A VIRTUAL EDITION FOR THE CANNES FILM MARKET DUE TO COVID-19

The impact of COVID-19 is felt across all industries and fields. The Cannes Film Festival has been cancelled, but the film industry is proposing a virtual edition of the film market. The “Marché du Film Online” will take place from June 22 to 26, 2020, and will enable industry professionals to participate in one of the world’s largest film markets. The online version was created to support the international film industry, facilitate business and networking for said professionals, without the need to travel. The Marché du Film Online aims to recreate the experience of the Cannes Film Festival with live, real-time meetings!

Here are just a few of the features that await you:

  • Visit virtual booths and pavilions: you can discover exclusive films and current projects in dedicated online areas as if you were at Cannes!
  • Hold meetings in a virtual space: the Marketplace will have its own “Match & Meet” app, so you can arrange meetings with participating professionals from all over the world. This app will enable video calls between participants, hopefully with the same ease of use as Zoom.
  • Attend online screenings: films/projects presented in some fifteen virtual cinemas, and enjoy organized replays across different time slots! The platform will be based on Cinando technology with strict security measures.
  • Explore the programs and conferences of the Marché du Film Online: most programs and conferences will be transported into the digital space: Cannes Docs, Cannes XR, Producers Network, Frontières will be reformatted for this new digital environment.
  • Join “Speed Meetings”: instead of running from one hotel to another or from one terrace to another, you’ll be able to quickly meet the participants – authors, writers, producers, composers, publishers or distributors. This is the place to hone your elevator pitch.
  • Discover VR projects with Cannes XR: there will be a program entirely dedicated to immersive entertainment, presenting its projects in an environment where these films can be viewed with a virtual reality headset.

While many elements of the Cannes Festival are difficult to recreate in the digital world, such as the parties and gatherings at beachside restaurants, the business elements put in place by the Market look promising.

Since business and transactions will be conducted via this online marketplace, potentially between parties located in various jurisdictions and carried out on a server located in a third country, several interesting legal questions arise from this situation. One such question is: what law will apply to an agreement reached in such a scenario?

Although the Civil Code of Quebec provides a number of legal rules governing the form and content of juridical acts (see articles 3109 et seq. C.c.Q.), we believe that it is now more important than ever to review the agreements that will be used, and to include rigorously drafted choice-of-law and force majeure clauses in any contract entered into during this online marketplace.

Here’s the link to register https://www.marchedufilm.com/fr/ Perhaps we’ll have the chance to meet in June. Enjoy the Festival!

Photo : Creative Commons

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