Video Age International April 2016

12 April 2016 V I D E O A G E S ome observers have wondered why MIP- TV organizers emphasize the conference portion of the market — with a rich array of seminars and special events — over the market floor. Eventsincludeseveralbrandnewdevelopments, such as the introduction of the MIPDrama Screenings, a new invitation-only event that will take place on Sunday, April 3, the day before MIP-TV officially opens, and is, according to Reed Midem, “designed to meet the growing international demand for high-end drama series from Europe and other major drama-producing territories.” Running concurrently with the larger market is Kids @ MIPTV, a series of meetings and presentations focusing on children television (which is also concurrent with Italy’s Bologna Digital Media, specializing on children’s book publishing and media). In fact it feels as thoughMIP-TV is always taking place just after, during or before other markets. In addition to the Bologna show, MIP-TV is held close to Discop Istanbul (March 1- 3), Hong Kong Filmart (March 14-17), SportelAsia (March 15-17), the NAB show in Las Vegas (April 16-21) and the formidable Los Angeles Screenings (May 16-27). Undeterred, MIP-TV organizers raise the bar with more events, more seminars, more premiere screenings and more top-level executives. MIP Digital Formats will once again take place at the same time as the main market; and MIPDoc and MIPFormats will be held the weekend before MIP (with documentarian Morgan Spurlock giving the keynote speech at MIPDoc). Naturally, “who’s going to be there,” is more important than what the talk is about and MIP- TV organizers are very aggressive in promoting the A-list — such as Guillaume de Posch of RTL Group, Mattel’s Richard Dickson, Dominique Delport of Vivendi Content & Havas Media, Sky’s Jeremy Darroch and Sharon Scott of NBCU Peacock Productions — and a record 105 seminars scheduled during the combined six-day event (April 2-7) provide fertile ground on which to parade those high rollers. This year, Germany will receive special attention with three tailored seminars, as MIP- TV’s focus. Plus, an array of official breakfasts, luncheons and galas, create a “must-attend” feeling among TV industry executives. However, as always, VideoAge was interested to know how the timing of MIP-TV works for those sellers on the floor, due to the proximity of the L.A. Screenings, which this year will start a bit later than usual, but still 38 days after MIP-TV. As it turns out, that depends greatly on whom you ask. “We always have new programs in the pipeline so the timing is fine for us, but we usually don’t send our full sales team to MIP-TV,” said Josh Scherba, senior vice president, Distribution at Toronto-based DHX. But they will be launching new 2D animated comedy Chuck’s Choice there. “We’re also excited to represent Mattel’s latest offerings: Bob the Builder , Fireman Sam and Little People ,” he said. “We probably meet with about half of our usual client base. This is still beneficial for us though because it means we can spend more time with our clients who are in attendance,” he said. “We tend to focus our scripted launches at the L.A. Screenings as well as MIPCOM,” said FIC’s senior vice president, global head of Content Sales Prentiss Fraser from London. “So, we use MIPDoc and MIP-TV to focus on our premium National Geographic and new factual lineup.” For that, they’ll meet with about 600 buyers, she said. A big focus this year will be The Story of God: With Morgan Freeman . Similarly, Peter Iacono, president, International Television & Digital Distribution at Lionsgate, commented from Santa Monica: “At MIP-TV we will have the opportunity to give our clients a first look at a great lineup of new shows which we will officially launch and screen full episodes of at the [L.A.] Screenings.” Some of the new “teasers” at MIP-TV will be: Greenleaf , Feed the Beast , Graves and Kicking & Screaming . But for a company like Starz, which doesn’t have a very large presence at the L.A. Screenings, MIP- TV offers an important opening. “MIP-TV gives Starz a great opportunity to showcase our original programming and movie content in advance [of the L.A. Screenings], especially series launching on our Starz channels in the U.S. in the summer and fall,” said Gene George, executive vice president of Worldwide Distribution at L.A.-based Business Talk Wins Over Floor Business. “Light” Studio Presence a Boon to Indies MIP-TV Preview Starz’s Gene George Mediaset’s Manuela Caputi Lionsgate’s Peter Iacono MIP-TV organizers raise the bar with more events, more seminars, more premiere screenings and more top-level executives. (Continued on Page 14)