It was a wet MIP — wetter than usual — with more rain than most could bear. Despite the precipitation, it proved to be a good market — trimmed of the frills, but with its fair share of thrills. With fewer people looking for new gigs, most folks focused on the business at hand, except for taking some well-deserved time out for parties. Actual numbers were down 14 percent at MIP-TV 2009 –– a bit more than the expected 10 percent reduction –– with some 11,500 entertainment content producers, distributors, digital media and advertising executives from 105 countries gathering in the French seaside town of Cannes for the five-day market that ended April 3. Last year’s event saw 13,360 participants from 111 countries. With the exception of Latin American buyers, only a few of whom traditionally attend MIP anyway, all international TV buying companies were in attendance, just with fewer acquisition executives. Budget constraints made for one newsworthy victim: Warner Bros., which at the last minute decided to cancel its booth. Even so, the studio still sent a handful of sales executives. Regardless of budget constraints, there were still a number of exhibition companies doing business on the Croisette for the first time, including U.K.-based Digital Rights Group, Abu Dhabi’s twofour54, Toronto-based E1 Entertainment and Connection III Entertainment, among others. Additionally, former News Corp. executive Martin “Marty” Pompadur and E! Entertainment co-founder Larry Namer were on hand at the Palais promoting their newly launched Metan Development Group, a coventure created to develop and distribute entertainment content for the Chinese market. This year’s MIP offered a coincidentally appropriate Focus on China, with a series of events and private receptions highlighting the region. More than 90 companies — one of the largest delegations of Chinese TV firms ever — were in attendance to partake in the festivities. Tian Jin, Vice Minister of China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), helmed a presentation designed to show international TV biz bigwigs how to work with Chinese companies to produce content suitable for both domestic and international markets. Then, in a seminar entitled “Cooperation Between China and Other Countries in Television Programs,” attendees learned how to initiate co-productions with their Chinese counterparts. Aside from the Focus on China, there was also a bit of focus on the Middle East, with a conference on coproduction opportunities in the region, during which it was emphasized that those individuals wanting to enter the arena must understand it first. Middle Eastern countries have developed specializations in production, therefore making it important to know what to pitch where. Egypt, for example, is the leading regional producer, specializing in modern melodrama and comedy, while Syria specializes in epic Arab and modern Islamic dramas. Additionally, word of yet another new market — this one to be held in Dubai — was reported by VideoAge Daily at MIP. According to reports, the new TV trade show will be called DISCOP Gulf, implying that the same group that stages Budapest’s DISCOP East and Dakar’s DISCOP Africa will organize it. Although details of the new market are sketchy at V I D E O • A G E MAY 2 0 0 9 10 M I P - T V R e v i e w Mart Sans Les Frills, But With Plenty of Thrills best, sources say that DISCOP Gulf will be an all-suite event and that it may take place as early as March 15-17, 2010. Sports played a larger part at MIP ’09 than they usually do, with RAI Trade, WWE and more making big splashes in Cannes. A preliminary search on the MIP-TV site produced 176 exhibitors and 337 buyers with some interest in sports. Ben Barrett of the U.K.’s Zig Zag Productions explained the appeal of MIP-TV to companies like his, which debuted new sports-related content at this year’s market. “MIP is probably 50 times the size of SPORTEL, which can be a positive and a negative,” he said. “SPORTEL is very focused, can be walked around in half a day, and a lot of live sports rights are sold there. For us, MIP is more part of our annual cycle — the two times a year we get to meet with all the international broadcasters to keep them up to speed on what we are doing.” IPTV providers seemed to be missing from the annual affair this year, except for one newcomer: Los Angeles-based TV2Moro. Soon to become one of the main players in the IPTV distribution of linear ethnic channels, TV2Moro offers up new opportunities for content providers and viewers alike. Before the doors even swung open at the Palais, a two-day mini-event kept the revolving doors moving at a Carlton (Continued on Page 12) Bavaria Media’s Oliver Kreuter with Buddenbrooks star Lea Bosco TV2Moro’s Elie Kawkabani and Haytham Elmokadem Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer for MDA, with Jeanette Aw and Qi Yuwu, stars of the drama series The Little Nyonya FremantleMedia’s David Ellender and Tony Cohen
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5