Video Age International November-December 2015

10 December 2015 V I D E O A G E MIPCOM Review Cannes Market Basks In Success Despite Paralyzing Storm O n Saturday, October 3, MIPJunior’s opening night and just a day before the start of MIPCOM, the Côte d’Azur was struck by the worst storm of the past 20 years. The whole area was nearly paralyzed, and 21 people lost their lives. For MIPCOM attendees, travel plans were snarled. Those arriving after 11 p.m. on Saturday had to spend the night at the Nice Airport, since all roads to Cannes were closed, flooded or blocked by stranded cars. Internet and landline telephone service were basically non- existent, with just some cell phones operating. By MIPCOM’s closing on Thursday, phones remained out of commission. Cash dispensers (ATMs) and credit card authorizing machines were still down, which created problems when it came to making any kind of reservation and/or paying restaurant bills and other charges. As if the flood wasn’t enough of a disaster, on Thursday, MIPCOM participants were hit by a rail and Air France strike (Cannes train station had previously been shut down by the storm). Inanycase,MIPCOMorganizerswereawareof the incoming stormand therefore were well prepared, if only for an “orange” and not a “red” alert. Since the basement of MIPJunior’s Martinez flooded and the hotel lost electricity on Sunday, all conferences were transferred to the Palais des Festivals’ Esterel Auditorium. MIPCOM’s pre-opening TV Screening of The Art of More , presented by Sony Pictures Television, took place as scheduled on Sunday evening in the Palais’ Grand Auditorium. MIPCOM organizers worked all day and night on Sunday to remove the damaged carpets (the Palais basement was flooded as well as the basement level P1), and even transferred the flooded press room by the old port to the third floor of the Palais. With luck, organization, preparation and sheer competence, MIPCOM opened on time on Monday morning. Not so lucky, however, was the traditional Opening Night Red Carpet. “Following the heavy flooding over the weekend, The Grand Hyatt Cannes Hotel Martinez is not in a position to host the Red Carpet,” Reed Midem announced, while people mused that the red carpet would turn into a “wet carpet.” Indeed, all MIPCOM participants VideoAge interviewed took the devastation in stride and commended the resourcefulness of the market organizers who managed to provide most services atthePalais,includingastrongInternetconnection. Ultimately, the market was as successful as anticipated and for no apparent reason other than it is held in the favorable month of October. Even without the red carpet, the market boastedmany film and TV stars from the U.S. and Europe. As MIPCOM Country of Honor, Turkey took center stage with 12 of their TV stars. Ironically, during the TV market, the mayor of Cannes found it ineffective to report the cleaning up process on television. This was because TV service in the area arrives primarily via Internet, which was disrupted. Perhaps the importance of local FTA TV stations could be a topic of discussion at next year’s MIPCOM. As predicted in VideoAge ’s October Issue, from Sunday through Wednesday there were a record number of parties (all parties went on as scheduled, including those staged by A+E Networks and Tricon on Sunday). On Monday, Disney Media Distribution staged one of the most lavish parties in Cannes, themed after Star Wars . On the business level, corridors in the Palais were extra crowded — even during lunchtime, IFTA’s AFM umbrella stand at MIPCOM Left to right: HBO’s Emilio Rubio and Luis Peraza with Telemundo’s Marcos Santana and HBO’s Roberto Rios (Continued on Page 12) Zee Entertainment’s Nitin Michael, Sandeep Hardasmalani