New Marché Mixers initiative kicks off with success

The Marché du Film has made it easier for its participants to connect this year. Introduced for the first time are a number of networking events which expand upon the popular Producer’s Network gatherings but draw in a wider range of the 12,000-plus participants at the Marché. 

Called the Marché Mixers, this new line-up of cocktail meet-and-greets offers buyers, sellers, and festival executives an opportunity to meet people in a relaxed environment. 

“With the continued growth of the Marché, we think it’s very important to create targeted events where our participants can easily establish new relations and find new partners”, explained Jérôme Paillard, Executive Director of the Marché du Film. 

There are three events this year which all take place at the Plage des Palmes at 6pm. 

Fantastic Mixer 

The series kicked off on May 18th with the Fantastic Mixer: Meet the Horror Gangs, a cocktail dedicated to horror and fantasy films and the people that make them happen. 

“The idea was to offer a networking opportunity for a select group of executives to gather around a niche topic,” said Julie Bergeron, Manager of Industry Programs. “There is a strong community here for genre films, including festival executives and agents who are driven by a lot of passion. It is an area of the Marché that is very active.” 

More than 400 industry players attended and were welcomed with a smoking cosmopolitan that set the tone for the evening. Participants mingled with filmmakers and executives working in the field, from directors to sales companies, buyers and festival programmers. Among them, the President of Troma Entertainmant, Lloyd Kaufman, Jorge Michel Grau of Velarium as well as Julian Richards of Jinga Films. 

Festival representatives included Pierre Corbeil from the Fantasia International Film Festival, Guy Delmote from the Brussels International Fantastic Film Festival, Danny Sangho Rhee from the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, Angel Sala from the Sitges Film Festival, and Colin Geddes from the Toronto International Film Festival Screen International served as the media partner for this event, which was run with the support of Claro Video. 

Asia Mixer 

On May 20th, the Asia Mixer: Meet the Asian Buyers will offer sales agents from around the world an opportunity to sip on a drink while chatting with top buying talent from Asia. More than 200 buyers will attend from Central and South-East Asia. 

Together with Variety, the media partner for the event, ten Asian buyers will be honored during the cocktail. 

Cinando Mixer 

Celebrating the tenth anniversary of Cinando, the world’s largest industry database, is the third Mixer this year. At this event, the most active members will be able to meet fellow Cinando users and to extend their network. During the evening, the three top users will be announced and will receive a special gift. 

The Cinando Mixer will take place on May 21 with the support of Fight Aids. 

Beverage partners for these events include Stella Artois and Remy Cointreau. 

For more information or photos from the Fantastic Mixer, please contact: Léa Welcman, lwelcman@festival-cannes.fr