Supported by
The Cannes Film Festival probably isn’t where you’d expect to find Meta Platforms.
But this year, for the first time, Meta is an official partner.
Sponsoring the film industry’s most prestigious international festival comes at an interesting moment for Meta. Instagram recently rolled out a TV app in the US, and a senior executive said it could soon start supporting longer-form video.
Even so, the company isn’t planning to get into the movie business or start commissioning films, according to Louise Holmes, director of creator and media partnerships at Meta.
Instead, Holmes said the Cannes partnership is about being part of an “iconic cultural moment” shared across its platforms.
“Viewers on our apps have a front row seat,” she told us on stage at the Creator Economy Summit. This first-ever summit was part of the Marché du Film, the business conference and film market that takes place alongside the film festival each year.
Holmes added that Meta is developing tools for filmmakers, producers and creators to “help them bring their artistic vision to life.”
One of those tools is the Ray-Ban Meta Glasses.
Meta flew in US-based film creator Reece Feldman, who goes by the handle @guywithamoviecamera on Instagram, to conduct interviews on the red carpet and capture other content via the glasses. The company also invited several other European creators.
Allowing Meta’s glasses on the red carpet is a big change for the festival. Organizers have historically been very strict with what types of cameras and devices are allowed. Read: No smartphones. That’s helped maintain the tradition of the festival, which is now in its 79th year.
“People have changed, places maybe look a little different and the movies look a little different, but from what I’ve heard it’s similar to what it was in the 70’s, 80’s,” Feldman told us.
He added that not much has changed in the four years he’s been attending, including the number of creators. In the past, Feldman came with TikTok, which was an official partner from 2022 to 2025.
Reece Feldman at the Cannes premiere of “Karma” on May 15, 2026. Photo: Getty Images
That commitment to tradition is what makes the film festival’s embrace of the creator economy this year even more notable. While streamers have increasingly been partnering with creators on TV shows, the film industry has remained off-limits to most creators, especially outside of Hollywood.
But now as more success stories of creators on the silver screen have emerged, that’s starting to change.
For example, Markiplier’s horror film “Iron Lung,” which premiered earlier this year, grossed $50 million globally, while Jordan Firstman’s “Club Kid” scored a reported $17 million rights deal after premiering at Cannes this week. Firstman grew a following on Instagram during the pandemic for his comedic impressions, but is also an actor, writer and producer.
Markiplier, who has over 38 million YouTube subscribers, also spoke at the Creator Economy Summit on Sunday, where he dropped the news that “Iron Lung” would be available exclusively for purchase on YouTube starting May 31.
Even so, these successes will be challenging for creators to replicate. Needless to say, creating a movie requires a different level of resources, production skills and funding than making short-form clips or a 20-minute YouTube video. As Markiplier pointed out on stage, YouTubers also face a “stigma” from the movie industry. That won’t change overnight.
What we do expect to grow, though, is the role creators play in how films are marketed. Studios will continue to tap creators for red carpet premieres and to promote new movies on social media.
Filmmakers also could learn a thing or two from creators, especially when it comes to distribution. More of them should be thinking about building an audience first as they make a film, rather than finishing a project and hoping the viewers come.
In related news…
Hollywood Opts Out
One group that was notably absent from the Cannes Film Festival was Hollywood. While there were plenty of A-List actors in attendance, including John Travolta and Demi Moore, most big US-based studios decided to sit this year’s event out.
Why? People on the ground told us that it’s likely because it’s too expensive and too risky. Cannes’ film critics can be brutal and cash-strapped studios don’t want to spend money on what could essentially be a bad review, as it could hurt their chances at the box office later.
One topic that Cannes has slammed recently is AI.
Before the festival, organizers issued new rules prohibiting films that are “primarily driven” by generative AI to compete for a Palm D’Or, the top prize. That includes Steven Soderbergh’s “John Lennon: The Last Interview,” which premiered at the festival. Soderbergh used generative AI tools, including Meta AI, to illustrate the ideas described in audio conversations with Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, without creating AI versions of Lennon or Ono.
While this offers another nice connection for Meta to sponsor the film festival, it also makes the partnership feel paradoxical. The company is one of the biggest players in AI, expecting to spend up to $145 billion on the technology this year.
Soundbite
I’m the Mickey Mouse.
That’s what Nate Bargatze, a comedian known for clean jokes, told the Wall Street Journal in a recent interview, where he also outlined his plans to open a “Nateland” theme park in Nashville.
A growing number of creators have been using the Disney comparison to describe their ambitions. But as we’ve argued, the analogy actually doesn’t work and could backfire. (As a side note, we have yet to find a female creator comparing her business to Disney.)
The Round Up
X is launching an ad product called Creator Connect to connect brands with creators for deals. The move follows TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, all of which have similar tools, as well as MrBeast, who confirmed at a presentation to advertisers this month that he is developing his own platform for creators and top brands.
As part of X’s renewed push to try to attract creators, it has also recently introduced a creator’s choice award with cash prizes for winners and is providing new users with lists of creators to follow around topics such as sports or business.
TikTok and FIFA announced “Creator Correspondents,” a global group of 30 TikTok creators who will cover the tournament, including behind-the-scenes content such as bus arrivals, training sessions and press conferences.
Twitch announced new monetization features. One is Creator Badge Drops, or custom badges from streamers for big events, such as a marathon livestreams, which reward viewers for how many minutes they watch or other metrics. Twitch said that during testing, creators who added custom badges made 50% more money from gifted subscriptions on the first day of the event than their typical monthly average.
Roku announced the launch of Creators, a new section on its platform where viewers can find and watch content from creators in the US. It’s also adding new FAST channels from podcasters and creators, including Scott Galloway’s Prof G Podcast Network and Chris Williamson’s Modern Wisdom podcast. In the coming months, Roku will add content from top streamer iShowSpeed, sports creator Jesser and the Kalogeras Sisters.
📅Save the Date
Join us on May 27 on LinkedIn for a conversation about AI, creators and the future of media, moderated by Meghana Dhar, founder of Tea in Tech.
We’ll be diving into:
How creators (and we!) are using AI in practical ways right now
The biggest shifts happening across media, platforms and audience trust
What will make creators and businesses stand out in the next era of content
The session kicks off at 1 pm ET (10 am PT). The event is exclusively for LinkedIn Premium members. You can see more details here!
AI Spotlight
Amazon’s Alexa can generate podcast episodes on various topics using AI, drawing on licensed content from newsrooms. Amazon is partnering with major media outlets including the AP, Reuters and Washington Post as well as more than 200 local newspapers in the US.
YouTube is expanding its AI deepfake detection tool to creators who are 18 and older.
Parallel Web Systems, an AI startup founded by former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, launched Index, a new platform that compensates creators or content owners when AI agents use their work. Payouts are based on “actual contribution,” rather than a flat licensing fee, meaning that content that is “uniquely valuable, hard to replace, or used in high-value agent work” earns more money.
Runway, an AI video startup used by filmmakers and ad agencies, is now valued at $5.3 billion and added $40 million in annual recurring revenue in the second quarter, TechCrunch reported.
A Message from Cannes Lions
This summer at Cannes Lions, Max Klymenko will be taking his ladder to LIONS Creators for a live version of his hit social series. Join us for a chance to step on the ladder and see if he can guess your role in two minutes or less. Be part of it.
LIONS Creators | 22-26 June 2026 | Cannes, France
Layoffs Tracker
Meta plans to cut 10% of its workforce, or 8,000 employees, this week. It also reassigned 7,000 workers to focus on AI, the New York Times reported.
LinkedIn laid off staff on marketing, engineering and product teams, Business Insider reported. It’s unclear how many staffers were impacted.
Regulatory Woes
YouTube and Snap settled the first lawsuit headed to trial alleging that social media addiction has disrupted learning and pushed public schools to spend large sums to fight a mental health crisis, Bloomberg reported.
The settlement comes after Meta and YouTube were found liable earlier this year in a lawsuit alleging their app designs were addictive and harmful to young users. We dove deeper into the ramifications of this lawsuit for the creator economy in a previous podcast episode. You can watch it on YouTube or tune in on Spotify.
