Unifrance’s New President Gilles Pelisson Weighs in on Opportunities for the Independent French Cinema, TV Sector
variety.comElsa Keslassy International Correspondent After keeping a fairly low profile as president of France’s leading commercial network TF1 Group for seven years, Gilles Pelisson, the discreet Harvard-educated executive, is ready for showtime.
He has been propelled into the spotlight to promote French film and TV in his new role as president of Unifrance, succeeding Serge Toubiana last summer.
While participating in his first big gig for Unifrance at the Rendez-Vous showcase in Paris (which wraps Tuesday), Pelisson showed he had enough swagger to mingle with French stars and industry professionals alike, as well as deliver speeches about the prospects for French movies and TV series with both authority and conviction.
In the space of one week during the Rendez-Vous, he handed out the French Film Award to “By the Grace of God” actor Melvil Poupaud, and presented Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan with the best international co-production prize at the Lumiere Award on Monday.
Read more on variety.com