V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 16 BY KAREN RUTTNER For those companies that don’t have a proven hit in their arsenal, MIPCOM promises to be a subdued, no-frills affair. But for some, like Starz, Disney, FremantleMedia, RaiTrade, CCI, Comcast, and others the vibe seems to be “business as usual, if not better.” It’s no question that all companies are looking for ways to economize. Some, like Lightworks, have disappeared altogether, while others, like Carsey Werner, are conducting an experiment: attending a major market without a stand and seeing if it will ultimately make a difference in their success. The Dallas, Texas-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research has calculated that on average, it costs $215 to make a face-to-face visit with a potential customer at a trade show, and $1,039 to obtain similar results without using the organized events. And, according to Forrester Consulting of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 61 percent of marketers consider face-to-face exhibiting the most effective means of building a brand image. In addition, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based Event Marketing Institute found that 53 percent of sales and marketing professionals consider events to be the best vehicle for accelerating business relationships. But, all businesses seem focused on numbers and MIPCOM exhibitors are no exception, keeping a close eye on the number of attendees, even though this parameter is now considered inaccurate. According to Doug Ducate of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, for the past 20 years, the success story of trade shows was measured by their rate of growth. If a trade show had 10 percent more attendees each time, it was hailed a winner. “We sold that message,” Ducate told Meeting & Conventions magazine. However, market organizers now realize the weakness of that argument. A better measure of an exhibition is in fact the quality of its attendees. MIPCOM 2009 has scheduled over 45 conference sessions, with Monday serving as heavy hitter with a keynote speech from Tony Cohen, CEO of FremantleMedia, a “Cooking TV Case Study,” and a session on “New Funding.” Tuesday is also a good seminar day with actor Jerry Seinfeld outlining his new show, The Marriage Ref . VideoAge had the opportunity to discuss MIPCOM 2009’s key features with Laurine Gaurade, acting director of the TV Division at Reed MIDEM, the market organizer. Gaurade said that, “MIPCOM 2009 will be of particular importance in helping professionals take stock of the key issues, identify new business models, exchange with fellow counterparts internationally and create new relationships and partnerships in new areas.” The theme of “rethinking” came up multiple times. “’Rethinking Production’ kicks off the conference program,” Gaurade said, “which will focus on identifying new revenue streams, taking a close look at co-production deals, commissioning, Internet distribution, new formats and online content monetization.” She explained that the MIPCOM team was extremely keen on engaging first time producers, going so far as to offer them a special rate for attendance. “We have been working closely with a number of producers’ associations worldwide in developing this program,” she said. “We want to make the initiative as accessible as possible for new independent producers, who are so important to the creative process.” From production to platforms, MIPCOM hoped to cover all bases. “Online gaming is one of the fastest growing areas of entertainment, and there are new opportunities for producers and broadcasters to forge new relationships with online gaming companies,” Gaurade said. “MIPCOM is seeking to facilitate this by bringing together game developers with international TV channels and production executives.” Furthermore, in terms of other technological developments, a stream of conferences will focus on Internet-enabled TV sets and other such innovations. “We will look at how Pay TV can adapt to the threat from web video, and will also focus on how the explosion of mobile apps will offer new sources of revenue for the content industry.” MIPCOM isn’t all about brainstorming though; there’s still fun to be had. “We are delighted to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons , the longest running comedy series on prime time TV,” Gaurade enthused. “We’re proud to welcome the series’ creator Matt Groening and executive producer Al Jean as keynote speakers, and we will be honoring Matt Groening with our inaugural Creative Icon Award on October 7.” Major players on the business front are looking forward to the mix of innovative business and entertainment offerings. Gene George of Hollywoodbased Starz Media commented, “We’re very excited that MIPCOM is paying tribute to The Simpsons since our animation studio, Film Roman, has produced the animation for the series, the movie, the DVD releases and The Simpsons games for the past 15 years.” George also expressed great interest in the “Connected Entertainment” seminar series, noting, “Starz Digital Media has been successful in finding ways to create new revenue streams in online and broadband platforms for our movies and series, whether it’s the Manga.com website or the animated Bunnies shorts movie parodies. Marc DeBevoise, who leads Starz Digital Media, and his team have been highly successful in building alliances with key outlets such as iTunes, Xbox, Netflix and the like. I’m sure they’ll be checking M I P C O M P r e v i e w Market Upbeat For Those With New, Exciting Content MIPCOM is one of Latin American distributors’ favorite markets MGM TV’s Gary Marenzi (Continued on Page 18) FremantleMedia’s David Ellender and Tony Cohen
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