Jane Owen: Even Without a Film in the Festival, You Still Need a Publicist.

      Publicist Jane Owen has dedicated over twenty years to transforming festival appearances into pivotal moments for filmmakers, whether they have premieres or not. From Cannes to Tribeca, Venice to Toronto, the founder of JOPR outlines why attending without a press strategy can be the most costly error one can make.—M.M.

      A distinct silence envelops a filmmaker who arrives at a major festival without representation.

      This isn’t the hush of anticipation, but rather the stillness of someone lost in a busy room where everyone else knows the moves: who to approach, which party truly matters, and what conversation is a veiled pitch meeting, only to realize they’ve never learned the dance.

      From Competition Halls to Global Marketplace

      Film festivals have not always been this way. When the Venice Film Festival debuted in 1932 and Cannes followed in 1946, their purpose was quite simple: showcase outstanding films, present awards, and go home.

      For many years, it was clear-cut: you attended a festival if your film was in competition. If it wasn’t, you had little reason to be there. The audience consisted of film enthusiasts and critics, and the value was in artistic recognition. Any business interactions occurred almost by chance—perhaps a handshake at a hotel bar or a conversation after a screening that led to something.

      This landscape began to shift in the 1980s and 1990s as Sundance, Toronto, and the expanding Cannes Marché du Film turned festivals into real marketplaces. Suddenly, sales agents and acquisition executives were present alongside the critics.

      A premiere transformed from merely an artistic showcase into a commercial occasion, acting as a springboard for distribution agreements, foreign sales, and the industry attention critical to a film's financial success. The red carpet evolved into a runway, and screenings became informal openings. The festival turned into a business venture.

      Yet, even then, there was the notion that festivals were for filmmakers only. Producers between projects, financiers in search of opportunities, tech companies, post-production facilities, and actors without roles were advised to stay home. Festivals were for others.

      Then the pandemic changed everything.

      Covid-19 scattered the film industry globally in ways that have not fully reverted. Production shifted to new areas. Financing became more global and fragmented and relied more on relationships spanning multiple time zones. The rise of remote work obliterated the casual, in-person networks that had kept the industry moving—the lunch meetings, office visits, spontaneous discussions at screenings—almost overnight.

      When festivals resumed, they emerged as something entirely new: not just platforms for showcasing finished works but as one of the last venues where the global film industry could actually convene in person.

      In a business stretching across locations from Los Angeles to London to Lagos to Seoul, where a producer in Connecticut finances a film shot in Eastern Europe with a sales agent in Dubai, face-to-face meetings outside the festival calendar have become nearly impossible to coordinate.

      Cannes, Tribeca, Venice, Toronto: These festivals are now more than mere film events. They serve as the industry’s living room—where handshakes occur, trust is built, and deals that emails and Zoom calls often fail to finalize actually get completed.

      This shift means the idea of who belongs at festivals and who requires a publicist has changed fundamentally.

      Enter: Jane Owen PR

      I've witnessed this evolution firsthand and, in many ways, have helped to shape it.

      As the CEO and founder of Jane Owen Public Relations, which I started in 2011, our operations now span Los Angeles, New York, London, Dubai, and Connecticut. JOPR has received multiple Los Angeles Business Awards in public relations, and I’ve been honored as Woman of the Year by the National Association of Professional Women.

      However, those accolades aren’t why my phone rings so frequently or why my schedule resembles an intercontinental relay race, hopping from Cannes to Tribeca to launching a new festival I'm executive producing in Hartford, Connecticut, then returning across the Atlantic for Venice and back again for Toronto.

      I view my work akin to a conductor leading a symphony—not merely a collection of events, but as movements within one cohesive piece.

      Cannes: The Proving Ground

      JOPR

      After kicking off the year with Sundance and SXSW, the annual calendar progresses to Cannes, showcasing how festival PR has developed from traditional film campaigns to a more comprehensive industry positioning.

      This year, JOPR represents a diverse array of clients that serves as a microcosm of the contemporary festival economy: film financing platforms, emerging production companies, up-and-coming talent, media brands, experiential activations, and exclusive events that draw their own groups of press and industry figures.

      Some of these clients have films in the festival; many do not. What unites them is the realization that the Croisette during Cannes isn’t just a street but the most valuable location in the entertainment industry for two weeks a year; attending without a publicist is akin to having a storefront and leaving its lights off