Videoage International November 2021

14 V I D E O A G E November 2021 A lthough a number of anti-COVID health measures have been im- plemented at MIP Cancun, the health of the economy in Latin America is still worrisome. “In- deed, LATAM is going through dif- ficult times,” said Marcel Vinay, CEO of Mexico’s Comarex. “But distributors will always find a way to support their local partners.” Isabella Barsumian of France’s Federation En- tertainment explained that problems “depend on if we are talking about pan-regional deals or local deals. We understand how, locally, each country in Latin America might be affected differently, and we do our best in taking this into consideration when initiating negotiations.” To Cecilia Gomez de la Torre of Peru’s Tondero, it’s a matter of “trying to be flexible, so that we can reach win-win agreements — to allow the industry to restart, and the producers to continue working.” A positive note came from Aysegul Tuzun of Turkey’s MISTCO: “We don’t see any special difficulties in LATAM,” she said. “As a world, we are going through hard times, but content is always king and consumption of content may vary from time to time, but it’s a never-ending business.” A similar positive note was sounded by Emre Görentas of Turkey’s ATV: “Since TV audiences increased [in Turkey and worldwide] during the pandemic, we were able to continue to produce premium dramas, and we’ll be coming to Cancun with our very best selections. We believe that many deals will be closed during MIP Cancun.” Beatriz Cea Okan of Turkey’s Inter Medya felt similarly. “Although economic and political issues have arisen in the region, our sales continue in the same way as content consumption is the most important source and habit of entertainment across the globe.” So what are the main challenges at this year’s MIP Cancun? “The best thing about MIP Cancun has always been its efficiency,” said Janel Downing, SVP, Latin America, at the U.K.-based All3Media International. “Today, it might be a challenge to establish the same level of market efficiency while maintaining COVID protocols.” Federation’s Barsumian felt differently: “The main challenge is to handle Zoommeetings while doing the market in person. It is a hybrid type of market, and we want to keep our partnerships by giving all our clients the priority regarding our content, and not just to the people we meet in person.” To Tondero’s de la Torre, the main challenge is “to generate interest for new Tondero co- production projects.” MISTCO’s Tuzun doesn’t see any challenges at all. “Actually, we are more than happy to have physical meetings after almost two years, and excited to see all our partners,” she said. ATV’s Görentas felt similarly. “Following two years of the pandemic, MIP Cancun will be our first market for the LATAM region, and we are very excited to meet with our partners in person after a long time.” The same excitiment was manifested by Inter Medya’s Cea Okan: “After two years we are going back to Cancun! That is super exciting. I am very thrilled to be on site and have face-to- face meetings again. Everyone missed having personal gatherings and doing their business in person.” Anothermajor Turkishdistributor thatwill have a MIP Cancun presence is Kanal D International, represented by executive director Ekin Koyuncu Karaman, and Narda Zuluaga, Sales Executive for LATAM and Spain. For Comarex’s Vinay the main challenge is to “follow up on meetings I had during MIPCOM. It was a great surprise to see so many friends at MIPCOM 2021,” he said, “and I hope to see more of them during MIP Cancun.” All3Media’s Downing concurred, “It was great to see travel from Latin America returning to Europe. Now that the [health] situation inMexico is improving, it is wonderful to see business slowly transitioning from virtual to in-person once again.” MISTCO’s Tuzun “was surprised [to see many LATAM companies at MIPCOM]. It is proof of how much we missed physical markets.” Tondero’s de la Torre reported that “the attitude of people has been very positive, and since many of them also attended Iberseries in Madrid a couple of weeks before MIPCOM, it showed that we all want this process to accelerate.” Federation’s Barsumian had a different ex- perience entirely. “In my case, I did not meet many LATAM partners at MIPCOM, as there were not many buyers attending.” Going back to MIP Cancun, Barsumian said that “there are a few major players who will not be attending MIP Cancun that would have been great to meet with.” De la Torre agreed. “The large platforms are missing and some companies have not sent their executives because of COVID.” Conversely, Downing is “very pleased with this year’s pairing,” she said, referring to the matches that MIP Cancun organizers make between buyers and sellers. Tuzun said: “Of course, there are some com- panies that are not attending, but we organize Zoom meetings to cover all buyers in LATAM, and I don’t see it as a problem.” As far as safety measures, all the respondents seem to be happy with the procedures that will be implemented. They feel that proof of vaccination is necessary, and that the wearing of masks should be enforced. However, Vinay suggested that “proof of vaccination should only be checked once, when one picks up the badge.” Conquering the Heart (Sales) & Mind (Health/Safety) of LATAM MIP Cancun Preview Tondero’s Cecilia Gomez de la Torre Janel Downing, senior vice president, Latin America, at All3Media International Inter Medya’s Beatriz Cea Okan Marcel Vinay, CEO of Mexico’s Comarex, at the Palais in Cannes at MIPCOM 2021