VideoAge International November 2018

12 November 2018 MIP Cancun Preview gave the international TV industry April’s MIP- TV and October’s MIPCOM, a pair of TV markets held annually in Cannes, France. MIP Cancun originally started as an event in which Latin TV companies sold content to other Latin TV companies, and was aimed specifically at Central American TV outlets that couldn’t afford to attend the European TV markets. Soon, however, the Cancun event was overtaken by Turkish TV content exporters, and later, by dubbers looking to make money by translating popular Turkish TV series into Spanish and Portuguese. But it isn’t just dubbers and Turkish companies benefiting from MIP Cancun. While there was initial concern that the Mexican market would negatively impact the business conducted at the much larger NATPE Miami — which will be held just twomonths later, January 22 to 24, 2019—the reality seems to be that Cancun simply serves as a first approach for those seeking to make deals, with many sales then finalized in Miami. This is because MIP Cancun only allows 25-minute pre- set meetings between buyers and sellers. While buyers are invited all expenses-paid, sellers pay for packages that include meeting tables and hotel accommodations. Recently, a newer complication has emerged in the form of DISCOP in Johannesburg, which will take place at the exact same time as MIP Cancun, some 13,400 kilometers away. When asked about this unfortunate overlap, DISCOP organizer Patrick Zuchowicki said that his organization “decided on [our] dates before MIP Cancun did.” So what’s a put-upon TV executive to do when faced with concurrent TV conventions? VideoAge spoke with some of the execs who’ll be in attendance at these markets to find out if they’ll be bringing different content to Mexico than they brought with them to the recently concluded MIPCOM, if DISCOP will affect their MIP Cancun plans, and whether their strategies include finalizing deals at the Moon Palace or if they’ll use NATPE Miami to close them. Most of the content sales companies contacted said that DISCOP’s concurrent dates aren’t an issue, as different execs will attend each event. “This does not typically pose a problem for us since we have dedicated teams and territory experts for each of the regions,” said Janel Downing of London-based All3Media International. Kew Media, another London-based company, will also send representatives to both markets. Maria Ibarra will be on the ground in Cancun and Stephen Joy will travel to Johannesburg. Sunita Uchil, chief business officer of India’s Zee Entertainment, also sends teams to both markets, but she called the timing of the two events “rather awkward.” When it comes to MIP Cancun directly following MIPCOM, executives interviewed felt that it’s acceptable since the two markets draw entirely different crowds. “We’ve noticed that MIP Cancun attracts Asked which of the territories featured at MIP Cancun is the fastest growing for them, Bonaria Fois couldn’t pinpoint one specific one, but said that Mondo’s goal “is to generate new alliances in Mexico, Brazil, Central America, and the Caribbean, as well as to strengthen existing ones.” Downing felt similarly, saying that “these are all fast-growing territories for us. We think it’s important to have a holistic focus on the territory and not just on one or two countries specifically.” Farhi noted that “all territories are important for SPI “because we are new to the market.” But when pressed to choose a specific locale, he mentioned Mexico. For Uchil, Mexico, Argentina, and Peru have “been very favorable thus far.” She attributed this to the “cultural and social similarities there, which allow for this symbiosis.” Moving on, we asked our panel of participants if they usually close deals at MIP Cancun — considering the little time available for discussion —or if negotiations tend to be finalized at NATPE Miami. For Kew Media’s Ibarra, “deals are frequently closed at the [MIP Cancun] market,” but most experts concurred with Downing, who said that “in an ideal world, we’d love to close deals at [MIP Cancun]… Of course, the nature of each negotiation doesn’t always allow for that, and in those cases, we like to follow up with territory- specific meetings or at the next market.” Last year’s edition of MIP Cancun drew 700 participants from 47 countries, representing 470 companies, and generated more than 4,900 meetings across the three-day market. Conferences on the docket this year include November 14’s “The Many Faces of Financing,” which will feature experts discussing a variety of financing models; the following day’s “Leaders of Hispanic Television,” during which Patricio Wills of Televisa and James McNamara of Hemisphere Media Group will shed some light on how their companies have re-invented Hispanic entertainment; and Friday’s “The Nexus Between Educational Programming and Entertainment,” a panel exploring how best to straddle the line between education and entertainment. (By Leah Hochbaum Rosner) many buyers who do not attend MIPCOM,” said Downing. “For this reason, we will be presenting largely the same slate, so that all buyers have the opportunity to see what [we are] delivering, whether it be for a first or second window acquisition.” SPI International’s Loni Farhi also plans to bring the same product to Mexico, and noted that SPI’s “content is continuously getting stronger for Latin America.” Zee’s Uchil said that her firm planned to focus on blue-chip documentary The Life of Earth from Space at MIP Cancun just as it did at MIPCOM. “We will also introduce some scripted and non- scripted formats relevant to the LATAM markets, along with some blockbuster movies from Bollywood,” she said. Maria Bonaria Fois, general manager of Mondo TV Iberoamerica — the part of Italy’s Mondo TV Group focused on distribution and co- production for the Latin American and Iberian markets — said that “at MIP Cancun, we meet with multi-territory partners, but there are also many local broadcasters, which allows us to widen our reach.” She called her MIP Cancun strategy “glocal,” a combo of “global” and “local,” and noted that she plans to focus on the distribution of the Mondo TV Iberoamerica properties, as well as the rest of the Mondo TV portfolio while in Mexico. “At MIP Cancun, you can expect to hear about Heidi, Bienvenida a Casa and Heidi, Bienvenida al Show, Invention Story, three seasons of The Young Empress, and Treasure Island , among other titles,” she said. (Continued from Cover) Reed Midem’s Ted Baracos Meeting tables at last year’s MIP Cancun “MIP Cancun simply serves as a first approach for those seeking to make deals, with many sales then finalized at NATPE Miami”