Cannes is going meta.
The social giant formerly known as Facebook is taking the Croisette by storm and rolling out the red carpet for creators at the festival. meta has unveiled its first creator villa, which will be powered by Instagram and host up to 300 content creators over two days at the iconic Palais Bulles.
According to a blog post authored by Louise Holmes, director of creator partnerships for EMEA,the villa will offer “unique access to experiences and innovations.”
meta’s presence in Cannes follows similar events at U.S. festivals such as SXSW and Coachella. The physical spaces come as the company looks to step up efforts to help creators gain access to major entertainment events.
“Major events like these inspire communities and fandoms every day on our apps, and film is no exception,” wrote Holmes in her post. “We know that red carpet events generate high interest amongst fans using our apps, and drive creativity from creators.”
According to meta, videos with Met Gala hashtags on Instagram had over 2.2 billion views including over 1.8 billion views from Reels. Video now makes up 50% of the time spent on Facebook, and is becoming increasingly prominent on Instagram, with Reels making up more than 20% of the time people spend on the latter app.
meta’s Palais Bulles venue will give creators a space to gain hands-on experience with hardware such as meta Quest 2 and Ray-Ban Stories. As part of the program, the company is hosting VR demos, glam teams and interactive photo and video installations. Meanwhile, a “Reels Squad” of 120 creators will be using the format to cover the festival.
meta’s launch at the festival comes alongside social media rival TikTok’s new partnership with Cannes. TikTok became an elite sponsor of the festival earlier this year — a move that grabbed headlines given Cannes was once famously against social media of any kind on the red carpet.
