Why I'm not at Cannes (Patreon)

Hamilton Tullio Fernandes asks (in a comment, but I'm replying via a separate post in case others are also wondering):

Why are you not in Cannes right now? I mean, we could "patreon" you there as was done some years ago using another funding platform.

That's a generous thought, and would actually be fairly inexpensive, in theory—if every patron chipped in, an extra $5 apiece would cover all of my expenses. But the reason I haven't been on the Croisette since 2016 is only partly related to money. Unlike Sundance, Toronto, and most other major festivals, Cannes doesn't offer tickets to the general public. You have to be accredited, either as a member of the film industry or as press. My roadblock at the moment is that nobody's asking me to cover Cannes for them; I'd done so for the A.V. Club and The Dissolve over the past decade, but the latter no longer exists (sob) and the former now sends film editor A.A. Dowd (whose excellent reports can be found here). So I'd have to find another outlet. Haven't really made an effort the past few years, because I didn't have much (any) spare cash anyway, and Cannes has cost me money every year I've ever gone except one—even when I'm reasonably well paid for filing reports, the amount usually falls well shy of covering airfare and lodging, much less food and whatnot. Plus most of the Competition titles play at TIFF, so I can see them just four months later. (Though I still have yet to catch up with several from last year. Look for Leto later this week.)

Still, I do very much miss being there, so maybe we'll investigate the possibility come 2020. Even if I have trouble finding an outlet that'll get me a press badge, there's potentially another option: I spent about six months a few years ago working part-time for a production company called Unified Pictures (because they're a client of my dad's; he's a financial manager), which is starting to have some success—they produced Dragged Across Concrete, for example. I'm still friendly with the head honchos and they'd probably let me apply for accreditation as an ostensible Unified buyer or whatever, if I asked them. (Would probably cost a little extra, as I think you have to buy an industry badge, whereas press badges are free.) We'll see where I am in nine months or so.