“In this challenging situation, the film industry is expressing a need for a spring rendezvous before the summer,” says Paillard. “A survey we conducted last week among distributors around the world reveals that 80 percent of them are interested in an online market and 66 percent have the capacity to make acquisitions (mainly of completed films but also of films in postproduction and writing). We won’t replace the Cannes experience with the Marché du Film Online, but we are re-creating part of its essence online by offering professionals an efficient and cutting-edge platform to screen films, buy them, finance projects and meet partners. We’re also experimenting a new market model that will allow professionals who didn’t have the means or the time to come to Cannes to participate.”