Alliance, the Canadian distributors of Killing Them Softly and On the Road, are charging Canadian journalists large sums of money to interview the films' stars Brad Pitt and Kristen Stewart

The media industry has reacted with dismay on learning that some journalists are being charged large sums of money to conduct interviews with star actors at Cannes.

The two flicks concerned are Killing Them Softly, starring Brad Pitt, and On the Road, which features Twilight's Kristen Stewart.

Before the festival started, Canadian journalists were told by the films' Canadian distributors, Alliance, that a TV interview with Pitt would cost over $3,200 (£2,000), and a one-on-one print interview with Stewart would cost almost $1,300.

Alliance say the situation has arisen because they opted not to participate in the Cannes press junket.

"Having made this decision, we felt it only fair to alert Canadian journalists so that they could choose to participate directly if they so wished, independent of Alliance … We stress that the costs of such participation would not have come to Alliance nor talent but directly to the organising distributor.

Any implication that this is a revenue source for Alliance is wholly inaccurate."

It is normal practice for actors such as Pitt to have charges for promotional duties built into their original contract, and for regional distributors to "buy" time for their country's journalists at junkets where more than one nationality's press are present.

But it is not usual for non-participating distributors to offer a price guide.

Cannes 2012Cannes flick festivalFestivalsBrad PittKristen StewartAndrew Pulverguardian.co.uk © 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.

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