Making Business a Glamorous Affair

CANNES, France, May 19, 2008 — -- The jet set has arrived. The red carpet has been rolled out. The hotels are filled with fans and paparazzi. Film stars in ball gowns and starlets in bikinis are out day and night competing for their moment in the spotlight on the French Riviera.

It can only mean one thing: It's that time of year again -- it's the Cannes Film Festival.

But behind the glitz and glamour, the flashing bulbs, the lavish parties and the superyachts docked in the marina is a serious, hands-on business.

While the stars pose and preen on the steps of the famed Palais des Festivals, the lower ground floor of the building hosts the hustle and bustle of a vibrant film market. It's a Western version of an Asian bazaar, with thousands of stalls selling a very special product: movies.

During the festival, more than 4,000 films are bought and sold with an estimated $1.55 billion changing hands. According to Market Executive Director Jerome Paillard, "For many companies, Cannes may represent 50 percent of their yearly business."

At the market the difference between an arthouse and a mainstream movie doesn't really matter. The stalls offer big-budget films and arty movies and niche titles in genres like martial arts and anime. What matters is that the films sell well.

"The market is something completely different from the festival. Many films presented here are never going to make it at the film festival, but they still may sell very well," Independent Film and Television Alliance Executive Vice President Jonathan Wolf told ABC News .

Movies considered "independent" at the market are not necessarily more arty than the big-budget movies, as some festival-goers might assume; at the market, "independent" means only that the movie is "primarily financed from sources outside the seven U.S. major studios," said Wolf.

Therefore, "Million Dollar Baby," "Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy are all considered independent, to the surprise of many festival watchers.

And yet despite being in a separate world, the market takes advantage of the festival's fame.