Social Media's Impact on the Cannes Film Festival: A 2018 Analysis

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Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................2
Content of the assignment....................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.............................................................................................................................................4
References.............................................................................................................................................5

Introduction
In the growing world of technological changes, social media has assisted individuals,
business and other to accomplish their desires and goals. Using social media business
enterprises are now raising funds, creating campaign to market the new products and services
and promote the events and festivals. Social media is holding a powerful tool in the objective
of getting the individuals and consumers together to close on the ideas. The major events like
Olympics, FIFA world cup etc has enabled in enhancing the viewership, content sharing and
broadcasting the events which resulted in greater presence of the events, increased
viewership, enhanced sponsors and achieving the purpose of the events. This assignment is
mainly focused in analysing the application of social media in enhancing the viewership and
other purpose of Cannes film festival which was completed in May 2018. (Yanakieva, 2017)
Content of the assignment
The Cannes film festival which is previously called as International Film Festival is an annual
event which is held in Cannes, France which tend to preview the global motion pictures and
documentaries from all around the world. The event was started in 1946 and is continuously
organised for more than 72 years. The advent of social media has enabled in enhancing the
presence and tracking of the event through live network, understand the films which are
broadcasted and other key events like the red carpet etc. can be seen lively and with quick
span of time. (Milbarth, 2015)
Cannes film festival is one of the major event for movie goers, motion picture critics and
audiences as they are highly interested to track the films and genre of their interest is being
telecasted and appreciated. One of the main aspect in the film festival is the Red carpet which
is being highlighted and being spoken across media. However, in certain countries may not
broadcast these shows as they do not possess the broadcasting rights and other rules, these
has impacted the overall viewership and media coverage in those locations.
However, with the application of social media channels the interested participants, viewers
and critics can tend to analyse the current happening of the event through live updates and
news through Twitter, Facebook etc and understand the happenings in the event. They can
also take part in analysing the movies, provide their reviews and comments of each genre and

movie which helps the audiences to have a clear vision and understanding of the movie
subjects. (Hayat, 2017)
It should be noted that film festival like Cannes is not about providing charm and appeal to
the viewers, but they tend to spark the interest in the minds of the viewers and understand
their aspects. Social media strategy is mainly considered as the strategy to create a wider
interest and connect the festivals so as to connect with the lives of the individual, this is
highly essential so as to create the interest, provide the imagination as the key and if these
aspects are done well it tend to contribute wider awareness of the festivals and provide them a
higher reviews and ratings. The film festivals in order to provide a clear and personalised
experience to the audiences they need to understand them in a better manner, because the
interest and the opinions of the audience tend to differ, for example one point in time they
may like action movies, in another year they tend to prefer romantic movies or Scifi movies,
furthermore they also tend to mature as they age, hence analysing the demographic variables
of the audiences like their age, gender, country, language preference, preferred content and
genre etc. needs to be analysed so as to make the film festival more dynamic and interesting.
The film festivals can provide the needed content and genre to the individuals based on the
effect of social media marketing, it can be stated that the role of social media can offer the
organisers of film festival through the opportunity to interact with the brand based on
interactive digital media content and offer the incentives. (Room, 2018). The organisers of
the film festival can tend to understand the nature of content and genre which is highly
preferred by the audience through their comments and interactions in various forums, blogs
and response to the queries in the web, furthermore this will enable in understanding the
interest of the audience for the event and tend to broadcast more of such genres so as to
attract the audiences. Since the Cannes is a international film festival, understanding the
audiences preferences is important for example, in recent times more number of films from
Asian and South East Asian countries are nominated, this tend to increase the audience base
from the given country which can be analysed through the basic aspects like age, location and
language.
These are some of the key aspects which were implemented in marketing the Cannes film
festival in 2018. However, if the same is compared with two decades back, there is no aspect
of social media during 1998 hence the viewership and interaction was not dynamic, also the
key events like Red carpet etc will be viewed only through newspaper and magazines which
will be published after the event has occurred. The category of films released and other
aspects are not mentioned during the events. Hence, the viewers and audiences are not aware
of all the program highlights, furthermore the category and genre of films will be on the
opinions of very few members and audiences are not considered. (Kelner, 2018). These
trends have been changed in the recent times due to the involvement of social media. Also,
previously many are not aware of such film festivals, however due to the continuous
advertisements in social media, there is a significant presence among the events in the minds
of the viewers all around the world. Though the event is being organised only in France,
Europe it attracts more number of audiences from Middle East, Asian countries etc.
(Wilkinson, 2018)
The industry is based on festivals such as Cannes to ensure their economic success. In fact,
the public has wider choices, including TV and VOD, making it harder to attract them to
theaters. In this context, French and foreign directors must rely heavily on international

markets, without which they face serious profit problems. International markets are so
important that film festivals are also needed. The CNC (National Film Center) initiative is
moving in this direction, supporting and supporting the export of French films. In fact,
international markets are supported by festivals and the Cannes Film Festival is still the
largest film festival in the world and thus the largest film market in the world. Cannes is
absolutely necessary to ensure the profitability of films produced annually. In addition,
private investors take into account the results of major international festivals when choosing
investments, whether in formal or parallel competition. Participating in film festivals not only
makes movies more buyers, but the recognition of the festival increases the reputation of the
film so that it can sell better and stay in multiple places. Therefore, the presence of these
festivals is indispensable, not only for mass distribution but for all categories of films.
(Kelner, 2018)
Current technological developments not only change how festivals are created and promoted,
but also how the organizers maintain their internal and external communication. Forget about
the old way to participate in the festival program. Movie makers and distributors no longer
need to send DVD or USB devices, they can easily download and upload their files, which
simplifies the upload process. Organizers can interact via email, social media, FaceTime or
any other digital format, even if they are miles away. Each social media publication shows
how many "organic" or "paid" users have come up. The term "bio" refers to users who have
looked at the message because they have already given the festival page or have seen a friend
who does not appear on the Facebook wall as an ad explaining how users and users are used.
paid views.
Conclusion
Hence from the above it can be stated that the film festivals tend to offer the best user and
audience experience for making higher penetration of the event and grand publicity to various
type of audiences. Cannes film festival is one of the major event for movie goers, motion
picture critics and audiences as they are highly interested to track the films and genre of their
interest is being telecasted and appreciated. One of the main aspect in the film festival is the
Red carpet which is being highlighted and being spoken across media. It should be noted that
film festival like Cannes is not about providing charm and appeal to the viewers, but they
tend to spark the interest in the minds of the viewers and understand their aspects. Social
media strategy is mainly considered as the strategy to create a wider interest and connect the
festivals so as to connect with the lives of the individual, this is highly essential so as to
create the interest, provide the imagination as the key and if these aspects are done well it
tend to contribute wider awareness of the festivals and provide them a higher reviews and
ratings. These are some of the key aspects which were implemented in marketing the Cannes
film festival in 2018. However, if the same is compared with two decades back, there is no
aspect of social media during 1998 hence the viewership and interaction was not dynamic,
also the key events like Red carpet etc will be viewed only through newspaper and magazines
which will be published after the event has occurred. The category of films released and other
aspects are not mentioned during the events. Hence, the viewers and audiences are not aware
of all the program highlights, furthermore the category and genre of films will be on the
opinions of very few members and audiences are not considered.

References
Hayat, Serge. (2017). What role will platforms like Netflix play at the Cannes film festival?
Retrieved from: http://knowledge.essec.edu/en/innovation/cannes-2017-are-film-festivals-
increasingly-irrele.html
Kelner, Simon. (2018). Is social media killing off arts criticism? Retrieved from:
https://inews.co.uk/opinion/columnists/cannes-film-festival-tweeters-critics/
Milbarth, Sarn. (2015). How the Toronto International Film Festival Uses Social to Attract
Over 1.8 million Attendees. Retrieved from: https://blog.hootsuite.com/toronto-international-
film-festival-tiff-social-media/
Room, James. (2018). Social Media and Branding For Filmmakers. Retrieved from:
https://athenafilmfestival.com/film/social-media-101/
Wilkinson, Alissa. (2018). Why the Cannes Film Festival matters. Retrieved from:
https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/5/16/15508284/cannes-film-festival-2018-when-
pronounce-high-heels-netflix-jury
Yanakieva, Stella. (2017). How to use social media to promote a film festival. Retrieved
from: https://rgnn.org/2017/10/24/film-festival-social-media-promote/