V I D E O • A G E DE C E M B E R 2 0 1 1 12 particularly visible at the Pavilion. The Daily also covered MIPJunior with a report on the growth of children’s television around the world, which offered some contrasting views summarized by the headline: “Kids TV Growth a Sure Maybe.” The strong Latin American presence at MIPCOM crowned it the third most important market after the L.A. Screenings and NATPE. However, in terms of participation, with about 170 companies from10 countries, MIPCOM drew by far the largest contingent from Latin America, compared to the L.A. Screenings and NATPE combined. But, outside the U.S. studios and other minimajors’ Latin divisions, Latin American indies with booths at MIPCOM numbered 24 from five countries. As for the number of LAM buyers, all studios reported the same number as last year, about 120 covering all major territories and the pan-regionals. The stars were out in full force (with approximately 20 showing up on the Croisette), as were a number of executive producers and writers, with Ashley Judd and cast members Cliff Curtis and Adriano Giannini attending the world premiere screening of Disney Media Distribution’s drama series Missing. Keifer Sutherland also took the stage to promote Fox’s Touch. The cast of eOne and Endemol’s new post-American Civil War drama Hell On Wheels, including Anson Mount, Common, Dominique McElligott and Colm Meaney, graced MIPCOM’s red carpet and were present at eOne’s cocktail party. Fran Drescher, writer, producer and star of Happily Divorced, made an appearance on behalf of Endemol as well. Record TV Network’s Delmar Andrade had this to say about his company’s success at the market: “Even though Europe is passing through a difficult moment regarding its economy, we cannot complain regarding our European customers. We believe that at the end of 2012, the European broadcast market will return to normal.” Likewise, SBT’s Carolina Scheinberg found that “in the past, we had more meetings, but they resulted in fewer deals. [This year] we found that we had fewer meetings, but the meetings we had turned out more deals,” she said. Caracol’s Monica Ramon noted that Caracol met with “Latins, Europeans, Africans, Americans and Asians,” and the company brought “a sales agent for each area.” CesarDiaz atVenevision International stated, “At this market, we focus our attention on the non-Latin world.” However, he was quick to add that the company did have appointments with Latin buyers at MIPCOM. In contrast, RCN Television’s Maria Jose Ramos said, “I specifically work with Latin buyers…but there have been fewer Latin buyers here than there are at NATPE.” Ramos expressed a desire to see more Latin buyers attend MIPCOM. Although, she mentioned that buyers from Latin American countries such as Chile, Argentina, Perú and Venezuela did attend. Tomas Darcyl of Telefilms reported, “We came here to see our clients, [which] are Latin American companies,” and he conceded that “there are more clients at NATPE, but our biggest clients are [at MIPCOM].” Jose Escalante at Latin Media Corporation summed it up best when he said: “It’s been a very busy market.” But, despite this success, MIPCOM is plagued by an ongoing issue with the MIP-TV dates. This Achilles Heel stems from the fact that the U.S. studios are unhappy with the April dates. The studios want MIP-TV to be moved to late February-early March, because, as far as they’re concerned, mid-winter is a good mid-season calendar date for U.S. content, Cannes offers the perfect winter break for sellers and buyers alike, and there are no conflicting markets — with the exception of the BBC Screenings, which could easily be moved to April. If MIP is not receptive to their needs, the studios are contemplating two options: Creating their own localized multi-city mid-winter screenings, or teaming up with NATPE to extend the Miami, Florida market in January to buyers outside the traditional Latin American contingent. Meanwhile, MIP is slowly inching toward March with its 2012 dates set for March 30-April 4. To conclude, there are the mandatory market figures also used to gauge the success of the trade show compared to previous years: This year there were 12,500 participants representing 4,211 companies from 102 countries and 1,524 booths, with each of the many umbrella groups counting as one booth. This represents an overall growth of four percent compared to MIPCOM 2010. Next year, the market will be held October 8-12. M I P C O M ( C o n t i n u e d ) (Continued from Page 10) Caracol’s Berta Orozco, Roberto Corrente, Monica Ramon Sony Pictures’ Alexander Marin, Angel Orengo, Kevin Byles Reed Midem’s Laurine Garaude, Paul Zilk, Russian filmmaker Olga Fon Frantskevich, Channel One Russia’s CEO Konstantin Ernst, Ambassador of Russia in France Alexander Orlov, Channel One Russia’s Deputy CEO Alexander Fayfman, Vice Consul of Russia in France Alexey Popov, Reed Midem’s Ted Baracos. Azteca’s Raul Mendoza, Carmen Pizano
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5