Back in November, we reported how MediaLink CEO Michael Kassan was seeking out some big-name entertainment companies to serve as foundational partners for Connect Learn Explore (CLX), a new strand at Cannes Lion International Festival of Creativity.

With just a few weeks to go before the annual ad industry shindig kicks off in June, it looks like Kassan has landed his catch.

“The original partners that we’ve announced already are Activision, NBC, Microsoft, Adobe, Tik Tok and a couple of more that are just about ready to be announced in these last few days as we’re leading up or last few weeks,” Kassan tells Beet.TV in this video interview.

In February 2017, Cannes Lions’ organizer, London-based Ascential, a B2B media company, announced it would acquire MediaLink, which has more than 120 people in multiple US offices, with each company remaining independent.

The new CLX strand is one of the first visible fruits of the tie-up. It aims to help get brands up close and personal with leading entertainment companies.

According to the festival’s announcement: “CLX participants can partake in a selection of curated roundtables that will provide compelling insightful learnings and ideas for the creation of successful content.”

Those roundtables, specifically, hosted by senior execs:

  • The Art and Science of Building Beloved Stories – Activision Blizzard
  • The Power of Creative Storytelling. The Power of Comedy in Storytelling. Tell Me a Story: How to Break through the Noise and Form a Real Connection – NBCUniversal
  • Authenticity wins: TikTok’s Formula for Success. Everyone is a Creator: Unlocking the Power of UGC – TikTok

“And we’ve got Jeffery (Katzenberg) and Meg (Whitman) in tow to talk about Quibi and their launch of their mobile platform,” Kassan adds.

This video is part of the Beet.TV preview series titled “The Road to Cannes.”  The series is sponsored by 4INFO. Please visit this page for additional segments. 

By Robert Andrews on    @robertandrews