Someone once told me that being a movie star was like walking on water – you can either do it, or you can’t. Taking this into context, funding the actual movie – from a young film producer’s point of view (mine) – is, most definitely, a hell of a lot harder! So thus brings me to the Cannes Film Festival, sixty years young with all the fantastically beautiful and somewhat deceiving glitz and sparkling red carpet glamour.

Le Festival international du film de Cannes or simply le Festival de Cannes, shines in all its glory and fantastic history as the world’s most prestigious film festival. It’s a true global magnet for the world of movies and fashion. One of the true auteur film makers of our time, Quentin Tarantino recently summed it all up by stating, “It’s where the God’s come to show their films.” And who could disagree, everybody who is anybody (or nobody) is here. And as global warming bakes the Côte d’Azur in ten days of blistering sunshine, the unrivaled lure of the big screen and all the celebrity excitement that rightfully comes with it, pulls in millions of eager tourists and curious fans on the Croisette. They are everywhere, lining up at the very hint of a crowd barrier, cameras and autograph books at the ready – like war starved soldiers going into battle. Of course there are the films – but that’s not really what the festival’s about.

Now don’t get me wrong, I love movies - they can help us remember why it’s important to love someone, why it’s important to have courage, even in the face of death, and sometimes why it’s important to fight for others, not just for yourself. The passion in my heart for bringing original great entertainment and even greater cinema to the screen burns as fiercely now as it did when I saw ‘Close Encounters’ as a child. However, all this seems to get lost as you weave through the labyrinth of luxury boats, five star hotels, villas, beautiful models and actresses in stunning Marchesa couture (very distracting) and the private parties – all in search for new work relationships, establishing old ones and pitching your film to the masses of exhausted distributors and investors. … Did I mention the beautiful models?

The movie I’m here to pitch and sell is a horror / thriller set in the East End of London. It is, (in my humble opinion of course) a fantastic original genre screenplay with an a-list cast and director to die for. The false rumours of the death of the British Film Industry should deter no one – you only have to walk along the Croisette to see that the Brits have more or less taken over. Although, none of that really matters, film has always been an international team game of risk – and the industry, with all it’s cranky and crazy personalities, are all here in this one place for ten days. The quest to close the finance of this film leads me to an average of ten meetings per day, most taking place past the rows of luxury boats and into the hotels…