Cannes Lions is partnering with Adobe on its 2026 creator program. It’s also moving and expanding its dedicated event space for creators to a prime spot on the beach, Scalable is first to report.
The premier international advertising festival, which takes place every June in the South of France, has expanded over the years to include creators as they’ve become a bigger part of marketing.
Cannes Lions first introduced its dedicated creator program and event space, dubbed LIONS Creators, in 2024. For the past two years, LIONS Creators has been located on the rooftop of the Palais des Festivals, a key venue and landmark in the city where awards are also given out.
But that location is tucked away from the majority of the action on the beach and boardwalk.
Every year, companies including Meta, Google, Spotify and Pinterest transform outdoor restaurants along the beach into large pop-up activations, where celebrities and creators such as Paris Hilton and podcaster Jake Shane drop in. They also host parties, including concerts featuring big names from Cardi B to Dua Lipa.
The new beachfront event space for LIONS Creators will include a stage, content studios and an editing suite, where creators can also try out Adobe’s tools.
The linkup with Adobe makes sense as the software company has emerged as a key player in the creator economy. Creators ranging from social media influencers to filmmakers use its products, such as Photoshop or AI tools like Firefly, in their work.
Ed Davidson, chief growth officer of LIONS, said the move to the beach is symbolic of what’s happening in the broader marketing industry. “Creators and creator marketing [are] just an absolute core component of creative marketing now,” he told us.
He also said it’s necessary as more creators have started coming to the festival. “In terms of capacity of the space, it wouldn’t have been okay for the numbers that we’re seeing for this year.” Cannes Lions doesn’t share how many creators attend the festival, but we’ve also noticed a marked increase in the past two years.
For creators, the festival is a chance to meet with major brands to broker sponsorship deals or even get face time with CMOs. But the cost of traveling to and finding accommodations in the South of France during peak tourism season is hefty.
In some cases, a brand or social platform will cover those costs for a creator who’s speaking at the event. LIONS Creators also offers discounted passes for creators.
Davidson said the lower priced ticket for creators is an effort to make it more affordable for them to attend. This year, creator passes will cost €1,245, or about $1,465 compared to a “classic” ticket that costs €4,465 ($5,254). LIONS Creators also plans to host lunches and other networking events to help get creators in front of brand leaders.
New this year is also a special two-day event focused on the business of sports, another huge area of growth and excitement for brands, creators and streaming companies. The festival has seen “a burgeoning community of sports folks,” said Davidson, including sports teams and individual athletes who are building their own media businesses or platforms.
On our podcast this week, we spoke to Davidson more about the Adobe partnership and what else to expect at Cannes Lions this year. (Hint: lots of talk about AI and creators.) Tune into our latest episode below for the full conversation, or listen on Spotify—or wherever else you get your podcasts.
In other news…
Deals, Deals, Deals
Substack announced a partnership with Polymarket to make it easier for people to share and discuss prediction market data on the newsletter publishing service. The move comes as sites like Polymarket and Kalshi have exploded in popularity, but also are facing legal backlash over alleged insider trading.
Dolphin Entertainment, a production firm, partnered with online capital raising platform DealMaker to offer celebrity and creator consumer brands an alternative to raising venture capital.
MS NOW, formerly MSNBC, inked a deal with progressive media firm Crooked Media to bring its progressive podcasts, including “Pod Save America” and other work to the network with a weekly compilation show. “Crooked on MS NOW” will air on Saturdays at 9 pm ET starting Feb. 28. The move follows a flurry of Netflix-podcast deals, as well as a deal between CNN and podcast network Lemonada to bring some of its shows to CNN’s new streaming offering.
Court TV, a digital broadcast network owned by E.W. Scripps, was acquired by Law&Crime, a true crime production company and YouTube channel. Court TV was a long-time fixture on traditional TV, so it’s notable that it’s being acquired by a YouTube channel.
Regulatory Woes
Mark Zuckerberg took the stand in a landmark social media addiction case in California on Wednesday. The Meta Platforms CEO struggled to defend his company from allegations that it targeted young users and claimed that internal documents and communications were mischaracterized by lawyers, according to the BBC.
David Greene, a veteran NPR host, is suing Google for allegedly violating his rights by building a product that replicated his voice without payment or permission. Greene claims that the male voice used in Google’s AI tool NotebookLM, which creates on-demand podcasts, has an “uncanny” resemblance to his. Google has denied the claims.
We also covered the rise of creator copycatting by AI on our podcast this week, including takes from attorneys Rachael Connelly and Tyler Chou.
Spain will investigate X, Meta and TikTok for allegedly spreading AI-generated child pornography. The companies declined to comment or didn’t immediately provide a comment.
Talent Tracker
Charles Porch is joining OpenAI as its first vice president of global creative partnerships as the company looks to forge more relationships in the entertainment industry. Porch is a 15-year veteran of Instagram and Meta, where he helped onboard celebrities to the app.
Andreessen Horowitz is hiring for a variety of roles for its new media team, including a chief of staff, head of podcasts, a CMO and chief communications officer.
MrBeast is hiring for a head of TikTok to lead strategy on the app and scale the mega YouTuber’s “presence to new levels.”
Patrick Harris joined Roku as senior vice president of global media revenue. Previously, he was president of the Americas for Snap and before that spent more than 11 years at Meta.
Jeremy Lewis is now vice president of business development at Fixated, a creator management and monetization company. Most recently, he was the co-founder of Right Swipe Entertainment, the production company behind his former podcast with his wife Lauren Riihimaki, the creator better known as LaurDIY.
Creator Moves
Spotter, best known for offering upfront financing to YouTubers, will host its second “Spotter Showcase” to help creators broker deals with advertisers. The event, which will take place in New York on March 4, will include creators such as Dude Perfect, Kinigra Deon, Airrack and Michelle Khare. It also comes just a few weeks ahead of the annual Newfronts, where platforms like YouTube will make their pitch to advertisers.
TopFan, a company behind fan sites and apps for Warner Bros., the Denver Broncos and Maroon 5, is expanding its platform to include creators.
Paige Spiranac, a golf influencer and former pro, partnered with Pro Shop, the golf media firm behind Netflix’s docuseries “Full Swing,” to launch a new media venture, Axios reported. The joint venture will focus on creating new shows and branded products, with Pro Shop managing production, distribution, sales, merchandising and marketing.
Alex Cooper will interview Miley Cyrus in front of a live studio audience as part of Disney+’s “Hannah Montana 20th Anniversary Special” next month.
