30 How MIPCOM Was in 1991. Veteran Returns to Cannes to Review Changes Veteran TV executive Douglas Friedman returns to MIPCOM after a 29-year absence. First, he recalls here his past experience, and in a future installment (to be published in November), he’ll review the changes — both good and bad. October 1991. I’d already been working in television for 15 years, in U.S. domestic syndication for four, and at long last had the opportunity to make my first trip to Cannes for an international festival as the VP of Marketing for Genesis Entertainment/Genesis International. In the same position for the short-lived TeleVentures between 1987 and 1990, I had learned about the international business from attending the L.A. Screenings and preparing my company’s MIP and MIPCOM promotional materials for our Sales executive, Ray Lewis. But this, my first time attending the biggest sales and exhibition event of the year, would be my most significant foray into the area of international television sales. On the flight from Los Angeles to Nice (via Heathrow, London), I boned up by reading a dozen trade magazines in anticipation of the upcoming conference (VideoAge being one!). I also read a book on conversational French, which I was certain would betray my ignorant American roots. My good friend Brenda Geffner from Warner Bros. was a great help showing me the ropes that first time. In a cab between Nice and Cannes (after discovering my luggage did not arrive on the same flight I did), Brenda filled me in on the local customs, some of which I found quite amusing, such as the fact that the restaurants along La Croisette were not identified by their names, but by the colors of their umbrellas along the beach (“green umbrellas,” “yellow umbrellas,” etc.). Assuring my company’s executives good rooms at the Hotel Martinez involved generous tips to hotel management when I first arrived. And on the street, tips to vendors were also required to get by. There was also the need to visit the American Express office to exchange currency, except during their two-hour lunch break. My first day inside the Palais des Festivals was the day before opening, getting to know the lay of the land and setting up a small Genesis International stand inside. I had sent VHS videotapes ahead and laid out the print materials for our shows (including Real Stories of the Highway Patrol, Emergency Call, and El Juez). Outside the Palais I spent hours exploring Cannes, Mougin, St. Paul du Vence and my new favorite, Eze. Dinners at Le Maschou and Tetou were the most memorable dining experiences I’d ever had, even if La Pizza was the most frequented. But the most important thing I got out of attending MIPCOM 1991 was getting a close, inside look at, and understanding of the international television business. At that time, many countries were switching from state-controlled to more marketoriented broadcasting business models. A majority of the international television buyers represented government-owned broadcasters as opposed to the still nascent freemarket outfits. Deregulation was making its way through government legislatures and cable was only in its infancy. On the market floor, the number of production entities pitching their product to us was equal to the number of broadcasters to whom we were pitching our own product. Formats were becoming the next big thing (most significantly taking off at the end of the decade with the success of Big Brother and other reality shows). Sales meetings were booked weeks and even months in advance, and the major distributors would shut out walk-ins because their staff were fully booked. Follow-up calls were made by telephone, as email was still a few years away. The major studios staked out evenings and had everyone marking their calendars as early as they did their business meetings. After all, nobody wanted to miss the legendary New World Entertainment parties in the early and mid-1990s. For me personally, MIPCOM was a challenge because at the end of my workdays in Cannes, I’d spend hours on the phone back to the States overseeing the production of sales and marketing materials for Genesis’ new shows in the U.S., including a talk show with actress and comedian Whoopi Goldberg that was already drawing interest overseas. Marketing directors from a number of the U.S. distributors got together for the first of a series of meetings to talk about the business and what we might be able to do as a group to help us as individuals with our own advertising efforts. It was a genuinely collegial effort hosted by VideoAge publisher Dom Serafini, and continued at other industry trade shows. What I learned there and during the market about the international television business was eye-opening, even as most of it was learned in the dingy underworld of the Palais’ smoke-filled basement. Deals were done on the spot, with the people who could make the final decisions in attendance. Most of all, it was a “relationship business.” Inasmuch as it was a relationship business, it was harder to break through as a small independent. The studios had bigger parties, more advertising, clout, and representation. You hooked up with other, smaller broadcasters. But small independents weren’t always destined to remain small independents, so we never felt less important as we gazed toward the future. As I arrive this month in Cannes, 33 years after my first visit and 29 since my last, I will be fascinated to see how this market has changed, for better or worse. Will the major U.S. studios still dominate the show floors? Will the small independent producers and distributors still generate enough business to make the trip worthwhile? How has technology changed the way companies and individuals do business? (Forget emails... we didn’t even have cell phones in 1991.) Will it still be possible to get into Le Maschou without a reservation made months in advance? Will I see anyone on the show floor who I knew when I was a regular in the early 1990s? I’ll be on the lookout. But also looking for new trends to write about, new contacts with insights into the ever-evolving international television industry, and hopefully, new friends who will give me reason to return for more MIPCOMs in the years ahead. Douglas Friedman has spent 40 years as a television marketing executive for networks, stations and distributors. He is now a freelance writer based in San Diego, California. Faith Golden, Douglas Friedman, and Debi Lepoff at the Genesis stand during MIPCOM 1991 VIDEOAGE October 2024 Market Report Card
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