FRANCE – The 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is just around the corner. We can’t be more excited to know who’s going to take home the most Lion wins but we’re also excited about the awesome speakers who will be conducting the sessions.
Now, there are over 100 speakers and sessions to choose from. But if we had to pick ten right now, we would like to be in the same room as these speakers:
Matsuko-Roid
Matsuko-roid was born in December 2014. He was created by the android company A-Lab, under the supervision of Professor Ishiguro of Osaka University. He is a recreation of Matsuko Deluxe, the number one liked ‘male’ celebrity in Japan, using cutting-edge technology to create artificial skin and muscles. He is also capable of looking into the eyes of the person he is speaking to. Matsuko Deluxe’s motions are analyzed from all the TV programs he stars in, so that Matsuko-roid can imitate his movements to the details. The team spent twice as much time than usual working on the facial motions. Matsuko-roid hosts a weekly TV program on Japan No.1 network, NTV. He is 1,700mm high, weighs 80kg, and is usually seated.
SPEAKING AT:
MATSUKO-ROID DISRUPTS TV AND AD AGENCIES at 1400 on Saturday 27 June
Dave Alpert
David Alpert is a prolific television and film producer. Some of David’s credits include in television: “The Walking Dead” and its companion series, “Fear The Walking Dead,” the Robert Kirkman-created “Outcast”, and features including “AIR,” starring Norman Reedus and Djimon Hounsou, the Jessie Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart film “American Ultra,” and the George Lopez film “Spare Parts.”
David is also president of Skybound Entertainment, the multi-platform entertainment company founded alongside longtime collaborator and creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman.
As president, David oversees operations and development of cross-platform properties at Skybound including the company’s partnership with Samsung to develop virtual reality content for Milk VR. David is an honors graduate of Harvard University and New York University Law School.
SPEAKING AT:
HOW TO SURVIVE A ZOMBIE ATTACK (AND HARNESS CULTURAL TRENDS TO GROW BRANDS) at 1000 on Sunday 21 June
Christiane Amanpour
Christiane Amanpour is host of Amanpour and chief international correspondent for CNN. Previously, she was the global affairs anchor at ABC News. Her illustrious career in journalism spans three decades. Her international reporting began in 1990 as a correspondent for CNN where she reported on international crisis in the Gulf War, Iraq, Afghanistan, North Korea, Palestinian territories, Iran, Sudan, Israel, Pakistan, Somalia, Rwanda, the Balkans, Egypt, Libya. She has interviewed most of the top world leaders over the past two decades and Amanpour has received every major broadcast award, including an inaugural Television Academy Award, ten News and Documentary Emmys, four George Foster Peabody Awards, and nine honorary degrees. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and an Honorary Citizen of Sarajevo. Amanpour is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island.
SPEAKING AT:
A POLITICAL ADDRESS FROM THE QUEEN OF COMEDY at 1200 on Wednesday 24 June
Betsy Beers
Betsy Beers is the Executive Producer of the hit ABC shows “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder.”
She partnered with Shonda Rhimes and her company Shondaland to develop and produce additional feature film and television projects.
In 2014, Beers and Rhimes were honored by the Directors Guild of America with the rarely awarded Diversity Award, for their long record of providing jobs and opportunities to women and minorities. For her work on “Grey’s Anatomy,” Ms. Beers and her fellow producers were awarded the 2007 Producer of the Year Award from the Producers Guild of America and the 2007 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series Drama.
Prior to her work with Shondaland, Ms. Beers was President of the Mark Gordon Company and oversaw the development and production of “The Hoax” and “Casanova.” Previously, she was President of Dogstar Films, where she produced and developed “200 Cigarettes,” “Best Laid Plans,” “High Fidelity” and “Pushing Tin.”
SPEAKING AT:
CREATIVITY IS THE ONLY WAY TO SURVIVE at 1300 on Monday 22 June
Jimmy Chin
Jimmy Chin is one of the most sought after and recognised adventure sports photographers and filmmakers working today. In the past decade, Jimmy has collaborated with some of the most progressive athletes and explorers in the world, participating in and documenting break through expeditions around the planet, from climbing notable first ascents in the Karakoram, to skiing first descents in the Himalayas. Jimmy shoots for a wide variety of commercial and editorial clients.
He is a National Geographic photographer and has received numerous awards for his work from PDN, Communication Arts, American Society of Magazine Editors and the Lowell Thomas Journalism Awards. As a director and cinematographer, Jimmy has shot and directed documentaries, tv and commercial projects for The North Face, Pirelli, National Geographic, Working Title, and RSA Films, to name a few. Jimmy’s recent film Meru won the Audience Choice Award at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival. On the other side of the lens, Jimmy has been a sponsored climber and skier for the North Face Athlete Team for over fifteen years.
SPEAKING AT:
FULL FRONTAL CONTENT at 1000 on Sunday 21 June
Adrian Grenier
Adrian Grenier, American actor, producer and social entrepreneur, recently wrapped production on the Warner Bros feature film adaptation of the HBO series “Entourage” set for release in June 2015. His other acting credits include; “The Devil Wears Prada”, “Sex, Death & Bowling” “Cecil B Demented” and “Goodbye World”. Founder of Reckless Productions, Grenier also has produced and directed documentaries such as “Shot in the Dark”, “Teenage Paparazzo” and “How to Make Money Selling Drugs”. He is currently in pre-production on the “52: The Search for the Loneliest Whale in the World” that will take audiences on a journey to search for the forgotten “52 Hertz Whale”.
In 2009 Grenier co-founded SHFT.com, a content creation/curation hub promoting sustainable green living through film, design, art and food. Its non-profit endeavours include the SHFT Mobile Kitchen Classroom, which provides New York City high school students opportunities to engage in experiential lessons around food, health and sustainability.
SPEAKING AT:
COLLABORATION FOR GREATER GOOD: GAME-CHANGING PARTNERSHIPS THAT GALVANIZE SOCIAL CHANGE at 1500 on Monday 22 June
Grace Helbig
Grace Helbig is a comedian, actress and video blogger. She’s the creator and star of “Its Grace” (over 2 million subscribers), for which she’s been awarded a Webby.
She is also the creator of the IAWTV and Streamy award winning web series “DailyGrace”. She is currently in production on “The Grace Helbig Show”, her new late night talk show for E; “Not Too Deep With Grace Helbig”, her top Itunes rated podcast; and “HeyUSA” the comedy travel series for Conde Nast.
SPEAKING AT:
YouTube: Music in the Digital Age at 1300 on Wednesday 24 June
Marilyn Manson
Seer, scribe, painter, actor, criminal, panderer of chaos, live performer…oh, and rock and roll demagogue
SPEAKING AT:
9TH ANNUAL GREY MUSIC SEMINAR at 1300 on Monday 22 June
Kevin Wong
Kevin Wong is a New York based ad student with a big love for Instagram. With more than 50,000 followers Kevin knows what it takes to create engaging content, and occasionally he collaborates with brands in doing so.
SPEAKING AT:
THE NEW CELEBRITIES at 1215 on Sunday 21 June
Sean Rad
Sean Rad, 28, is Founder and President of Tinder. Rad’s passion for enhancing the way people communicate and connect was apparent from a young age, leading him to launch several successful business ventures all with that social mission. In 2005, Rad founded Orgoo, a unified communications platform for consumers. In 2009, Rad became Founder and President of Ad.ly, the largest celebrity endorsement platform for social media. In 2012, Rad founded the mobile app Tinder, spearheading innovation in social discovery, for which he was recognized in Forbes’ 30 under 30 in 2013 and Vanity Fair’s “The New Establishment” in 2014. Sean attended the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. He currently resides in Los Angeles, where he was born and raised.
SPEAKING AT:
MEET THE DISRUPTORS: HOW TINDER COUPLED TECHNOLOGY WITH HUMAN EXPERIENCE at 1100 on Sunday 21 June
