John Legend, Laura Dern, Nicolas Winding Refn Join 2019 Cannes Lion Lineup (EXCLUSIVE)
John Legend, Laura Dern and Nicolas Winding Refn are scheduled to be among the Hollywood bold-face names heading to the Cannes Lions advertising and media festival in the south of France this month.
Legend, a multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter, record producer and activist, will be a featured speaker with Procter & Gamble chief brand officer Marc Pritchard in panel session “Reimagine Creativity Through Love and Humanity.” Legend is slated to perform live during the P&G-sponsored session on the Palais Terrace Stage.
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Dern, who recently appeared in Justin Kelly’s “JT LeRoy” and in Ed Zwick’s “Trial by Fire,” will next be seen in HBO’s “Big Little Lies” season 2. At Cannes Lions, she’ll join Robert Greenblatt, recently named chairman of AT&T WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer, and Vanity Fair editor-in-chief Radhika Jones in a Condé Nast-sponsored session on how technology continues to disrupt entertainment.
Refn, the Danish director of films including “Drive” and “The Neon Demon,” will participate in a discussion with Nils Leonard, co-founder of Uncommon Creative Studio. Refn’s newest project is crime drama series “Too Old to Die Young” for Amazon Studios.
The trio join other speakers already confirmed for the Cannes Lions content program, which has made efforts in recent years to expand its reach into the entertainment biz. Others on the program include Alfonso Cuarón, Oscar-winning director of “Roma”; actors Kerry Washington and Jeff Goldblum; writer-producers Shonda Rhimes and Kenya Barris; Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg; and former NBA star Dwyane Wade. In addition, the conference will feature live performances on the Palais Terrace Stage by musicians Tom Odell and Wyclef Jean.
Also speaking at Cannes Lions are “Saturday Night Live” creator Lorne Michaels, who is receiving the fest’s first Entertainment Person of the Year award, and Jeffrey Katzenberg, who has been named Cannes Lions’ Media Person of the Year.
“We’re delighted to announce the final stellar names in the Cannes Lions content program,” said Simon Cook, managing director of Cannes Lions. “This year’s speakers represent a truly global mix of creative disciplines and expertise from across the entire industry.”
The 66th Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity is scheduled to run June 17-21, 2019. More info on the conference and programming lineup is available at canneslions.com.
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