How Jerome Paillard’s Cannes Legacy Witnessed Dramatic Change and Growth
variety.comJohn Hopewell Chief International CorrespondentOver the past nearly 30 years, as the international film business became more complex, two certainties remained: the Cannes Film Market still ranked as the biggest movie emporium in the world, and overseeing it was the energetic Jérôme Paillard.Now, having driven attendance up from 2,000 in 1995 to over 12,500 in 2019 and year-on-year growth for every edition save 2002’s and 2008’s, Paillard is stepping down.
The 2022 Cannes Film Market — Marché du Film in French — will be his last, as he passes the baton to its new executive director, Guillaume Esmiol.For many, it will seem like the passing of an era.“I’m not that young anymore.
I have things to do with my life and to have time to do them with my wife and family,” Paillard says. Also, he adds, with all the changes facing the industry, the Cannes Film Market has to be “re-invented and I thought I was not the right person to write the next 20 years of the Marché.” That should be someone with a background in technology as well as the business such as Esmiol, he explains.Paillard has already overseen dramatic change.
When he took over the Cannes Film Market in 1995, companies and institutions were all housed in the Palais des Festivals and pretty well left to their own devices.Paillard oversaw the construction of the Espace Riviera, which, when it opened in 1999, added 10,000 square-meters of exhibition space to the market.He had to steer the market in the early part of this century as film funding and films flooded the market, as the glut of theatrical releases in key regions decimated prices paid per title.
Read more on variety.com
