Ahead of any given Cannes, at 7:49 a.m. a villa is being checked for internet speed. Thirty minutes away at the airport in Nice, a flight has just landed, while a driver is already working through three last minute amended pick up lists and a detour on his phone. On the Croisette, a beach stage crew is tying down the roof because there’s the slight possibility of a passing thunderstorm. And somewhere in the Carlton Hotel lobby, a guest list is being rewritten for the fourth time in 24 hours.
Behind the scenes of the awards festival is a temporary economy, built on constant revision and adaptation, where almost nothing is fixed except the deadline. None of it ever reaches the stage because there is an invisible group of people who act as the event’s infrastructure. They absorb the changes in real time, and turn instability into something that functions, as though it was just all part of the process.
Ahead of Cannes Lions 2025, Dept spent a year planning its festival merchandise. But after a series of supplier delays, the shipment became stuck in customs — and the transport carrying materials to Cannes had already left for the festival. A logistical nightmare by anyone’s standards.
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