The City of Cannes, Université Côte d’Azur, its Foundation and Banijay Group Join Forces to Launch New Content Creation Training Programme

In partnership with Banijay Group, one of the world’s leading production and distribution companies, the City of Cannes and Université Côte d’Azur are growing the Cannes University offering by funding a short and intensive programme in multimedia content creation.

A joint initiative of the City of Cannes and the Université Côte d’Azur, the Cannes la Bocca University Campus will open its doors this year in September to 1,000 students, offering them a top-rated education in creative writing, content creation and audiovisual project management.

After creating an international storytelling institute in 2018, the City of Cannes and Université Côte d’Azur are funding a new programme in partnership with the Banijay group, under the leadership of David Lisnard, Mayor of Cannes. The scheme provides creative students a unique opportunity to co-create tomorrow’s across platforms.

A novel training programme to design the television content of the future

The City of Cannes, Université Côte d’Azur and Banijay Group share the same vision of the role and importance of this initiative in seeking out new talent to create the content of the future.

Launching in the fall of 2020, teams composed of students or recent graduates will be hosted for three weeks in Cannes, where they will focus on creating a host of new audiovisual programmes for linear and non-linear TV. The teams will be coached by experts from Université Côte d’Azur and its international network, and global audiovisual specialists from Banijay Group.

This hands-on programme is specifically geared towards the employability of promising students and recent graduates, who will be selected for their creativity and innovation through a network of prestigious French businesses and social science schools associated with the project (ESSEC, HEC and Sciences Po, etc.).

At the end of the three weeks, the teams will present their project at a final pitch event to a jury composed of the scheme’s partners, and global producers from Banijay Group. The winning team may be offered internships or fixed-term contracts at the Banijay Group alongside the opportunity to develop the project created in the programme.

Tentative programme schedule

· Partnership agreement signed and applications opened: Early April 2020.
· Selected candidates announced: June 2020.
· Residency programme: October-November 2020