May 2018 Calendar of Global Media and Showbiz Industry Social Networking Events

Cannes International Film Festival

71st Cannes Film FestivalHonoring international film excellence since 1946, The Cannes International Film Festival – Le Festival International du Film de Cannes – is the annual invitation-only film festival which previews new films of all genres, including documentaries and even VR/AR entries, from around the world.

In 2018, Cate Blanchette serves as Jury President of the Festival de Cannes; Benicio del Toro serves as President of the Un Certain Regard Jury. Although at first glance Cannes (#Cannes2018) might seem sprawling in all directions, the Festival is organized in various sections.

The Official Selection – The main event of the festival – comprises, In Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition, Special Screenings, Cinéfondation, Short Films, Cannes Classics, and Cinéma de la Plage. Aside from the Official Selection, other non-competitive sections will be Caméra d’Or, Tous les Cinémas du Monde, Directors’ Fortnight, International Critics’ Week, and Association for Independent Cinema and its Distribution.

Special events and tributes will vary from year to year, but mainstay events are usually masterclasses, Producers Network, Tributes, and Marché du Film. After the Opening Ceremony, the Festival Opening Film will be, ‘Todos Lo Saben,’ (Everybody Knows), from Director Asghar Farhadi.

Rendez-vous With…

Cannes’ “Rendez-vous With…” series consists of four meetings with artists, all happening at the Bunuel Theatre. At the masterclasses, the selected directors and actors share their work and wisdom with regard to their process in cinema making. This year will have a focus on English and American cinema. Director and Writer, Ryan Coogler of Oakland, CA, opens the series on May 10. Aside from films, ‘Fruitvale Station’ (2013), and ‘Creed’ (2015), Coogler is probably best known for internationally acclaimed ‘Black Panther’ (2018) a film with one of the highest all-time box office tallies at the time of its release.

On May 12, Christopher Nolan, multi-award-winning director, writer and producer with a filmography including the Dark Knight Trilogy, ‘Interstellar’ (2014), and ‘Dunkirk’ (2017) will be conducted by French critic and historian Philippe Rouyer and translated by Massoumeh Lahidji.

On May 16, Actor and Producer, John Travolta, ‘Saturday Night Fever’ (1977) will also introduce on the Cinéma de la Plage (Movies on the Beach) the restored print of the musical ‘Grease’ (he also starred in) by Randal Kleiser to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the film.

On May 18, British Actor and Director, Gary Oldman, ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’ (2011), will have a session conducted by Douglas Urbanski, an American producer and artistic partner for thirty years.

Cannes Juries

In advance of the start of each event, the Festival’s board of directors appoints the juries that are given the duties for choosing which films will receive a Cannes award. Jurors are chosen from a wide range of international artists, based on their body of work and respect from their peers. The 2018 Jury of the Festival de Cannes represents men and women, active as actors, directors, producers, from varying regions of the world.

This year’s Jury consists of, Chang Chen, actor, China; Ava DuVernay, writer, Director, producer, USA; Robert Guédiguian, Director, writer, producer, France; Khadja Nin, songwriter, composer, singer, Burundi; Léa Seydoux, actress, France; Kristen Stewart, actress, USA; Denis Villeneuve, Director, writer, Canada; Andrey Zvyagintsev, Director, writer, Russia. The most prestigious award given at Cannes is the Palme d’Or (“Golden Palm”) for the best film.

Virtual Reality

For the fourth year, the Marche du Film is devoting space to virtual reality at the Cannes Festival. Taking an abbreviated code name, NEXT, it will offer Mixed Reality creators a space to showcase their XR films and experiences with installations on booths, VR market screenings of 360 degrees VR films, and presentations made to the VR Library. Also in 2018, NEXT is inaugurating a dedicated space for new technologies using Blockchain process in what will be called the Blockchain Corner.

TV Festival de Cannes

71st Cannes Film Festival official posterThis year’s TV Festival de Cannes, co-produced by CANAL + Orange et le Festival de Cannes, will cover the red carpet, the press conferences, the photo calls and interviews as well as a number of important other events. It will be broadcast in both French and English throughout the Palais complex and in several hotels along the Croisette. It is also available on YouTube and Dailymotion, as well as via the official Festival website and mobile app, and on Canal TV’s channel 19, or channel 29 with Orange TV.

The poster of the 71st Festival de Cannes, taken from Jean-Luc Godard’s Pierrot le fou (1965), is inspired by the work of Georges Pierre (1927-2003), a still photographer of films over a 30-year career that began in 1960 with Jacques Rivette, Alain Resnais and Louis Malle. The poster itself is the work of graphic designer Flore Maquin, inspired by pop culture, blending drawing, painting and digital art to completely form the image. The 71st Festival De Cannes opens May 8 to run through May 19.

TV Connect

TV Connect in West London’s Hammersmith district offers a discussion of the issues with help to navigate the changing face of video distribution, content delivery, and media technology. Sessions will be dedicated to addressing issues around advertising and content delivery and personalization, effective monetization packages and other areas.

Conducted in partnership with TV Connect (#tvconnect), the IET will be hosting and running several technical workshops focussed on cloud infrastructure, AI and mobile requirements, that will start before the official TV Connect sessions. In 2018, the organization has expanded the Tech Tours, and individual planned tours will each cover a specific area of interest, taking attendees straight to those exhibitors offering the technologies currently in demand.

More than 80 speakers from renowned brands in broadcast and media are lined up to make presentations in the various sessions. Colin Dixon, nScreenMedia; Michael Rizzo, BT TV; Marcus Bergstrom, Ericsson; Tim Mulligan, MIDiA Research; Aneesh Rajaram, Vewd; Olivier Jollet, Pluto TV; Keith Underwood, Channel 4; Rhys Jones, Sky; Maria Ferreras, Netflix; Nidhi Srivastava, Dish TV; Luca Oteri, Telecom Italia; Greg Coppa, CBS; Susie Buckridge, YouView; Milagros Leon Mendoza, Telefonica Digital; Anette Schaefer, Deutsche Telekom AG; Dimitar Radev, Nova Broadcasting Group; Chris Wood, Spicy Mango; Atif Unaldi, IPTV Association; Tony Emerson Microsoft; Noriko Matsuoka, BBC; Paul Kanareck, ITV; Mariem Ben Yahia, Orange Labs; Benjamin Tomlinson, NOW TV; Edward Com, Google; Sashi Edupuganti, HBO; David Mowrey, IBM; Namrata Sarmah, Viacom; Antonio Tablero, Fox Networks; Christian von Reventlow, Deutsche Telekom AG; Kamil Szymanski, TVN, all form merely a partial list of invited speakers.

2018 TV Connect Congress

To fully realize the challenges and opportunities in video distribution, the 2018 TV Connect Congress will feature an interactive, international and seasoned lineup, focusing on two main pillars: Quality of Experience and Quality of Service. A planned May 8 masterclass hosted by the Institution of Engineering and Technology is a series of technical workshops focused on ‘Ultra HD – The State of the Art’ and ‘Effective Content Protection.’ Sessions are conducted by Graham Turner, Chairman – Multimedia Communications Network at the IET and Ian Nock, Chair of the Interop Working Group in the Ultra HD Forum.

Additionally, LeadersIn, a pioneer in CXO business content, has been tapped to lead the LeadersIn Video Committee and guide an agenda that will offer the knowledge and tools required in such a competitive and challenging arena. All told, areas that are up for exploration touch on, dumping iron – the virtualization of the video lifecycle, the rise of the ‘live’ sports fan, The rise of cut-price pay TV – virtual MVPDS, is the OTT bubble about to burst or expand? social media: the not so small disruptor, and so many other relevant topics.

Asia Media Summit

AIBD in collaboration with its partners and international organizations is organizing the Asia Media Summit (AMS). The conference provides a platform for broadcasting professionals in the region to share their thoughts on Broadcasting and Information. Decision makers, media professionals, scholars, and stakeholders of news and programming from Asia, Pacific, Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America attended this annual conference.

Almost all regional and International Broadcasting Unions and Associations support the AMS. There are planned pre-summit events to Asia Media Summit (#asiamediasummit). AIBD Master Class on Storytelling – Principles, Methods and Aims, will be conducted May 8-9 as will AIBD Regional Workshop on Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Then on May 9 only, AIBD Regional Workshop on “A World of Listening – Telling our Stories” and AIBD Regional Workshop on Mobile Journalism will be held.

Keynote

Getting past any pre-event sessions for AMS 2018, Opening Remarks and Keynote Address start the morning off for the official day one. Following, a Plenary Session 1 covers, Media Regulation Policies: Ethics, Rules and Laws. Plenary Session 2, titled “Our Exciting Stories,” with a focus on mythologies, folklore and contemporary stories of the Asia-Pacific region. A parallel session one will be a moderated debate on “Are There Asian Values?” Another moderated debate of a second parallel session tackles the topic, “Should all good stories be commercially successful?”

Gala Dinner and Cultural Show

A Gala Dinner and Cultural Show concludes the events of the opening day. A parallel session three opening the next day two addresses, New technologies in the Broadcasting and Film Industry to Enhance Story-Telling. Parallel session four is on Media business models in the new era. Plenary session three addresses “Telling compelling stories: Challenges and Opportunities,” and is followed by Plenary session four on, “Sustainable development Stories – Special Focus,” and session five which will be a CEO Roundtable on “Story-telling and the success of media” to close the conferencing sessions.

Speakers

A partial listing of planned speakers for AMS 2018 include, Dr Abbas Naseri Taheri, Director General, International Department and Advisor to President, IRIB, Iran, Smriti Zubin Irani, Cabinet Minister of Information and Broadcasting, India, Dr Khieu Kanharith, Minister of Information, Cambodia, Dr Javad Mottaghi, SG, Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union, Jiang Heping, Managing Director, CGTN, China, Vikram Channa, Discovery Channel, Samantha Ramlu, Method Digital, New Zealand, Rahul Kapoor, Google India, Dr Wu Dianyi, Communication University China (CUC), Dr Lim Ming Kuok, UNESCO, Jakarta Office, Dr Shahidul Alam, Pathshahla South Asia Institute, Sarah Gibson, BBC, UK, Paula Slier, Russia Today, Bazulur Rahman,CEO Bangladesh NGO Network for Radio & Communication (BNNRC), Rajiv Chandran National Information Officer, UN Information Centre, India & Bhutan, Ramrada Ninnada, Chief Development Management Officer, Mae Fah Luang Foundation, Under Royal Patronage, Thailand; Abdul-Warith Solanke Assistant Director, Strategic Planning Voice Of Nigeria (VON). Lee Dong Seok, Director, Regional Media Policy Division, KCC, ROK.

Field Trip

A planned field trip on the final summit day will make stops at, Qutab Minar, the Humayiun Tomb, a stop for lunch at India Habitat Centre, National Museum stop, shopping at Central Cottage Industries Emporium, return to Hotel Taj Diplomatic Enclave.

Future of Immersive Leisure

In a town known for entertainment, Las Vegas, Future of Immersive Leisure (FOIL) gives a holistic, expansive view of the immersive technologies that sure to transform out-of-home entertainment. The inaugural event focused on the business opportunities presented by immersive technology to the out of home entertainment industry has paved the way for this year’s edition. Future of Immersive Leisure 2018 (#FOIL2018) features two days of conference sessions and an immersive technology showcase that opens on May 16.

The event is aimed at pointing the way toward the business opportunities and constraints of immersive technology, as well as critical connection building and networking opportunities among attraction owners, technology innovators, investors and all else affiliated. Kevin Williams, Founder, KWP, Ltd, delivers the opening conference keynote address. Producing company, Rising Media, brings people together to better understand the fast-moving intersection of business and technology.

FOIL Conference Agenda

FOIL Conference agenda topics offer a clear blueprint for the three-day event. Day one topics include, The new kids on the block: How MajorMega created the Hyperdeck, Building a New Infrastructure for VR Location-Based Entertainment, Alternative Content and Strategies for VR and MR Arcades, The Future of Immersive Entertainment from a Brand Perspective, Riding into the Future- Innovations in 3D, 4D, VR, and AR Rides, VR and AR Sports- The Next Evolution in E-Sports, Interpreting Visitor Feedback to VR and AR Location-Based Entertainment, The Growth Potential of LBE VR.

Dat two topics include, Dome Theaters – the Next Generation, Leveraging Synergies between Escape Games and VR, Navigating the VR Theater Maze, Beyond Pokemon Go- Launching the Next Big Hits in Mixed Reality Out-of-Home Entertainment, How to Make Real Money with Virtual Reality – Best Practices for Running and Marketing a VR Arcade, Transforming the Tourist Experience at the Santa Monica Pier with Immersive Attractions and Installations.

Designing VR Casino Experiences for Millennials

There will be a May 15 pre-conference workshop, Designing VR Casino Experiences for Millennials. Additionally, learn about creating amazing experiences that Millennials will love, hidden challenges of building successful location-based VR attractions and how to overcome them, how to understand millennial motivations so you can attract and retain a new generation of customers, why Millennials have trust issues with institutions and how that impacts slot play, why human-centered innovation is the perfect design methodology for location-based products and experiences for Millennials, discover why testing random, new technologies based upon manufacturer recommendations wastes money and time, and mostly teaches you what doesn’t work.

Hangout Music Festival

Hang Out Music FestivalThe Hangout Music Festival generally takes place on the third weekend in May, and this year is no exception with a May 25 start. Held at the public beaches of Gulf Shores, the main stages are the Hangout Stage and the Chevrolet Stage located on opposite ends of the beach from each other.

Kickoff Party

The kickoff party for Hangout is the day before its official open on May 18 featuring Migos, Cherub, Tchami, Jazzy Jeff, Nawas and special guests. Hangout Music Festival is produced by Huka Entertainment, but in 2015, Goldenvoice, the company behind Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival (which was last month), entered into a joint venture to produce Hangout Fest. Viacom holds a multi-year broadcast deal for the event, which includes coverage from outlets such as MTV, VH1, and Palladia.

Planned Performances

Hangout Festival (#hangoutfest) always has well-regarded artists for its show and in 2018 you can expect the same. Planned performances include Justin Paul, Odesza, Pacific Dub, The Killers, Caroline Rose, SZA, Roots of Creation, Portugal. The Man, Xperimento, The Chainsmokers, The Glorious Sons, Zedd, Goldfish, Galantis, Etana, Anderson .PAAK & The Free Nationals, Leikeli47, Cold War Kids, Pat Lok, GroupLove, Ducky, T-Pain, Luthi, Foster The People, Dena Amy, Slightly Stoopid, Bones, St. Vincent, Cassian, AWOLNation, R.LUM.R, Manchester Orchestra, Hippo Campus, K.Flay, Pussy Riot, Oh Wonder, Shallou, Lil Pump, NoName, NF, Anderson East, LAUV, Oliver Nelson, Getter, Hotel Garuda, Cashmere Cat, Alex Lahey, AJR, Lost Kings, DEJ LOAF, Banners, BlackBear, Amy Shark, Tash Sultana, Kasbo, Skip Marley, Logic, Son Little, Alice Merton, Mansionair, The Struts, San Holo, LovelyTheBand, Phantogram, Whethan, Welshly Arms, Max, Sunflower Bean, The Knocks, Ron Gallo, Bahamas, Poolside, The Green, Greta Van Fleet, Kendrick Lamar. A special Thursday Kickoff concert event in addition to the weekend schedule features performances with Phantogram, T-Pain, K.Flay and The Knocks. The Thursday Kickoff Party is included with VIP and Super VIP tickets, but General Admission ticket holders, who purchase tickets any time before 17:00 CST on March 29, will receive an email with instructions on how to purchase tickets at a special promotional price.

Other Activities

And beyond the music, Hangout Festivals look to keep their guests occupied in other ways as well. Other activities include, Malibu Beach House, Monster Energy Beach Club, Hammock Beach, The Ferris Wheel, Art, Camp Hangout, Roller Disco, The Psychedelic Bus, Wedding Chapel, Doing The Right Thing Store, and of course, Beach Volleyball.

PALMExpo Mumbai

PALMExpo Mumbai is an exposition for stage, entertainment venue and music creation, production technology, and the AV integration industry. Opening May 31 for a three-day run, PalmExpo will have a special focus on Audiovisual. The PALM Conference and Seminar Program seeks to cover technology and industry trends through a range of topics, including pro audio and light, AV Install and Integration and Music Production. Expect an exhibition area showcasing Line Arrays, Loudspeaker Systems, Live Mixing Consoles, On-Air Consoles, Music Recording Consoles, Lasers and Lights, DJ Systems, Headphones, Microphones, Wireless Systems, Audio/Visual Systems, Music Recording Hardware/Software, Keyboards, Acoustic Materials, Speaker Components, DLP Projectors, Video Walls/Tiles, Large Screen LEDs/LCDs, Accessories. A culminating event of PalmExpo, the IRAA (Indian Recording Arts Academy Awards). and the PALM Sound and Light Awards, honor and give recognition to the music recording and live events categories respectively, comprising the criteria winning professionals and companies in the country and technological achievement from across the globe.

Training Workshops

PalmExpo 2018 in MumbaiAt #PalmExpo2018 (#palmexpo2018), training workshops are available through exhibitors offering a variety of training workshops from industry experts on audio and lighting production and design to live rigging workshops that promote safe rigging protocols and best-practices.

In the planned Lighting Design Showcase which is just in its second year, aspiring lighting designers and seasoned professionals are on-hand to display their programming and designing skills. A stage with a custom-made lighting rig has been created for the occasion offering and fulfilling opportunities for building professional talent. From an open space at the venue, an Open Air Line Array Demo serves to exhibit and demo of line array systems in realistic outdoor conditions. Staying abreast of the latest trends and technologies, Augmented and Virtual Reality and 3D Immersive projection and mapping technologies will be an important highlight at PALM, by offering visual experiences through educative video projection mapping demos on the expo floor.

PalmExpo does place strong emphasis on the enhanced audio resources and environment. A feature now in its eighth year, PALM Live Arena, offers live demonstrations of advanced sound and lighting systems on a three-day musical stage extravaganza featuring budding artists and bands from India’s independent music scene. For seven consecutive years, HARMAN has outfitted this feature event with newly launched products and solutions from the HARMAN bouquet.

The PALM Soundscape

The PALM Soundscape will convene decision makers and influencers, offering vital input of the present and future of the DJ, electronic music production and event entertainment industries on a platform encompassing interactive panel discussions, high-value educational workshop and music deconstruction master classes. The Headphone Shootout is new, and is an experiential shootout featuring soundproof listening booths with a headphone selection by PALM, providing an opportunity to experience and hear the latest headphone technology. The returning Demo Qube pavilion allows audio companies to demonstrate their high-end speaker systems and products with ease in a private cube structure.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Calendar of Global Media and Showbiz Industry Social Networking Events” page. If you like this report and other content found on The Actor’s Checklist, like the Facebook page at this link. Next month is June and here are events to know about that will be coming up. Digiday Video Anywhere Summit Europe opens in Amsterdam, MIDEM International Music Market returns to Cannes, the first Miami VR & AR Expo happens at Magic City Innovation District, the 58th Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo returns to Monaco, Produced By Conference 2018 hosted by the Producers Guild of America (PGA) is in Los Angeles, the 9th Annual New Media Film Festival will be in Los Angeles, The Tony Awards happen in New York City.