Cannes Film Festival Marks the Start of a New Era for Anonymous Content: ‘The Very Best Cinema Reminds Us of Our Humanity’

The Cannes Film Festival is a big moment on the calendar for any film company fortunate enough to have a film in contention at the glitzy fest.

For Anonymous Content, the arrival of Cannes marks the start of a new chapter for the company under president and CEO Darren Walker. Anonymous has three films getting a showcase on the Croisette this year, including the competition title “Parallel Tales” from two-time Oscar winner Asghar Farhadi. Walker, who took the helm of Anonymous in January, says the strong showing with film “reflects the momentum we’re building, and it reflects the years of hard work that preceded me as the leader — I want to really acknowledge that.”

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“Parallel Tales,” produced by Memento Films and Anonymous, stars Isabelle Huppert, Virginie Efira, Vincent Cassel, Pierre Niney and Catherine Deneuve. Farhadi is the Iranian filmmaker who has been at the center of discussions about human rights and artistic expression in his battles with his native country.

“In Waves,” part of the Critics’ Week lineup, is an animated feature from Phuong Mai Nguyen with a voice cast that includes Will Sharpe and Stephanie Hsu. It’s produced by Paris-based Silex Films and Anonymous Content.

“Victorian Psycho” is tabbed for the fest’s Un Certain Regard section. The horror thriller from helmer Zachary Wigon will be released in the U.S. by Bleecker Street on Sept. 25. The film stars Maika Monroe, Thomasin Mackenzie, Jason Isaacs and Ruth Wilson.

Walker, who was recruited to lead Anonymous after 12 years of heading the Ford Foundation, asserts that Farhadi’s work is an inspiration. His artistry, his creativity, his capacity to tell powerful and profound stories is needed today more than ever.” Walker wants Anonymous to “do more work like this that is deeply meaningful, that is elevated and prestige, that’s intelligent and sophisticated, and presumes that audiences are looking for meaning, for a way to understand this world that we’re living in.”

Animation is also an area of production that Anonymous has targeted for growth in its business pillars of talent management and production. “There’s no doubt that if we are to be relevant and successful in the future, we’ve got to understand how to produce the very best in animation. We would ignore animation at our own peril. It will be a big part of our future,” Walker says.

“Victorian Psycho” is a film that feels “young and fresh and cutting edge. I like that we are pushing more in this direction,” Walker says.

The trio of titles making the rounds at Cannes are exemplars of the type of material Anonymous Content intends to pursue that this moment of great upheaval across film and TV. For television, Anonymous’ docket of upcoming projects includes the “Little House on the Prairie” revival for Netflix, as well as a new spin on John Steinbeck’s “East of Eden” for Netflix and drama thriller “Neuromancer” for Apple TV.

Anonymous Content began its run as a production and management company about 25 years ago under the leadership of the late producer Steve Golin. Since Golin’s death in 2019, the company has been through a few configurations before Walker was recruited as CEO. Laurene Powell Jobs’ Emerson Collective acquired a stake in the company in 2016.

Walker praised David Levine, Anonymous’ chief content officer, and Nick Schumaker, head of the AC Independent wing, for “diligently” shepherding the film projects to Cannes. He also pointed to Netflix’s “Remarkably Bright Creatures” as an example of how Anonymous executives were quick to realize the potential of the 2022 novel by Shelby Van Pelt.

“They’ve been tireless in their advocacy and their zealotry, because to make movies often requires a zealotry about an idea, a book, a thesis, and an unwillingness to let it go,” Walker says. “I could not be more excited about our momentum. In these last three weeks, we’ve received four Tony nominations, we’ve had ‘The Devil Wear Prada 2’ have a huge opening weekend – director David Frankel is a client. We’ve got ‘Remarkably Bright Creatures’ launching on Mother’s Day with our client Sally Field. The entire flywheel of Anonymous is manifest in that movie from the cast to the book all the way through to the end of production. It’s been a soup to nuts engagement for us, and so the combination of the Cannes announcement and the achievements of the last two weeks portend a very exciting future for Anonymous Content.”

Walker was a transformative leader during his dozen years atop the Ford Foundation, one of the nation’s most active nonprofits devoted improve the quality of life for people around the world. Walker sees filmmaking and entertainment as an extension of that work.

“My benchmark is that Anonymous is understood in the market as a producer of high quality, prestige, elevated, sophisticated, intelligent cinema and that we are a destination for ideas, creators, talent who want to do things that may take risk, that may need capital, that may need encouragement,” Walker says.

“We want to be a place that valorizes the noble work of artists at a time when so much of the world desperately needs artists to help us find our way through these troubling times. Because I am a believer that we are going to get through these difficult days, and we will because of artists,” he says. “We will because of filmmakers who are and producers who are courageous and willing to risk everything to be truth tellers, to hold the mirror up and to demand that we be accountable as citizens, as leaders, and help remind us of our humanity, because this is what this is what cinema does. The very best cinema reminds us of our humanity, our shared destinies. This is why I came to Anonymous.”