Cannes 2026: Free Screener Rooms + up to £500,000 Match Funding
Free Screener Rooms for production companies attending Cannes 2026, plus up to £500,000 in match funding for your next project, in partnership with High Fliers Films.
TL;DR
Production companies get a free Hiway Screener Room for Cannes 2026.
Up to £500,000 in match funding available, in partnership with High Fliers Films.
Sign up at portal.onthehiway.com, no payment required under 5GB.
Submit by adding cannes@onthehiway.com as a recipient on your Screener Room.
Pitch deck required. First come, first served. Spots limited.
Real money for real projects at Cannes 2026
Cannes is almost here, and we’re doing something we’ve never done before.
In partnership with High Fliers Films, Hiway is offering a small number of production companies attending Cannes access to match funding of up to £500,000.
Real money. For real projects. Subject to script approval and partnership criteria.
How to get involved
Secure your free Hiway Screener Room before Cannes.
Use it at the market.
Apply for the match funding partnership.
Why you need this
You know what Cannes looks like without the right tools. Screener links sent into the void. Follow-ups that go nowhere. No visibility on who actually watched. You leave with business cards and guesswork.
Hiway changes that.
Every time you share a screener, you see who watched, when they watched, and how long they stayed. Every contact lands in your B2B CRM automatically.
Upload once. Share anywhere. Track everything.
No charge unless you upload more than 5GB of content. Sign up at cannes.s.onthehiway.com using your email and skip the payment section. Spots are limited.
Step 1: Sign up to Hiway
Head to the Hiway portal and create your account. It takes a couple of minutes. For the Cannes offer there is no payment page. You’ll only be prompted to pay if you later upload more than 5GB of content.
Step-by-step
Enter your email. Go to cannes.s.onthehiway.com and select ‘Sign up’. On the first box, you only need to enter your email address and receive the OTP. Use the email you use for Cannes business so all your market contacts land in one account.
Verify with the OTP. Check your inbox for the one-time passcode and enter it to verify. Codes are valid for ten minutes.
You’re in. You’ll land straight in your Hiway dashboard, ready to upload your first screener. No payment page, no subscription to pick.
Already have a Hiway account? Sign in at portal.onthehiway.com and jump straight to Step 2.
Step 2: Upload your trailer, showreel or film
Upload once. Share anywhere. This is the file your buyers, financiers, and sales agents will watch, so use your best quality master.
How to upload
Open your content library. From the dashboard, go to Content in the left sidebar and click ‘Upload’.
Drag in your file. Drop your trailer, showreel, or feature file. Hiway handles transcoding automatically. Upload your highest-quality master and we take care of the rest.
Let it process. Processing runs in the background. You can continue setting things up while it finishes.
Your content stays secure
No downloads. Viewers watch in-browser only.
No uncontrolled sharing. Access is fully permissioned.
Revoke access at any time from the dashboard.
Step 3: Add metadata, artwork and documents
Buyers skim fast. Good metadata and artwork turn a screener into a package, one they’ll remember when they get back to their office.
What to add
Metadata. Production company, director, cast, logline, synopsis, genre, running time, stage of production. The more you add, the more professional your Screener Room looks.
Artwork. Upload a key art / poster image and a landscape hero image. These appear on your Screener Room and in any link preview when you share.
Pitch deck and other assets. Open the Assets tab and add your pitch deck under ‘Other Assets’, plus any one-sheets, press packs, or supporting documents. Buyers can download these alongside the screener, and the pitch deck is required if you want to be considered for match funding.
Step 4: Complete your business profile
Your business profile is what buyers see when they click on your production company. It carries from screener to screener. Set it up once and it’s done.
Fill in
Company or production company name.
Logo and banner image.
Short bio or ‘about’ line.
Website, social links, and any credits you want visible.
Primary contact for incoming buyer enquiries.
Step 5: Create your Screener Room
A Screener Room is a secure, private space where named buyers, financiers, sales agents, and partners watch your content. One link, fully tracked, invite-only.
Follow the wizard
Open Screener Rooms and click ‘Create Screener Room’. You’ll be taken through a five-step wizard: Details, Content, Recipients, Limits, Geo Blocking.
Details. Name your screener (e.g. ‘Cannes 2026 Buyer Screener’) and add any internal notes. This is what you’ll see in your dashboard.
Content. Attach the film, trailer, or showreel you uploaded. Your metadata, artwork, and pitch deck flow through automatically.
Recipients. Screener Rooms are private by default, there’s no public/paywalled switch. Instead, you add the email list of people who are allowed in. Paste in your buyer emails one by one or via CSV.
Add cannes@onthehiway.com. If you want to be considered for the match funding partnership, add cannes@onthehiway.com to the recipient list. That’s how you submit. There’s no separate form.
Limits and Geo Blocking. Optionally set view limits, expiry dates, or restrict by country. For most Cannes use cases you can leave these open and click through.
Your screener, your rules
Only recipients you’ve added can watch. Others who open the link are blocked.
Revoke or add recipients at any time from the dashboard.
No downloads. No uncontrolled sharing. Every view tracked by name and email.
Step 6: Test it, then share at the market
Before you send a screener to your first buyer at the Croisette, send it to a colleague. Five minutes now saves an awkward “can you resend” later.
Test and roll out
Send to a colleague first. Share the link with someone on your team. Confirm the video plays, the artwork looks right, documents download, and the email-gate behaves correctly.
Import your Cannes contacts. Bring your buyer list into the Hiway CRM by CSV import or manually, whichever is faster for you. This is who you’ll be sharing with at the market.
Start sharing. Send the Screener Room link from your meetings, email follow-ups, WhatsApp threads, anywhere you’d usually send a screener. The analytics do the rest.
What you leave Cannes with
Not business cards. Not guesswork. A live database of every buyer, financier, sales agent, and partner who actually engaged with your film, and the data to prove it.
Who watched
Every viewer by name and email, captured at the moment they pressed play.
When they watched
Timestamps for every session, so you know which meeting triggered the view.
How long they stayed
Watch-time per viewer. You’ll see who leaned in, and who bounced at minute two.
You keep that data. For this project and the next. Your content stays secure throughout. No downloads, no uncontrolled sharing, fully permissioned.
The match funding partnership
In partnership with High Fliers Films, we’re making up to £500,000 available in match funding. This is an opportunity for producers with the right project at the right stage.
How to submit
Create a Hiway Screener Room for the project you want to be considered for.
Make sure your pitch deck is attached under Assets > Other Assets on the content.
Add hello@onthehiway.com to the Screener Room recipient list. That’s your submission.
We’ll review and come back to you if it qualifies for a conversation.
First come, first served.
Don’t forget the pitch deck. Applications without a pitch deck attached to the Screener Room won’t be considered. Add it under the Assets tab on your content before sharing the room with hello@onthehiway.com.
Real money. For real projects. Subject to script approval and partnership criteria. Email hello@onthehiway.com for the full Terms and Conditions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to be attending Cannes to use the free Screener Room?
No. Anyone can use the free Screener Room in the run-up to Cannes. The offer is open to production companies whether you’re on the Croisette or not.
Do I need to create a Hiway account to apply for the match funding?
Yes. Applications are accepted in the form of a Hiway Screener Room link. Create your account, upload your project, attach your pitch deck, and add hello@onthehiway.com as a recipient on the Screener Room. That’s your submission.
Is it really free?
Yes. There’s no payment page during sign-up for the Cannes offer. You’ll only be prompted to pay if you upload more than 5GB of total content, which is enough for most trailers, showreels, and feature-length screeners.
What counts toward the 5GB limit?
Only the video files you upload to your content library. Artwork, pitch decks, documents, and metadata don’t count. Hiway handles transcoding behind the scenes. You upload one master, we take care of the rest.
Can someone download my screener?
No. All viewing is in-browser only. There are no download buttons, and the video stream is signed per-viewer. Every view is tracked by name, email, timestamp, and watch-time.
How do I control who can watch?
Screener Rooms are private by default. Only the email addresses you add as recipients can open the screener. You can add, remove, or revoke access at any time from your dashboard.
What should I attach to be considered for match funding?
A pitch deck is required. Upload it under the Assets tab (Other Assets) on your content, alongside your trailer or showreel. The stronger the package, logline, synopsis, cast, stage of production, key art, the better.
When is the match funding deadline?
The deadline will be announced the week of the Cannes Film Festival. In the meantime, capacity is limited and projects are reviewed on a rolling, first-come-first-served basis. The earlier you get your Screener Room and pitch deck in front of us, the better your odds. We’ll confirm if your project qualifies for a conversation once we’ve reviewed the room you’ve shared with hello@onthehiway.com.
Can I apply with more than one project?
Yes. Create a separate Screener Room for each project, each with its own pitch deck attached, and add cannes@onthehiway.com to every room you want us to review.
What happens after Cannes, do I lose my Screener Room?
No. Your account, content, Screener Rooms, and CRM contacts all stay with you. The Cannes offer is about giving you a running start. The platform is yours to keep using for your next project.
What file formats can I upload?
Hiway accepts standard master formats (ProRes, H.264, H.265, MXF, MOV, MP4). Upload your highest-quality master and Hiway transcodes automatically for smooth streaming.
Who is High Fliers Films?
High Fliers Films and its Partners are Hiway’s match funding partner for this initiative. They bring the capital alongside Hiway’s platform and distribution tools. Final funding decisions are made by High Fliers, subject to script approval and partnership criteria.
Still have a question? Email hello@onthehiway.com and we’ll come back to you.
Support and contact
We’re building Hiway with people like you. Use it at Cannes. Break it. Tell us what’s missing. If you’re investing time and money to be there, you should come back with something real.
Hiway Team
For the Cannes offer, Screener Rooms, match funding, or anything else.
hello@onthehiway.com
Product Support
For technical issues with uploads, Screener Rooms, or account access.
support@onthehiway.com
See you on the Croisette.
The Hiway Team