French President Emmanuel Macron said the Lumière Summit in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, which he co-chaired with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Monday, was deliberately held at a moment of dramatic upheaval for the entertainment business, from the growing dominance of YouTube and TikTok to AI and media consolidation.
Speaking to Variety at the event, he pointed to the growing power of YouTube, TikTok and other social platforms as one of the reasons the timing was right for the landmark gathering devoted to the future of cinema and the moving image.
“YouTube is very efficient. It’s de facto the default platform in a lot of countries for a lot of people. And it’s quite clear that today they divert a lot of people from these platforms or the big channels where a lot of money is invested in creation,” said Macron at the Fondation Maeght, a French art foundation showcasing works of art from Georges Braque to Joan Miró, nestled amid a luxuriant forest.
He argued that YouTube, which is currently outtalking Netflix in over 20 international markets, should increasingly be brought into the same ecosystem as other global platforms such as Netflix, Amazon and Disney, that have been required to invest in local production.
