After going online only in 2021, the Paris Images Trade Show will return for its ninth edition as a hybrid event, offering both in-person and online attendees the chance to take in a broader view of France’s audiovisual production infrastructure. Running Jan. 20-29, the trade show will encompass five distinct and discreet events, each with its own program and focus, all umbrellaed under the Paris Images moniker.
On Jan. 20-21, in-person conference-goers will be able to attend the Paris Images Production Forum and the Paris Images AFC Events, both held at Paris’ Parc Floral. While the Production Forum will bring together exhibitors spotlighting locations and service providers from across the country, the AFC Events will offer a streamlined and preview version of the upcoming Micro Salon, a cinematography showcase to be held in April 2022.
On Jan. 24, Paris Image online will offer a day full of case studies, round-table discussions, and key-notes covering the breadth of the country’s production infrastructure, with registration open to all.
Held in English and aimed at international partners, the Paris Images online program will open with a key-note from CNC president Dominique Boutonnat, before spotlighting American productions like “Stillwater” and “The Last Duel” alongside upcoming homegrown projects like the Pathé produced, Jean-Jacques Annaud directed “Notre-Dame on Fire” and the Canal Plus series “Marie-Antoinette.” Scheduled speakers will run the gamut from production service coordinators to casting agents to VFX houses.
On Jan. 25, the trade show will hold the inward-looking Industrie Du Rêve summit, which will take place in French and in person as it asks what educational and training opportunities might anticipate future industry needs. The trade show will conclude with the Paris Images Digital Summit, which will tackle questions related to the visual effects field from Jan. 26-29.
“It’s been a hard year for the global film industry, but in France and in Paris production has grown,” says Film Paris Region managing director Remi Bergues. As the regional commission supporting local and international shoots in and around the French capital, Film Paris Region has also organized the annual Production Forum since before the creation of the Paris Image umbrella event.
Doing so means anticipating attendees’ needs, and when it came to planning this year’s edition, that meant returning to (masked) face-to-face gatherings and offering a central focus on sustainable production practices.
“For the past few years we’ve worked to identify solutions that productions can use to reduce their environmental impact,” Bergues explains. “We’ve identified solutions for sustainable painting, and for re-usable studio sets and costumes. We’ll have conferences and workshops about the topic itself, and we’ll have participants exhibit those solutions, inviting professionals to meet and collaborate.”
Nearly 1/5th of the 100 scheduled exhibitors will be first-time participants, a move that speaks to the film commission’s larger goals. “This is a kind of one-stop-shop for professionals to come see what’s available,” says Bergues, who points toward a series of post-industrial zones and urban sites outside the Paris city limits than can ape the city’s famous Haussmannian boulevards as examples of the nearly 30 new locations presented this year. “So part of our mission is to identify new locations that can inspire.”
