Since September 2021, the Georges Méliès University Campus has been home to 1,000 students on the Cannes Bastide Rouge site in Cannes La Bocca. Delivered in March 2021, this higher education facility designed and financed by the Cannes City Council and operated by Université Côte d’Azur with its components and partners – the CREATES University Research School, the Nice Côte d’Azur University Technology Institute (IUT) the Ecole Supérieure de Réalisation Audiovisuelle (ESRA) and the Ecole Supérieure de Danse de Cannes Rosella Hightower (PNSD) – offers 35 courses from Bac to Bac+8 level, most of which are unique in France and Europe, and are mainly dedicated to the writing and image professions. This vocation in favor of the development of the creative economy sector in the Cannes area is part of the ambitious “Cannes on Air” program, whose objective is to provide the region with all the links in the audiovisual content design chain. To encourage exchanges between higher education and the business world, the campus also houses, within the same building, a business center that opened in May 2021.

On Monday, October 4, 2021, David Lisnard officially inaugurated the Georges Méliès University Campus in the presence of Frédérique Vidal, Minister of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Jeanick Brisswalter, President of Université Côte d’Azur.

35 quality training courses mainly dedicated to the creative writing professions

Delivered in March 2021, the university campus, newly named “Georges Méliès” in honor of the great film genius, opened its doors in September 2021. For this first academic year, the establishment welcomes 1,000 students in courses offered by the University Research School CREATES of the Université Côte d’Azur, the School for Cinema, Sound and Animation (ESRA), the University Institute of Technology (IUT) and the Cannes Rosella Hightower Higher School of Dance (PNSD). A total of 35 courses are offered, ranging from the University Technology Diploma (DUT, gradually replaced by the BUT) to the doctorate, most of which are unique and related to scriptwriting and audiovisual content design.

With a total surface area of 8,145 m², the building, designed by architect Christophe Gulizzi, offers 4,445 m² of space dedicated to the university campus including :

• general and shared teaching rooms with twenty-two classrooms, two amphitheaters and six computer rooms;
• premises for the entire audiovisual production chain, including four recording studios, a large stage equipped (dance, music, stage) with a shared control room, a film set, nine editing rooms, a radio studio, a film club, and a director’s office;
• a learning center or university library, equipped with three work rooms;
• a university cafeteria, “Karma Café”, offering homemade food at affordable prices for students and entrepreneurs;
• administrative offices.

Thus, future professionals in the creative and cultural industries benefit, on the one hand, from high-quality operational and user-friendly infrastructures and, on the other hand, from the latest generation of professional equipment to guarantee them optimal learning conditions. This environment is conducive to innovation and is reinforced by the presence of startups hosted on the campus.

Cross-fertilization between the academic and entrepreneurial worlds

In order to promote synergy between education, research and the creation of innovative activities, the Georges Méliès Campus houses both a university and a business center in the same location. Opened in May 2021, the Campus already houses 13 companies in the audiovisual field that benefit from economic development support from the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration. By bringing together students, researchers and entrepreneurs in the same space, the site aims to encourage the cross-fertilization of ideas and experiences. Thanks to these assets, the Cannes Bastide Rouge site is a real catalyst for entrepreneurial creation and innovation, a factor of competitiveness and job creation.

A 100% EAC program for students and professionals

To diversify the artistic fields addressed in class, the Cannes City Council is extending its 100% Artistic and Cultural Education (EAC) program to the Georges Méliès Campus, for students, as well as for professionals. Already successfully implemented in all of Cannes’ educational institutions since 2017, this approach is a real necessity since it is a source of emancipation, personal development and social link.

Thus, the objective through this approach is to create a fruitful dialogue between the worlds of creation, art, training, research and entrepreneurship.

In addition, in partnership with the PACA regional cultural affairs office and the Université Côte d’Azur, the campus hosts a diverse cultural program throughout the year. Until the end of 2021, the focus is on dance and cinema, through workshops, shows and exhibitions. The first exhibition will be held from September 2, 2021 to December 17, 2021 and will consist of 80 drawings by Quentin Spohn, a graduate of the Villa Arson School of Art, inspired by cult film scenes.

The biggest investment of David Lisnard’s first municipal mandate

Promoting learning and the conditions for the development of young students in Cannes are priorities for David Lisnard. Although the construction of a university building is a State competence, the Cannes City Council and the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration, have initiated since 2014 the project to develop a real pole of excellence dedicated to the image on the Cannes territory. This ambitious vision pursues the eminently strategic will of the mayor of Cannes to make the Cannes basin the “Silicon Valley of audiovisual creation”. To achieve this, the two project owners have committed a sum of €32.25M (including tax) (€23.8M including tax by the Cannes City Council and €8.45M including tax by the Cannes Lérins Agglomeration). Subsidies have been obtained up to €3.78M from the South Region, €1.72M from the Departmental Council, €400,000 from the State and €200,000 from the European Union.