Three Takeaways from the Cannes Film Festival

June 12, 2023

Simon Cuthbert, Anuvu’s VP of Content Licensing and Distribution, and a veteran of the film industry, attended the 2023 Cannes Film Festival with other members of the Anuvu distribution team. He shares his thoughts on three trends—driven largely by the streaming wars—that he noted at this year’s event.  

  1. The independent film market is transitioning more and more to commercial genres and storylines. Of late, dramas, in particular—even those with renowned directors—have struggled at the box-office and have generated less interest among streamers. Many streaming video-on-demand (SVOD) services value a title on how captivating its first five minutes are, for fear that viewers will tune out. This is encouraging a shift to bigger mainstream titles. However, as a title’s budget climbs the volume can shrink.
  2. Indies are increasingly expanding into television. No longer a “second place” to the silver screen, TV is becoming an important focus for the entire industry. Again, this is being fueled by the SVOD wars. A24's success with Beef on Netflix or Euphoria on HBO Max are prime examples of this and we heard at Cannes that more independents will soon be joining the game.
  3. Non-English language titles are more popular. The top two prizes this year were taken by a French and German film, respectively. This is not unprecedented at Cannes, of course, but the buying frenzy around some of the less global languages is. We have previously seen the dominance of Korean movies and TV series with titles like Squid Games and Parasite, and it is likely that projects from other countries will rise in popularity as audiences become accustomed to subtitles. My best guess? Bollywood will become increasingly global but let's see!

The great thing about all three of these trends is how they marry nicely with airlines and other non-theatrical markets, both of which are served by Anuvu. The more commercial movies, TV series and diversity in languages there are in the marketplace, the better for our customers—and their passengers entertainment experience. For more information on these trends and how you can increase the diversity of your entertainment, see anuvu.com or contact entertain@anuvu.com