A glimpse inside the Cannes Press Club

by Joanne Latimer

The first rule about Press Club is don't talk about Press Club. Clambering after movie stars may not be the most dignified way to spend two weeks on the Riviera, but nobody else needs to know that. It's okay to bitch about the cattle-branding system of press passes, but it's definitely not okay to air dirty laundry about the grovelling.

The second rule of Press Club is: report the fun stuff. This year, most of the coverage is ignoring the real news--the festival's technical revolution. Dot.com companies have exploded along the Croisette. Their posters are everywhere, winning as much mindshare as M:I2. Filmbazaar.com has the strongest presence, along with Reelplay, Showbizdata, ScreenExchange, RightsMart, and CreativePlanet. Cannesmarket.com. debuted this year too.

A handful of press was escorted to the Lady Jersey yacht in the Cannes Harbor for a tour of the site, blah blah. It was hard to concentrate with the hoopla coming from the yacht next door, the Princess Tanya, where the Dallas Cowboys were preparing for the arrival of Tom Cruise.

I was on the wrong boat. :