International film journalists have decried the lack of access to major talent such as Brad Pitt and George Clooney during the Venice Film Festival, warning “cinema journalism is at risk of extinction” if studios and publicists continue to keep them at arm’s length.
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While stars and filmmakers including Cate Blanchett and Sigourney Weaver are participating in red carpet appearances and press conferences — along with a handful of select interviews with top media outlets — the bulk of journalists attending the fest have been denied access to big name talent.
They have now penned an open letter to the industry warning them that the situation is becoming untenable. An open letter has already collected the signatures of 50 journalists who have decried the lack of access at Europe’s top festivals. As well as Venice, the letter also points to Cannes and the Berlinale as equally unsupportive of film and entertainment journalists, many of whom are freelance and rely on an exclusive quote to get a story published.
The letter was posted on the Facebook account of a group called International Film Festivals Journalists which brings together more than 700 members, including journalists, film publicists and festival programmers. The group was created by Italian freelance journalist Marco Consoli in 2020 during the lockdown, at a time festivals were in crisis and in-person interviews were not possible.
As well as pointing out that the economics of sending journalists from across the world to these festivals will no longer work if they can’t rely on interviews with major stars (which will inevitably have a knock on effect on the coverage of smaller, independent films), the letter warns that film journalists may well decide to boycott the event in future,
“Eventually the protest could involve the festivals themselves, which risks seeing the departure of hundreds of accredited journalists and publications and where the commentary on films and the opinion of their authors will be left to artificial intelligence,” says the letter.
Read the full letter below:
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Cinema journalism is at risk of extinction. Venice Film Festival has just started and we know already that many films with a world premiere at the festival this year will not give any interviews to the press. Zero, zilch, nada. This decision, influenced by the studios and supported by many publicists, puts in jeopardy an entire category of journalists, particularly freelancers, who with their passionate and relentless work often help in the success of films, give voice and prestige to directors and actors, and contribute to igniting the debate on projects that aim for the Oscars, the Golden Globes and other prestigious awards. After having gone on strike for months in Hollywood to save thousands of jobs, now directors and actors, embracing the policy of the same studios and producers who were previously their enemies, are putting just as many jobs at risk, denying interviews to journalists who manage to survive thanks to those interviews.
These days, due to rapid and profound changes to the media landscape, more and more journalists are becoming freelancers, which means they sustain themselves single-handedly. That means they do what is called “pitching” to sell stories which allow them to survive. Every day, they put their best foot forward to write about what’s meaningful, innovative and of great artistic value. But the outlets always favor names, stars and mainstream projects. If journalists get those stars, then they can also make sure the first time filmmakers, the innovators, along with all the beautifully talented artists with less commercial appeal can get their media exposure too, through their effort. Just like organizers need big stars for the eyes of the world to turn to the event, the international press need interviews with them for their work to be viable.
After last year’s red carpets which were devoid of Hollywood stars and most filmmakers which were involved in the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes, this edition promises to be star-packed. The problem is that nearly all of the headliners of the 81st Mostra del Cinema will not be available for press activities other than to walk the red carpet and talk at the official press conference. This “red carpet activity only” message from publicists has been building up for a while, also during other festivals, such as Cannes and Berlinale. However the scope of their unavailability during this upcoming festival is unprecedented. The festival is bringing names to achieve prestige and media exposure but then seem to develop amnesia when it comes to the actual journalists.
We find this shocking and deeply concerning. We ask to change this policy that has long contaminated all the major festivals and to return to offering interview junkets to the press at film festivals. Today the protest has just begun, but soon there could be hundreds of journalists and outlets boycotting films and artists denying access to interviews at festivals. Eventually the protest could involve the festivals themselves, which risks seeing the departure of hundreds of accredited journalists and publications and where the commentary on films and the opinion of their authors will be left to artificial intelligence.
Correction: an earlier version of this article cited Lady Gaga as an example of A-list talent unavailable to international journalists. A rep for Gaga tells Variety : “She is doing many additional hours of interviews to a wide array of global media during Venice FF.”
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