Brut, the Fast-Rising Digital Media Startup, Brings Cannes Festival to Fortnite and Grows Creator Economy Platform (EXCLUSIVE)

variety.com:

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentBrut, the rising digital media startup whose backers include James Murdoch and François-Henri Pinault, is set to bring the Cannes Film Festival into Epic Games’ Fortnite, as well as grow its global presence and creator economy platform.The Fortnite operation is one of the many young adult-skewing initiatives spearheaded by Brut as part of its new media partnership with the Cannes Film Festival.Brut is also planning to host a House of Creators at Cannes and will bring about 100 creators from across the world to the Croisette where they’ll meet high-profile filmmakers, actors and agents in small groups.Guillaume Lacroix, who co-founded Brut with veteran producer Renaud le Van Kim in 2016, said the idea behind the House of Creators was to “bridge the gap between the film and digital-native industries and allow these talented young creators to grow and upscale in the long term.” “Creators [on social media] have often been opposed to traditional content creators, but the truth is that if filmmakers who are now in their 40s and 50s had had smart phone like the ones we have today back when they started out, they would have all jumped on the opportunity to create content instead of using old VHS tapes,” said Lacroix.Brut is also developing blockchain tools to put creators in direct touch with their fans and allow them to maximize their revenue.

Lacroix said “there are 50 million creators and there is no tech stack for the creator economy” so Brut is well-positioned to fill that space thanks to its technology and massive reach.“We’re looking to leverage our monthly reach of half a billion unique viewers and our profile of trusted platform to become a key outlet for creators’ content.