Maxime Saada clarifies his comments on the signatories of the anti-Bolloré forum

The chairman of the Canal+ board assures that there was never any question of establishing a “black list”, but he maintains that there will be consequences.

The chairman of the Canal+ board clarifies his remarks.

After a highly commented initial reaction in Cannes, following the petition published in Release Alarmed by Vincent Bolloré’s place in French cinema through the Canal+ group, Maxime Saada took advantage of the group’s general meeting to clarify his position vis-à-vis the signatories.

If he reiterates his disagreement with the rebels, and claims to have experienced the platform in question as “an injustice”he promises that there will be no “blacklist”. On the other hand, Maxime Saada maintains that this petition will have consequences and that from now on, the group will question itself with each project seeking financing on the “consideration“ carried by the people behind the said project, vis-à-vis Canal+.

Watch below:

In the details of his intervention, the chairman of the board first thanks “the vast majority of professionals in the sector who have not signed this petition. It should be remembered that cinema in France brings together 250,000 professionals. Between 1% and 2% of the sector have therefore signed this forum. Why? Because 99% of professionals did not recognize themselves in this petition, which attacked Canal+. The vision held by the signatories does not correspond to the Canal+ that they know. It is Canal+ that was attacked. The group has no longer been a subsidiary of Vivendi for eighteen months and is not controlled by the Bolloré group, which is our major shareholder.”

Maxime Saada then sees in this forum a disguised desire “to block the takeover of UGC by Canal+. It is therefore Canal+’s industrial strategy that is under attack.”

He continues by explaining how the petition was perceived by the group’s employees: “When we associate, alongside the name of Canal+, the idea of a ‘fascist vision’, it is the reputation and integrity of the group’s teams that are called into question. When the Canal+ logo is whistled, following this petition, during certain screenings in Cannes, there is indeed reputational damage for Canal+. As chairman of the management board, my role is in particular to defend the interests of Canal+, as well as the integrity and consideration due to the teams of Canal+ We experienced this platform as a profound injustice.”

Then, Maxime Saada “assume” everything he could say in Cannes last week. But he insists: “I have obviously never talked about a blacklist. There is no question, for us, of tracking down the technicians who signed the petition or of stopping working with them or financing the films in which they participate. That would make no sense. We are not going to track down people who need their work to live. same usual prisms: not a political prism, but an artistic and commercial prism. Is this work of interest to our subscribers? But it is true that I am going to add a new dimension to the files that we are going to study, and I do not want to hide from it: what is the consideration given by the people behind the project towards Canal+?

The president of the group justifies this new approach as follows: “I can’t ignore this forum. It would be inconsistent. If someone rang your doorbell, called you a fascist, then asked you for money, maybe you wouldn’t give them any. We’re going to do exactly the same.”