Cannes Festival Embraces Streamers (Though Not Netflix) With New Industry Event

The Cannes film market will connect film producers and sales agents with online streaming platforms at its inaugural "Meet the Streamers" event.

Cannes and Netflix might still be at loggerheads — with Cannes refusing to allow Netflix movies to screen in competition —but the French festival is at pains to show it is pro-streamers, on Monday unveiling a new event dedicated to connecting streaming companies with the independent film industry.

The inaugural "Meet the Streamers" event will be held in Cannes on Tuesday, May 21. The festival has selected a group of international indie streaming platforms —both established and newly launched — for a series of 20-minute speed meeting sessions with sales agents and producers.

The companies include Filmin, Kinoscope, MUBI, Le Cinéma Club, Nut Alone, Universciné DE (ContentScope) and Watcha Play.

“With everyone talking about Amazon and Netflix, we believe it is our mission to highlight independent platforms with different approaches and models and to give sales agents an opportunity to know them better,” said Cannes market executive director Jérôme Paillard.

Paillard initiated the "Meet the Streamers" event, which is led by Aleksandra Zakharchenko, Cannes' industry programs project manager, and curated by the newly launched Q-Rate Consulting, headed by Quentin Carbonell.

“As the world observes the studios and tech competitors launching their own offers, it is essential to highlight independent platforms already providing fantastic business opportunities with much more to come,” said Carbonell. “We curated this initial and diverse selection with a lot of excitement and are eager to receive everyone’s feedback to continue building from this first step.”

The 2019 Cannes film market runs May 14-23.