The City of Cannes, Banijay, Université Côte d’Azur and the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration Launch International Masters

17 October, 2022

Since 2020, Cannes City Hall, Université Côte d’Azur and Banijay, have partnered on a three-week intensive content writing residency entitled “Content Creatives Incubator”, intended to attract, and develop, talent in the unscripted format creation space.

Following strong results on the course, the City of Cannes, the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration, Université Côte d’Azur and Banijay, are strengthening this collaboration and launching “Mastering the TV Formats of Tomorrow: Creation and Development” at the Georges Méliès Campus, located in Cannes la Bocca.

The unique Masters, supported by the University School of Arts and Humanities research of Université Côte d’Azur, aims to train French and international students, in the creation of new original television formats. As talent shortages continue to impact the content industry worldwide, the responsive offering is geared towards supporting in filling the gap.

This bilingual course with an international dimension, will comprise academic courses (creativity, project management, marketing, legal skills, etc.) taught by research professors from Université Côte d’Azur and practical teaching (knowledge of the global content and formats market, ability to respond to a creative brief, mastering the pitch, production of trailers etc.) led by Banijay’s global representatives.  Balancing masterclasses, themed workshops and immersion periods within the flagship events of Cannes, (MIPCOM, MIPTV, CANNESERIES), the Masters will provide a mix designed to expertly develop the creativity and skills of students.

In partnership with the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration, students will be able to benefit from the technical equipment available to the Georges Méliès Campus for the production of pilots or trailers. Thus, they will have all the necessary assets for the design, development and marketing of streaming programmes to broadcasters.

Within its first year, the Masters level university degree will run from January to June 2023 and will welcome 15 students. In the coming years, it will be held from October to June and will be accessible for levels BAC + 4(M1 in cultural and creative industries or professional experiences in creativity or production of formats). Candidates must also present any relevant internships or personal productions, and reflect an aptitude forcreativity, project management, writing, as well as the capacity to communicate in French and English. An oral interview will follow a pre-selection of the applications received (applications open from 18th October 2022).

 

This new diploma reinforces Cannes’ university offer and is part of the ambitious “Cannes On Air” programme initiated by the Cannes City Council in order to make the city the European capital of writing professions.

David Lisnard, Mayor of Cannes and President of the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration: “The Georges Méliès Campus is a key element of our strategy to develop the creative industries sector in the Cannes region. Today, in order to strengthen our offering in higher education, we are launching, with Banijay, a unique course in France dedicated to the development of original formats and the production of trailers and pilots.

This course has its place at the Georges Méliès Campus since it has the technical infrastructure needed to produce broadcasts and it also hosts companies in the sector. This collaboration is perfectly consistent with our determination to make Cannes the city of tomorrow’s creators, the emergence of new content and support for project leaders.”

 

Marco Bassetti, CEO Banijay: “We are constantly exploring new ways to widen our talent pool and bring new voices into our industry worldwide. Via this unique partnership, which builds on the previous success of the Content Creatives Incubator, we have no doubt we will continue to expand our best-in-class collective of developers and producers. Spurring innovation and inspiration across our footprint, this next generation will be key to driving the IP of tomorrow, which can travel and entertain audiences across the world.”

Jeanick Brisswalter, President of Université Côte d’Azur: “This unique Masters in France positions Université Côte d’Azur, through its Georges Méliès campus in Cannes, as a key player in innovative content creation. Indeed, the programme was designed in response to the needs of companies in the audiovisual sector, primarily Banijay. The course is unique in its combining of teaching with mixed disciplines like marketing and scriptwriting, and with the international scope of the course, it positions the university at the forefront of the field of creation.”