Fantastic Fest director interviews Eli Roth at Cannes

Our old friend and former Variety columnist Mike Jones was the programming director for the American Pavilion at Cannes this year. Each day of the festival featured interviews, panels, conversations and parties all programmed by Mike. Since I've been pals with Eli Roth since 2002, he asked if I could conduct an interview with him for the series.

Eli engaged the standing-room audience with stories of his first trip to Cannes seeking funding for Cabin Fever, the now famous 2002 bidding war at the Toronto Film Festival, and his early days as a student filmmaker. As the room was filled largely with young, up-and-coming filmmakers, much of the discussion focused on what folks looking to break into the industry need to be doing.

Despite the lack of air-conditioning (there was an electrician's strike in France that day), Eli stayed for nearly an hour in the heat after the interview to shake hands, answer more questions and take business cards.

Check out Mike Jone's full recap of the interview here.