Cannes Market Dailies

There was a positive outlook on this year’s Cannes market. “Buyers are a little bit more upbeat than they were at AFM and EFM,” said Charlotte Van Weede, President of International Sales at Global Road Entertainment during Winston Baker’s International Film Finance Forum. “There is more in the market in a diverse kind of way, but there is a longer term issue for the market in that access to talent has become much more difficult.”

Read more from ScreenDaily here: 
https://www.screendaily.com/news/bankable-talent-needed-for-feature-projects-say-industry-experts/5129255.article 

==> Word on the Street: Taika Waititi Talks 'Bubbles,' 'What We Do in the Shadows' Spinoff and 'Thor'  

The New Zealand filmmaker confirmed that he wouldn't be returning to appear in the 'What We Do in the Shadows' TV adaptation. Taika Waititi stopped by the Croisette last Friday to discuss several of his upcoming projects, while describing his time on undoubtedly the biggest film of his career to date. Speaking in Cannes at Winston Baker’s International Film Finance Forum presented, together with actor-turned-director Paul Dano, the New Zealand filmmaker talked about his dark WWII comedy Jojo Rabbit, which stars Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell and is due to start shooting in two weeks in Europe.

Read more from The Hollywood Reporter here: 
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/cannes-taika-waititi-talks-bubbles-what-we-do-shadows-spinoff-thor-1111003
  
==> Up Next: Global Film Industry Value Chain Forum | June 18, 2018 in Shanghai, China

Winston Baker, Motion Picture Association China and USC-SJTU Institute of Cultural and Creative Industry have partnered to co-host the “Global Film Industry Value Chain Forum” at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University during the Shanghai International Film Festival. This particular event will be a one-day program on June 18th geared towards strategies for building an industry ecosystem, financing project driven deals, and aligning interests with leading partners worldwide.

More on the China Forum here: 
http://china.filmfinanceforum.com/

==> Dealmaker Spotlight: Meet Katherine Winston and Amy Baker  
    
This past week, Katherine Winston and Amy Baker celebrated the 10th year anniversary of Winston Baker by hosting 3 back-to-back events in Cannes including the “International Film Finance Forum”, “Immersive Summit” and “Women in Entertainment Finance Brunch”. The two co-founders met in 2001 while working at Strategic Research Institute (SRI), a conference production company headquartered in New York City. At SRI, Katherine and Amy worked under the finance division, where Katherine produced conferences and Amy sold sponsorships. They knew from the start what a great team they made…

Learn more about Winston Baker’s history here: 
http://www.winstonbaker.com/blog/2018/5/17/the-story-of-winston-baker