Last January’s downgrading of my Sundance press pass status was a painful experience. Having been granted an Express Pass for the previous five years (’12 through ’16), I was told by media relations guy Jason Berger that I’d have to make do with a general mosh-pit pass. Was Sundance ’17 terrible as a result? Not altogether thanks to HE’s many publicist friends plus my willingness to get in line for Eccles tickets at the Park City Marriott at 8 am, but it hurt all the same.

During my Express Pass years I allowed myself to think perhaps I’d finally made the grade, that all my decades of reporting, filing and reviewing along with the success of Hollywood Elsewhere had led to a plateau of special-tude, and that this plateau was a gesture of respect and whatnot. A kind of badge of honor after decades of hard-fought struggle. Not so much in ’17!

All to say that it felt great a day or two ago when the Cannes Film Festival guys wrote to inform that my good old pink-with-yellow-pastille pass is secure. “You will benefit from a press accreditation for 70th Festival de Cannes,” the letter said. “Its color is white or pink with a yellow dot. This badge allows you exceptional access.” I almost choked up when I read it. Exhale, enjoy your cappuccino, all is well for now.