Videoage International - 2020: A Year in Review

16 January 2021 V I D E O A G E The Road To MIPCOM P resented below is an edited transcript of an interview given by Laurine Garaude, director of Reed MIDEM’s TV Division, on TellyCast, a podcast directed by Justin Crosby fromBoom! PR in London . Laurine Garaude (pictured): MIPCOM has been the biggest week in the industry calendar for a long time. And the 36th annual MIPCOM is coming up [October 12-15]. It’s going to take a lot of hard work to deliver this next MIPCOM as a quality, yet safe event, and also to have a program that really meets the moment. The French government has confirmed that trade shows and major events [with more than 5,000 people indoors] will now be officially validated starting September 1. While we can all work really well online, there’s a need to meet in person, and it’s our duty to be able to deliver that in the safest way. Within the show venue, we are regulating traffic flow and the capacity across the exhibition hall. There will be new design spaces in terms of clubs and lounges, [and] much more open space. The conferences will be run at 50 percent capacity. Face masks will be mandatory and they will be available at various distribution points. There will be daily disinfection of all areas, as well as hand sanitizer available throughout the convention center. We are developing print-at- home badges so that people don’t have to queue to get them and those who can’t print at home will have to social-distance when retrieving their badges. We’re looking at one-meter social distancing throughout the exhibition. The show will be different. Our main focus is going to be allowing for buyers and sellers to meet safely. That is priority number one, and we will not be doing major events or big parties. We’re looking at smaller formats to see what can be done outdoors. Some territoriesmaynot beable to travel, [like] the U.S. and LATAM, for instance. And that’s why we are in the midst of creating MIPCOM Online Plus, which is to enrich the experience for people, whether they are in Cannes or not. Just to give some examples, for the hotels, rooms will stay vacant for 24 hours between check-out and new occupancy. There’ll be online check-in and check-out procedures, and new policies for staff. There will be increased cleaning operations, and hotel officials will limit the number of people allowed per elevator. There will be social distancing throughout. There’ll be gel dispensers available at the entrances, mandatory wearing of masks, sanitary facilities will be disinfected several times a day, etc. And that’s just a partial list. Changing Offices During the Pandemic A ldo Di Felice, president of TLN Media Group, described how a Canadian media company opened its new headquarters and studios during the pandemic — and quickly learned that head space is more important than office space: “The year 2020 was supposed to be our year to finally come out with fabulous new headquarters in a storied multicultural venue in central Toronto. That was the plan, at least. For 30 years, TLN Media Group’s headquarters and studios had been tucked into a retrofitted industrial warehouse in the northwest corner of Toronto. “As the year 2020 began, we could not have been more excited about unveiling our new midtown Toronto headquarters and studios in the Columbus Centre, a historically designated cultural center built some 50 years ago through the efforts of Toronto’s Italian-Canadian com- munity. “But the month of March certainly came in like a lion, not a lamb. A lion named COVID-19. Suddenly, all of our best-laid plans for 2020 were canceled or indefinitely postponed. And some 60 staff members needed to quickly prepare to work remotely and keep our seven TV channels, websites, and activities going uninterrupted. “Our production team quickly adapted to ramp up remote touchless production of a nonstop series of informative and entertaining COVID-19 segments as part of our Spanish-language Hola News, Italian-language Note Bene, and English- language TLNConnects programs. So we actually expanded our daily production activity during this pandemic due to our need to serve the public. “Since COVID-19 hit, TLN Media Group has produced over 150 reports, including inter- views with numerous ministers and mem- bers of Parliament both at the federal level and in provinces, as well as local city officials, community leaders, business leaders, and unsung heroes.” Take Five With Good Singers’ Izzet Pinto F rance’s TF1 is now producing Good Singers , a new singing entertainment show based on Global Agency’s original format Is That Really Your Voice? The show is hosted by Jarry Lambert, one of France’s most popular TV personalities. Created in 2013 by Global Agency’s Izzet Pinto, the format is based on the unique idea of being able to spot good singers simply by looking at the contestants — not hearing them sing. Is That Really Your Voice? was the first known format that allowedpeople to guess at contestants’ singing talent based on their appearances and speaking voices, but not their singing voices. In this weekly primetime show, two teams will face each other over the course of four rounds. In order to win money for charity the celebrity judges must find the Good Singers . Flying To Europe V ideoAge editor, Dom Serafini reported on his trip on an Alitalia flight fromNew York to Rome, Italy this month. The experiencewas taxing, and it required lots of work, tons of preparation, and loads of stamina. Before accessing JFK’s check-in window, a guard took travelers’ temperatures and registered the info on the declaration forms that passengers were given wherein they had to pledge to self- quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival at their destinations in Italy. Only passengers could enter Terminal 1 (no visitors) and only those with E.U. passports could purchase plane tickets. Non-E.U. citizens had to have special, non-tourist-related reasons or be in transit to non-E.U. countries. JFK’s T1 boarding area looked like a Soviet- era supermarket, but despite the rather spartan visual, it was functional, with a couple of food stands open. I realized that this time around, it was better to be seated in the main cabin, which allowed for an empty seat between all non-related passengers. The business and first-class cabins were smaller and full of people unable to maintain social distance. Only one meal was served during the flight and only bottled water was offered. Upon landing, passengers were required to disembark three rows at a time. Before passport control, passengers had to fill out another declaration notice, which was left with the border police, and our temperatures were taken once again by thermoscanners, which were not clearly visible to passersby. In Other News July 1: Disney Media Distribution held its L.A. Screenings virtual event. July 8: Tyler Perry’s series Sistas restarted production in Atlanta. July 13: The AFM became a virtual market and pushed its dates to November 9-13. July 14: NBCUni’s Peacock streaming service was launched. July 21: Beau Ferrari was named chairman of NBCUni Telemundo Enterprises. July 17: Ignacio Corrales became managing director of Buendia Estudios , which was formed in Spain on June 17. July 29: The Primetime Emmy Awards became a virtual event set for September 30. July 30: Kanal D’s New Life resumed production in Turkey. July 31: James Murdoch resigned from News Corp. July 2020 Review