 28, will hopefully see up to 90% of their delegates arrive in person. This would be an increase from last year, when the illustrious festival only saw 10,000 registrants evenly split between onsite and online only. 2022 is unlikely to beat pre-pandemic numbers (when 12,500 people flew to France for the event), and ongoing political and health uncertainty will likely cause some last-minute festival changes that could affect registration numbers for the year. Jerome Paillard, who oversees the Marché du Film, reveals that the U.S., U.K., and Germany will make up the large international presence. Asia will still have a big presence, even with strict restrictions still in place, that makes travel feasible but difficult with quarantine mandates. Albert Lee, Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival, and Raymond Phathanavirangoon of the Bangkok-based Southeast Asia Fiction Film Lab SEAFIC, plan to travel to the Riviera due to the Asian market’s appetite for Cannes content. And for the first time, Mongolia is sending an official delegation to Cannes. Several people struggled to attend MIPTV, also based in Cannes, as flights were cancelled due to the unpredictable nature of the Covid-19 virus.
Industry
Taking Action: New Directors Guild of America Committee To Advance Safety Measures
The Directors Guild of America, which includes over 18,000 directors, assistant directors, and production managers, has formed a new committee to tackle the issue of on-set safety. Hollywood is still reeling from the death of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust, an independent production that was shooting in New Mexico last fall. In the wake of the tragedy, many industry insiders are looking for new ways to protect their workers. This committee features a diverse group of directors, stage managers, and production managers with backgrounds in TV and film. According to a recent statement by the union, “The committee has been working with sister guilds and unions and government leaders in California on new legislation to address set safety concerns.” The DGA also recently called out the producers of Rust who created these unsafe conditions, effectively barring its members from working on some of their current and future productions. Investigations by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office are still underway, hoping to discover how the guns used on set had been loaded with live bullets. The Hutchins Family has already filed a civil suit against Alec Baldwin and Rust’s producers for failing to perform standard safety checks. In California, a bill backed by the DGA was introduced in January that (if passed) would require studios to meet several specific requirements to use firearms on set. Another safety bill backed by the Motion Picture Association was introduced in January and passed by the Senate Public Safety Committee this week.
Streaming
Breaking From Tradition: Streaming Cuts News Coverage
MSNBC, one of cable's biggest news outlets, is changing up their content strategy to better fit the world of streaming. Over the past few years, MSNBC has filled its schedule with news reports, opinions, and analysis programs, but there is a current shift in this environment. It has been suggested that NBC Breaking News, which usually airs during the daytime on MSNBC, is not being brought to ad-supported and digital platforms before making it to the network. Even with this suggested shift in the “breaking news” workflow, MSNBC has been focusing on producing opinion programs like Morning Joe. This movement in news coverage demonstrates how streaming is shaking up the world of traditional TV news. While some channels are creating their own streaming services for news consumption, others are partnering with existing platforms to offer their content for next-day viewing. According to Kagan, a market research firm, MSNBC is forecasted to make $891.1 million in advertising revenue and affiliate fees in 2022. Other news channels are raking in numbers in the billions. This is thought to drive opinion programs, as they are cheaper to produce than news and have the potential to increase ratings. Finding the right talent to host these shows is key, and many networks are in a state of transition, with anchors leaving their current stations to find a new news home.
Sports
A Whole New Ball Game: ESPN and Tom Brady Entering the NFT Business
ESPN and Tom Brady’s digital collectible business, Autograph, has inked a multi-year deal to produce sports NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens). This new NFT collection will be based on the docuseries Man in the Arena: Tom Brady, which premiered on ESPN+ and is now available on Hulu and Disney+. Now available on the DraftKings Marketplace, the first NFT collection highlights moments in Brady's career, and the QB himself will “sign” 50 of these collectibles. Created in a joint effort between Autograph and production company Religion of Sports, this NFT collection will inspire future drops as well. Kevin Lopes, VP of Sports Business Development & Innovation at ESPN, said “Our work with ESPN Edge has led us to where we are today, exploring new, innovative ways of engaging fans, and we are thrilled to partner with Autograph for this collection and others in the future.” Autograph has worked with other notable athletes and companies to created NFTs, including Tiger Woods, Tony Hawk, Noami Osaka, and Lionsgate.
Television
The Changing International TV Market: Key Lessons From MipTV
MipTV, an annual event that connects leaders in the international TV content market, finally made its return to Cannes. This time, the guest list was limited to only 5,000 delegates. With the changing nature of the global entertainment industry, how important is this international TV meeting point? Another annual trade show on entertainment, Mipcom, took place in Cannes last October, illustrating the dwindling Cannes market as more companies trade their normal stands for indoor meetings. The event was also missing the key presence of London distributors, who already made international connections at the London Screenings between February 28 and March 4. Creative dealmaking is also changing, as those who were thought of as distributors are now stepping into roles as co-producers with an impact on the creative result. The changing environment has become more complex, with streamers like HBO Max making their first appearance at MipTV this year. But video-on-demand and free ad-supported television services are not seeing the same fervor internationally. While they were present in 34% of American homes in the third quarter of 2021, they have a measly 4% presence in European nations. Overall, MipTV taught the market that smaller independent media conglomerates are on the rise, meaning that Mipcom in October will be an enormous success as more individuals from around the world are able to attend.
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