Clarity at Cannes: What comes next?
- Elizabeth Blake-Thomas
- Jun 4
- 5 min read
By Elizabeth Blake-Thomas, Mother Daughter Entertainment
The festival is over and you have returned home. Now what?
The first thing you should do is pause for a moment and congratulate yourself. Attending and navigating Cannes is no small achievement. Many people talk about going for years but never actually take the step to make it happen. They dream about it, plan for it, and imagine what it might be like, but life, work, or finances get in the way.
You made it happen.
You showed up, you participated, and you experienced it. That alone is something worth
acknowledging.
After the intensity of the festival, it is important to give yourself time to decompress. Cannes can be exhilarating, inspiring, and overwhelming all at once. You have likely spent days running between meetings, events, screenings, and conversations. Your mind has been constantly processing information, opportunities, and new relationships.
Before jumping straight back into work mode, take a moment to slow down.
One exercise I like to use is called Pat Yourself on the Back. It is simple but incredibly effective.
Find a quiet moment and reflect on the experience. Write down the things you are proud of from your time at the festival. These do not have to be big achievements. Sometimes the smaller moments are just as important.
Maybe you attended an event that felt intimidating. Maybe you introduced yourself to someone you had always admired but never thought you would have the courage to approach. Maybe you had a meaningful conversation that opened your perspective on something new. Or perhaps you simply managed the energy and intensity of the festival without becoming overwhelmed.
The purpose of this exercise is not to measure success or compare your experience to anyone else's. It is simply about acknowledging your effort and recognizing what you achieved by being there.
Once you have taken that time to reflect and decompress, the next stage begins. Reality returns fairly quickly. Suddenly there are follow ups to send, emails to write, and conversations to continue.
This can feel overwhelming, especially if you returned home with a stack of business cards or a long list of people you met throughout the week.
The natural instinct is often to follow up immediately. However, timing matters.
Remember that everyone else who attended Cannes is also returning home at the same time.
People are catching up on work they missed while away, reconnecting with their teams, and recovering from long days and late nights.
In most cases, people do not begin reconnecting until around two weeks after the festival ends.
Unless something urgent was already agreed upon during Cannes, allowing that time is often appreciated. It gives everyone space to settle back into their routines before continuing the conversations that began at the festival.
When you do start your follow ups, remember your why.
The emails and messages you send should reflect the purpose that brought you to Cannes in the first place. Keep your communication clear, professional, and concise.
Remind the person where you met and briefly reference your conversation so they can easily place you. Then suggest the next step. Perhaps that means arranging a coffee, scheduling a call, discussing a project further, or simply staying connected.
Clarity makes it easier for people to respond.
It can also be helpful to review the contacts you made and organize them in a simple way. Write down where you met each person, what you spoke about, and what the potential next step might be. This small step can make the entire follow up process feel much more manageable.
At this stage it is also worth asking yourself another important question. What do these new connections mean for your journey moving forward?
The film industry is very much a long game. Careers and collaborations are rarely built
overnight. They grow slowly through trust, shared experiences, and consistent communication.
My daughter and I have been part of the industry for fifteen years through our company, Mother Daughter Entertainment. Over that time we have learned that relationships are one of the most valuable aspects of this business.
No matter what your why may be, relationships play an essential role in achieving it.
Rather than focusing only on what others can do for you, think about how you can support the people around you as well. Can you connect someone with another contact? Can you offer insight, encouragement, or collaboration on a project?
Some of the most meaningful relationships in this industry develop from small gestures of support and genuine interest in one another's work.
Over time, many professional connections naturally evolve into friendships. There is something incredibly special about meeting people at events like Cannes and later realizing that those same people have become trusted collaborators or lifelong friends.
This is also the moment to return to your why again, but now with a broader perspective. Cannes is only one moment in your year. The real question is what comes next.
Take time to reflect on your experience. What worked well for you during the festival? What would you approach differently next time? What conversations felt meaningful, and which opportunities might be worth pursuing further?
From there, start thinking about the next steps in your treasure hunt.
Earlier we spoke about beginning with the treasure and working backwards. Now you have gathered new information, new connections, and new perspectives that may help refine that map.
Maybe the next step involves developing a project you discussed during the festival. Maybe it means attending another festival later in the year. Perhaps it simply means nurturing the relationships you began in Cannes and allowing them to grow naturally.
The important thing to remember is that Cannes is not the destination. It is one step in a much longer journey.
Your career is built over time through consistent effort, curiosity, and relationships. By staying connected to your why and continuing to move toward that treasure, you ensure that the momentum from Cannes carries forward into everything you do next.
ABOUT ELIZABETH BLAKE- THOMAS
Director, Filmmaker, Author, TEDx Speaker, and Creativity Coach, Elizabeth Blake-Thomas’ experience in a variety of fields gives her the knowledge with which to help other people live more purposeful lives.
She is the Founder of production company Mother & Daughter Entertainment. Her directing credits include romcom Just Swipe, action/thriller Hunt Club, YA supernatural thriller Karma: Death at Latigo Springs, and more. Her third book “Living with Intention” was released 2024 and is available on Amazon, as are her previous books “Arabella” and “Filmmaking without Fear”.
Her children’s books are available on Etsy under the store name “Medicine with Words”. Under the same banner, her creativity coaching methodology “Medicine with Words” has been around for a few decades, where she not only helps to guide people towards their purpose, but she also mentors budding directors
and filmmakers.
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