Hello all!

It's all most odd isn't it? I believe that the Cambridge gig is not paid - or not more than minimally (in terms of free travel etc). Appearing at the Oxford or Cambridge Union is a big deal and you are meant to do it for the honour, because it means you have arrived as a sleb/intellectual/politician. The Union couldn't possibly afford to have paid half the people I saw when I was a student - Stephen Fry, Seamus Heaney, Ian McKellen etc.

I totally agree that attending Cannes to talk about anything other than an actual project looks like networking - and/or an attempt to keep his name "out there."

As for whether he is strategic - I think he thinks he is. But as with many things in TH's career, he overthinks it and tries to be too clever by half. Appearing desperate or overkeen or overambitious isn't a huge turn on in many professions. Trying to be a bit more relaxed gets you more gigs. Works in my line of business too.

I also think he has the tin ear for projects that many stars have - if the idea is good, they think that their genius will make a star project out of a stinker script. Never happens. Or rarely - KSI has performed well (still haven't seen it) without anything like a good script from what I hear.