Cannes a coming-out party for Amazon Studios

CANNES, France (AP) — The party, stocked with pretty people and schmoozing filmmakers, looked like any other at the Cannes Film Festival except for the neon lights on the wall that glowed "Amazon Studios."

Jim Jarmusch's well-received blue-collar poet drama "Paterson," Park Chan-wook's sumptuous gothic thriller "The Handmaiden" and Nicolas Winding Refn's fashion-world horror film "The Neon Demon," which premieres Friday.

Though the increasingly ubiquitous Amazon has been a growing player at other film festivals, it's robust presence at Cannes — the most hallowed celebration of cinema — has the feel of a baptism.

Amazon has instead sought to pair with independent theatrical distributors, content to have movies hit its streaming service three months later — the traditional rollout, just with Amazon taking the first window in home release.

[...] an approach not only has benefit for Amazon (theatrical release is still easily the biggest marketing splash for a movie) but it appeals to the kinds of filmmakers Amazon has pursued and landed: directors who want their films on the big screen, too.

Amazon's top executives — chief Roy Price, a former Walt Disney Co. executive; production head Ted Hope, a veteran producer; and distribution head Bob Berney, former chief of Picturehouse — are all well-known and respected names in the business.