Small
Town Folk at Cannes Film Festival, 2006
Sunday
May 21st
NC:
We eventually arrived at our hotel after about twelve hours
of travelling by plane, train, and automobile. Once checked
in we jumped on a bus and headed into the town centre. Cannes
itself is beautiful; the streets are picturesque and lined with
delicate boutiques, the walls are decorated in stunning murals
depicting old movie stars but all of this is lost beneath the
swarms of people gathered for the film festival and market.
The atmosphere was exhilarating but equally overwhelming. Nevertheless
we made our way to the Accreditation office and collected our
passes and complimentary bag loaded with festival guides.
This
done, our first port of call was to meet Simon, the producer
of BBC Radio One’s movie show hosted by James King. Whilst
waiting for Simon, Peter and Chris bumped into two filmmakers
whom they had met at last year’s festival. This meeting
epitomises the networking that goes on at Cannes; you get to
know others who are doing the same thing as you; you can trade
advice, and contacts you’ve made, and also rescue your
creativity from the sea of business men in suits shouting numbers
and jargon that you don’t understand! Following this reunion
Peter and Chris had their first interview with Simon; they introduced
themselves and briefly described Small Town Folk and their initial
impression of the festival.
After
parting company with Simon we spent what was left of the afternoon
scouting out the festival so that we could plan our strategy
for the next day. Dinner was spent in a cheap and cheerful pizzeria
during which we met James Eaves, a fellow filmmaker from the
south. He gave us a couple of passes to a party that evening
and then bid us adieu. We did drop by at the party on the beach
but as we were nearing forty-eight hours of sleep deprivation
we didn’t stay long and instead went back to the hotel.
Monday
May 22nd
Seven
hours sleep left us relatively refreshed and ready to face the
day so at 9am we headed into the town centre. For the ten day
duration of Cannes the stunning Croisette beach is home to rows
of white tents which house the representatives from each country.
Our first stop was the UK Film Centre where we took advantage
of the complimentary breakfast before heading for the Palais.
Distributed amongst three floors, inside the Palais, are rows
of stands each occupied by a different film company; some production,
some distribution. We approached several of the stands asking
to speak to a representative from their acquisitions department
however it seemed that most of them were only selling movies,
not buying them.
Whilst
inside the Palais we met up with Simon from Radio One again
and he introduced us to Lloyd Kaufman of the infamous ‘Troma’
films. It was a real honour to meet such a legend and after
he watched our new trailer he had nothing but compliments and
encouragement for us. (Oh and a couple of free Troma dvds which
shouldn’t be sneered at!) After meeting Lloyd and ‘Toxi’
we were all fired up and headed towards the Majestic, the Carlton,
and the Martinez, the three most prestigious hotels where all
of the ‘Big Boys’ of the industry can be found.
Each lobby is surrounded by the press and the public eagerly
waiting to spot a celebrity, and under normal circumstances
I’d be right there at the front of the queue, but today
they just become a nuisance and all we want to do is get through
to the people behind the celebrities. With our directory in
hand we made our way across each floor of the hotels stopping
at the door of each company who we felt would be interested
in our movie. By the end of the day we’ve no dvds left
and we all feel very satisfied with what we’ve achieved.
Back in England it could take months getting around to everybody
we visited but here we’ve managed it in one day.
This
evening we returned to the pizzeria before managing to talk
our way onto several boat parties including the Sony party in
which we all marvelled at the new HD camera, and of course the
free champagne, ‘darhling!’ At three in the morning
and some of us a little worse-for-wear we stumbled back to the
hotel.
Tuesday
May 23rd
An
early start today to get in as much as possible before we have
to leave. Following breakfast at the UK Film Centre and a catch
up with a few friends to see how they’re progressing we
returned to the Palais to follow up a couple of contacts made
yesterday. That done Peter and Chris experienced Small Town
Folk’s first encounter with a sales agent. Cannes is a
huge learning curve that I imagine takes several years to really
grasp but this meeting provided a great insight into the different
priorities that people have within the industry. Some people
are there to tell stories, others simply to make money with
no regard for any actual creativity. It’s a strange place
in which the art world and the business world collide.
Although
exhausting this was a thoroughly productive, insightful trip
which has been of great benefit to the future of Small Town
Folk.
Small
Town Folk Trailer at Cannes Film Festival, 2005
On
Wednesday 18th May, Director Peter Stanley-Ward and Producer
Chris Musselwhite went to Cannes, taking with them the two teaser
trailers for Small Town Folk...
PSW:
We arrived in Cannes on Wednesday, about midday. The trailer
presentation was that afternoon, so it was all a bit of a blur.
Both trailers went down extremely well and we got a lot of great
feedback and contacts. After the showing (which ended with the
teaser being put on a loop!) Chris and I met with some fellow
filmmakers who gave us some great Cannes advice. The next day
we hit the hotels and the Palais to spread the word. After a
few meetings with some very excited people we managed to lose
our camera (hence the lack of pictures!) and decided it was
time to call it a day. Mission accomplished...
Thank you to Screen South for the opportunity to preview Small
Town Folk, and thank you to Ben Richards for laying all the
groundwork before we got out there. Cannes is a mad place, and
it takes time to get your head around it - but we did and it
was worth every over-priced beer! Keep checking back for the
future of this movie... it's looking bright.
