12 VIDEOAGE November 2023 MIPCOM 2023 came to a close in Cannes, France on Thursday, October 19, during a downpour. However, for many participants, the rain did not dampen the excitement they had for the market, which began the previous Monday. Of course, initial excitement for the market was tempered by the horrific Hamas terrorist attack against Israel. Over 70 executives from Israel had to cancel as a result of the war. But MIPCOM has never been immune to tragedies. Throughout its 39-year history, it has survived through several wars, and even helped to explain why they happened. After all, our industry best reflects what’s really happening in these war zones since our TV screens report the news from the battlefronts. Market organizer RX France tried its best to lift people’s spirits, hosting Friday’s pre-MIP Junior drinks for delegates before going all out with an opening party on Saturday, MIP Junior’s starting date. The celebration continued with MIPCOM’s official opening party, which was followed by many more shindigs from exhibiting companies: both at the exhibitors’ stands and at outside venues. Show business without some sort of a show becomes a shoe business of sorts (or at least as boring as the shoe biz), so film and TV companies exhibiting at MIPCOM were eager to up their showmanship levels this year — not only with the content that they sell, but also with the parties that they host. After all, if they themselves don’t show some excitement about their content, how can they expect buyers to do the same? The long lines at the market’s entrances couldn’t be attributed to an increased number of attendees, but was instead due to heightened security following the Hamas terrorist attack in Israel. In terms of attendance, according to official figures, there were 320 exhibiting companies with stands and 11,072 participants from 100 countries, including 5,630 participants registered as buyers. Looking at the plethora of new trade publications that were being distributed, on top of the large number of already existing ones, one could say that the international TV industry had high hopes for a successful market. Traditionally, this kind of response is not found at less successful events. This year’s MIPCOM hosted a glut of companies hawking AI and related products, including dubbing, as well as a plethora of Social Media companies like V Channels, Viral Media, and VAMedia. Another sector that made lots of noise in Cannes was represented by European AVoD and FAST channels. Still, traditional players were also in abundance, with all the major U.S. studios exhibiting at the Palais. There was even unity between the new and the old, perfectly epitomized by the Beverly Hills, California-based V Channels’ Niccoló Messina. His senior adviser in V Channels is veteran studio executive Michael J. Solomon, a former president of Warner Bros. Distribution, who was welcoming buyers’ at the V Channels’ stand. While Messina’s V Channels is busy producing 100 feature films and 100 documentaries a year, Solomon, he said, “is helping us build the international sales.” In terms of business, the indies at MIPCOM had a field day(s) since the actors’ strike that is continuing in the U.S. (following a prolonged writers’ strike that was recently settled), has drastically reduced the content output from the U.S. studios. Nonetheless, all the major studios in the U.S. were back exhibiting in a big way and getting lots of attention, with a keynote speech delivered by Gerhard Zeiler, president of Warner Bros. International, and Bob Bakish, CEO of Paramount, receiving the MIPCOM Personality of the Year Award. In his speech, Zeiler explained that even though Warner Bros. is committed to streaming, “if it makes sense to license content to third parties, we will.” Similarly, Bakish said that the streaming business is central to Paramount Global’s vision, but content licensing is still “a fundamental part of our economic model.” On Tuesday, another keynote speech was delivered by Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of the Barcelona, Spain-based The MediaPro Studio, which is controlled by Chinese equity firm Orient Hontai Capital. China is also this year’s MIPCOM Country of Honor — a prize that’s appreciated by Hollywood (as China is the world’s number two box-office market), but despised by Washington D.C. politicians since China is a totalitarian state. The elusive Latin American buyers — who are expected to be at MIP Cancun next month — also made appearances, with Argentina’s Telefe and Mexico’s Azteca and Televisa in attendance in Cannes. And the U.S. studios had their LatAm divisions readily on hand, with Disney LatAm in particular, out in full force. Moving on to controversies — because there are always some at a big market such as this — during a press conference at the Majestic Hotel, when asked about the joint Media For Europe project with Italy’s Mediaset, Bert Habets, CEO of Germany’s ProSiebenSat.1, limited his comments to: “Italian TV and German TV cannot be more different.” Habets was joined by Henrik Pabst, CCO of Seven One Entertainment Group, which is part of the ProSieben company. Finally, in terms of next year’s dates, MIPCOM 2024 is scheduled very late in October, from the 21st to the 24th, while MIP-TV, on the other hand, will be held very early, April 8-10, 2024. Wars, Strike, Downpours Did not Dampen Spirits MIPCOM Review Long lines at all entrances of the Palais Inter Medya’s Can Okan with the stars of The Ivy, which had its European premiere at MIPCOM Incendo’s Effi Eustace with Entertainment Studios’ Tom Devlin
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