Top Gun honored at Cannes! Okay, that headline didn’t run in 1986 because Top Gun didn’t play the French festival. If it had been released today, chances are, it would have played Cannes. This year the programmers in France “honored” some of the biggest American studio pics of the year: Over the Hedge, X-Men 3, and Da Vinci Code. Did the studios finally discover the indie secret of launching a film at a notable festival? Yes. And no.
Twenty years ago (1986) some of the big stateside films were Top Gun, Lethal Weapon, and Witches of Eastwick. No, none of them screened at Cannes. Instead, the French chose After Hours, The Mission, and Color Purple. Using a major festival to launch a major US film was not yet part of the studio game plan.
Ten years ago (1996) among the big BO pics were Titanic, Men in Black, and Independence Day. None of them screened at Cannes. Fargo and Crash were the big American films to screen at the fest. The studios were just beginning to awaken to the possibilities.
Smaller interesting films still play the big fests. Stanley’s Girlfriend and Sketches of Frank Gehry screened at Cannes this year. These weren’t household names in the states. The studios, however, have taken over the festival biz in a large way.
There are a limited number of slots at any festival. So, when the programmer chooses to screen a fluff piece like Over the Hedge, something else must get the rejection email (okay, in an effort to provide complete transparency, I have never had a film of mine play at Cannes and I have received a rejection email from France – I like to think of the rejections as hate email, there ought to be a law --- I’m digressing).
Do the studio’s think a slot at Cannes is valuable?
Sony, in an effort boost Da Vinci Code’s prospects (as if it needed boosting) sent an army of PR men (and woman) to France to support the screening and simultaneous French launch of the movie. (Variety reported more than Sony100 staffers flooded France, scooping up hotel rooms by the dozen. Old hands at the festival had trouble finding hotel rooms. In some cases, indie producers who had been staying in the same room at the same hotel each year for more than a decade had trouble even finding a room.)
To get Da Vinci Code into Cannes, the studio head reportedly flew to France to give the festival head cheese a personal screening of the movie. (Maybe I should try that approach with my next film?)
Festival play is an important component for many indie films. It provides a certain cache and stamp of approval. The festival laurels are used in advertising and press notes. Unfortunately, as the studios flex their (market given) muscles and suck up valuable air space at festivals, both overseas and at home, the indie filmmaker is the one that suffers.
Over the next several months we’re going to festivals with Lost on the B Side. As the effort unfolds, I’ll share my daily experiences here for you (and other masochists).
If you have any useful thoughts on how to conquer the world in six festivals or less, share it here. Thanks.