Former WarnerMedia top executive Iris Knobloch has been tipped as a potential candidate to succeed Pierre Lescure as Cannes Film Festival president, in a report by French satirical and political insider weekly Le Canard Enchainé on Wednesday (March 2).
Veteran journalist and television executive Lescure was first elected to the role of festival president in 2014, replacing Gilles Jacob, and is now partway through a third three-year mandate running through to 2023.
Lescure has said publicly that he could step down early to accompany a transition period while a new president takes up the reins.
He has also thrown his weight behind growing calls for the next Cannes Film Festival president to be a woman for the first time in its 75-year history.
Le Canard Enchainé wrote that Dominique Boutonnat, director of France’s National Cinema Centre (CNC), had proposed Knobloch as a potential candidate and convinced French culture minister Roselyne Bachelot to get behind the suggestion.
Knobloch spent 25 years at WarnerMedia and was president of WarnerMedia France, Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland at the time of her departure in mid-2021.
Prior to that role, she was president of Warner Bros Entertainment France and Benelux from 2006. The German-born executive, who has been based in Paris for many years, originally joined WarnerMedia in 1996 and held several senior roles in LA, London and Paris.
The Cannes president is elected by the festival’s administrative board. It is an unpaid role and is mainly representative. The president is not involved in the Official Selection or the day-to-day running of the festival which is the responsibility of delegate general Thierry Frémaux.
The president is expected, however, to quietly bring their professional sphere of influence and experience to bear in support of the festival.
It remains to be seen whether Knobloch’s potential candidacy proves to be a serious prospect. The Cannes Film Festival has not replied to a request for comment on the article.
Le Canard Enchainé noted, however, that the proposal could hit a major conflict of interest obstacle related to the €300m entertainment and leisure investment fund I2PO launched by Knobloch following her departure from WarnerMedia.
One of the key backers is Artemis, the holding company of the Pinault family, which also includes fashion brand Kering, an official partner of the festival.
Also in the background are the French presidential elections in May, which could result in both Boutonnat and Bachelot, who are both appointees of presidential incumbent Emmanuel Macron, being replaced in their roles regardless of who wins.
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