MIPCOM 2012 NEWS 4

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DAY

Thursday 11 October 2012

www.mipcom.com

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PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR

Televisa’s Emilio Azcarraga Jean addresses a MIPCOM audience before a gala dinner where he receives his Personality Of The Year Award See pages 4 and 8

ANGRY BIRDS IN SPACE

Rovio Entertainment’s Andrew Stalbow explains where the Angry Birds are going next See page 9

MIPCOM 3DTV FOCUS

Toei Animation’s Yoshiyuki Ikezawa says audiences are ready to watch 3D See page 10

STARS IN CANNES

Erica Durance, one of the stars of eOne’s Saving Hope which launched at the start of MIPCOM. More star pictures inside See pages 6 and 7

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Contents

did you kn oW?

mipcom neWs 4 ®

The official MIPCOM daily newspaper Thursday 11 October 2012

MIPCO distribute M News : de at MIPC verywhere O more th M and in an in Cann 80 hotels e s a nd vicinity the

Director of Publications Paul Zilk Director of Communications Mike Williams EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor in Chief Julian Newby Deputy Editor Debbie Lincoln Sub Editors Clive Bull, Sarah Kovandzich Reporters Ben Cooper, Andy Fry, Emelia Jones, Juliana Koranteng, Max Leonard,

NEWS

Rachel Murrell, Gary Smith, Joanna Stephens, Chris White Editorial Assistant Hannah Stephens Deputy Technical Editor in Chief Frederic Beauseigneur Graphic Designers

Keynote speeches; conferences; deals signed at MIPCOM

Muriel Betrancourt, Veronique Duthille, Marie Moinier, Carole Peres Head of Photographers Yann Coatsaliou / 360 Media Photographers Christian Alminana, Georges Auclaire, Olivier

10 3ality’s Steve Schklair Talking 3D

19 Nigella Lawson In Cannes with The Taste

Houeix, Michel Johner, Yohann Mortier Editorial Management Boutique Editions PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Coordinator Amrane Lamiri Production Assistant Eric Laurent MANAGEMENT & SALES TEAM Director of the Entertainment Division Jérome Delhaye Director of the Television Division Laurine Garaude Director of Market Development Ted Baracos Sales Director Frédéric Vaulpré Managing Director (UK / Australia / New Zealand) Peter Rhodes OBE Sales Manager Javier Lopez Vice President Sales and Business Development Americas Robert Marking Sales Director Latin America JoséLuis Sanchez Vice President Business Development, North America JP Bommel Sales Executive Panayiota Pagoulatos Sales Managers Paul Barbaro, Nathalie Gastone,

IN PICTURES

Samira Haddi Sales Executives Liliane Dacruz, Cyril Szczerbakow Digital Media Sales Manager Nancy Denole New Media Development Manager Bastien Gave Australia and New Zealand Representative

4 Emilio Azcarraga Jean Toasting the Personality Of The Year

6 Stars in Cannes A-list talent caught on camera

Natalie Apostolou China Representatives Anke Redl, Tammy Zhao CIS Representatives Alexandra Modestova, Igor Shibanov English Speaking Africa Representative Arnaud de Nanteuil India Representative Anil Wanvari Israel Representative Guy Martinovsky Japan Representative Lily Ono Middle-East Representative Bassil Hajjar Poland Representative Monika Bednarek South Korea Representative Sunny Kim Taiwan Representative Irene Liu Germany Representative (Digital Media Sector) Renate Radke Adam ADVERTISING CONTACT IN CANNES Christine Mendes 01 41 90 49 89 christine.mendes@reedmidem.com Published by Reed MIDEM, BP 572, 11 rue du Colonel Pierre Avia, 75726 Paris Cedex 15, France. Contents © 2012, Reed MIDEM Market Publications, Publication registered 4th quarter 2012. Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs Le Muy (France) Printed on FSC certified paper

The MIPCOM News team is located in the Press & News Hub, Gare Maritime

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in pictures

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Personality Of The Year Leading industry executives from around the world came together to toast Emilio Azcarraga Jean, MIPCOM 2012 Personality Of The Year

Televisa International’s Carlos Castro (left) and Manuel Gilardi

Sharon Fastlicht-Azcarraga (left), Reed MIDEM’s Laurine Garaude, MIPCOM 2012 Personality Of The Year Emilio Azcarraga Jean and Reed MIDEM’s Paul Zilk

Cisneros Group’s Adriana Cisneros (left), with Paul Zilk

Televisa International’s Claudia Sahab (left) and Ricardo Ehrsam with Mercedes Gamero, Antena 3 TV, and Televisa’s Elsa Garcia

Sharon Fastlicht-Azcarraga and Emilio Azcarraga Jean

Gabriel Reyes (left) and Maria Hernandez of RCN Television with Patricio Wills of RTI Colombia

Ted Sarandos (left) of Netflix with Televisa International’s Mario Castro

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in pictures For one week MIPCOM was the home of some of the biggest stars of film and television. Our photographers caught them on camera...

Michael Weatherly in Cannes celebrating the 10th season of CBS’s NCIS

Jane Campion and co-writer Gerard Lee at MIPCOM to promote Top Of The Lake

Erica Durance, star of eOne’s Saving Hope

A Canadian in Cannes: The Borgias’ star Francois Arnaud

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Sarah Wayne Callies, Lori Grimes in The Walking Dead, walking the red carpet

Gillian Anderson, in Cannes to promote crime thriller The Fall

Keri Russell, star of Fox’s The Americans, in Cannes for the World Premiere TV Screening

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people

MILIO Azcarraga Jean, president and CEO of Mexican media giant Televisa is MIPCOM Personality Of The Year. Explaining his company’s sensational international growth, he said: “We have thousands of timeless and universal stories that can be adapted for any part of the world.”

The foundation of Televisa’s success is the high volume of telenovela episodes it produces for home market Mexico, the best of which also air on US Hispanic channel Univision.

The importance of Univision cannot be over-stated because “the US Hispanic population keeps us on our toes, pushing us to adapt”, said Azcarraga. “Univision has been a powerful way into a sought-after market, a marriage made in heaven.”

At the same time, the last ¿ve years have seen Televisa make “foreign co-production a priority”, said Azcarraga. “We have worked out how to ¿ ne-tune formats to local tastes while staying loyal to the original.” Part of that process has been about “working with partners like Sony Pictures Television”.

Televisa’s international-facing activities have made it the world’s biggest exporter of Spanish-language programming. But the expansion doesn’t stop there, with Azcarraga also talking up with company’s English-language ambitions: “We have just worked with Nickelodeon on Hollywood Heights, an 80-part adaptation of the teen telenovela Alcanzar Una Estrella.”

Azcarraga made much of the point that his company creates long-running feel-good shows: “If we had made Titanic [the movie] it wouldn’t have been three hours, it would have been a 100-day programming solution with a lot of sub-plots and a couple of dolphins rescuing Jack [the hero] at the end. We never kill the good guys.” On a more serious note he added: “The US is now starting to adapt along these lines. It’s good to see that the rest of the world is ¿nally catching up with us.”

Staying ahead of the game will involve a serious commitment to digital and social media, he said, whether that is Facebook, Twitter or connected devices. “After buying telecoms company Iusacell, we are now the only quad-play company in Mexico. Internationally, multimedia is now ingrained into the DNA of our adaptable global formats. In the next ¿ve years, we will develop more content for mobile devices.”

While Televisa is known internationally for its scripted success, Azcarraga pointed out that it is also a strong player in entertainment in its home market.

“We produce The Voice in Mexico, and it is watched by nine million out of 82 million. That makes it more ef¿cient than the US version of the show.”

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neWs Alt-Minds among alternative approaches to digital world T T H E C o nt e nt Originals In The Digital Space conference yesterday, JeanFrancois Rodriguez, head of gaming and transmedia at Orange, revealed that the company will be launching its multiplatform thriller Alt-Minds, coproduced by Lexis Numerique, next month.

“The series will launch in France, the UK, Germany and Spain, and we have aimed the show at digital adults, with gamei¿cation acting as the glue that binds all the various platforms,” he said. “Solving the mystery of the disappearance of the group of backpackers in the Ukraine will be a real-time game that lasts 10 weeks.” In the game, which spans video, Facebook and the real world, users must follow a set of clues to ¿nd ¿ve physicists who have mysteriously disappeared.

Users will be “engaged after the programme and during the programme,” he said, but if you don’t want to engage at all, you can just sit back and watch the web series.

According to YouTube’s director

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of content partnerships NACE, Ben McOwen-Wilson, the company is keen to encourage partnerships with content creators: “We are already seeing some of our content partners recouping through advertising revenue, but we are also advance funding in some cases, including on Vuguru’s project with Stan Lee, because we want to work with people and projects who are passionate, and who can ¿nd an audience on YouTube.”

As BBC Worldwide America executive vice-president sales and co-productions, Matthew Forde, pointed out, history is repeating itself: “It’s a lot like the birth of the cable market right now, with all the players looking to be distinctive and basically behaving like traditional broadcasters.

But that is changing and being replaced by new kinds of creative/commercial partnerships.”

Forde said that Mis¿ts and The Thick Of It were good examples of shows that have benefited from the multiplatform landscape — through Hulu, the BBC was able to build a US audience “like never before.”

Angry Birds taken to next level

Rovio’s Andrew Stalbow: “a lot of interest”

ROVIO Entertainment’s executive vice-president st rategic par t nerships, Andrew Stalbow, used his Media Mastermind keynote to give MIPCOM delegates an insight into where the company is going next with its global gaming franchise Angry Birds.

Having already achieved one billion downloads via multiple platforms, the emphasis now is on “taking some strategic decisions about partners we can work with for the next ¿ve years, not just in the short term,” he said. “It’s all about how we lift the brand while making sure it is fun for fans.”

A good example of what he means is a tie-in with Lucas¿lm that will see the launch of an Angry Birds Star Wars game on November 8.

“At Rovio, we asked ourselves who we’d really like to work with and we all wanted to do something with Star Wars. So now, we have the biggest app on connected devices working with the most recognisable ¿lm in the world,” he said. “That

will take our gameplay to the next level.” There is a lot of interest in what Rovio plans to do in the video space – and Stalbow gave a sneak preview of a 52-part Angry Birds short-form animation series coming later this year.

“We wanted to create stories that could last for generations,” he said. “We haven’t made any announcements on broadcasters yet but there’s a lot of interest. One of the things that excites them is the fact that we have 200 million people playing our games every month. So that’s a big audience we can talk to about the new animation series.”

Stalbow also said Hollywood is “hot for Angry Birds”. While there is no news on movie plans, it’s highly likely that the company will go in this direction eventually, echoing classic gaming brands like Super Mario. “It’s important for us to have multiple points of distribution and multiple revenue streams. We have to view Angry Birds as a brand,” Stalbow said.

YouTube’s Ben McOwen-Wilson: “we want to work with people who are passionate”

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neWs Schklair determined that 3D revolution will be televised E L E V I S I O N is now a medium ready for stereoscopic 3D,” said Steve Schklair, chief executive officer of 3ality Technica, as he gave the opening 3DTV Focus Creative Keynote yesterday. An adviser to some of the biggest 3D movies, he has led the company to many 3D ¿rsts in the TV business. He used his address to tackle the issues that many have put forward as obstacles to 3DTV production.

Firstly, he insisted there were enough 3DTV channels worldwide to make it ¿nancially viable. “Even if Blu-ray was the only outlet — and I believe in the case for broadcast — it would work,” he said, adding: “The difference in budget between 2D and 3D is more than offset by packaged production.”

Next, he said, it was easy and fast enough to ¿t 3D into tight

“T

Ikezawa says audience keen to explore a new dimension

TV schedules. He cited Science Channel’s How It’s Made, NBC’s Chuck and BSkyB’s work on everything from live sports to cookery shows as examples of how to produce 3D on small shoots, episodic shows or in complex multi-camera situations, all with minimal extra crew or costs.

And finally, he explained, 3D helped make programmes future-proof: “You have a much greater likelihood of licensing ¿ve years from now if you have 3D content now,” he said.

“It builds value for your libraries.” He said BSkyB’s success had come because it had tested its service, setting minimum quality standards: “They built a business case, they made sure it worked before they went to air,” he said. “The mistake is to launch without enough content to ¿ll a network. That’s not the way of building or maintaining an audience.”

3ality Technica’s Steve Schklair

Toei Animation’s Yoshiyuki Ikezawa

TOEI Animation producer Yoshiyuki Ikezawa gave his audience a stunning preview of his 3D movie, Space Pirate Captain Harlock, at his 3DTV Focus Creative Keynote.

Taking the manga character and sending him on a 3D journey across space was not cheap. Ikezawa estimated the trailer alone cost $500,000, and the film budget to be “one of the highest in Japanese film production”. He was con¿dent that the results would ¿nd favour, saying the domestic Japanese audience was able to choose what it wanted to see in 3D. Making the point that some big-budget Hollywood productions in Japan’s top-grossing films last year made 80% of their take in 3D form, he called for budgets to rise.

“The audience is ready to go and see 3D. The Japanese industry has to become mature enough to provide 3D movies,” Ikezawa said.

Toei had explored 3D before, notably in amusement park theatres, but was still contemplating 3DTV productions. “My personal opinion is that in Japan we have enough channels and pipelines to distribute 3D, but the business case is not there for partnerships in the domestic TV industry,” Ikezawa said.

Japan was, however, perfectly placed to make the breakthrough, since it was where technological innovations, such as Ultra HDTV and glasses-free 3D, were born and re¿ned. “We know from cinema that technology pushes the content forward,” he said.

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‘Just not enough content’ says leading 3D expert Peter Angell from IEC In Sports

DTV is “waning” because producers are not making enough content or creating sufficient value from their programming to make the genre a viable business model, a leading European sports distributor told a MIPCOM conference session.

Speaking during a panel discussion of European 3D experts, IEC In Sports chief operating of¿cer Peter Angell said that there was “just not enough content” to create a proper supply chain to broadcasters.

“The story going forward has got to be one of volume,” Angell said. “We need to kick start the momentum and drive the production side to what broadcasters want. If the industry starts making highly rating shows in 3D everything else will come”.

The panel discussion, which took place on Wednesday morning, was aimed at raising the key issues affecting 3D producers and distributors and shedding light on broadcasters’ wishlists

3

from the genre.

Also on the panel, ¿lm director Julian Napier, who has produced a range of 3D films including Madam ButterÀy 3D and Starlight Express In The 3rd Dimension, raised concerns about the way 3D has been trialled on more popular shows.

“When they have attempted it on big shows like The 0X Factor they have set up a couple of 3D rigs that are piggy-backing on the production,” Napier said.

“There’s no point doing 3D if you’re going to do it with long lenses and squash the content Àat.”

Napier and Angell both acknowledged that the need for glasses was arresting progress in 3D viewing, which ZDF commissioning editor Jens Monath said was still proving too much of an obstacle.

“We need big shows,” he said.

“As soon as we can watch 3D without glasses we will make the big shows. That will be the turning point.”

Export investments make China a strong 3D market A LEADING 01.2 3D expert has said that China is in the midst of a major expansion of its 3D cinema and television output and is now a fertile market for foreign knowledge and skills providers seeking opportunities in Asia.

Speaking at a session on the potential of Chinese 3D at this year’s MIPCOM, imcube 3D Solutions CEO Wilhelm Mittrich said that huge investment was paving the way for growth in the industry.

“China wants to export more media products and is putting billions of dollars into export projects,” he said. “But if you want to be successful there, you have be willing to transfer knowledge.”

But Mittrich also pointed out that the industry is heavily regulated and controlled by the Chinese government, which has played a part in stiÀing the creative output and raised concerns with potential investors.

“We have to see 3D in this

context,” he said. “The ¿nancial support of capital incentives goes hand in hand with a tight control on everything that’s happening in these areas. The industry used to be self-censored, now censorship has been formalised. There are clear limits on what can be shown and what can’t.”

Mittrich was sharing the platform with 3D China CEO Qiang Bai, who highlighted the huge growth that has taken place over the last three years. He said that the number of 3D cinemas has gone from just 80 in 2009, to 790 by the end of 2010, and that a staggering 9,000 are now open throughout China. But he said that securing investment from Chinese companies is more challenging than in Europe and the US, partly due to issues that still exist over licensing and partnerships, and because business people are “very rational, don’t spend money at random and take a more long-term view”.

3D China CEO Qiang Bai (left) and Wilhelm Mittrich of imcube 3D Solutions

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THURSDAY 11 OCTOBER OFFICIAL CONFERENCES & EVENTS The world’s entertainment content market

SOCIAL TV BREAKFAST

THE MIPCOM WRAP-UP

9.30-10.00 I Verrière Californie

14.00-15.00 I Verrière Californie

SOCIAL TV BOOT CAMP: LIVE CONSULTING 10.00-12.00 I Verrière Californie

James Martin

Moderator James Martin, Community Manager, MIP Markets, France @_mip_ / @jamesmart_in

Moderator Peter Cowley, CEO, Spirit Digital Media Ltd, UK @petercowley

Peter Cowley

Peter Cowley

Speakers

FRESH SOCIAL TV

Peter Cowley, CEO, Spirit Digital Media Ltd, UK @petercowley

10.00-10.15 A presentation of some of the most active TV shows of the season in social media.

Presenter Virginia Mouseler, CEO, The WIT, France @TheWitFreshTV

Virginia Mouseler

WORKSHOP WITH THE EXPERTS

Omri Marcus, Creative Partner, Red Arrow Entertainment Group, Israel @omarcus

Wale Gbadamosi Oyekanmi

Omri Marcus

Simon Staffans, Content Developer, MediaCity Finland, Finland @simon_staffans

10.20-11.20 Group Leaders Fabien Bareti, Head of Digital Marketing TV Check, Orange, France @Leshark75 Laurent Maisonnave, CEO, Seevibes, Canada @zelaurent @seevibes Wale Gbadamosi Oyekanmi, CEO, Darewin, France @worldwale @darewinfr

Wale Gbadamosi Oyekanmi, CEO, Darewin, France @worldwale @darewinfr

Fabien Bareti

Simon Staffans

Laurent Maisonnave

Wale Gbadamosi Oyekanmi

FINAL ROUND-UP BY GROUP LEADERS 11.30-12.00

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neWs Viewers must be the winners in future technical developments OR THOSE who didn’t know their 4K from their 4xHDTV — or how these technical developments in hardware might affect future programme-making — the 3DTV Content Trends: What’s Next session was an eye-opener.

It opened with Hans Hoffman of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) on the fundamentals of what comes after HDTV. Already available among top-end TV sets are UHD1 screens (covering both 4xHD and 4K displays — the 4K digital cinema format being slightly bigger than 4xHD screens). UHD2, meanwhile, is a massive 7,680 x 4,320 pixels.

These formats work well for both glasses and glasses-free HD. After all the acronyms and numbers, his message was clear: “The

F

viewer must win.” The industry must develop skills, and a costeffective broadcast ecosystem.

“3D and UHD1 benefit each other,” Hoffman said. However, Ultra HD formats would require a “new grammar” when shooting, since quick pans were not tolerated, and the “content gap” remained the biggest challenge.

As for UHD2, there is no content or ecosystem available, discouraging the buying of sets. It was, according to Hoffman, “a chicken and egg problem”.

Masaru Ikeo, executive producer at NHK Media Technology had been developing 3D for 25 years.

His experience was that 3D broadcast was still a challenge.

In 2010 his 3D engineers at NHK were fully booked; now they were mainly working on

2D. NHK had not broadcast the Olympics live in 3D, only around ¿ve hours weeks later — a bit like eating “cold pizza”, he said. He added that 80% of Bluray players and recorders were 3D compatible, and that NHK’s labs were working on all-angles, glasses-free TV. On the content side, Jeremy Dear of Pioneer Productions was excited by the unexpected possibilities of 3D. In his company’s Storm City 3D doc, the action sequences were breathtaking, he said, but the best moments were interviews with storm survivors.

“It was exponentially more powerful than 2D, adding so much to the story,” he said. “Aside from sports, where does it go?,” asked Dear. “We could be in for some interesting twists.”

EBU’s Hans Hoffman: “a chicken and egg problem”

NHK Media Technology’s Masaru Ikeo: 3D broadcast still a challenge

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neWs VIEWER HABITS SHAPE RIDES.TV EXPERIENCE THE EXPERIENCE that connected entertainment provides — in which viewers can ‘interact’ with a show over email and telephone, receiving messages that make them feel they are actually involved — is a natural result of modern viewer habits, according to Fourth Wall Studios’ Jim Stewartson.

This was the inspiration behind the company’s interactive video experience rides.tv, said Stewartson, the company’s founder and CEO. Viewers today, he pointed out, seldom watch a show without having a second or third screen open.

Speaking at the MIPCOM session Cross-Media Creative Shot, Stewartson said: “I cannot watch my favourite show Breaking Bad without three devices happening at the same time.”

Among the series produced by Fourth Wall Studios are Emmy award-winning interactive comedy series Dirty Work, which follows a clean-up crew. Users can either watch the shows in ‘lite mode’, or ‘full mode’, which entails the full range of interactive connections between the user and the show.

He added: “We wanted to create a system that was much more userfriendly, so we called it ‘rides’. As with amusement park rides, it’s really, really fun — and then it’s totally over.”

Speakers see shift in cross-media strategy for project development IGITAL development and cross-media marketing are becoming increasingly crucial parts of the research and development process, said Peter Phillips, Marvel Worldwide’s senior vice-president & general manager, digital media group.

“It’s definitely gone from being purely a support function to being a more integrated experience,” he said, speaking to delegates at The Super Heroes Of Digital Development session.

“Digital is now higher in the food chain.”

Eldar Rapaport, CEO of crossmedia developer Screenz, said that developing second-screen technology has become vital to launching a brand. “A year ago it used to be ‘Why cross-media?’; today, everybody is asking ‘How?’,” he said.

This cross-media strategy, he said, is being factored into projects far earlier than it used to be, beginning right at the start of the development phase.

Echoing this shift, Phillips said that cross-media has become a

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Marvel Worldwide’s Peter Phillips: “digital is higher in the food chain”

key ingredient of the marketing process, with companies like Marvel offering digital campaigns far beyond the traditional format. He said: “It’s not a question of when do we call in digital now. It’s a question of how digital ¿ts into the equation. The digital obviously needs to be called in from day one.”

Misha Lyalin, CEO of Cut The

Rope developer ZeptoLab, said that in gaming there is huge value in allowing users to interact and provide feedback on games at all stages of the process. The two-way street this interaction allows means that not only can developers promote new products to their users, but they can also hear what they are thinking and what is or isn’t working well.

Let’s hear it for the fans, say experts CITING a range of exciting campaigns and platforms involving fan interaction, panelists outlined the latest trends in social media for a variety of uses at the session Fans, Your Most Precious Asset.

The Project Factory managing director Kirsty Hunter said that interaction with fans through social media was an intrinsic part of a series following a cast of actors attending live music festivals over the space of a summer.

Developed in conjunction with BlackBerry and Channel 4, in the show Summer Daze viewers were encouraged to interact with the action by following the cast

members on Twitter.

“This was about connecting fans and it was about tapping into their networks, and spreading some of this real-time storytelling,” Hunter said.

Shazam Entertainment Europe business development director Iain Dendle drew on a recent project with American Idol, in which Shazam effectively became a “companion app” to the show.

When contestants were tagged

by Shazam, users were provided with information about the original song and the opportunity to buy it on iTunes, see more details on the contestant and be fed news and facts about the show.

Dendle said: “We’re not trying to keep that content within our app. “We try to push them out to where that content currently sits: with a broadcaster or with a brand in the case of an advertisement.”

Commenting on this example, panelist Annemarieke Loderus, senior development manager RTL digital media at RTL Nederland, said that multiple layers to media content like a TV show are now crucial: “The power of storytelling itself is so massive and that is the key to the success and real engagement of the formats we air, and all the digital layers we connect to it.”

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neWs New pavilion draws together leading Chinese toon talent HE CHINA International Cartoon & Animation Festival-Exhibition Of¿ce returns to MIPCOM to unite talent from the Zhejiang Province in Eastern China under a new-look regional pavilion.

“Four years ago we came to MIPCOM and returned home to ¿nd people to impart our knowledge to,” said Yin Ming Qing, director of the exhibition and competition department. “But today, great talent is stepping forward long before we leave Hangzhou to take part in a selection process to ¿nd the best companies to bring to the market.”

Yin Ming Qing said last year the chosen companies had sold an accumulative total of $16m worth of programming. By Wednesday of MIPCOM 2012, representatives of the eight selected companies had held over a 100 lucrative meetings.

“Last year we mostly sold programming,” added Yin Ming Qing. “This year we are also making co-production deals and strategic partnerships.

“Versatile Media’s new relationship with Argentina’s Smilehood to become licensing and project development collaborators is a good example of signed agreements this market.”

Yin Ming Ling also said that it was vital

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Olumide Olowo

EMBASSY MAN ON CULTURE MISSION CICAF’s Yin Ming Qing

for Chinese delegates to explore the festival, learn and take back information to help advance the China International Cartoon & Animation Festival (CICAF) taking place in the scenic city of Hangzhou each year.

Diamond anniversary boost for TVP TELEWIZJA Polska (TVP) has marked its 60th anniversary as the largest public broadcaster in Poland by notching up big sales at MIPCOM. Brazil’s Alberto Bitelli International Films and EWTN TV (US and Canada) have acquired drama feature Faustyna and EWTN TV has also bought Discovering The Vatican. Progress Film (Germany) has acquired TVP’s animation The Olympics Of Bolek And Lolek.

TVP is also offering popular Polish drama series, including Deep End, which won the Prix Italia 2012 for Best Series, and series ¿ve of Days Of Honor.

With two new channels launched last year — TVP Seriale and an internet-delivered thematic channel, TVP Parlament — TVP now offers nine channels for its audiences.

“We are the ¿rst broadcaster in Poland to offer unique hybrid broadcast broadband TV; after 60 years in business, I feel proud that we are pushing digital frontiers,” said TVP’s

marketing director, Iwona Bocian-Zaciewska.

“Although we are very much rooted in the past and dedicated to promoting our national heritage we also have a truly modern outlook.”

OLUMIDE Olowo, officer in charge of information and culture at the Nigerian Embassy in Paris, is in Cannes on a fact-finding mission. “Nigeria is the biggest producer of content in Africa. So the industry represented here is important to us,” Olowo said. “An international event like this can help to enhance the content that we already produce. And by meeting people from international industry we could between us try to solve some of the problems that are mutual to us.”

PRIMETIME PACKS IN SERIES DEALS PRIMETIME Entertainment Group has closed a range of package deals at MIPCOM with broadcasters from fast growing TV markets. Nigeria’s Silverbirdgroup has signed up for a total of 156 episodes from the Prime series Hollywood’s Best Film Directors, Close Up, and Hollywood On Set. Ukrainian TV 24 channel has acquired 65 episodes from the Stars! series, while Kazakh Prime Media has licensed a package of 130 Hollywood’s Best Film Directors and Close Up programmes.

TVP’s Iwona Bocian-Zaciewska

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neWs LISTENING TO CONSUMERS IN THE Disruptive Distribution: Let The Consumer Choose! conference, panelists explained how their respective systems work.

“Rightster currently gets 100 million monthly views, working with 5,000 content publishers including sntv, ITN, Vodafone and IMG, and we’re growing rapidly, taking on 20 new employees per month,” company CEO, Charlie Muirhead, said. “What we offer is an automated procedure that adds tags and advertising to content, and which improves outreach and revenue.”

DramaFever co-CEO Suk Park said that his company’s goal was to bring the best international drama to the mainstream US audience: “Our focus is on growing the non-endemic audience — people outside the country of origin — for scripted episodic shows.

And now that we have introduced our Spanishlanguage service, our other main aim is to have 10,000 hours of telenovelas by the end of 2013.”

National Film Board of Canada (NFB) chairperson Tom Perlmutter started by saying that the NFB initiative had started out as a non-profit endeavour that had since developed monetisation strategies: “This era is about exclusivity, it’s about brand value.

And now the site is fully transactional with VOD and DTO services.”

Rightster’s Charlie Muirhead (left), DramaFever’s Suk Park and NFB’s Tom Perlmutter

Panel predicts African TV market has next big thing on the horizon HE next big TV show in Cannes will come from Africa, predicted George Kimani at the Content Trends: Production Opportunities In Africa session.

The business development director at Kenya-based Continental Content Distribution said he has been at MIPCOM seeking international production partners to work with Kenyan technicians.

“We love Hollywood hits like CSI and 24, but as I’ve been going around the stands at MIPCOM I have also seen shows being remade, which means there is a need for new stories. That next big story is coming from Africa because we don’t want Kenyan stories to be told in New York or Russia.”

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He regaled the audience by observing “CSI in Kenya will be brilliant and different. Burglars in Kenya are sometimes so hungry, they have been known to stay on, cook and have a meal in their victims’ homes before walking away with the stolen goods.”

Joseph Hundah, CEO of Modern Times Group (MTG) Africa, a division of Scandinavian media giant MTG, pointed out that the African production sector’s potential is underestimated. In response, companies like MTG are investing in TV-distribution infrastructure as well as production. “We’re introducing audience measurement and different ways to sell advertising,” he added.

Balancing Act’s Russell Southwood: compare with Eastern Europe

The challenges for entering Africa remain high, even though Nigeria’s Nollywood is the second largest movie sector in terms of reach after India’s Bollywood, said Jason Njoku, CEO of Nollywood’s biggest international distributor iROKO Partners.

“I think it’s an economic miracle that Nollywood exists at all,” he said. “Most film industries around the world bene¿t from tax breaks. Nigeria doesn’t and it can be a hostile place.”

But Russell Southwood, CEO of UK-based Africa-media research ¿ rm Balancing Act, noted that the now burgeoning Eastern European TV sector was a dif¿cult market to do business in just a few years ago.

Continental Content Distribution’s George Kimani: a need for new stories

TV to learn lessons from computers TO MONETISE digital content via social media’s second screens, TV platfor ms must avoid replicating the traits that can make computerbased distribution frustrating for viewers, said Gerald Hensley at Rovi, the digital-media technology group.

Speaking at the MIPCOM session Merchandising Content In The New Digital Age, Ro-

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vi’s vice-president, worldwide entertainment sales, advised smart-TV distributors to learn to personalise consumers’ experience of searching and discovering content, if they want to generate revenues.

He criticised TV-set manufacturers who offered applications viewers would never use, “such as HDTV sets with 3D connectivity that the users do not want”. He continued: “Consum-

ers are having dif¿culty managing the thought that everything that’s crappy about computers might be coming to TV.” The solution is the “gamei¿cation of content”, he said. Interactive-media platform operators must ¿nd ways to reward viewers for interacting with the content, and not make them feel they are being sold to. “We don’t want them playing solitaire with the second screen,” he added.

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Endemol concludes a week of deals, alliances and launches T HAS been a busy MIPCOM for Endemol Worldwide Distribution’s (EWD) sales team, according to CEO Cathy Payne. Deals done include The Steve Harvey Show to MNet in Africa, Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War to BBC Four in the UK and Extreme Makeover: Home Edition to Ukraine. Payne said there was also a lot of buyer interest in EWD’s event dramas, notably Peaky Blinders and the new season of Hell On Wheels. “Peaky Blinders is a very attractive production with a great cast. We’re getting a lot of buzz around it,” she added. EWD’s entertainment shows also continue to do well.

“For us, shows like Wipeout and Fear Factor are really important franchises that continue to do well

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at every market,” Payne said.

Endemol has also used MIPCOM to announce that it is bringing a line-up of channels to YouTube as part of the platform’s new original channels initiative. In Germany, these include Short Cuts: The Short Movie Channel, which will include input from Endemol Germany’s scripted joint venture Wiedemann & Berg Television; and Survival Guide for Parents, which will provide a humorous guide to parenting. In France, Endemol will produce the interactive celebrity channel It’s Big, which will deliver insights into the world of fame, including talk shows, access to VIP parties and the latest breaking news.

Tim Hincks, president of Endemol Group, said: “YouTube is set to

play a game-changing role in the future of broadcasting and we are extremely excited to be partnering with them on this diverse line-up of themed channels.”

In a separate move, music producer Audio Network has designed and developed a content-management system whereby Endemol producers worldwide can select and use Endemol music in their productions.

“We turned to Audio Network to create a bespoke system that allows our global users to search, download and use music in all our productions,” said Olivier Gers, CEO of Endemol Worldwide Brands. “We now have a system that allows us to keep the music side of our brands consistent across all territories.”

CABLEREADY’s Gary Lico (right) and Brent Montgomery from Leftfield Pictures celebrate a MIPCOM deal, under which the distributor will take the rights to seasons one to four of science doc series Oddities, which lifts the lid on the weird and wonderful science artifacts in the New York antiques store Obscura Antiques & Oddities.

CABLEready is also distributing companion series Oddities San Fransisco, again produced by Leftfield. The deal was brokered

by Peleton Entertainment.

THE FOUNDATION TEAMS UP WITH ONE ANIMATION CHILDREN’s production company The Foundation has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore-based animation studio One Animation to co-develop a slate of children’s animated television content. Work will begin by the end of this year on the development slate, which will consist of three children’s properties.

Jeremy Hall, executive producer at One Animation, said: “We are excited to be working alongside such an experienced team and with distribution partners with established relationships with major broadcasters. ”The Foundation was introduced to One Animation by Singapore’s Media Development Authority.

Nigel Pickard, CEO of The Foundation’s parent company Zodiak Kids, said it was a perfect fit: “One Animation shares our vision to produce high-quality content that will compete on the global stage,” he said.

ZDF joins Mofy’s extended family MOFY, the groundbreaking pre-school animation series from Japan, has acquired a new co-producer at MIPCOM — the German public broadcaster ZDF. The deal is a major coup for the Japanese brand, according to Aiichiro Furukawa, president of Sony Creative Products (SCP), the original international-rights owners.

Tokyo-based SCP, a Sony Music Group division, joined forces with the show’s Italian animation producer, Misseri Studio, and Italy’s Rai Fiction to co-

produce Mofy. The 52 x 5 mins HD stop-motion animation is based on the kids’ books by Japanese author Aki Kondo. Made entirely from cotton puffs, to reÀect the protagonist rabbit’s Àuffy body and surroundings, the show is considered pioneering in terms of its animation techniques.

“There is no CGI — just the world’s ¿rst cotton-puff animation. But it is very signi¿cant to get a major public broadcaster like ZDF and ZDF Enterprises on board,” Furukawa said.

Fluffy friends: ZDF’s Nicole Keeb (left) with Sony Creative Products’ Aiichiro Furukawa, Sony Music’s Michinori Mizuno and Misseri Studio’s Gian Maria Misseri

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neWs Korean cross-media content adds value to programming E USE sma r t technology to differentiate our service and deliver added-value,” Hyun-Joon Yang, chief director of IB Media Net said, speaking at yesterday’s What’s Hot In Korea, which looked at three new crossmedia content formats from South Korea.

Yang’s company supplies sport content for IPTV-only platforms in what is an intensely competitive market.

“Korea has 11 sports channels and 50 million people,” he said.

IB Media Net’s services allow viewers to see team statistics, play games and make in-game purchases. And not only can they choose the angle from which to view, but they can choose which team’s commentary they want to follow. Real-time data and local atmosphere also increase viewer engagement.

Changhee Lee, managing director of Intercon Media Company, described how interactive services can be used to personalise travel programmes and create new

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revenue streams.

Launching in November, Get The Road, If It’s You (12 x 60 mins) uses interactive advertising, geolocation services and in-programme purchasing capability to let viewers select the content they want to watch, view relevant accommodation and travel options, book tickets and even purchase gifts in real time.

“The business model can use T-commerce, advertising, PPL (Pay Per Lead) or all three,” Lee said. “And since each programme has 12 scenarios, and there are 12 programmes in the series, it’s a cost effective way to produce 144 different programmes, each with its own revenue streams.”

In a neat reversal of the premise of the big talent shows, the third Korean cross-platform format makes the celebrities perform, and lets members of the public loose on them as the judges. And as the judges are kids, they take no prisoners.

Make Kids Smile, presented

by Media Tree president Tae Heum Yeoun, uses IPTV to allow the viewers at home to vote too.

Eat your heart out, Simon Cowell.

Changhee Lee, managing director of Intercon Media Company

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Peace offering from myZen.tv YZEN.tv, the HD television channel focused on wellbeing, ran a yoga session on the Croisette yesterday to mark a new stage in its evolution.

The channel is moving from voice-guided content to a new coaching approach. From December, the new instructor-led programming line-up will offer guided sessions in yoga, stretching, Pilates, Tai Chi, meditation and more, all ¿lmed in HD, set in breathtaking natural landscapes and accompanied by calming Zen music.

“In today’s stressful society, myZen.tv’s primary focus is to provide viewers with high-quality programming that will improve their physical and mental well-

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being,” said Bruno Lecluse, CEO of myZen.tv. “By evolving to instructor-led content, we continue our mission to help people lead a happier and more relaxing life.”

Launched in 2008, myZen.tv was the ¿ rst 100% HD channel in France. Its new line-up will be available to all cable, IPTV and DTH platforms broadcasting myZen.tv.

Competition on the menu for Nigella

MyZen.tv’s Bruno Lecluse: “helping people lead a happier life”

Nigella Lawson in Cannes for The Taste

ROI VISUAL and Canal+ Groupe have forged a licensing partnership at MIPCOM to merchandise Robocar Poli products in France. Since its successful launch on Piwi+ — the children’s channel of Canal+ — Robocar Poli has garnered a worldwide fanbase. The 52 x 11 mins series won the MIPJunior Licensing Challenge in 2010. Roi Visual is now in production on the second season of the series, which will be released in the third quarter of 2013. Pictured here celebrating the deal are: Roi Visual’s June Lee (left), StudioCanal’s Francoise Guyonnet and Lionel Balzan, and Roi Visual’s Daniel Lee.

SPANISH producer BoomerangTV this week licensed the French-Canadian format rights to its new game show You Or Me? to Avanti. The Spanish pilot recently debuted on ETB in Spain and the first series is set to air in 2013.

Pictured are: BoomerangTV’s Ruth Martinez (centre) with Monic Lamoureux and Luc Wiseman of Avanti Cine Video in Canada.

COOKERY writer and television host Nigella Lawson is to star in new series The Taste, in which she and three other celebrity chefs mentor contestants through several rounds of cooking challenges, with weekly eliminations and a ¿nale at the culmination of the series.

Joining Lawson on the show are celebrity chefs Anthony Bourdain, Brian Malarkey and Ludo Lefebvre.

Lawson said she was wary when she was ¿rst asked to take part.

“I was hesitant, slightly worried about whether I could do it or not,” she said. “But in the end my interest in the show outweighed my fear of doing it. At times I felt a bit like Holly Hunter in Broadcast News — but I enjoyed it.

Tony [Bourdain] being involved was a big part of why I agreed to do it. We’re friends and I thought, well, he’s not going to do anything tacky, surely?”

Each of the celebrities choose four amateur chefs based on taste-tests, and offer tips and tuition as the contestants face a series of challenges. There are eliminations at the end of each episode. “I ¿nd it very dif¿cult

saying something to someone they don’t want to hear. It’s not what I’m good at,” Lawson said. “But sometimes trying to be nice about everything is not helpful. In terms of mentoring, I’m very happy to say that this or that isn’t a good idea — but I’m not like a chef who says, ‘No you cannot do that!’.”

As for being the lone woman on a panel of men, she says she felt at times that she “wasn’t as con¿dent as the boys. Men act differently in front of other men. There is lots of bravado.

Perhaps I have to hone my leadership skills…”

So is this another example of cruelty TV? “I haven’t seen it cut together yet, but being on set and knowing what kind of people the producers are, I would be surprised if it was cut together like one of these reality shows where people are cruel to each other. I personally don’t think there was one moment when I was rude to anyone.”

The Taste is produced by Kinetic Content. Red Arrow International is distributing the show, which will air on ABC in the US.

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neWs Single please! Endemol stays on board for bus dating show NDEMOL has extended its option on the Norwegian format Babes On The Bus (40 x 42 mins) for a further 12 months.

The move comes amid mounting global interest in the reality dating show, which follows 25 urban singletons eager to swap their city existence for the rural good life — and a rural soul mate. Endemol, which beat off strong competition at MIPCOM 2011 to secure the worldwide rights (excluding the Nordic territories and France) to the format, is currently negotiating license deals in several major territories.

Babes On The Bus — produced by the Norwegian independent Monster Formats, part of nice group — has also been licensed by

E Gordon Ramsay in Hotel Hell

RAMSAY FEEDS LATIN HUNGER ALL3MEDIA-owned Optomen International reports buoyant sales across Latin America for four of Gordon Ramsay’s shows — The F Word, Kitchen Nightmares, Hotel Hell and Ultimate Cookery Course.

Pan-regional deals have been closed for around 90 hours of programming with BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) Channels and Fox Latin America.

BBCWW has relicensed the first three series of Ramsay’s The F Word, now in its fifth season, which has been sold into more than 65 territories since its launch in 2005.

The BBC package also includes the first four series of Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

Fox Latin America has taken a total of 33 hours of Ramsay content: series five of Kitchen Nightmares USA, Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Cookery Course: 100 Recipes To Stake Your Life On and the latest Ramsay hit, Hotel Hell, which was the highest rating new show in the US this summer. Produced by Ramsay’s production company One Potato Two Potato, Hotel Hell has also been licensed to W9 France, TVNZ New Zealand, Nine Network Australia, Kanal Fem Sweden, Discovery, TV2 Norway, VTM Belgium and TVN Poland.

Also on Optomen’s Latin American sales slate is Kick-Ass Kung-Fu, which has been sold to Nat Geo Mundo for the US Hispanic market.

Caroline Stephenson, director of sales for Optomen International, said: “Latin America and the US Hispanic market have a real appetite for Gordon’s finished shows. His passion for food, cooking and life in general plays well with Latin American audiences.”

Kanal 4 in Denmark, where it is currently on air and beating the competition in its time slot, including Come Date With Me. The format, which made its international debut on Germany’s VOX in April, is also in post-production for TF1 France, where it is due to air this autumn. Three weeks ago, it also started its second successful run on TV Norge, where it debuted at the end of 2011 to the channel’s top ratings in the 12-to-34 female demographic.

Morten Aass, nice group CEO said: “From the moment Monster unveiled Babes On The Bus, we knew we had the makings of a global superformat. It’s dating, it’s non-studio and, because it can either be stripped daily or produced as a weekly, it’s also versatile.”

KSM seals debut with 3D doc deals

KSM’s Holger Nick (left), Angelika Stebbings and Benjamin Krause.

MIPCOM newcomer KSM, a distributor based in Weisbaden and Munich in Germany, has signed a deal with Chinese agency UFB Media to take two of its 3D documentaries for sale in China.

Specialising in nature and wildlife documentaries, all shot in stereoscopic 3D, KSM is taking this increasingly popular route to access the large Chinese demand for 3D product. Angelika Stebbings, KSM’s senior sales manager, noted that it wasn’t only the

TV market where China was buying 3D, but that opportunities also existed in packaged product and VOD. Turkey, also, was a strong adopter of 3D content.

“It’s our ¿rst MIPCOM, but I think we’re one of the few companies with an exclusively 3D portfolio,” she said.

KSM is developing a theatrical documentary entitled Mexico: The Caves Of The Dead, and is looking in to the fun and action sports genres, which it sees as particularly suited to 3D.

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CHANNEL 4 TUNES INTO NASHVILLE LIONSGATE secured a major deal with Channel 4 UK for its new country music-inspired drama Nashville, just as the show was making its debut on ABC Network in the US. Starring Connie Britton and Hayden Panettiere, the title was picked up by Channel 4’s acquisitions chief Gill Hay for digital channel More4 after positive reviews for the pilot.

Lionsgate, which markets Nashville outside the US, has had a big presence at MIPCOM via a slate that also includes Anger Management, Boss, Mad Men, and Weeds.

ENDEMOL LOVES KESHET FORMAT KESHET International, part of Israel’s Keshet Media Group, has licensed the format Dear Neighbours Help Our Daughter Find Love to Endemol for the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, India and Turkey. The deal brings the number of territories in which the format is now sold to a total of eight, following recent deals Keshet International struck with Shine France and Shine Australia. In the Ukraine, Channel 1+1 will produce a local version to air in 2013. Deals are currently being negotiated for the UK and Germany.

Dear Neighbours Help Our Daughter Find Love is a docu-comedy format where each week a small-town couple recruit their entire community to help find a partner for their big city-based single daughter or son.

Superpanel examines what inspires buyers to acquire HE TRIALS and tribulations faced by acquisition executives when identifying suitable content for their portfolios, were highlighted during yesterday’s Acquisition Superpanel session.

Asked what everyone wanted to buy, John Ranelagh, TV2’s director of acquisitions, said “success” would be the glib answer.

“We are also always looking for formats that are cheap and cheerful, shows that can be made locally and ¿ll our daytime slots.

The key is to put our schedule together ¿rst and then do our best to make it work.”

Gill Hay, Channel 4’s head of acquisitions said that she aimed to select programming on its own merit. She would buy a show if it was “strong and special” and “slightly challenging”.

Malcolm Dunlop, Rogers Communications’ executive vicepresident of television programming and operations, talked about the difficulties with acquired programming in the light of complex deals with the originating US Networks.

All members of the panel agreed they counted on the US for top quality shows, discussing the importance of the LA May screenings and the pros and cons of hav-

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World Screen’s Anna Carugati (left) with Malcolm Dunlop, Beverley McGarvey, Gill Hay, John Ranelagh and Reed MIDEM’s Laurine Garaude

ing output deals with US studios.

“We do have output deals but I would prefer to do more cherry picking,” said Ranelagh. “Output deals make you feel like foie gras — you take it down and are completely stuck. However, our arrangement with CBS continues to be a success — we have ¿rmly hitched our sails to his mast and CBS does continue to deliver year after year.”

At the end of the session, Rogers’ Dunlop, Channel 4’s Hay, Network Ten’s Beverley McGarvey and TV2 Norway’s John Ranelagh received their World Screen Content Trendsetter Awards. The panel was moderated by World Screen’s group editorial director, Anna Carugati.

Afrik.tv aims news out of Africa AFRIK.TV is at MIPCOM to offer its independent news service to companies worldwide.

Launched in March 2010, Afrik.tv has worked in collaboration with Canal France International (CFI) to train local journalists in 12 Af-

Afrik.tv’s Karine Oriot and Karim Kabache

rican french-speaking countries to report for Afrik.com. The website for pan-African news has a growing subscriber base offering tailor-made reports and ready-to-broadcast programmes.

“We are a small agency but we have worked tirelessly over the last two years to offer audiences a different perspective on Africa — a positive image rather than the stereotypical news stories,” said Karim Kabache, Afrik.tv’s chief ¿nancial of¿cer.

“I would like to see Afrik.tv reporters in every country on the continent and to have convinced major channels that they can have world-class reportage from Africa, made in Africa.”

FME’S ROCKERS TRAVEL WORLD FREMANTLEMEDIA Enterprises (FME) has scored new deals for Grojband (52 x 11 mins), a kids’ comedy animation series about a wannabe rock band. The Teletoon Original Production by Fresh TV is set to travel to major territories including France (Lagadere), Italy (Switchover Media), Australia (ABC) and Latin America (Cartoon Network). These acquisitions follow the announcement earlier this year that Cartoon Network USA became the US broadcast partner for the series. Sander Schwartz, president, FME Kids & Family Entertainment, said: “We’re delighted that international broadcasters are lining up to acquire the series for its blend of unique styling, cool characters and catchy music.”

INDIA-TURKEY CO-PRODUCTION DQ ENTERTAINMENT of India has announced the signing of a co-production agreement with Turkish company ATV for the new 3D animated TV series Robin Hood — Mischief In Sherwood.

Pictured are ATV’s Manoj Mishra and Mahmoud Ipsirli with Tapaas Chakravarti of the DQE Group.

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neWs “Any given day 30 m people connect to angry games.

Do they really need a broadcaster. They are a network in themselves” sunil r nair SABAN TAKES ZUI GLOBAL SABAN Brands is to press ahead with major plans to ramp up the reach and accessibility of content on children’s online entertainment platform Zui.com following its acquisition of the site in September.

Saban, which has said it aims to globalise Zui, is also offering broadcasters the opportunity to sign licensing and partnership deals to use its technology to safeguard children’s content on their own media platforms.

Speaking at MIPCOM, where he announced the plans, Saban Brands president Elie Dekel said: “The proposition we are offering to broadcast partners is similar to the approach we take in licensing a TV series.”

“Zui.com has already collected and organised millions of pieces of kid-friendly, age-appropriate content including videos, game, and activities, which, powered by Zui, provides broadcasters with the ability to deliver an engaging experience with robust safeguards to kids in their countries.”

Saban is building a network of secure sites around the world to allow it to roll out its child-friendly content and security technology to multiple local broadcasters globally.

“In essence,” Dekel said, “we’ve created a vibrant second screen option that broadcasters can share in without deep investment of time and money into development, design and implementation.”

http://pinterest.com/mipmarkets MIPCOM & MIPJunior on Pinterest!

Hashtag your Twitter/Instagram photos with #MIPCOM if you want us to pick them up!

@ndorra : People catching not-yetreleased #angrybirdsstarwars plushies after @stalbs keynote at #MIPCOM

Global Screen settles raft of TV movie and series deals LOBAL Screen, the sales and distribution joint venture between Bavaria Media and Telepool, has got off to a good start at MIPCOM, according to head of TV sales Marlene Fritz. “A large number of sales have been completed. We are delighted, especially in view of the economic situation in Europe.”

Long-running series from Germany remain favourites with buyers. New seasons of RTL action series Alarm For Cobra 11 were sold to the Netherlands, Turkey, Iran, Czech Republic, Slovenia,

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Bulgaria and Croatia among others, while channels from China and South Korea have indicated interest. Storm Of Love, the telenovela from ARD, has sold to Italy, Finland and Slovakia, and Global Screen sealed its ¿ rst-ever Storm Of Love deal with Iceland, where RUV acquired the rights.

“The high quality of German programmes guarantees high ratings in our key territories Italy, France, Spain and Central and Eastern Europe, but also beyond,” Fritz said.

Other deals to be signed this week include documentary Taste The Waste which sold to NHK Japan

and entertainment show The Wonderful Adventures Of Nils which found buyers in France, Estonia, Kazakhstan, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the CIS. Package deals including several German made-for-television movies were arranged with Italian RAI Cinema and Antena 3, while French Ushuaia TV opted for a selection of science and nature documentaries. Global Screen was also able to complete deals for the event movie The Hunt For The Amber Room, which was sold to Russia, the CIS states and the Czech Republic.

SOUTH Africa’s Asi-B Films has signed a deal to deliver the daily kids’ show Rivoningo (156 x 24 mins) to the commissioning channel SABC2 via Octopus Media Technology’s digital content management and delivery platform.

“Delivering the programme digitally will greatly reduce the time, effort and cost we currently spend on taking DVDs to the commissioner each day,” executive producer Asivhanzhi (Asi) Mathaba said. “It will also make it much easier for us to get South African content out to the rest of the continent.”

Octopus president and CEO Andrew Eborn said that digital delivery is a powerful sales tool for the rest of the world too.

“Octopus is 100 times faster than using FTP, as well as being reliable and secure.

It offers a window onto Africa for the rest of the world.”

Pictured are Octopus’ Andrew Eborn (left) and Asi-B Films’ Asi Mathaba.

Extreme snaps up Monster show EXTREME Sports Channel reports that it has acquired two series for its UK and EMEA feeds.

The action-sports channel has picked up season seven of predatorypursuit series Mantracker (12 x 60 mins), which will premiere in the UK this November. Fronted by new host and seasoned guide Chad Savage, the Canadian-produced reality series sees contestants attempt to evade the hunting and tracking skills

of Savage as they Àee across wild terrains in Mexico, South America, Africa and the Rocky Mountains.

Extreme Sports has also acquired the US-produced series Monster Jam (25 x 60 mins). The weighty Monster Jam trucks are the big, bad stars of the show in the high-octane motorsports series.

Tim MacMullen, Extreme Sports’ general manager, said: “The new series of Mantracker is an exciting

addition to our UK feed and, with a new star and new locations, it’s sure to remain a viewers’ favourite. We are also delighted to be bringing the car-crushing, big-wheeling Monster Jam to our EMEA and UK feeds.”

Monster Jam: crashing into the UK and EMEA

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NHK closes licensing deal for epic drama Kiyomori in Asia

NHK’s Kiyomori

HK Enterprises (NEP) has licensed 50-episode historical drama series Kiyomori to True Visions Thailand, COJ South Korea, and Radio Television Brunei (RTB) at MIPCOM this week.

An epic drama, Kiyomori is about a 12th century samurai who became the ruler of Japan, and laid the basis for Japan’s international trade system. The show’s domestic and international success comes in the wake of simi-

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larly strong performances by period dramas Princess Atsu and Princess Go. Commenting on the deals, NEP’s executive controller-general, Fumio Narashima said: “It is delightful to know that the Asian countries continue to give us high credits in our period drama. I am certain that the audiences will be satis¿ed with Kiyomori.”

True Visions will broadcast Kiyomori next year in Thailand. Attaphon Na Bangxang, chief programme and content of¿cer said: “We are very excited with Kiyomori as a good samurai series is hard to ¿ nd lately.

Kiyomori is an exceptional one with a great story, beautiful culture, stunning locations and gorgeous music.”

COJ’s president Hong-Sik Um said: “We are very excited to broadcast Kiyomori. In previous years, we broadcast Princess Atsu, Ryomaden - The Legend and Princess Go. Through these dramas we deepen Korean understanding of Japanese culture.”

GOOD START FOR SND’S MARTINE SND, THE distribution arm of M6, reports that its new children’s animation series, Martine, has been picked up in more than 10 territories, and more negotiations have been under way this week in Cannes.

Based on the books by Gilbert Delahaye and Marcel Marlier, which have been published in more than 50 countries, Martine is produced by Les Armateurs, Expand-Drama, Blue Spirit, BE Films, Sinematik and Casterman, with participation from M6 Metropole Television and The Walt Disney Company France.

Argonon signs option with Snowman ARGONON International has signed a major format option deal for one of its most successful properties, Cash In The Attic. Norwegian production company Snowman Productions, headquartered in Stockholm, has signed an option deal to take the format to Denmark.

The series, which has been a huge ratings hit during its 18-season run on the BBC over the last decade, is seen in 167 countries around the world and has already been picked up as a format in territories such as France (M6) and Holland (Ned2). Cash In The Attic, which helps people convert hidden gems in their homes into cash, has been nominated for a Royal Television Society Award.

Today’s deal follows the announcement earlier this summer that Argonon plans to exploit the huge popularity of the Cash In The Attic brand across international markets by launching an online hub for the series early in 2013.

CHEF RETURNS TO DRAGON TV

Cash In The Attic (Argonon International)

KIT digital appointed by Totalmovie LATIN America’s ¿rst over-the-top VOD cross-platform streaming service, Totalmovie, has signed a deal with KIT digital Content Solutions to handle all of the company’s asset management for its VOD service.

For Totalmovie subscribers, this collaboration will make more TV shows and movies available faster on more devices such as Android smartphones and TVs. The deal will also see KIT digital Con-

tent Solutions research, write and translate metadata, processing around 5,500 hours a month in Spanish, English and Portuguese across multiple devices.

Ronnie Brooks, senior vice-president, Americas, KIT digital Content Solutions, said: “The Latin American media industry continues to develop at a rapid speed and we are excited to be working with Totalmovie who are at the forefront of its development.”

ARDABAN, the recently formed Shine America label, has teamed up with Leftfield Pictures for the reality competition series Treasure House. Leftfield, known for hit series including Pawn Stars, American Restoration and Counting Cars will oversee day-to-day production.

In a separate MIPCOM deal Shine Group and Shanghai Media Group are partnering for a second series of MasterChef and the debut of a locally produced version of Minute To Win It in China on SMG’s Dragon TV. MasterChef China’s return follows the success of the format’s first series on Dragon TV which, to date, has reached an audience of 118 million since debuting in August.

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neWs Sierra/Engine revving up with high octane production slate

Sierra/Engine’s Chris Philip

Amy Winehouse

JIMI AND AMY IN CONCERT DEAL JIMI Hendrix and Amy Winehouse, among other Universal Music artists, will be appearing on iConcerts thanks to a deal between the Swiss-based channel and Universal Music France.

The HD channel, which broadcasts from France and is available in more than 80 countries worldwide, has acquired 20 Universal shows.

“Thus far, iConcerts has worked closely with artists and concert producers, but this deal marks the first time we have collaborated with a major music label — a logical and exciting step in the development of our brand,” said Natalia Tsarkova, iConcerts’ founder and CEO. The two companies also recently announced a VOD deal that gave iConcerts exclusive rights to Universal’s VOD content in France.

“This partnership with iConcerts, in addition to providing more exposure of our artists, is also in line with our objective to further develop the audio-visual branch of Universal Music,” said Antoine Benichou, head of the audio-visual department at Universal Music France.

ITH names like Chris Carter, best known as creator of The X-Files, and screenwriters Andy and Lana Wachowski on its production and development slate, it’s a surprise to ¿nd out that Sierra/Engine Television is only a few months old. Its presence, at a market visited by several movie heavyweights, is another mark of big-screen interest in TV. The company, which is a joint venture be-

W

tween indie ¿lm group Sierra Af¿ nity and Engine Entertainment, has brought a slew of showrunner-led series, mainly from new LA studio Georgeville, many of which have gone straight-to-series with US networks.

On the slate are: Apocalypse drama The After (13 x 60 mins), with Carter at the helm; Hunters, in production for ABC (US), an ensemble medical thriller about a team investigating deadly diseases, with Babylon 5 writer J Michael Straczynski; Crossbones, being made for NBC, about the seductive, morally corrupt world of Blackbeard The Pirate, written

by Neil Cross (Luther); and, Georgeville’s Blake’s 7 remake for Syfy being directed by Martin Campbell (GoldenEye).

Sierra/Engine has also announced that action legend Dolph Lundgren has signed to make his TV debut in Rescue 3, a series about an elite rescue team in LA. All the shows will be ready for international broadcast in late 2013, barring the project from the Wachowskis — The Matrix creators’ ¿ rst TV project — which is currently being shopped around US networks.

“We’re bringing US network shows to the global market that we know have international appeal,” said Sierra/Engine’s CEO Chris Philip, adding that the company was Àexible about how it structured sales and windowing deals.

MxMedia’s superfast movie downloads POLISH company MxMedia is seeking partners for a new secure digital distribution service that would allow users to download a two-hour movie in the time it takes to pay for it.

“This is a whole new distribution platform for the studios,” said Michal Furmaniak, executive director of MxMedia. “Movie prices for purchase or rental can be 10-15% lower than on conventional DVDs. And ¿lms will download in the time it takes the user to complete the payment process.”

The service, MxMedia Digital Distribution Platform, and MxMedia’s patented USB 3.0 Player device will allow users to download content from the Web, or at self-service kiosks in shopping malls, train stations and other locations. The player is the size of a standard USB Àash drive, and it can play out on any contemporary TV, computer, tablet or other mobile device with a display.

“The main issue for the studios is security,” adds chief technology of¿cer Michal Kowalski. “Each title is encrypted individually.

Not only is this process 100% secure for consumers, but the studio can control the whole process from end to end.”

“We plan to deploy in Poland in the second half of 2013, then systematically to expand throughout Europe,” says Furmaniak. “MxMedia looks forward to playing an integral role in the future of the direct digital content distribution market as the industry begins to transition toward digital delivery.”

MxMedia’s Michal Kowalski (left) and Michal Furmaniak

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mipcom

New FRAPA chair promises passion for format industry ATTY Geneste, founder and CEO of Absolutely Independent, has been named new chair of international format protection body FRAPA. She will take over the role in January from Ute Biernat, CEO of Grundy Light Entertainment, who has held the post for the past seven years.

“FRAPA is a unique organisation and I know it will continue to f lourish in Patty’s capable hands,” Biernat said, announcing her departure at last night’s C21/FRAPA Format Awards ceremony.

Geneste will carry forward Bier-

P

nat’s vision of creating a “global community, a networking forum, an advice shop, an information resource and an industry thought-leader” for the formats industry. Her plans include forging new partnerships with like-minded organisations and expanding FRAPA’s programme of events to non-FRAPA members.

Geneste added: “My watchwords as I take over the FRAPA chair are ‘passion’ and ‘respect’ — passion for the job, respect for our product, passion for the formats business and, most of all, respect for the creators without whom this industry would not exist.”

New FRAPA chair Patty Geneste: forging new partnerships

Casting system offers cloud control A NEW cloud-based technology for casting reality shows is creating interest among format producers, according to Avi Armoza, CEO of Armoza Formats, who is offering the eTribez Casting Platform as part of his “total commitment to clients”.

“A lot of our formats are based on casting,” Armoza said.

“This software is an ef¿cient way to manage and control that process, while ensuring the best results.”

The eTribez casting system integrates videos, pictures and documents to create a 360-degree image of a potential contestant. Compared to traditional casting, which involves a process of open calls, paper forms and auditions, eTribez offers signi¿cant savings in both time and cost. It also enables producers to turn applications into assets that can be re-used for future shows, build social-media buzz around casting and even monetise the audition process

Casting light: eTribez’s Nir Segal (left), Armoza Formats’ Avi Armoza and eTribez’s Eli Abayan

by charging micropayments.

The Israeli version of Survivor used eTribez to shift through some 50,000 applicants. Casting managers used the system to register people online, manage multi-staged screenings and selection, and communicate with candidates.

“Our platform not only saves you about 40% of the cost of casting, but it also takes half the time,” Nir Segal, eTribez chief marketing of¿cer and cofounder, said.

Among the reality shows to have used eTribez are Big Brother, MasterChef and The Amazing Race. Eli Abayan, CEO and co-founder, said: “The Amazing Race producers were able to triple the number of auditions they could run thanks to eTribez.”

Segal and Abayan have had around 40 meetings scheduled this week. “People seem to be excited by eTribez,” Abayan said. “It’s not expensive, it can be implemented in a few days and it saves you money.”

TV2 DEAL FOR DIVING SHOW NORWAY’s TV2 has taken the plunge and picked up the local licence for Banijay International’s celebrity high-diving entertainment format Stars In Danger.

A primetime hit in Germany on ProSieben, the show unites celebrities from wildly different backgrounds to compete in a series of dives, including high diving, springboard and synchronised diving, after being given a crash course in diving from the German Swimming Association (DSV). It has run under the name TV Total Turmspringen since 2004.

The Norwegian version will be produced by Nordisk Film TV, a Banijay group company. Karoline Spodsberg, Banijay International managing director, said: “Having Nordisk Film TV produce this original high-diving format with the production values shown in their production of The Voice will make this a sure hit on TV2.”

“This is something completely new, that has not been shown in Norway before,” Pil Gundelach Brandstrup, TV2’s programming director said.

Banijay has also brokered the sale of Chilean reality format Opposite Worlds at MIPCOM, which Syfy has taken from that country’s Canal 13 for a six-week run in the US.

Banijay’s Karoline Spodsberg

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mipcom

neWs NEW START-UPS ON THE MAP LIVE content provider earthTV is on a drive to open up its output to a new wave of media, including start-ups and niche websites, with the launch of a selling platform and the introduction of HD and 3D coverage to its programming.

earthTV’s live feed from Hamburg

Brothers Nikolaus and Claudius Lohmann, who bought earthTV earlier this year, are hoping to give access to a wider range of media outlets beyond its core market of factual news and weather channels.

Nikolaus Lohmann said: “New start-ups need this content but they can’t always get access to it or be able to afford a licence and we want more people to be able to use our footage”.

He described earthTV as like a “live Google Street View”, which he said could provide more people with an invaluable tool for research, in particular around travel.

EarthTV provides 360-degree panoramic shots from cities all over the world, updated once an hour, 24 times a day. The content, which is broadcast globally on channels including TVB Hong Kong, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg TV and France 2, is currently viewed by some two billion users on television and online.

Monstrou joins Sweatbox for kids’ dark adventure quest for survival HIS week saw the signing of a co-production deal between Spain and Singapore, among the ¿rst such collaborations.

Singapore-based Monstrou Studio signed a €3.9m deal with Spanish production company Sweatbox and Catalan TV network Televisio de Catalunya (TV3) to create the 3D adventure series Nightbreeds (26 x 23 mins) for nine- to 12-year-olds.

Nightbreeds is about a human boy and a vampire girl united in their quest to defeat a rival clan in their search of a unique mirror capable of making wishes come true. The show is an epic tale of survival against all odds, where humans and creatures of the night must learn to co-exist, promoting values such as brav-

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Nightbreeds (Monstrou Studio/ Sweatbox)

ery, friendship and teamwork.

Nightbreeds utilises Monstrou Studio’s Vicon Motion Capture system technology facility (MoCap) and Sweatbox’s wealth of experience from its earlier successes, including the internation-

al, award-winning TV animated feature Talma And The Myth Of Aghartha and the Academy Award-nominated animated feature Chico & Rita. The series will air on Televisio de Catalunya (TV3) at the end of 2014.

THE GREAT Bake Off cookery format, created by UK-based Love Productions and already a hit on UK network BBC Two, has been sold by BBC Worldwide (BBCWW) to French commercial TV channel M6, where it is scheduled to debut later this year. It is produced by BBCWW’s production unit in France. In Australia, BBCWW Australasia has licensed a package of natural history programmes hosted by Sir David Attenborough to the Network Ten channel. Programmes range from new series Africa to archive Attenborough shows such as The Life Of Mammals and Penguins – Spy In The Huddle.

Extreme show sparks local interest UK DISTRIBUTOR Can’t Stop Media is in talks with a number of networks and broadcasters across Europe looking to run their own versions of scripted reality format Extreme Survivors, produced by Blueprint and due to debut in January on German channel VOX. Extreme Survivors is based around original footage — usually amateur or incidental video — of extreme sports accidents, stunts gone wrong and other shocking scenarios in which people have cheated death. The format is a hybrid of these clips with

scripted reconstructions in which actors play the real-life protagonists to portray the scenes before and after the real footage was taken.

Can’t Stop founder and CEO Matthieu Porte said: “There are a lot of shows with shocking clips but these are generally for niche channels because they are dubbed or have subtitles. Instead of having the same show everywhere, it could be made in every country with local actors. There’s been a big positive reaction from the industry, it’s a relatively new format.”

Can’t Stop Media’s Matthieu Porte: positive reaction

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screening the future MIPTV 2013.

The biggest thing to happen to content since MIPCOM.

50 years

The world’s market & creative forum for content on every screen 8 –11 April 2013 www.miptv.com

Early-bird stand deadline: 21 November Visit the MIPTV Stand 07.02 / Aisle 7 / Level 01 or speak to your representative MIPCOMPubsNewsMIPTV_7octV2.indd 1

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