V I D E O • A G E MA Y 2 0 1 2 10 Acombination of factors made this recent MIP-TV a bit of a mixed bag, though mostly predictable. The Palm Sunday start made opening day devoid of energy, and although the pace picked up on Monday, by the next day some people were heading home to prepare for Passover and Easter. Another element that affected floor traffic in a negative way was the large number of conferences, seminars, roundtables and keynote speeches. They all took people away from the exhibiting floor — to the point that some distributors questioned the nature of the event, asking whether it’s now truly a market or a conference. Most agreed that a balance of the two is tolerable, but a slant toward the conference side is not. Finally, the absence of most of the U.S. studios (with only CBS and NBC Universal at the Palais with full-fledged stands) cut down both on the number of buyers and the length of their stay. In terms of final results, MIP organizers were able to claim some increases. Among the 11,000 executives in attendance, 4,000 were buyers. Overall participation was down from 11,500 last year, but the number of buyers remained the same, and the number of producers increased by 25 percent, with over 1,220 international TV production companies. Exhibitors reported mixed results regarding the Sunday start, but the consensus seemed to be that though Sunday was busy, it wasn’t as full a day as should be expected for the first day of MIP, and both buyers and sellers were better prepared to get down to business on Monday. While Lionsgate’s Peter Iacono from Santa Monica said that Sunday morning was indeed busy, for Tomas Darcyl of Argentina-based Telefilms, “Monday [was] a little busier.” This marked Toronto-based Peace Point’s first trip to MIP, and Julie Chang commented, “With the market starting on Sunday, it was off to a strange start. We had more appointments on Monday.” Of course, with Easter and Passover on people’s minds (Easter fell on the following Sunday and Passover began on Friday night), the halls of the Palais began to clear out on Wednesday, the last day of the market, with Robert Evans of Canada’s Best Boy Entertainment reporting: “Our schedules [were] busy every day except the last day. We [didn’t] have as many appointments scheduled for Wednesday.” On the other hand, there were those like Rekha Shah of CCI Entertainment in Toronto who found that, “Even Wednesday was booked. I don’t think the Sunday schedule affected the market.” For the most part, despite the slower opening day and the dip in overall attendance, it was a busy market, with Massachusetts-based Echo Bridge Entertainment’s Emilia Nuccio reporting: “Our sales team [was] booked up.” With the reduced presence of the studios, Canadian companies took top priority status, with approximately 109 exhibiting companies (many of them camping out under the Canadian Pavilion), and about 106 more attending without a stand. China was also wellrepresented this year. There were more than 200 delegates from that country, and a number of Chinese dignitaries as well. As for MIP goings-on, CABLEready celebrated its 20thanniversarywitha party at the Palais des Festivals’ Les Marches. FremantleMedia held a press breakfast and lunch on Sunday, where attendees were introduced to the company’s new production partner, Morgan Spurlock. MTV’s hit reality series Jersey Shore came to Cannes, with stars Deena Nicole Cortese and Vinny Guadagnino attending the market, where it was also announced that TF1 had acquired the series. Entertainment One celebrated its anthology series Femme Fatales with a cocktail party featuring a number of its stars. Additionally, former top-model Elle Macpherson made an appearance as the executive producer and host of Electus’ new show Fashion Star, which made its debut in the U.S. on NBC in March. Electus International has sold the complete series to 75 territories and optioned format rights in a number of territories as well. Amid all the celebrations, participants took time out of their busy schedules to remember industry veteran Jim Marrinan, who passed away unexpectedly on March 23. Other big news to report: RHI Entertainment re-branded as Sonar Entertainment, and CCI Entertainment, which is traditionally known for its children’s programming, gave itself a fresh look, too. The company entered the world of TV movies with the launch of six thrillers at MIP. Said CCI’s Shah, “The thrillers are a new direction for us that are allowing us to meet new buyers, and that has been invaluable.” 3D TV was a popular topic of discussion, with a total of nine conferences on the subject held on Tuesday. A 3D TV producers’ bootcamp was held on the last day, and president of the Los Angelesbased International 3D Society, Jim Chabin, delivered a keynote touching on technological advances of 3D TV, as well as increased advertiser interest and the decreased cost of 3D systems. On Sunday at the Global Animation Marketplace session, Amandine Cassi, headof International Researchat Eurodata, reported that children’s TV viewing is on the rise across the globe. However, fellow panelists Michael Carrington of Turner Broadcasting, Kay Benbow of CBeebies and Jules Borkent of Nick International underscored the difficulty in finding funding for new animation. Days two and three put the spotlight on Branded Entertainment, with case studies and screenings showcasing examples of the best in internationally branded entertainment. As part of the program, Jonathan Mildenhall, vice president Global Advertising Strategy and Content Excellence for The Coca-Cola Company, delivered a keynote. In addition, the second Brand of the Year Award recognized Heineken for its contribution to the development and production of branded entertainment programming. As part of MIPCube, Roma Khanna, president of Television Group and Digital at MGM, became the first recipient of the Media Architect of the Future Award. Next year, MIP-TV will return to its traditional Monday start, running April 8-11 at the Palais des Festivals. SA After a Slow Start, Business as Usual M I P - T V R e v i e w CBS Studios International’s Armando Nuñez Jr. and Barry Chamberlain At the Viacom Media Networks showcase: Jersey Shore cast members Deena Nicole Cortese and Vinny Gaudagnino with Caroline Beaton, Viacom’s SVP International Program Sales and Chris Linn, MTV’s EVP of Programming and head of Production
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