V I D E O • A G E MA Y 2 0 1 0 12 M I P ( C o n t i n u e d ) and agency models are the way of the future. The seminarsweren’t all ones and zeros, though. At the Brasil Forum, speakers including Little Airplane president Josh Selig and 2D labs CEO Andre Brietman touted the production possibilities of Brasil. In regard to a recent trip to the country, Selig remarked, “I genuinely felt that I was witnessing higher levels of genuine creativity in São Paulo than I currently witness in New York or L.A.” Another keynote of interest was the Day One speech by Los Angelesbased Starz CEO Chris Albrecht, who recently joined the company from HBO. Drawing parallels between the feature film and television businesses, Albrecht provided some perspective on new ways of looking at original programming. Aside from “Charting the Next Decade,” formats also garnered a good bit of focus. This year marked the debut of a new mini-event, MIPFormats, which took place on April 10, the day before Palais doors officially swung open for MIP proper. With 250 companies from 27 countries in Cannes to sell format rights, it’s no wonder market organizers dedicated a whole day to this side of the business. Rob Clark, president of Worldwide Entertainment at format powerhouse FremantleMedia, gave VideoAge a rundown of the evolution of the formats game. “It used to be the case that all the great formats originated in the U.S., the U.K. and the Netherlands,” he said. “Now the business is truly global.” As usual, there were many breakfasts, lunch meetings and at-the-stand receptions to attend throughout the week. NBC and E1 joined forces to host a cocktail party, while BBC and Digital Rights contributed with gatherings of their own down on the beach. Boat parties were also big this year, with newcomer Engine and RDF each throwing soirees on the high sea. TF1, WWE, Eyeworks and Roma Fiction Fest were among other bashes of note, and Rai’s fête, as usual, did not disappoint. Though not exactly a star-studded affair, a number of actors were on hand promoting new shows. Venerable Star Trek alum William Shatner was there on behalf of Cineflex, and Rive Gauche brought along Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan. Also making the publicity rounds was 90210heartthrob Jason Priestley, who was pushing E1’s new showCall Me Fitz, as well as Missy Peregrym and Gregory Smith fromCopper (nowRookie Blue). Although not every company had stars on hand, there was a remarkable number of new shows making their market debut. Canamedia launched documentary/ reality series The Real Joey Lawrence, GK-TV had Camelot, FremantleMedia premiered Jamie Olvier’s Food Revolution, and that was just the beginning. As the market drew to a close, conversation on the convention floor inevitably turned to the L.A. Screenings. The consensus among the executives VideoAge talked to was that the outlook for the Screenings was very good. Comcast’s Donati has big plans for the market. “Firstly, we’ll be attending with a suite for the Latin Screenings,” he said. “We’ll also be using the time to meet with clients from all over and attending in a buying capacity.” Overall, attendees were looking forward to continuing the positive momentum of MIP-TV at the Los Angeles event. Barring any volcanic activity over Southern California, all expect another productive market. MIP-TV Confronts Iceland’s Ash for Participants Out of Cash On Friday, April 16, when airports in Europe were shut down due to volcanic ash, MIP-TV organizers set up a help desk to assist the many participants that were stranded in the Côte d’Azur and wanted cheaper hotel accommodations, among other things. There were many weary distributors and buyers doing their MIP follow-ups in hotel rooms and the “free” MIP-TV business center, nicknamed the “Volcano Business Center.” For those attempting to leave the city by ground transportation, things were equally complicated. Car rentals ran as high as 900 euro per day, and rental centers quickly ran out of vehicles. Some MIP participants were barely able to reach Paris or Lille by car to then continue on to London via Eurostar. Also, because of an SNCF rail strike in Paris, taking place the same week as MIP, travelers had limited train options as well. For the U.K.-based DRG sales team, getting home was a 50-hour nightmare. They managed to squeeze onto a packed train to Paris for a 10-hour ride. In Paris, they lucked into the very last seats on the last Eurostar to depart for London until the following Wednesday. The award for the most outlandish story goes to RDF Rights, whose staff found an even more creative way to get back to the U.K. After their initial attempt to charter a private plane and fly below the ash cloud failed, the 24-person contingent took minibuses to Calais. After a 15-hour ride, the group boarded two fishing boats and returned to Britain by sea. One of the boats had to make a second trip for six remaining passengers, and after runins with border police, was the last boat allowed out of Calais. Lionsgate’s Tori Crotts and Priscilla Pesci Televisa Internacional announced a new venture with China’s CCTV FremantleMedia’s David Ellender (r.) and Tony Cohen
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