The leading Hollywood agencies and top international production and sales outfits will run an online-only film market in June.
Major talent agencies have unveiled the dates for their virtual Cannes Film Market.
CAA Media Finance, Endeavor Content, ICM Partners and UTA Independent Film Group, together with a group of more than 30 indie film production and sales companies, will launch the virtual market from June 22-28. It will run alongside Cannes' own virtual Marche du Film, details of which will be unveiled Friday.
The online market was conceived as a contingency plan in the event that the Cannes Film Festival be canceled or postponed because of the coronavirus crisis. Cannes this week said it would not be able to hold the festival as planned in late June after France banned all major public gatherings until mid-July.
The intention of holding the online-only version is to give sellers and buyers a chance to screen finished films and early footage as well as to pitch new projects and hold virtual sales meetings. Companies and agencies are expected to start revealing details of projects and packages in the coming weeks.
A who's who of the international indie film industry is collaborating with the agencies on the market, with partners including 30West, AGC Studios, Anton, Archstone Entertainment, Brickell & Broadbridge, CAA Media Finance, Capstone Pictures, Cornerstone Films, Endeavor Content, The Exchange, FilmNation, Goldfinch, Hanway Films, Highland Film Group, ICM International and Independent Group, Independent Film Sales, Lionsgate, Mad River International, Miramax, Mister Smith, MPI Media Group, Protagonist Pictures, Rocket Science, Sierra Affinity, Solstice Studios, The Solution Entertainment, STX Entertainment, UTA Independent Film Group, VMI Worldwide, Voltage Pictures, West End Films and Wild Bunch International.
Other international production and sales companies will screen their titles on Cannes' virtual Marche, which will also run June 22-28. The Cannes Film Market will reveal details of its own online plans Friday.
The 2020 Cannes Film Festival has been postponed twice, from its original dates of May 12-23 and then again this week from the tentative new date of late June to early July. Organizers, however, have not yet canceled Cannes, insisting they are exploring all options to hold the festival in some form this year.
