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Sundance Film Festival Director Geoffrey Gilmore addressed our program at a joint session with NYU’s Stern School of Business (which offers a combined MBA / MFA program that attracts many aspiring movie moguls). Founded by Robert Redford, the annual Sundance Film Festival in Utah primarily showcases new work from aspiring American filmmakers. Mr. Gilmore became director of the festival in 1990 after having headed the programming department of the UCLA Film and Television Arch

After hearing from various directors, we were given the opportunity to hear about the business side of the festival from Jeff Berg, then-chairman and CEO of International Creative Management (ICM) Talent Agency. ICM’s client roster included Jodie Foster, Christopher Walken, Samuel L. Jackson, Woody Allen, Sofia Coppola, Tom Hooper, Ellen DeGeneres, Jon Stewart, Muse, The Strokes, Elvis Costello, and Aretha Franklin. Berg had personally represented clients such as Al Pacino, R

The Tous Les Cinemas du Monde (World Cinema) program of the Cannes Film Festival was devoted to showcasing films from various countries. The year I attended, the featured countries were India, Lebanon, Poland, Kenya, Guinea, Angola, Slovenia, and Colombia. The program wasn’t really on my radar because I was more focused on watching films in the Official Selection categories (see a detailed list of the programs here). After missing various screenings because they were full, I

Walter Salles rendered me more starstruck than did Martin Scorsese. I’d seen Mr. Scorsese speak three days before, at the launch of his World Cinema Foundation in the Salle Buñuel auditorium. His fund was devoted to restoring and preserving endangered films from around the world. (Not-so-fun fact: Only 5% of all silent films are still in acceptable condition!) I thought that the experience would be the highlight of my Cannes trip, but Mr. Salles proved me wrong. The Brazilian