Final figures released by Cannes Marché du Film on Tuesday revealed that the number of registered participants rose slightly at its 2018 edition, challenging market sentiment that there were fewer professionals in attendance this May.
The figures were across all the Marché activities, ranging from the core market to the producer and industry network events.
According to the Marché statistics, there were 12,411 registered participants this year, against 12,360 in 2017, representing a 0.4% rise, while the number of represented companies rose 2% to 5,508 from 5,402 in 2017.
Interestingly, given the wave of analytical pieces in the US trades suggesting that Cannes is losing its appeal, the number of US participants edged up 3% this year, with 2,264 US professionals registering for the market against 2,192 in 2017.
The US was the biggest territory in attendance, representing 18.2% of all the attendees.
France and the UK came in second and third, albeit with lower attendance than 2017. 1,784 French professionals registered this year against 1,815 in 2017, representing a 2% drop.
There was a 6% drop in UK participants to 1,133 attendees, against 1,203 in 2017.
The weaker French and UK presence was offset by China which saw a 22% rise in registered participants with 703 of its professionals hitting the Marché this year against 578 in 2017.
Germany was also out in force with a 15% rise in attendees to 599 against 521 last year.
Breakdown by profession, buyers dip
Marché breakdowns of attendance by activity showed that the number of buyers in town was marginally lower, with 1,743 buyers registering against 1,756, for a 1% dip.
The biggest territory in terms of buyers was the US with 237 acquisition professionals hitting Cannes, the same as last year.
France was the second biggest single buyer territory in attendance with a steady figure of 197 professionals signing-up, followed by the UK, but with 95 registered buyers against 101 last year, representing a 6% drop against 2017.
There was a significant 36% rise in professionals registering as consultants, while the number of people in training related posts fell 58% to 39 against 92 last year.
The number of professionals working on VOD platforms also fell by 17% to 76 people.
No comments yet