NAACP president Derrick Johnson, Cannes, France, June 19, 2023. (Photo: Twitter)
Every year the media is flooded with glamorous photos from the famed Cannes Film Festival, an international star-studded film awards event that takes place in France. The film festival typically takes place in May, but a month later, there is also an event for the people behind the scenes.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is a global event for those working in creative communications, advertising, and related fields. This year, it was held from June 19 to June 23. Creatives from all over the world are represented. And for the first time this year, a collective group called Blacks At Cannes was represented. Blacks at Cannes threw a yacht party on Juneteenth (June 19) that was attended by Black American civil rights organization National Association for the Advancement of Colored People president Derrick Johnson.
It may seem odd that the NAACP would be represented at such an event, especially on the heels of the organization issuing a travel advisory against Florida over what it has deemed as racist policies of Governor Ron DeSantis. But in a speech that was posted on Twitter, Johnson noted that it is important for Black creatives not only to be represented but to be seen. And the push for Black creatives is under the scope of the NAACP’s objective of advancing Black people globally.
“I just flew here from Jackson, Mississippi, and if you ask the average Black person in America or African in the Diaspora, he doesn’t even know this exists,” said Johnson. “The fact that creatives of this country, of the globe, meet here and decide the content for the rest of the year, it is very important for us to be present. I often say how we are seen on the screen are how we are treated on the streets…we are proud to be here for this first year, but we will be here every year.”
Interestingly the NAACP, which tends to fight on the social front, has been entering the world of Hollywood. In 2020, in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd, CBS Television Studios made a landmark deal with the NAACP.
Under the deal, the NAACP is to develop scripted, unscripted, and documentary programs for TV networks and streaming platforms, The NAACP announced.
“An important way to diversify and grow our storytelling is to expand our horizons beyond the traditional studio-producer system,” CBS Entertainment Group President George Cheeks said in a statement at the start of the pact. “There is no better partner than the NAACP — the preeminent civil rights organization in our country — to help us find, develop and tell these inclusive stories.”
“Images are advocacy,” said Johnson. “This was the right timing for this to happen and the wrong timing for this to happen. The entire industry is in transition — cable, broadcast, networks.”
But the partnership seems to have been stalled as none of the projects have yet to be made. So far, there have been eight projects sold; only three are in active development with their original buyers, while three are being shopped to other venues after being shelved by their original buyers, The Los Angeles Times reported.
NAACP president Derrick Johnson, Cannes, France, June 19, 2023. (Photo: Twitter, https://twitter.com/moguldom/status/1671928110734884864?s=61&t=R-Yzpa6wGFuQ6xaVHXeR0w)
