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Press relations at festivals: an immersion behind the scenes of Séries Mania

Press relations at festivals are a key lever to ensure the visibility and reach of a cultural event. They help structure media coverage, promote the programming, and attract journalists, partners, and audiences. Through the experience of Daphnée, a student at EFAP Lille doing an internship at the Séries Mania festival, dive into the behind-the-scenes of event press relations. The goal: to understand in practical terms the tasks, challenges, and skills required to thrive in this demanding profession, at the heart of the action.

Training in Press Relations at the EFAP Communication School

Training communicators who can manage press relations strategies, particularly in demanding event contexts, is now essential. At EFAP, media relations are seen as a strategic lever to structure the visibility of brands and cultural events. Through her experience at the Séries Mania festival, Daphnée embodies this hands-on, professional approach: training grounded in reality, where the skills learned in class take on full meaning in the field, in direct contact with the media!

Why are press relations essential for an international festival?

For an international festival like Séries Mania, press relations are a strategic pillar of the overall communication. They orchestrate media visibility, structure speeches, and contribute to positioning the festival within the international cultural and audiovisual landscape!

Each year, Séries Mania brings together more than 80,000 spectators, over 3,000 accredited professionals, and hundreds of French and international journalists. In this context, the role of press relations is to ensure consistent, high-quality media coverage aligned with the festival’s objectives.

Specifically, press relations help to:

  • Deploy a multi-market visibility strategy (France and internationally);
  • Target and activate key media (specialized press, audiovisual, digital);
  • Manage the public statements of talents, guests, and partners;
  • Generate a large volume of qualified media coverage;
  • Ensure continuous media presence before, during, and after the event.

Feedback: A Press Relations Intern at Séries Mania

Immersed at the heart of the festival, Daphnée, a student at EFAP Lille, had an intense experience within the press relations teams at Séries Mania. Upon arriving at the CCI of Lille, completely transformed with the festival’s colors, the stage was set: an international event where every detail matters!

Discover Daphnée's internship in images:

 

 

An Instagram post

 

On a daily basis, Daphnée had the chance to assist the PR teams on several key tasks. She notably participated in managing press accreditations and organizing press conferences, which are strategic moments to structure the festival’s public speaking. In parallel, she contributed to coordinating press junkets (interview sessions where journalists and talents meet). A true orchestral job that involves numerous stakeholders: festival teams, talent press officers, distributors... A collective effort where everything must fall into place perfectly.

Every evening, it was time for the purple carpet, one of the festival's highlights. Daphnée contributed to coordinating journalists on what’s called the "TV line": a particularly demanding task that required responsiveness, organization... and a sharp sense of observation. It was essential to quickly identify the media, understand their expectations, and direct them to the right talents at the right time.

This immersion ended with the closing ceremony, a significant moment where a whole week’s (and several months’ worth of) work culminated. Seeing the teams of the award-winning series, sharing the emotion of the artists, and feeling the intensity of the moment profoundly marked this experience.

I was really happy to see the teams of the series we had been following all week receiving their awards. Beyond that, being a witness to such a moment that marks the artists is simply extraordinary.

Beyond the tasks she was able to perform, Daphnée’s internship highlights the human and collective dimension of press relations at a festival: a field job, fast-paced and demanding, but driven by a unique energy!

✨ Training in Press Relations and Event Communication

Training in press relations and event communication is essential for evolving in a sector where coordination, responsiveness, and media mastery are indispensable. Events like Séries Mania perfectly illustrate these challenges, with communication setups to be managed in real time.

At EFAP, students develop these skills through training that blends strategy and practice. They learn how to design press relations actions, organize events, and manage media interactions. The approach is hands-on, with simulations, projects, and real-world experiences.

Internships also play a key role in this journey, allowing students to face the realities of the job and build a professional network. These are valuable assets for rapidly evolving in the fields of press relations and event communication.

 

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