SXSW is canceled. Music festivals such as Stagecoach and Coachella are looking at delays or cancellations. And Hollywood industry events such as TV Upfronts (where networks trot out their shiny new shows) are being canceled. But yet, Cannes persists. And according to a new report, recently, the Cannes Film Festival had the option to insure itself in the event that it is canceled due to coronavirus and turned it down. Yep, you read that right.
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According to a new report from THR, a source at Circle Group, an insurance company that works with the Cannes Film Festival, says that officials at the event were offered a buy-back option covering epidemics and pandemics that could have helped if the fest is canceled due to coronavirus. Adding confusion to Cannes’ decision to turn down the option was the fact that it was offered just 10 days ago, right in the middle of the figurative shit hitting the fan.
Now, if Cannes finds itself canceled, as is being feared, the festival won’t have any coverage to help alleviate the financial disaster. And yes, that is the case even if the French government forbids the festival from happening, as the officials in the government have been enacting stricter policies on public gatherings (nothing more than 1,000 people) in light of the coronavirus outbreak. Needless to say, the financial impact of a Cannes cancellation is a scary thought.
READ MORE: SXSW 2020 Canceled Due To Coronavirus Concerns
In the immediate aftermath of SXSW shuttering for 2020, we’ve seen reports that the organization will have to let go of at least 50 staff members (about one-third of its workforce) due to the event not moving forward. A statement released by SXSW said (via Variety), “Due to the City of Austin’s unprecedented and unexpected cancellation of the SXSW 2020 events in March, SXSW has been rigorously reviewing our operations, and we are in the unimaginable position of reducing our workforce. Today we said goodbye to approximately one-third of our full-time staff. Those of us in the business of live events know the level of trust required to execute an event of SXSW’s scale, and we are deeply sad to let people go this soon. We are planning for the future and this was a necessary, but heartbreaking, step.”
Cannes, in comparison to SXSW, has an equal, if not bigger, impact on the French film industry and local economy than SXSW does to the city of Austin, Texas. It’s a truly scary thought to predict what the fallout might be if the event is forced to cancel.
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And even if it does move forward, we’re beginning to see signs that attendance will suffer. Screen Daily is reporting that UK film sales company GFM has announced it won’t be attending Cannes due to coronavirus fears. Remember, travel plans are being finalized for May at these companies, so this is the time that a lot of them will have to make decisions about whether or not to make the international trip.
As always, we’ll keep you posted. For now, the Cannes Film Festival is expected to begin on May 12.