V I D E O A G E November 2022 12 event had just 450 participants. As far as the number of buyers and commissioners, there will be 180, who will be meeting with 114 exhibitors from 27 countries (as per October 21, 2022) for 20 minutes at a time during pre-scheduled sessions that will take place between November 14 and 16, 2022. But after the October 3, 2022 announcement that NATPE would be filing for Chapter 11 with the bankruptcy court, and the October 26 announcement that NATPE would be canceling its 2023 market in the Bahamas, come opening day, MIP Cancun could expect a surge of both sellers and buyers. Indeed, on October 28, RX France, the event organizer, announced that the number of participants swelled to 800 from 40 countries. Like MIP Cancun, NATPE was also a LATAM-centric market. However, a new trade show, DISCOP Miami, is replacing the NATPE show with a January 31-February 2, 2023 event, which could be very promising (see full story on page six). This year, the eighth annual in-person edition of MIP Cancun will kick off on Sunday (instead of Tuesday like in 2021), which could generate some extra traffic among the vacationing weekend crowd. Originally, the dates were set for November 15-18, but were later moved to the current November 13-16, 2022. The official reason for this change is that it was done “for a combination of operational reasons and after taking into account feedback from delegates.” The MIP Cancun 2021 market began on November 16 and was held at the Moon Palace Hotel complex in the Mexican resort city. The complex is also the venue for this year’s event. The hotel fully reopened the summer of 2021 following the COVID emergency. Even though MIP Cancun 2022 will begin on November 13, the market portion will start the next day and will consist of buyers meeting with sellers at tables in a large room. The start date comes just 25 days after MIPCOM and just eight days after the AFM, which tends to attract some LATAM buyers looking for movies. The Ecuador-born Perez-Bellière was given the responsibility for MIP Cancun by RX France, which organizes the market, following the departure of Benedicte Touchard de Morant, who last year led a team of 16 people in Cancun. Perez-Bellière is a company insider who previously organized for RX France’s Esports BAR markets. This will be her first time heading the Cancun TV event. During the interview, Perez-Bellière also executive producer and partner at Sao Paulo, Brazil’s Boutique Filmes. It’ll be moderated by VideoAge’s Dom Serafini. The session will be held in the Main Auditorium on November 14, the market’s second day, from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m., followed by 15 minutes of meeting with the speakers. The theme of the talk will be “Spotlight on Brazil: A View to Its Voices, Content, and Evolution of the Sector.” Alex Marin, a former Sony Pictures Sales executive who now runs Media Advisors, his own Miami-based production company, will be attending MIP Cancun with four staffers, and will be bringing different content with him than what he highlighted at MIPCOM. As far as meetings are concerned, he will be checking in with “more traditional clients” rather than new potential ones. Touching on the costs, Marin said that he expects that this MIP Cancun will be more expensive than the previous ones. A similar sentiment was expressed by Beatriz Cea Okan, VP and head of Sales and Acquisitions for Istanbul-based Inter Medya, who noted that her concerns aren’t simply due to the high inflation rates experienced now in Turkey. “The prices of MIP Cancun have increased”, she said, pointing out, however, that she will have a minimum of 20 meetings, and that MIP Cancun is “a very good market.” Inter Medya is bringing series that are new for the market, and all are dubbed in Spanish. Also from Turkey, former Inter Medya Sales exec Sibel Levendoglu is heading to MIP Cancun as Kanal D’s Sales manager for LATAM and the U.S. It will be her first time under the Kanal D brand, and she will be bringing one title from last year (Three Sisters) and one from this year (That Girl). Levendoglu also reported that she had received the list of buyers scheduled to meet with her fromMIP Cancun organizers and “had no objections.” In terms of exhibitors, the largest groups hail from the U.S. and France (with 21 companies each), followed by the U.K. (with 12 distribution companies), and Turkey (with 10 exhibitors). On the buying side, a large contingent will be from the U.S. with 35 acquisition executives, followed by Mexico (24), Brazil (19), Argentina (14), Ecuador (10), Colombia (eight), and Chile (seven). On the next page Latin American program buyers explain to VideoAge their views on MIP Cancun. addressed the higher cost concerns of many small distribution companies, and pointed out that they could attend as visitors before graduating to exhibitors by renting a table. “It’s a good way to come and try”, she advised, noting that that option is affordable by all since they only have to pay for registration. Naturally, once registered as visitors, participants can attend all conferences, parties, and special events, where they can meet with buyers informally. This relatively high cost of attending a market these days is mostly because travel expenditures in the post-pandemic period are much higher than before. The current cost of plane tickets and accommodations are frequently cited by Latin American executives as a reason for skipping out on in-person industry events. However, MIP Cancun has gained relevance for the Latin American TV sector, so many companies are expected to attend. A survey conducted by the Spanish-language publication, The Daily Television, among sellers and buyers from Latin America found that MIP Cancun has become the number one market for television companies and executives from the Latin American and Hispanic market in the United States who do not regularly attend European events. MIP Cancun’s organizers are also arranging 18 conferences. One that shouldn’t be missed is withBrazil-bornbutBuenosAires-basedCecilia Mendonca, head of Content Development for The Walt Disney Company, and Tiago Mello, MIP Cancun: What to Expect (Continued from Cover) (Continued on Page 14) MIP Cancun has become the number one market for television companies and executives from the LATAM and Hispanic market in the U.S. Maria Perez-Bellière is director of MIP Cancun and Esports Conex
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