14 May 2022 MIPTV 2022 Review MIPTV 2022 kicked off on Monday, April 4, under sunny skies — although frigid temperatures (which continued for all three days of the market) made things colder than usual — with film/TV executives eager and happy to get back to doing business face-toface. All executives that VideoAge met with on the first day said that they had a full schedule of appointments. Several distributors opted for attending without a stand this year and were present only as participants, but said that they plan to return to MIPCOM in October on a full scale. Many buyers made a final decision to attend just a few days before MIPTV started. Indeed, while the official number of registered buyers was just 780 right before the start of the market, the number “swelled” to some 1,200 before all was said and done. This resulted in Riviera aisles that were abuzz with activity, and packed meeting places like the buyers’ and Lerins lounges. If there were any complaints, they had to do with the large number of construction sites all around the Croisette and Palais area. On the conference side, this year, all MIPTV events were labeled under one of three sections: “Inspiration,” “Discovery,” or “Connection.” Day one featured seven seminars, including a wellattended keynote in the morning on “Audience Driven Franchises” with Candle Media’s Kevin Mayer (who was featured in a front cover story in the December 2021 issue of VideoAge) and Moonbug’s Rene Rechtman. The day concluded with a pre-opening party, followed by the MIPTV Opening Party, in partnership with TV5 Monde, at Riviera 8. Day one of the market started late for some U.K. participants due to airline cancellations on Sunday. Massive airline cancellations on Saturday were also registered in the U.S. as severe weather in Florida caused a national and international chain reaction that delayed many a flight. Day two saw four showcases (including a panel in the afternoon with Ukrainian media representatives), two screenings, one pitch, and one summit on formats. A group of media companies fromUkraine were at MIPTV with a stand despite the devastating Russian invasion. Kateryna Udut of Ukraine’s Media Resources Management explained that for them business has never stopped and, although different logistics are necessary, the Ukrainian content business is alive. Most Ukrainian executives are now working from other European countries or, like Udut, are based in the relatively safer western part of their country. The aforementioned stand grouped four Ukrainian media companies together under one umbrella — 1+1 Media, Starlight Media, UK TV Channel, and Film.ua. The group was seeking to keep and strengthen projects on the global content industry map and to showcase their catalog of titles. Day two of MIPTV continued to be busy for all participants contacted by VideoAge, and exhibitors, whoweremostly housed in the Riviera section of the Palais, met with their clients in modular stands that were actually quite similar to those used pre-pandemic. Positive reports also came from buyers in attendance. “I have a full schedule,” said Max Einhorn, SVP, Acquisitions and Co-Productions, for FilmRise, who was in Cannes looking for, among other rights, unscripted TV content rights (pictured below with the FilmRise MIPTV team). Televisa Internacional’s Mario Castro registered productive meetings with clients from Africa and Eastern Europe, and said he was looking forward to the return of Asian buyers, who were still absent at MIPTV due to COVID travel restrictions. VideoAge also spoke with Ron Thomson, CEO of Canada’s Liquid Media, who was promoting the company’s own blockchain initiatives for independent producers. NFTs (or Non Fungible Tokens) and their impact on television was the topic of a well-attended conference held in the morning with Blockchain Creative Lab’s Scott Greenberg and creative consultant Danielle Lauren. The MIPTV floor was not only busy with buying and selling activities, but also with many recreational and networking events. Earlier on Tuesday several of such events were held in the Palais: The Producers Networking breakfast, the MIPDoc Co-Production Summit, and the Exports Networking lunch. Outside the Palais, Tokyo Broadcasting System hosted a breakfast event at the Majestic Hotel to launch two of its formats that were presented at MIP. On the afternoon of Day two, Spanish wine and tapas were offered at the Audiovisual From Spain pavilion, and champagne flowed (as usual) at the Unifrance pavilion, now housed for two consecutive markets (MIPCOM 2021 and MIPTV 2022) where the CBS Global Distribution stand used to be. Outside the Palais, Cineflix hosted a cocktail party on a rooftop terrace. The last day of the 59th edition of MIPTV saw busy exhibitors take their last round of meetings while packing up their stands. The general consensus was that expectations were fully met and that everyone will be back on a larger scale at MIPCOM, which is scheduled for October 1720, 2022. A Time Report on the First In-Person Post-Pandemic Cannes TV Market Kanal D International’s Gamze Utma, Ekin Koyuncu Karaman, Selim Türkmen, Burcu Anis Enthusiasm was evident, content sales were satisfactory, participation was adequate: Overall, it was a good market for everyone involved. (Continued on Page 16) Electric Entertainment’s Steve Saltman, Sonia Mehandjiyska, Nolan Pielak FilmRise’s Kayleigh Mize, Lily Schaer, Katie Carroll, Max Einhorn, Melissa Wohl, Emilia Nuccio, Katherine Weinstein, Stephanie Fialkow
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