"Anson, Anson..."
Eric rushed into the hotel room in a hurry, only to notice a beat later that the room was bustling with people coming and going. It wasn't just makeup artists and stylists; the room was filled with the shooting crew and interview teams. The large hotel room felt like Times Square.
No wonder the hotel room door wasn't closed.
His words got stuck in his throat. Eric completely forgot his purpose, standing there dumbfounded, watching the scene of chaos in front of him. It was even busier than the preparations for yesterday's movie premiere.
Who am I, where am I, and what am I doing?
"Hey, Eric."
Right in front of him was Edgar.
Edgar and Eve had arrived in Cannes two days earlier, immediately diving into work. The Cannes Film Festival was a crucial opportunity, and both had their tasks. There was no time to rest, not even to adjust to the time difference.
Yesterday, the movie premiered. That was just the first step.
The real promotion, marketing, and strategic planning were set to begin in full swing today.
Eric and Alex didn't have agents; they were simply tagging along with Anson to gain some experience. Edgar had taken on all the big and small tasks since it was just an extension of his work for Anson. Adding two more people to the mix didn't increase the workload much.
"I was just about to send Noah to get you. You came at the perfect time. Sit down and get your makeup done. The clothes and outfits are all on the garment rack."
"What about breakfast?"
"We're tight on time and can't have a full meal. Sandwiches? Croissants? Cereal? Coffee? Anything special you need?"
Words poured out like a storm.
Eric was in a daze, unable to keep up. He plopped down on the sofa in confusion, looking like a lost child.
Glancing around, Eric saw Alex getting his makeup done with his eyes closed. He lowered his voice, "What's going on?"
Alex replied, "Interviews. Didn't we talk about this yesterday?"
Eric froze. Yes, they did mention it last night. There was a full day of interviews today. But he hadn't grasped the concept. He thought it would be a laid-back session on the beach, sipping cocktails while Anson was the focus, and they could sunbathe on the side.
So what was this scene in front of him?
This was the real highlight of the Cannes Film Festival. Thousands of media outlets from around the world flock to Cannes, rushing in for interviews once the movie premieres.
For the film, this was an excellent promotional opportunity. No event or ceremony could match this level of exposure. It was also the best chance for art films to find a distributor.
Cannes is the largest distribution market in Europe. It draws the most distributors and the most media. With such high exposure and so many different distributors, art films often find the right buyers.
If they can't find success at Cannes, they can go on to other film festivals, but the chances will dwindle.
Because of this, every movie has a wave of interviews after its premiere. This is when the film crew is at their busiest.
There are two types of interviews.
One-on-one interviews and roundtable group interviews.
The former is often an in-depth one-on-one conversation, while the latter involves five or even ten media outlets taking turns interviewing the cast. It's common to face a hundred media outlets in one day. For popular film crews, it's not unusual to spend two days facing two or three hundred interviews.
This means directors and actors have to answer the same questions repeatedly, leading to more perfunctory and brief responses over time.
It's not that directors and actors aren't dedicated; it's just the inevitable result of high exhaustion over a short period.
To handle this, the film crew tries to divide the interview workload among everyone. Directors and actors all join in, which is why Edgar needed Alex and Eric to help out.
The media, on their end, try to be early. The sooner they conduct their interviews, the better—before the directors and actors are worn out.
Today is a full day of media bombardment. From the early morning, Edgar, Eve, and Noah have been busy non-stop. By the time Anson and the others arrived at the Majestic Barrière Hotel in Cannes, the preparations were almost complete.
It took Eric a whole beat to realize that today's interviews might not be what he had imagined. He swallowed hard—his throat felt dry.
He looked over at Alex, who seemed a bit excited. Eric didn't understand, so he gave him a puzzled look.
Alex said, "If not now, when else will we have the chance to experience this kind of adventure?"
Eric: ???
"Not all adventures are the same. Some are like fairy tales, and some are life-threatening. Are you sure you can handle today's adventure?"
Pat, pat.
Eric felt a light tap on his shoulder. He awkwardly turned around and saw Anson drifting by with a croissant in his hand.
"Relax. Just be yourself, like when we're on set. These media folks aren't monsters. They won't eat you alive."
Eric: Easy for you to say.
Anson seemed to read Eric's mind, speaking in an even tone, "So what if you don't do well?"
Eric: ?
"But wouldn't that be bad for the movie's promotion?" Eric expressed his concern.
Anson found a spot to sit down. "The movie's reputation doesn't depend on this. The festival audience has their own judgment, which is the charm of the film festival."
Alex nodded repeatedly, "Exactly."
Before the premiere yesterday, the two had switched roles.
Eric took a deep breath, regaining some calm, then suddenly remembered, "Ah, I almost forgot! I saw this in the hotel lobby just now!"
This was why Eric had rushed into the hotel room—
The festival journal.
In North America, after a movie is released, people look at the critical consensus. Various media outlets provide reviews for the audience's reference.
At Cannes, they look at the official festival journal.
Each year, Cannes invites various professional media outlets worldwide to rate the films in the official competition section. Each media outlet sends a professional critic to give scores, focusing solely on the main competition films. Other sections are included in a general festival journal, also by invitation.
This year, the ten media outlets in the official festival journal came from Denmark, Germany, Canada, Belgium, France, Italy, Estonia, Spain, Mexico, and the UK—all professional film critics.
This official festival journal is slightly different from the North American critical consensus. It only provides ratings, not written reviews. For in-depth critiques, one needs to look at other publications, such as the general festival journal, "Cahiers du Cinéma," the Latin American critics' journal, and others.
The scoring system varies slightly, but the fundamental differences lie elsewhere.
---