^{Porter (left) and Hill-Edgar outside Hill-Edgar’s office above the festival red carpet. (Photo provided by Morgan Hill-Edgar)}

Otsego Abroad: Local Students Work at Cannes Film Festival

By WRILEY NELSON
CANNES, FRANCE

Two Otsego County residents served as interns at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in May. Reed Porter, a Middlefield resident and rising junior at Miami University, worked for production company Epic Pictures. Morgan Hill-Edgar, a Cooperstown resident and Glimmerglass Festival actor who graduated from the University of Southern California in May, worked for the independent film media consulting service SAGindie.

Porter’s internship came at the end of an American Institute for Foreign Study semester abroad in Cannes. He spent four months in the Mediterranean city of 75,000 and spent every waking minute exploring the town, wandering the beaches and taking weekend trips to other parts of Europe. Each May, Cannes becomes the center of the global movie industry for two weeks as it hosts one of the “Big Five” international film festivals. The 2023 festival welcomed 13,500 accredited participants, breaking the previous record of 12,500 set in 2019.

“The change in the atmosphere was impressive,” Porter recalled. “It was a typical sleepy off-season beach town for most of my time there, and then suddenly it was completely packed for the massive festival. It was very comparable to Hall of Fame Weekend in Cooperstown, with the sudden jump in population and the ways tourists and locals interact. There were thousands of celebrities.”

During the internship, Porter assisted with sales work and attended meetings where many films changed hands.

“It was truly an international event; there were easily half a dozen languages spoken just internally at the small company I worked for,” he said. “Everyone I worked with was at least tri-lingual and skilled enough to hold high-level meetings in all of their languages. For me, as an international studies major, it was just outstanding.”

Although he had a full day of work every day of the festival, Porter was able to attend premieres every night.

“That was easily the best part,” he said. “You’d walk the red carpet in full eveningwear and the whole thing was focused on the film. It made the experience of watching a movie something I’ve never seen.”

Hill-Edgar, who flew to France after earning his BA in theater in May, had a similar reflection on the premieres.

“When you go into that theater, everything and everyone there is all about the film. You have to look your best; there are no distractions, you’re there to focus on the movie and appreciate it for the art and craft itself,” he said.

Hill-Edgar got to see dozens of industry professionals “just hanging around outside eating and making deals.” He enjoyed the intense mix of work, networking, and learning, and even acted in a short film.

“There were so many great ideas passing back and forth in the air there,” he said. “There’s a whole international film industry with absolutely no reference to the English-speaking world. The industry is so much bigger than it used to be…a lot of the films had many rows of subtitles in different languages.”

“It was an absolute whirlwind of art and business. It’s hard to describe without being there,” he concluded.
Porter ended with a few reflections on his more extended stay in France. He enjoyed the slower pace of life and walkable cities in southern France.

“There were people on the beach every Wednesday afternoon,” he said, “and even taking four classes, I was able to make a lot of time to explore the city. I made it my goal to walk everywhere I went and learn the city. I’m glad I was able to enjoy such a walkable and gorgeous city.”

This is the first in a series of articles covering our readers’ adventures abroad. If you have a story of work, study or exploration overseas, contact News Editor Wriley Nelson at NewsDesk@allotsego.com to bring your story home.