The Marché du Film – Festival de Cannes has announced streaming platforms as major focus at the Meet the Streamers (second edition) as part of the Cannes Virtual Film Market. Cannes will welcome HBO Max and Quibi for two exclusive keynotes, and also host VOD-focused panels and conversations. The Marché du Film Online will run from the 22nd to the 26th of June.

WarnerMedia Entertainment’s HBO Max is set for a global launch on May 27 and will make their first international presentation at the Meet the Streamers Cannes event. The keynote by Sandra Dewey, President of Productions and Business Operations for WarnerMedia Entertainment will cover the challenges and opportunities of launching HBO Max in such an unprecedented time, navigating the evolving streaming landscape and cultivating and nurturing underrepresented talent.

The event will also welcome Quibi, the new mobile-focused independent streaming proposition led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, launched in April in the US and Canada and available in more international territories. Quibi is focusing on allowing today’s leading studios and creative talent to tell original stories in an entirely new way. Quibi’s participants and keynote’s topic will be announced at a later date.

Jérôme Paillard, Executive Director of the Marché du Film said :“the previous edition’s takeaways showed us the need to connect various parts of the industry, tied together by constantly emerging streaming models across the studios and the independent world, through new meeting and keynote events. Today more than ever before, we need to offer film industry professionals platforms to connect, bond and learn from one another. This is what we will offer with Meet the Streamers”.

“I am honored to be a part of the first-ever Marché du Film Online, a film market that exemplifies excellence in creativity and filmmaking,” said Sandra Dewey, President of Productions and Business Operations for WarnerMedia Entertainment. “I am looking forward to discussing my insight into launching HBO Max, WarnerMedia’s brand new streaming service of which I am both tremendously proud and so excited to share, during this unique time. Our industry is facing never before experienced challenges, but also the tremendous opportunity that springs from the well of change.”

The event is also delighted to welcome Quibi, the new mobile-focused independent streaming proposition led by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, launched in April in the US and Canada and available in more international territories. Quibi is focusing on allowing today’s leading studios and creative talent to tell original stories in an entirely new way. Quibi’s participants and keynote’s topic will be announced at a later date.

Meet the Streamers will also host multiple panels and conversations, including :

• A conversation between Adam Lewinson, Chief Content Officer of rising ad-supported VoD platform Tubi and Richard Cooper, Research Director at Ampere Analysis, on the evolution of Streaming platforms and what will come next to complete with, and complement, the incumbent subscription services.

• A panel focusing on innovative independent streaming platforms across the world regrouping Jaume Ripoll, Filmin’s Co-Founder and Editorial Director, Richard Lorber, President and CEO of Kino Marquee and Kino Lorber, and Olle Agebro, Head of Acquisitions for Draken Film.

• A fireside chat on the new and exciting ways to approach global distribution through “traditional” and new streams between emerging talents Jean-Christophe J. Lamontagne and Kyle Greenberg, respectively Presidents of Montreal-based h264 and Brooklyn-based Circle Collective.

“Listening to the industry constantly, particularly during these unique times, we feel the urgent desire from all parties of the film universe to synchronise, and streaming platforms are at the very heart of this wish.” shared Head of Programs and Training, Aleksandra Zakharchenko and Digital Strategy Consultant, Quentin Carbonell, leading together Meet the Streamers. “There is a burning curiosity for the new platforms and digital talents coming from the studio and independent worlds, but also a need for a better understanding of how the relationships with the streamers, and the way each model works, can be apprehended to ensure a diverse and exciting growth of the film industry”.

Meet the Streamers will be accessible to industry professionals registered with the Marché du Film Online. Accreditations for the Marché du Film Online are opened at an early bird rate of €95 until May 29 and €195 normal rate after that.