After 37 years as the Founder and Director of The American Pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival, Julie Sisk knows firsthand that film festivals can be transformative – and not just for filmmakers. This year, she launched Take2Film — a curated travel experience for cinema lovers and immersive travel enthusiasts alike.
Take2Film offers thoughtfully designed journeys to some of the most renowned film festivals in the world. More than a ticket or a pass, each experience provides rich context, connection, and local immersion — combining film screenings with curated cultural events, private conversations, and insider perspectives.
We talked with her about the genesis of Take2Film, making film festival friends, and taping basketball games for Jack Nicholson.
MovieMaker: Can you share the origin story for Take2Film?
Julie Sisk: Part of what I was doing at the American Pavilion was bringing what I would call civilians or non-entertainment industry people to the festival, because it’s an industry-only event. It’s complicated, there’s lots of different sections to it, there’s a huge market that’s happening, and there’s a lot going on. So for somebody that hasn’t gone to a film festival before, it can be very overwhelming and intimidating. We provide access — and it’s about sharing a lifetime of relationships and experience with travelers who want more than just a vacation.
MovieMaker: How do you get that access?
Julie Sisk: I’m not going to do any of these without working directly with the festival to make it work. I’m not going to take somebody on a trip, and then not be able to get them into things.
We’re very high touch, hands on. We’re really dedicated to making sure everybody gets the most out of their festival experience.
This has nothing to do with Take2Film, but it shows you our level of dedication: I used to show the basketball playoffs in the American Pavilion at Cannes. I had a relationship with the NBA, and back then it was before streaming and so we would screen it. Jack Nicholson’s office called and said he’s in town, wants to see the basketball game.
We set everything up, and then at the last minute he decided it was too late so we should tape the game for him. We taped it and delivered it to the hotel. And the next morning, we get a phone call that says there’s no sound, and I was like, OK, I’m not a sports person, is that a problem? Yeah, it’s a big problem. Within a couple of hours, I called all around town. I found some friends of mine, they’re on a boat, a British Telecom boat, who got the thing downlinked from Washington, D.C. We delivered it to his hotel before he even woke up.
MovieMaker: We met you at Cannes, but what other film festival experiences do you offer?
Julie Sisk: So at the moment we’re doing Cannes, Venice, San Sebastián, and London. And we have more festivals and events on the horizon.
MovieMaker: Who is Take2Film for?
Julie Sisk: It is designed for both first-time attendees and seasoned festival-goers. The trips offer concierge-style hosting and a welcoming, community-driven atmosphere. With Cannes, I initially thought of this as 100% a bucket list trip, as in, it’s something you would do once. But we’ve actually had a lot of people that have done it multiple times. One guest has done it about seven times, I have another couple that did it once themselves, then came back with each of their three daughters. It’s for people that have the time to travel,, and are film enthusiasts.
MoveMaker: What do you mean by concierge-style hosting?
Julie Sisk: Each Take2Film journey balances festival access with local discovery — from intimate filmmaker discussions to guided cultural experiences that reflect the spirit of each city. For example, we brought a couple to Venice last year. She was a film devotee. She went to movies morning, noon, and night.
Her husband was interested in film, but less so, maybe he wanted to go to two films per day. So for Venice, it was great, because we organized a behind-the-scenes tour of the Biennale. And then we had a film critic meet with our group, and then we took them to all these different famous sites in Venice, where they filmed Summertime and Casino Royale. And they went to the opera, and we shared good restaurants to go to. So he had stuff to do too.
MovieMaker: We heard there was a serendipitous moment around Summertime at Cannes for you this year?
Julie Sisk: I mentioned that my colleague, Anne Maregiano organized a ‘film tourism” activity for our Venice guests last year. One of the places she took them to was where they shot Summertime with Katherine Hepburn. When one of the guests raved about it to me, I actually realized I hadn’t seen it before, and Kate, my daughter, and I watched it right before we came here and I thought, God, I can’t believe I haven’t seen it, it’s so beautiful. And then when we were at Cannes this year, my favorite film that I saw was a documentary about David Lean, called Maverick, and it showed clips of Summertime and it just felt like, “It’s all kind of coming full circle.”
MovieMaker: What’s your favorite festival?
Julie Sisk: I’ve always loved the London Film Festival. I also really, really love Venice, because I really love being on the water, and the talent is pretty accessible. And of course Cannes is almost a second home to me, it’s so hard to choose. It is like asking someone to select a favorite child!
MovieMaker: What excites you most about what you do?
Julie Sisk: When I think about how I would want to retire, taking these trips is kind of my dream idea of how to retire. I’m not a golfer, I’m not a ceramics person, I’m not going to do any of those kinds of things.
What I like about our trips is you meet people every day. I just think that talking about films gives you so much in common, even with people you have nothing in common with. I met the guy on a chairlift at the Sundance Film Festival. He wasn’t even in the film business, he just liked film. And the same time every year we always met up. We didn’t have any other relationship, but we would connect once a year over film. I just think it’s so great to go to a film and be able to talk about it.
