Cannes: where celebrity sells and celebrities sell

CELEBRITY AS SUBJECT

And Baldwin and Toback are not the only ones taking celebrity and its occupational hazards as their subject.

Former "Baywatch" star David Hasselhoff, 60, was in town with his 32-year-old girlfriend Hayley Robert to promote "Killing Hasselhoff", his yet-to-be-shot film about a man who hires a hitman to kill a celebrity - Hasselhoff himself - to win money in a bet.

Emma Watson for 'The Bling Ring'

Paris Hilton, never shy of publicity, attended a party for Sofia Coppola's film "The Bling Ring", premiered in Cannes, in which she plays a cameo role as a gang of celebrity-obsessed teen burglars break into their idols' homes, including Hilton's house.

Related: Emma Watson turns to crime in celebrity-obsessed film at Cannes

DiCaprio and director Martin Scorsese announced their next movie venture, "Silence", while Timberlake and his wife Jessica Biel held a disco-themed party for buyers of "Spinning Gold", their planned biopic of record executive Neil Bogart.

Jennifer Lawrence, who won the Oscar this year for best actress, was working the floors with Australian actor Liam Hemsworth to promote the second and third "Hunger Games" movies, which start shooting in September.

Jackie Chan promotes 'Skiptrace'

Kung Fu star Jackie Chan rolled in with China's big screen darling Fan Bingbing talking about next year's comedy action film, "Skiptrace".

Elsewhere, actresses Liv Tyler, Jane Fonda and Eva Longoria, models Cindy Crawford and Cara Delevingne and pop singer and DJ Boy George were among those partying and pressing flesh around Cannes to talk up their projects, or merely using their celebrity status to be "brand ambassadors".

Beyond promoting films and careers, Cannes does provide at least a few occasions to put celebrity to more altruistic use.

Sharon Stone, Jessica Chastain, and Janet Jackson are all on the guest list for Thursday's annual amfAR gala to raise money for AIDS research, where the bill of performers includes Shirley Bassey and Duran Duran.