Videoage International March 2018

March 2018 12 Road To MIP-TV acquisition executives working in the Kids genre. The combination of CanneSeries with its 10 world premieres in competition, alongside MIP- TV, and its MIPDrama Buyers’ Summit, which includes six world premieres of international drama series in production, and the new In Development initiative to promote early-stage drama projects, has been particularly well received by program buyers. VAI: Can you divide percentages by territories? LG: The breakdown of attending buyers looks like this — Western Europe: 53 percent; Eastern Europe: 20 percent; Northern Europe (Scandinavia): seven percent; Mediterranean Europe: 20 percent; Asia Pacific: 14 percent; Americas: 11 percent; Middle East and Africa: seven percent. VAI: In addition to programs to buy, what else will attract buyers to MIP-TV this year? LG: Obviously, the 3,800 buyers who attend MIP-TV are in Cannes to acquire shows. In addition, the wide range of programming available and the multitude of broadcasters that attend the event from over 100 countries means that acquisition executives can track new programming trends that may influence their acquisition strategies in the months to come. One of the advantages of attendingMIP-TV as a buyer is that it provides access to projects at every stage of development. While some companies may focus on completed programming, others may want to take the co-production path or buy into a project at the development stage. MIP-TV’s array of pitching sessions, co- production forums, and conferences provide invaluable insight into new projects and programming trends which are of significant value to buyers. In the drama sector, 2018 offers unparalleled opportunities for buyers to keep in touch with new projects via the new In Development, the Cannes Creative Drama Forum, the Drama Co-Production Summit, and the ever-popular Fresh TV Fiction presentation revealing the trends and hot dramas from around the world. VAI: Why do you think that this MIP-TV is going to be the best ever? LG: MIP-TV has an established reputation for bringing together the international companies operating in television and digital content from over 100 countries each April. From a business point of view, it is the leading event of its kind in the first half of the year, with MIPCOM leading the way in the second half. This year sees the launch of the newCanneSeries T he two-page brochure that Reed Midem distributed at ATF last November indicated that there will be 3,800 buyers at MIP-TV this year, and that 24 percent of them will be new attendees. These figures were officially confirmed, as reported in the front cover story. VideoAge embarked on a six-country tour to survey seven buyers to find out what their expectations are for the market. VideoAge: In addition to buying programs, what aspects of MIP-TV interest you? Katarzyna Bojarska , head of Program Acquisitions at Poland’s PulsTV: “After each market I make a promise to myself that next time I will attend more conferences/screenings, but so far it hasn’t worked out. It seems the most interesting ones are being scheduled last minute, so I don’t have enough free slots and can’t change my meetings. So basically, MIP- TV is about buying, looking for inspiration, and discussing current tendencies in the similar markets. And hoping it won’t rain all the time, as some roofs are not waterproof.” Sasha Breslau , head of Acquired Series at U.K’s ITV: “The prerogative for us at the market is getting the chance to see people face-to- face and find out about their slates, as well as updating them on our acquisition needs. It’s a mixture of touching base with existing suppliers to reinforce those relationships, and meeting new distributors in order to forge new relationships. The MIP-TV drama event is an interesting add-on but not the main driver for me attending the market.” Branko Cakarmiš , program director of Slovenia’s PRO PLUS: “MIP has some ‘must- see’ events. One of them is the Fresh TV [conference].” Margarida Torres of Portugal’s NOS Lusomundo Audiovisuais: “[MIP-TV] is also an opportunity to touch base with many of our business partners, to screen new shows, and to discover other companies and content that we have not worked with until now.” Dermot Horan , director of Acquisitions and Co-Productions at Ireland’s RTÉ: “[We will stay on course by] “screening new dramas on the Sunday. [We will] also meet with producers and other broadcasters to discuss co-production opportunities.” Nina Lorgen Flemmen , director of Acquisitions, TV 2 Norway: “The drama seminar on Sunday should give us a good overview and also connect [us] with other buyers.” Theo Wolf , Acquisitions manager, International Programming for Portugal’s SIC: “[We’re open to] understanding and discovering the new market trends, new platforms, and new OTTs. We enjoy the conferences, the rare opportunities to hear world-renowned CEOs tell their stories, as well as to learn about unusual case studies. We also enjoy the fresh TV presentations of fiction and new formats, to see what viewers expect and what is delivered around the world.” VideoAge: In terms of acquisitions, will you be focusing on a particular territory? Sasha Breslau : “We buy content almost exclusively from the U.S., Canada, and Australia. Currently, we are not acquiring any foreign- language content for the ITV channels.” Branko Cakarmiš : “The time when the U.S. territory was our main focus is gone. We are viewing programs from all European territories. Drama in Europe is rising [in popularity], even in smaller markets.” Dermot Horan : “One of the great strengths of the market is the range of countries attending. That being said, several of the U.S. majors are not attending, as they believe it is too close to the L.A. Screenings.” Theo Wolf : “As a large media group with nine channels and very niche channels, we need to find programs that fit our DNA. A team of three divides up to see what new line-ups exist, to view trailers, and to discuss production budgets and availability.” VideoAge: What genre of programs will you be looking for? Katarzyna Bojarska , “The main focus is high-budget feature films, preferably action and adventure, as well as comedies [that will] attract a wide audience. And some crown jewels of factual and animation. Our slots are limited here so we need best of the best.” Sasha Breslau : “Scripted and non-scripted, particularly female-skewed reality content, glossy lifestyle series (particularly aspirational property/baking/ plastic surgery programs).” Branko Cakarmiš : “We are always hunting for interesting, fresh, but still mainstream formats. There has been a lot of re-innovation in the format business, but only a few real fresh concepts.” Margarida Torres : “[We aremostly interested in] scripted TV Dramas and Comedies, but also children’s content. However, we are also always interested in finding out more about other types of content and new means of distribution.” Dermot Horan : “I buy across a wide range of genres from feature films and dramas to scripted comedy, documentaries, and children’s programs and I’ll be looking at all at the market.” Theo Wolf: “We buy nearly all genres: fiction, reality, talk shows, animation, live-action, documentaries, and formats. We acquire nearly every possible genre.” Nina Lorgen Flemmen : “Drama and factual, primarily.” VideoAge: How many distribution companies are you planning to visit? Katarzyna Bojarska : “I’ll attend with my two colleagues from the Acquisition team and each of us will have about 30 meetings during the market.” Sasha Breslau : “[We will be meeting] around 60-65 distributors.” Branko Cakarmiš: “We have scheduled more than 60 meetings.” Margarida Torres: “Usually, we schedule between 20 and 25 meetings with as many different companies.” Theo Wolf: “With 10 meetings a day, say 30 meetings in three days times a team of three, we expect to visit more or less 100 distributors. Meetings are every half hour. Some are more relevant than others, but we follow a very tight agenda.” Nina Lorgen Flemmen: “We usually have about 10 meetings per day, so all together around 30 to 40, I would assume.” Dermot Horan: “Over 50!” (Continued from Cover) Buyers Prepare for MIP-TV Laurine Garaud is director of the Television Division at MIP-TV organizer, Reed Midem (Continued on Page 14)