With Epic Games’ hit videogame Fortnite, Brut, Cannes’ new official partner, is bringing the world’s largest film festival to the metaverse.
The festival’s famous backdrop will be recreated in Fortnite
The festival’s famous backdrop will be recreated in Fortnite as part of the groundbreaking experiment, allowing gamers to experience Cannes through the eyes of three different characters: a journalist who will father material and conduct interviews; an actor who will do an audition with a major director, participate in a photocall, and walk the red carpet; or a director who will have to find the pages for a script that have been misplaced across the city, send them to a producer, and walk the red carpet. Other quests will be offered, covering more involved topics such as climate change and concerns of inclusion and diversity in the film business.
The virtual experience is one of Brut’s many tech-driven efforts aimed at making the Cannes Film Festival more accessible to a broader audience, especially younger demographics.
“It was critical for us to be able to steer the Cannes Film Festival into a format that future generations would recognize.” The world’s largest film festival should be accessible to everyone, and video game platforms are the ideal way to engage with this generation,” said Guillaume Lacroix, co-founder and CEO of Brut, a value-driven app with James Murdoch and François-Henri Pinault among its supporters.
“Brut has been honing its expertise in these new formats for months. It’s a logical extension of our dedication to new technology for us. “Brut is creating an exciting metaverse in which we’ll play a key role,” Lacroix continued.
With the cooperation of the city of Cannes, Vysena, a renowned French virtual map studio, has recreated an exact model of several parts of the environment, including the Croisette, the Palais des Festivals, and its famed steps.
The maps will boast the ultra-realistic, Brut-style visual and audio universe
Brut will also host a House of Artists during the Cannes Film Festival, bringing about 100 creators from across the world to the Croisette to meet high-profile directors, actors, and agents in small groups. Last week, the digital behemoth announced a collaboration with Emily Yang, a pioneering NTF artist known as Pplpleasr, to host a fundraiser on May 2. The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, which aims to encourage young female innovators, will benefit from proceeds from the sale of 75 NTFs.
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