Cannes Lions Feels More Hollywood Than the Film Festival This Year

Cannes Lions and the Cannes Film Festival take place in the same French town one month apart each year. So attendees of both get to enjoy the gorgeous seaside views from the Croisette, they get to complain about the overpriced food and drink options, and they must navigate busy streets and the seagulls overhead, looking to swoop in on any food that may get dropped by tired visitors.

Even some of the famous names in town this week fit naturally into either of the two big Cannes events. Take Oprah Winfrey, whose keynote appearance at Lions on Tuesday drew a huge crowd. The same applies to Priyanka Chopra Jonas, who is set to speak on Wednesday, and the likes of Jeffrey Katzenberg, founding partner of investment firm WndrCo, and Alan Cumming, who were spotted around town, among other many other boldface names.

But otherwise, the two experiences feel like worlds apart. The Cannes Film Festival is, of course, all about the movies, the stars, the directors and the glamour on the red carpet and beyond. It is about creative content and how it may end up being consumed – if it finds a buyer. Yet this year the studios largely “ghosted” the festival, betting that their more commercial launches didn’t need to be at the prestige, and perhaps more niche, fest.

In contrast, Cannes Lions is all about how creativity can drive consumer and brand connection and revenue, giving it much more of a business focus. If the film fest is Hollywood, Cannes Lions is much more Wall Street-meets-Las Vegas, with Hollywood and other star power. And just arriving and walking around town gives you a clear sense: this is a place where money goes and where money flows.

As UTA CEO David Kramer explains, Cannes Lions is “where entertainment meets technology, where creators meet brands, and where entirely new businesses are being built in real time.” And creators are increasingly becoming the focus of Hollywood’s agencies and, to a degree, studios. So it makes sense that the money — and talent — is flowing that direction on the Croisette as well.

A pioneer in what is today called the world of creators, Paris Hilton shared that, for her, Cannes Lions > Cannes Film Festival. “This is something I look forward to every year. I used to come to Cannes Film Festival … but I actually love Cannes Lions way better. I feel like the people here are so brilliant and creative. I am just constantly being so inspired,” Hilton added.

You just can’t miss technology power players’ presence. Even after landing at Nice Airport, you will see signs for visitors from such deep-pocketed tech firms as Meta that are spending big on the Croisette during Cannes Lions. From Amazon Port and the LinkedIn Lounge at the famous Carlton Hotel to the Reddit Community Deli and Meta Beach, their Cannes Lions presence feels big and designed to impress.

Of course, the likes of TikTok, Pinterest and Adobe also have a noticeable presence as do such media and entertainment players as NBCUniversal, Tubi, Spotify, Sirius XM Media and EA Advertising.

Some of the Las Vegas-esque structures created out of nowhere clearly impress newbies more than Cannes Lions veterans. And so do all sorts of freebies, from free ice cream and drinks to such swag as sunhats, sun lotion or eye cream. Wayne Davison, chief revenue officer at All3Media-controlled digital content studio Little Dot Studios, described his impressions of his first Cannes Lions this way during an event on the Tubi stage: “It is mental! I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Cannes Lions is also big for its people. A local driver and a local restaurateur told THR how Cannes Lions marks the big peak before the summer tourist season begins and is seen as bringing in the deep pockets to close out the first half of the year with a bang. It may run only for four days instead of the film festival’s 12 days, but it packs a big punch in that shorter period, they said.

Of course, the Cannes film festival and Lions serve different purposes. Adam Puchalsky, president of the brand studio at Blink49 Studios, the Canadian production company backed by Fifth Season and Bell Media, tells THR: “They are both celebrations of creativity and serve an important role in their communities. Cannes Lions rewards creativity that leads to commerce or drives business outcomes for participating brands, and everyone here is excited to be a part of it.”

Cannes Lions is also becoming a bigger draw for dealmakers. “I can meet with all my favorite brands and all the CMOs (chief marketing officers) and do 10 meetings in a day,” Hilton, who runs a brand called 11:11 Media, shared. “So it really just optimizes my time and helps me shift culture.”