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Wednesday 10 April 2013 www.miptv.com UNITED NATIONS
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Former British prime minister Gordon Brown speaks at MIPTV today about the United Nations’ Global Education First initiative. He will then attend a VIP lunch supported by Gucci’s Chime For Change campaign
FELIX BAUMGARTNER
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Felix Baumgartner spoke at MIPTV yesterday about his record-breaking skydive from the edge of space, providing fascinating insights into the life of an extreme sports adventurer
MIPCUBE CONTINUES
14 The MIPCube New Media Moguls session brought together Andrew Creighton of Vice Global and Scott Dikkers of The Onion. This and more MIPCube reports inside
MIPTV 50TH HONOUREES
49 To mark its 50th anniversary, MIPTV is honouring six executives from the international television industry with the inaugural MIPTV Medaille d’Honneur at a gala dinner tonight
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Contents Conference & Events Programme
NEWS
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Full programme,
6 Including: reports from MIPCube, MIPTV conferences and keynotes; star interviews; MIPTV deals; and news of MIPTV events
including keynotes, screenings, case studies and competitions
TODAY’S EVENTS 12.45-14.45 Majestic Hotel - Salon Croisette Countdown for Global Education VIP Lunch – by invitation only 20.00-23.30 Carlton Hotel MIPTV 50 th Anniversary Gala Dinner by invitation only
The City of Cannes and its partners provided a birthday cake and champagne celebration to MIPTV delegates on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. Reed MIDEM executives are pictured with Palais president David Lisnard and local partners from the city
FEATURE 49 MEDAILLE D’HONNEUR Awards will be given to key industry figures at a gala dinner tonight at the Carlton hotel
Jan Mojto
Armando Nunez Sr
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Armando Nunez Jr
Masao Takiyama
The official MIPTV daily newspaper Wednesday 10 April 2013
Nicolas de Tavernost
Sophie Turner Laing
The MIPTV Newsroom is located in the Gare Maritime (registration area)
Director of Publications Paul Zilk Director of Communication Mike Williams EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor in Chief Julian Newby Sub Editors Neil Crossley, Sarah Kovanzich Deputy Editor Debbie Lincoln Contributors Ben Cooper, Andy Fry, Juliana Koranteng, Max Leonard, Rachel Murrell, Gary Smith, Joanna Stephens, Chris White Editorial Assistant Hannah Stephens Editorial Management Boutique Editions Technical Editor in Chief Herve Traisnel Deputy Technical Editor in Chief Frederic Beauseigneur Graphic Designers Muriel Betrancourt, Veronique Duthille, Carole Peres Head of Photographers Yann Coatsaliou / 360 Media Photographers Christian Alminana, Olivier Houeix, Michel Johner, Yohann Mortier. PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Co-ordinators Nour Ezzedeen, Emilie Lambert, Amrane Lamiri Production Assistant, Cannes Office Eric Laurent Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs, Le Muy (France). ADVERTISING CONTACT IN CANNES Christine Mendes: tel.: +33 (0)1 79 71 99 89
Reed MIDEM, a joint stock company (SAS), with a capital of €310.000, 662 003 557 R.C.S. NANTERRE, having offices located at 27-33 Quai Alphonse Le Gallo - 92100 BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT (FRANCE), VAT number FR91 662 003 557. Contents © 2013, Reed MIDEM Market Publications. Publication registered 2nd quarter 2013. ISSN 19675178. Printed on 50% recycled paper
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Comedy, 14 x 25‘ www.redarrowinternational.tv sales@redarrowinternational.tv
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The International Digital Emmy Awards
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TARS from the red carpet at MIPTV’s 50th anniversary Opening Night Party presented the winners’ trophies at the 2013 International Digital Emmy Awards ceremony in Cannes on Monday night. Christophe Lambert and Clotilde Courau — stars of French drama series La Source — were joined by rocker Gene Simmons, at MIPTV to promote his new reality series Busted, and Caterina Murino, the lead actress in new TV series The Odyssey. The eighth edition of the International Digital Emmy Awards was attended by over 300 international executives from the television, broadband, and mobile industries, organised in partnership with Reed MIDEM and sponsored by Canada’s Bell Fund. The winner of the Digital Emmy for the Children & Young People category was dirtgirlworld... dig it all (Australia); the winner of the Digital Emmy for Fiction was Guidestones (Canada); and the winner of the Digital Emmy for Non-Fiction was Entertainment Experience (The Netherlands). “With cutting-edge concepts and technology that pushes every frontier, these Emmy winners brilliantly demonstrate the wonderful versatility of multiplatform storytelling,” said Bruce L Paisner, president & CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Dirtgirlworld... dig it all (Mememe productions/dirtgirlworld productions/Screen Australia) created by Cate McQuillen, Peter Gately, Hewey Eustace and Tamsin Smyth is a transmedia project featuring apps that children can use in nature. Guidestones (3 o’clock.tv, iThentic), created by Jay Ferguson, Jonas Diamond and Catherine Tait, is a series about two journalism students who uncover a global conspiracy while investigating an unsolved murder. Entertainment Experience (FCCE, Ziggo), created by Rene Mioch, Justus Verkerk, Mirko Mensink and Daniel Kok, follows the development and production process of a user-generated movie by Hollywood director Paul Verhoeven. Bruce L Paisner also presented the 2013 Pioneer Prize to Anthony E Zuiker, visionary creator of the CSI franchise, for his innovative contributions to the field of digital entertainment with his online thriller, Cybergeddon. The International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences is a membership-based organisation comprised of leading media and entertainment figures from over 50 countries and 500 companies across all sectors of television, including internet, mobile and technology. The Bell Fund provides grants to Canadian independent producers who develop and produce excellent cross-platform digital content designed to complement and enhance associated television programmes.
2013 Pioneer Prize winner — Anthony E Zuiker
Christophe Lambert and Clotilde Courau, stars of French drama series La Source
Caterina Murino, lead actress in new TV series The Odyssey
US rocker Gene Simmons is at MIPTV to promote his new reality series Busted
Bruce L Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences
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SONY PICTURES TELE VISION C O N G R A T U L A T E S
MASAO TAKIYAMA President and Representative Director Sony Pictures Television Networks Animax Japan, AXN Japan and Mystery Channel
© 2013 Sony Pictures Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
On receiving the MIPTV 2013
MEDAILLE D’OR for his contributions to Television
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neWs Discovery Communications seals SBS acquisition deal
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ISCOVERY Communications president and CEO David Zaslav launched his keynote yesterday by announcing that the global factual giant had completed its deal to acquire Scandinavian broadcaster SBS. And he set out how this latest addition to his roster of channels fits into the global strategy he has been pursuing since he joined the company seven years ago. “Our aim has been to grow into and improve the many channels that we were already operating through greater investment in
content and channel brands to reinforce our global positioning,” he explained. “SBS has been doing great business in Scandinavia for 15 years, consequently we are great admirers of the management team there, and we see many new revenue opportunities. On top of that, through this acquisition we have more than quadrupled our market share from between three and seven per cent to around 30% by moving into free-to-air broadcasting.” The company’s huge library is another source of strength in depth when it comes to expan-
sion: “The fact that we own a huge content library makes starting new channels very costeffective. When we launched the women’s channel Real Time in Italy, we knew we had a lot of shows that Italian women had never seen, and then we peppered it with local content. The result was that the channel went so well that we also launched a male version soon after.” Concerning the recent acquisition of 20% of pan-European sports channel Eurosport, again Zaslav saw opportunities: “Moving into sport is a long way from
Baumgartner drops in to Cannes AS A SMALL boy, Austrian
daredevil Felix Baumgartner spent a lot of time up trees because he wanted to see the world from above. 30 years later, he took this childhood obsession to its ultimate conclusion when he skydived from the edge of space. Baumgartner’s record-breaking leap has made him one of the most famous people on the planet. And this week he came to MIPTV to talk about his experience, made possible through a long-term commercial partnership with Red Bull. Speaking to an enthralled audience in the Grand Auditorium, he described how he “opened the door of the capsule and saw the curvature of the Earth below me and a black sky above. It was a unique moment because I knew I was the only person who had ever had that experience.” Eight million people watched Baumgartner’s jump live on YouTube, another world record. Most of them would assume the scariest moment was when he toppled into the turbulent void. But it wasn’t: “For me, the thing
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I thought would end my involvement with the project was the spacesuit. Two years into the planning, I had such bad problems with claustrophobia I needed to see a psychiatrist. Eventually it was sorted out but I never imagined the suit that was designed to save my life would be my enemy.” Baumgartner’s life of adventure began when he did his first sky-
Felix Baumgartner
dive at the age of 16. He later became a barely legal base jumper, leaping from the Jesus statue in Rio de Janeiro and into a cave in Croatia. Around this time he teamed up with Red Bull and it was this relationship that ultimately led to the space dive, the culmination of a five-year scientific programme officially known as the Red Bull Stratos project. So now, having set the world
Red Bull Media House’s Alexander Koppel
Discovery’s David Zaslav
our core business, but what we see is a fantastic brand that is present in 59 countries. We love their operating discipline, and the fact that they have huge audience affinity,” he said. “Plus I am really enjoying working alongside fellow board member Martin Bouygues, one of the great French entrepreneurs.”
record for skydiving and travelling faster than the speed of sound, does he plan to challenge his own record? “Hell, no. I’ll leave that for the next generation. I plan to develop my skills as a helicopter pilot and put them to public service, maybe as a firefighter.” On stage with Baumgartner was Alexander Koppel, chief commercial officer of Red Bull Media House. He explained that Red Bull had relationships with more than 600 athletes, artists and musicians, and that this provided a basis for communicating with audiences: “Our goal is to fascinate and inspire the audience,” he explained, “so we tell stories based on our heroes’ personal lives and professional achievements. Each year we run 1,000 events and produce 600 hours of content as part of our goal to win the true and full attention of the audience.” As Felix Baumgartner’s leap showed, it’s a strategy that can work well. But how much does it cost? The answer to that was left to Baumgartner, who declared “adventure doesn’t have a price-tag”, a comment greeted with much applause.
We proudly congratulate
Armando Nuñez and all of the honorees of the
© 2013 CBS Studios Inc.
MIPTV Médaille d’Honneur Award
@cbsintltweet
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neWs Biddle urges broadcasters to reach a tweeting of minds with audience IPCUBE hosted a series of highprofile talks in the Esterel on Tuesday from new media masters who are capitalising on the fundamental shift from ‘audience’ to ‘user’ and finding innovative ways to reach out and be
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Twitter’s Dan Biddle
at the heart of the action. In Twitter Talks: Cultivating Your Audience Of Users, Dan Biddle, head of UK broadcast partnerships at Twitter UK, underlined that audiences were no longer rows of vegetables to be cultivated but rather people with voices waiting to be activated. TV and tweeting goes hand-inhand; with 200 million Twitter users globally and 40% of daytime tweets revolving around TV programming, Biddle outlined the opportunities for programme makers to enliven their content using the online networking service. “Twitter is the room we are all watching TV in — it’s the global town square,” Biddle said. “The trick now is to get people talking about your show before, during and after. You have to make your hashtag the campfire around which all the stories are told.” He also advised programme makers to bring their on-air talent onto the “giant sofa”. “If you can predict the sweetspots or ‘tweet-spots’ in your
show,” he added, “why not release a teaser tweet before — be the first to market and attach your own brand to your best moments before someone else does.”
In Building A Loyal And Invested Audience, Jorge Rincon, chief operating officer of Adsmovil, highlighted how Obama’s campaign used mobile video ads in Spanish to target Latino voters to help secure his presidency: Latinos own smartphones, go online from a mobile device and use social networking sites at higher rates than other groups of Americans. The packed auditorium in the Palais
Industry must ‘get to grips’ with data BROADCASTERS, content distributors and brands serious about connecting with their users and audiences need to understand how data works, advised MIPCube Masterclass speaker Anne de Kerckhove yesterday. De Kerckhove, managing director, France & southern Europe at French mobile-data management company Collider, was presenting the session called Maximising The Value Of Digital And TV Content, Across Platforms, In An Audiencebased World. “Right now, to monetise your content, you need to know your audience,” she said. “And you need to do that through data, which is becoming more and more important.”
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The more broadcasters examine their audience’s traditional-TV profile, the more they realise they might not understand as many as 40% of them. In today’s multiplatform viewing, knowing your audience’s profile is an even more complex exercise, but it is equally more crucial. “A few years ago, it was not possible to analyse cross-device viewing. Now it is, and broadcasters need to take control of that power,” de Kerckhove added. Additionally, when viewers see an ad on TV followed by the same campaign on digital devices, “the recall is huge,” de Kerckhove said. “The two platforms are not enemies; they are complementary.”
Collider’s Anne de Kerckhove
Documentary Series (2013) 6 x 60 minutes
Visit eOne at RIVIERA BEACH RB.43 Watch the trailer at eOnetv.com tvinfo@entonegroup.com
HISTORY and the “H” History logo are the registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. © 2012 A&E Television Networks, LLC and is used under license. All rights reserved.
True Crime Series (2013) 6 x 60 minutes HISTORY and the “H” History logo are the registered trademarks of A&E Television Networks, LLC. © 2012 A&E Television Networks, LLC and is used under license. All rights reserved.
miptv
neWs BUILDING ON A REVOLUTION “WE’RE going through a revolution right now: a third wave of video programming,” Philip DeBevoise said at the Building A Loyal And Invested Audience panel on Tuesday. His company, Machinima, is, along with Vevo and Hulu, part of this third wave. It provides video gamesoriented content to a core audience of 18- to 34-yearold males who watch 1.9 billion videos through it every month, with 707 of these on mobile devices.
Philip DeBevoise of Machinima: “We’re going through a revolution right now”
Also talking at the session were make-up artists Sam Chapman (below) and Nic Chapman, whose YouTube channel Pixiwoo has one million subscribers and 150 million views, and Jorge Rincon, whose company, Adsmovil, mobilised the 150 million Hispanic voters in the US (49% of whom have a smartphone) in the 2012 presidential election, helping to deliver a 71% share of the Hispanic vote to President Obama.
Why great drama co-productions must put the writer and producer in control
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EN Stephenson, controller of drama commissioning at the BBC, and Piv Bernth, head of drama at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation/ Danmarks Radio, joined up on the Grand Auditorium stage on Tuesday morning to discuss what it takes to make a great drama coproduction. For Stephenson, the most important point is to protect the writer’s vision: “Broadcasters wield the power but they don’t make the show, so they have to be very clear from the start about what they will or won’t accept. If it looks like there will be fundamental compromises because of money, it’s best to walk away — or at least threaten to walk away,” he said. Bernth, who oversaw criticallyacclaimed dramas such as The Killing, The Bridge and Borgen, agreed: “We always put the writer and producer in control. If you don’t respect the writer’s vision you have nothing.” Both Stephenson and Bernth agreed that the best co-produc-
tions are not driven by the need for a deal: “I think what we’re seeing is creative talent getting more ambitious and needing bigger budgets,” said Stephenson. Both execs used the session to unveil their next wave of projects. Bernth highlighted a new character-driven family drama called The Legacy; a crime drama that focuses on economic crimes driven by greed; and a historical war drama called 1864, to be shot in Prague.
Stephenson has also green-lit a war project called The Great War. Produced by Tony Jordan’s Red Planet Pictures, The Great War will recount the story of the First World War through the eyes of two young men, one British and one German. It will be distributed by BBC Worldwide. Stephenson also said the BBC is backing a new Jimmy McGovern project about the first people sent to Australia by the British in the late 18th century.
Ben Stephenson, controller of drama commissioning at the BBC: “We’re seeing creative talent getting more ambitious and needing bigger budgets”
Piv Bernth, head of drama at the Danish Broadcasting Corporation/Danmarks Radio: “If you don’t respect the writer’s vision you have nothing”
OFER Weintraub of Israel’s Viaccess-Orca (left) discusses the ins-and-outs of providing a good user interface across the web and TV, with Gene Liebel of Huge (right) and Mattias Hjelmstedt of Magine. The session, which focused on setting users’ expectations and encouraging interaction, was moderated by Louisa Heinrich of the UK’s Superhuman. Pixiwoo’s Sam Chapman
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Visit eOne at RIVIERA BEACH RB.43 Watch the trailer at eOnetv.com tvinfo@entonegroup.com
Comedy Series (2013) 48 x 30 minutes
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New media moguls get connected with TV audiences of the future OgilvyOne’s Panos Sambrakos
THE BEST OF BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT OPENING the Best of Brands & Content Screening session, OgilvyEntertainment president Doug Scott offered his version of what constitutes branded entertainment: “It’s an original story informed by the brand’s brief or positioning,” he said. “It is very much about collaboration.” Scott and Panos Sambrakos, executive creative director of OgilvyOne, Athens, presented four types of branded content. As an example of digital-led branded content, they presented Coke Zero’s A Step From Zero campaign, which revolved around the global search — and consequential promotion — of a new dance craze. Event-led branded content showcased was the promotion of electric vehicle Renault Twizy, for which Digitas, Publicis Conseil & Moxie (France) produced Plug In To The Positive Energy, which revolved around a dance concert featuring David Guetta. The choice in the property-led category was The Creators Project, a partnership between Intel and Vice to redefine cultural moments that generated 230 million video views. It also happens to be the winner of MIPTV/ MIPCube Brand Of The Year Award. The broadcastled example was the film Love In The End, which on Valentine’s Day in Greece last year saw the most opening night billings, selling 75% of all cinema tickets in Greece that night.
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EW MEDIA Moguls, a MIPCube session, brought together two alternative, ‘authentic’ voices in the new media world: Andrew Creighton, president of Vice Global and Scott Dikkers, founding editor of irreverent news publication The Onion. Both were in agreement that old media establishments are no longer communicating effectively to the Millennial Generation — to be successful you have to create a voice for your brand online and then make it audible above all the noise. Creighton cited Vice News as a good example of how Vice is responding aggressively to the ever-growing gap between those targeted by traditional media and
the ‘You Generation’. The new channel is finding ways to be innovative in how to connect with a predominately youthful audience who have grown up connected online. “Loyalty has changed,” Creighton said. “Younger audiences mistrust commercial news channels — they are disenchanted rather than not interested. Our channel on YouTube has proved that if you have great content, viewers will watch longer shows to completion.” Dikkers added: “People on the internet don’t like facades or fake stunts. Traditional TV is all about facades — in the future, that type of presentation will be continually marginalised.” The session was presented by media journalist Kate Bulkley.
The Onion’s Scott Dikkers: “traditional TV is all about facades”
Magine model targets today’s viewers WHAT was billed as a new way to watch TV was showcased in yesterday’s MIPCube session, Designing TV Around The Viewer. Executives from Sweden’s Magine presented the cloud-based TV service, which has no need for set-top boxes, dishes and cables, and provides both live and catchup viewing in the same place across all devices. “Magine is built for the viewer,” Magine chief operating officer and co-founder Mattias Hjelmstedt said. “We’ve invented a new
system end-to-end and built a fantastic user experience. Everything is available with just an internet connection.” The viewer can watch TV on any connected device — tablet, mobile or TV — through one simple account, and without complex physical installation or security barriers. Subscriptions are on a monthly basis, with no lock-in, and are free for free-to-air television. The electronic programme guide is searchable, and a 30-day catchup is in place for many suppliers.
Magine’s Mattias Hjelmstedt: “Magine is built for the viewer”
The service can achieve broadcast-quality HD, and delays are down to 17 seconds and should fall lower. And while some types of programming are time-sensitive — sports events, for example — it’s not an issue in others. “Of course there are bandwidth constraints,” Hjelmstedt said. “But the infrastructure started to get better three years ago.” Head of content Michael Turner claimed “there isn’t a technical issue” but acknowledged broadcasters’ concerns about rights issues. “We’re meeting these at each stage,” he said. “We are a friend to the broadcaster. This isn’t disruptive television. It’s simply a distribution mechanism.” Hjelmstedt added: “Premium content suppliers like not having to bundle content because having a basic package limits viewership.” The first edition launched in Sweden on March 25 this year and rolls out in Germany and Spain mid-2013. Magine is alphatesting in the UK.
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neWs 50TH ANNIVERSARY
My first MIPTV was the lateEighties. They had just taken down the old Palais, so I was at the tail-end of that and the start of the new Palais. I was a buyer with Coral Pictures at the time and it was just the amount of different product there that first caught my attention. CESAR DIAZ, vice-president of sales, Venevision International
My first MIPTV was in 1994. I was two weeks in the business and it was the first market for me, and I had no idea what the business was about. My boss at that time said ‘Meet people’. I said ‘Where do I meet people?’ and he said ‘In the evening in the bars’. So for one week, I was in the bar.
UN education envoy Brown says TV can help to teach the world
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ORMER British prime minister Gordon Brown will be speaking in Cannes today (Grand Auditorium, 11.00) in his role as UN special envoy for global education. He will outline the UN’s Global Education First Initiative, the movement to educate the 61 million children in the word who receive no schooling at all. Brown said that governments in developing countries are putting education further up the agenda and that this is resonating with the public, and although different countries have different educational challenges, research is making sure that help is targeted. But some challenges cut across many countries, he said. “We estimate that child labour is responsible for keeping 15 million children out of school, out of that total of 61 million. Child marriage is another huge problem, with 25,000 girls being pulled out of school and forced into marriage daily. And around 40% of out-ofschool kids live in conflict-affected countries like South Sudan.” Brown said that the television industry can help this initiative. “The television industry has a huge part to play in reaching people, old and young, rich and poor, and communicating these issues to them in an entertaining and accessible way. When television was invented, it was thought that it would be a tool to educate the world and bring about world peace. As MIPTV takes place when we start
Gordon Brown, former British prime minister and UN special envoy for global education: “I can think of no better partner”
the 1,000-day countdown to 2015, I can think of no better partner.” Following his MIPTV address Gordon Brown will attend a VIP lunch, supported by Gucci’s Chime For Change initiative, a campaign for girls’ and women’s empowerment.
JENS RICHTER, managing director, Red Arrow International
K’ien brings hard-hitting content to Cannes I came for the first time in 1984 and I came with my ninemonth-old son and my wife. I was working for CBS. I remember saying to myself ‘How do I function in this business?’ I’d come from New York and for the first few days I went to dinner at six o’clock and even the waiters weren’t there yet… so I knew there was a great cultural divide. JOHN KRAMER, CEO, Rive Gauche Television
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FRENCH documentary maker K’ien Productions is at MIPTV to meet broadcasters for its gritty documentary and film content. Paris-based K’ien Productions, which was founded in 1985 by Patrice Poire and David Kodsi, produces a range of documentaries based around political and social issues. The company’s recent projects include Let’s Squat, a documentary examining the culture of squatting in France, where 10% of all residential properties are unoccupied, Laicite Inch’Alla!, a hard-hitting film about the Tunisian revolution, written and directed by Nadia El Fani, and a light-hearted documentary series about volunteering, The Blonde Who Saves The World, co-directed by Jane Schinasi and Lea Durant. It was produced by Jan Vasak and Ashargin Poire. Speaking to MIPTV News, Vasak said: “We want to observe and understand the world and
bring about change through cinema, the TV and the web. When you finish a movie it is already dead, whereas a web-documentary is still moving and still alive.”
Jan Vasak of K’ien Productions: “We want to bring about change through cinema, the TV and the web”
Advertising
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Sony’s Akira Shimazu sets out vision for a 4K future ADK and VIZ Media celebrate sales of Victory Kickoff!!
ADK SCORES WITH NEW SOCCER SERIES NEXT year’s World Cup has prompted several soccerloving countries to buy Victory Kickoff!!, the new kids’ soccer anime series from Japanese production house ADK. The (39 x 25 mins) series is already on Japanese network NHK. But it recently premiered on France’s Disney XD, the first non-Japanese network to have bought the show from ADK, which normally has US channels as its first overseas buyers. “We’re also in discussion with networks in southern Europe, such as Italy and Spain, because they want something new to coincide with the World Cup,” Pascal Bonnet, animation director of films/TV sales and licensing at Paris-based VIZ Media, ADK’s pan-European distributor, said. In Asia, the series is scheduled to air in Hong Kong, South Korea and Thailand later this year, said Kayo Kurita, senior manager of ADK’s international licensing team.
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ONY is at MIPTV to spread the word about its 4K format to the international market. Sony general manager, visual entertainment project office, Akira Shimazu, seeking to answer concerns about the cost of converting to 4K, said the benefits and flexibility of 4K outweighed the investment needed to make the move up. He said: “4K has a real value for production, the costs can be very well justified. The cost difference between 2K and 4K is not very much compared to the conversion from 2D to 3D, and if the conditions are right 35mm can be converted and re-released in 4K. It can be down-converted and upconverted, and you don’t need a special 4K channel.” Sony launched its first 55-inch and 65-inch 4K-capable screens this week, under its Ultra-HD brand. The market remains reticent about producing 4K content partly due to the high costs involved, and consumers too have only shown modest demand for
the new sets, but Shimazu said that he was confident that producers would commit once interest reached a critical mass.
“I think they see the benefits but they are waiting for more penetration. Sony will keep leading the penetration of 4K TV.”
Toei targets international markets
Toei Animation’s Katsuhiro Takagi
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Sony’s Akira Shimazu
TOEI Animation president Katsuhiro Takagi, is making his first trip to MIPTV, since his appointment last year. “We have a long history at MIPTV, and our aim is always to make Toei more popular and more open to international companies,” he said. “For 2013, the international market is one of the key targets for Toei.” Toei currently has more than 250 animated TV episodes in production, however Takagi was keen to stress the company’s increasing emphasis on movies. “This is the first time we have six theatrical movies lined-up,” he said. The CG reboot of the Saint Seiya franchise is about 70% finished, and distri-
bution talks are ongoing. Meanwhile, a new Dragon Ball movie has just taken $20m (€15m) in its first two weeks and Space Pirate Captain Harlock, the 3D CG animation previewed in a special MIPCOM 2012 screening, is destined for selected Japanese cinema audiences in September, with the international market following. The $30m ( 23) budget is the largest ever committed to one project by Toei. Takagi said: “Captain Harlock was very popular, particularly in France, and Leiji Matsumoto, the original animator, was very influenced by French movies, so for Toei Animation, France is an important target market.”
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Is it a drama? Is it a sitcom? AFTA and Tony award-winning actor and writer James Corden (Gavin & Stacey) is in Cannes for the launch of the BBC Worldwide/Hulu co-production The Wrong Mans. The comedy-thriller (6 x 30 mins) follows two ordinary office workers Sam and Phil who find themselves unwittingly caught up in a deadly criminal conspiracy. “I can’t really say what it is. I don’t even know if it’s a sitcom. All I know is it’s a really good story,” Corden said. “There is an arc and a storyline that could be watched in one sitting. It starts and you think you know what this is going to be, and our job as the writers was to twist it and twist it so that it would grow into something far bigger than you ever imagined it could be.” Corden said the episodic nature of the series was important. “I hope it has that feeling of people thinking, ‘I have to watch the next one now’. Those are my favourite moments when I’m watching TV. It’s the very thing that separates TV from film.” Of producer Jim Field Smith, Corden said: “We had a real vision and Jim in particular has done things on a budget that were beyond all our wildest dreams with the show that he’s delivered. His note to us was: you have to show the ambition on the page for it to come to life.” Corden stars alongside co-creator Mathew Baynton (Horrible Histories, Peep Show), Dougray Scott (Mission Impossible II, Desperate Housewives), Emilia Fox (Silent Witness, The Pianist, Merlin) and Nick Moran (Lock Stock & Two Smoking Barrels, Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows).
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James Corden: “it’s a really good story”
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China’s CCTV-9 returns to Cannes to look and learn Zhang Qian Jiang: back for MIPCOM
ZHEJIANG PUTS FAITH IN CANNES MARKETS ZHEJIANG Province is located in the south-east coastal region of China and, apart from its stunning scenery, also boasts a fast growing film and television industry. One site alone, the Hengdian Chinese film industrial park, is home to 460 media companies including production studios, distributors and agents. For the fifth consecutive year, Zhejiang’s TV and film industry players have been at MIPTV, and are now planning to return for MIPCOM in October with a much bigger turnout of companies and representatives. Zhang Qian Jiang of the Zhejiang department of commerce, said: “Film and TV is one of the fastest growing industries in China, and there is a rapidly growing awareness of the international importance of the MIPTV and MIPCOM markets. “Whereas before Cannes was primarily associated with the film festival, the Zhejiang film and television industry is now fully aware of the city’s strong connections with television via both MIPTV and MIPCOM. Representative companies are coming to the market to listen and learn, exchange ideas, and do international business.” Qian Jiang added: “The intention is to be back at MIPCOM with a new, much larger stand space, and many more companies and representatives. We want the international TV industry to know about our capabilities and activities.”
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C T V-9, C h i n a’s state-run documentary channel and the country’s first bilingual Chinese-English station, is at MIPTV seeking new content and collaborative production opportunities with Western broadcasters, studios and producers. The broadcaster is keen to speak to international companies about future documentary projects and is in Cannes to meet new contacts and open up new markets. CCTV-9 managing director Liu Wen said: “Everybody’s welcome to enter into collaborations with CCTV. We want to meet our colleagues in the industry and find out how they will react to our programmes. “Based on our experience last year we would like to see more feedback from our colleagues around the world which we hope will help us to improve our future work.” CC T V-9 ha s worke d on a range of documenta ries including a recent project telling the story of pandas being bred a nd subsequently re-released into the wild. Its latest series, Triumph Of The Tomato, examines the tomato’s universal appeal and the many different ways in which it is prepared throughout the world. The documentary respresents the first joint pro-
CCTV-9 managing director Liu Wen
ject resulting from a memorandum of understanding for the exchange of expertise and co-production of new wildlife and nature films with Austrian channel ORF’s Universum strand. The agreement was signed at MIPTV. Wen added: “When you collaborate you learn more about the ways shows are produced on an international level, and MIPTV is the best way to meet our colleagues from around the world. “MIPTV is 50 years old but
this is only our second year; we’re a latecomer but we will continue our commitment to the confe ence in future.”In
the run-up to the market Wen told MIPTV News that he hoped that more international TV stations would learn more about Chinese documentaries, and said that CCTV-9 “would like to bring more outstanding documentaries from around the world to the 1.3 billionstrong Chinese audiences”.
BBC in great deal for small creatures BBC WORLDWIDE is entering into a co-production agreement with CCTV-9 on Hidden Kingdoms, the forthcoming series from the BBC’s Natural History Unit. Hidden Kingdoms will shine a spotlight on some of the world’s most diminutive creatures — from chipmunks to rhinoceros beetles and elephant shrews.
“The support of CCTV-9 on Hidden Kingdoms guarantees it a huge audience in China, and helps the Natural History Unit to create a memorable series that will resonate with viewers all over the world,” said Paul Dempsey, president of global markets at BBC Worldwide. Liu Wen, CCTV-9 managing director added: “It’s a unique
project that brings something completely new to the genre, and we can’t wait to see the finished series.” Hidden Kingdoms follows last year’s co-production deal with BBC Worldwide, the first ever made by the Chinese state broadcaster’s documentary channel, on Wonders Of Life and Generation Earth.
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neWs 50TH ANNIVERSARY MARION EDWARDS, president of international television, Fox, recalls her early years at MIPTV Do you remember your first MIPTV? What was your role at the time? It would have been in the late 70s. I was the executive assistant to the executive vice-president of international television at MCA International. It was so exciting … the only international market at that time (other than the LA Screenings) and I was just thrilled to be there. Later the market was in the then-new Palais and the basement was the place to be. Everyone smoked … in retrospect, pretty awful. Stars came to promote shows and there was a lot of buzz. What changes have you observed at MIPTV – and in the industry generally – that have impacted most on your business? We have many more clients licensing many more rights in many more countries. Local content is extremely popular. Americans produce for year-round television launches, with cable series as popular as network shows in many cases. We used to be free to ‘live in the time zone’ at the market. Now no one is off e-mail so the general level of pressure and anxiety is much higher. Things are much more exciting now, although more complicated and competitive. Do you have a favourite MIPTV anecdote? I have many memories. On a personal level I remember having my photo taken for a magazine, along with the rest of the MCA Universal team, the first year I attended. Both I and the only other woman in the photo had both selected white shirts and black skirts to wear that day, so we looked like waitresses for the male staff! One year I turned up at the market and the furniture supplier had failed to deliver any furniture, which caused a panic. Another year all our printed materials were drenched on the tarmac at the airport. But there are also many memories of things that worked well, including the salute to The Simpsons.
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Good Korea move as Pony Canyon takes The Queen Of Office to Japan
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BS MEDIA of Korea has licensed to Pony Canyon the Japanese video and TV rights to its new mini-series The Queen Of Office (16 x 70 mins). “The Queen Of Office is a drama series with lots of comedy,” KBS Media’s Yong Kil Chun said. “It is about a resourceful young temporary worker, and the first three episodes have been very popular in Korea.” Chun attributes the show’s early success to its realistic setting. “It is set against the background of the Korean economy, where youth unemployment and part-time work are high,” he says. He expects it to do well in China, Hong Kong, the Philippines and Vietnam for the same reason. Other KBS successes include documentary series Food Planet, which sold to TVB (Hong Kong), and drama format Dream High which has been optioned to Cinemotion (Russia) and Like-Minded (China). Documentary series Super Fish and Homo Academicus are attracting attention, as is the pre-school animation, Baby Train Choo Choo.
Pony Canyon’s Hideki Oyagi (left) with KBS Media’s Yong Kil Chun.
PRIME TV’s Lisa Clements (left) and Ros Ali of Electric Sky (right) celebrate the acquisition of The Sex Clinic, by the New Zealand broadcaster. The three-part series is an observational documentary focusing on patients suffering from sexually transmitted diseases. It was produced by Friel Kean Films Production after being commissioned by Channel 4 in the UK, where it is due to debut next week. The show was recently acquired for distribution by Electric Sky, which is at MIPTV offering the format to the market.
HanWay Select deals span the world HANWAY Films has signed a series of video-on-demand deals for its classics and documentary label HanWay Select. In Russia, VOD deals were struck with online platforms Yota Play and ivi, providing films through a mix of subscription, transactional and ad-funded models. Further deals were closed with Walla in partnership with Shapira films in Israel, with Filmin in Spain, Soho in China and BoxTV in India. In Latin America films will be made available across platforms such as Sony PlayStation, Netflix, Xbox, and iTunes in partnership with Polar Star. In the UK, HanWay closed
non-exclusive deals with Amazon-owned Lovefilm, Curzon On Demand and Tescoowned blinkbox. A separate deal was also done with airline distributor Jaguar Entertainment. The agreement will provide travellers access to films from the British Film Institute Collection, The Wim Wenders Collection and the Jeremy Thomas library among others. Commenting on the deals, Fabien Westerhoff, HanWay’s director of sales and distribution said: “We try to constantly think out of the box and develop new revenue streams for our underlining rights holders.”
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neWs
New Rai World fiction channel takes stories of Italy to world
R Alex Holmes: “a Faustian pact”
ABC GETS THE DOPE ON LANCE ARMSTRONG CANCER survivor and inspiration to millions? Or drug cheat who ruthlessly used and then dropped friends and colleagues when it suited him? With Lance Armstrong’s very public disgrace, the qualities that people previously so admired in the cyclist — his persistence, single-mindedness and determination — took on a much darker significance. Australia’s ABC Commercial is producing and funding the feature-length HD documentary King Of Cheats on the Shakespearean rise and fall of this complex figure, working with Quentin McDermott and the team behind the acclaimed Four Corners documentary that broke the Lance Armstrong scandal on TV, as well as Paul Bell, the archive researcher behind Senna. It will investigate the cyclist’s cheating during his earliest years and the dark history of doping in US cycling, as well as the collusion, political interference and cover-ups that helped Armstrong get away with it for so long. BAFTA Award-winning director, drama and documentary specialist Alex Holmes is in Cannes to promote the film for pre-sales. “Lance was a hero of mine,” he said. “But he made a Faustian pact and was called to pay the price.”
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AI WORLD is at MIPTV to present its newly launched fiction channel, Rai World Premium, which has already rolled out into the US on the EchoStar/Dish platform. Reaction to the new Italian-language channel, which is due to launch in Australia within the next few weeks, has been “very favourable”, said Rai World CEO Piero Corsini. He added: “Italy in general and Rai in particular has a longstanding tradition in fiction. It’s a genre that is particularly suited to telling the story of our country. Italian producers also seem to have found the right note between being popular and artistic, which works well for audiences at home and abroad.” Italy’s love affair with fiction began in the Sixties, Corsini said, when the genre helped to unite a country divided by dialect:
“Northern Italians could barely understand people in the south. Then Rai started producing drama spoken by actors with perfect Italian accents and that helped to create a sense of national identity. Now, with Rai World Premium, we are using our drama to unite Italians abroad. So here at MIPTV, we are not just selling our new channel, but we are also selling our culture.” Rai World Premium, which airs the best of Rai’s original drama, including Incantesimo, GP Doctor and Don Matteo, is also set to launch in Central and South America, and Canada. Giovanni Celsi, the Italian channel distributor’s chief marketing, distribution and sales officer, said the new fiction feed had completed Rai World’s international channel offer, which includes flagship channel Rai Italia and RaiNews24.
Rai World’s Piero Corsini: “Using drama to unite Italians abroad”
“Rai World Premium increases the presence of both Rai and Italian TV in the world,” he added. Additional international traction will be achieved by subtitling part of Rai World’s programming into English and Spanish.
LNC MEDIA president Leslie Nelson Cressy and Horizon Media Productions’ John Beckner have announced that Emmy Awardwinner and Academy Awardnominee Mikael Salomon will direct their six-hour mini-series, The Sleepwalkers, written by Michael Frost Beckner and based on Christopher Clark’s international bestseller. The series chronicles the events that led to the outbreak of the First World War and claimed the lives of millions of people across Europe.
Curtain up on Arthouse channel CHANNEL operator and content distributor SPI International has unveiled plans for a new movie channel that will feature auteur and independent films from around the world. Called FilmBox Arthouse, the channel will be available across DTH, cable and IPTV platforms, with roll-out commencing this summer. A multi-screen app
means the channel will also be accessible to audiences via internet-connected devices. SPI’s director of marketing, Lukasz Bulka, said the Polish company is in Cannes this week to acquire content for the new channel. It is also planning to utilise content sourced via withoutabox. com, a global platform used by film festivals to connect with
independent filmmakers to facilitate the submission of their work. Festival titles will be one of the key segments of the new channel’s line-up. SPI already runs a portfolio of channels, including FightBox HD, FashionBox HD, DocuBox HD and Erox HD. It currently has around 25 million monthly subscribers worldwide.
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neWs Rockabox launches Viewshare to look into the future of branded content campaigns
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ockabox, the UK-based international content, tech and distribution company, has launched Viewshare, a network of “tier-one” online publishers that include Financial Times, News International, and the Guardian. From that content-distribution platform, which includes major UK and US online publishers, Rockabox connects brands to relevant audiences through content media. The potential monthly viewing reach of Viewshare is 400 million globally. The company, which specialises in enabling video-entertainment content for brands, marketing agencies and broadcasters, was launched in 2008. It has developed a content media solution called Shutters, which has been
launched across many publishers including The Guardian, The Mail and Future Publishing and encourages viewers to interact with video content. Instead of superimposing distracting pre-roll advertising on content, the trademarked Shutters “wraps” the brand campaign around it. This means “the content remains editorially clean” while still inviting the user to engage with the brand, explained Torie Chilcott, Rockabox’ founder/CCO. “Shutters enables a brand to engage with audiences and interact with the content,” Chilcott said. “It can add numerous opportunities for engagement, a little like the extras on a DVD, including social media, vouchering and click-to-buy.”
And because the Shutters platform uses the agnostic internet technology HTML5, Shutters campaigns can be distributed to any connected device. Current brand owners using Shutters include Microsoft, the UK media group The Guardian, and car manufacturer Honda. Chilcott, who is at MIPTV to meet potential content and brand partners, points out that her company also produces traditional TV content. Its gastrotravel show Valentine Warner Eats Scandinavia is scheduled to premiere in October on UKTV channel Good Food in the UK. “At MIPTV, I am keen to talk to content makers to introduce Viewshare. We can work with broadcasters to market their pro-
Rockabox Media’s Torie Chilcott: content remains clean
grammes and extend their reach, and also want to encourage other content creators to work with us.”
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French and Korean companies team up to unveil Sacred Space in Cannes Bugsted (Lagardere Active)
LAGARDERE DEAL FOR VODKA BUGS FRANCE’s Lagardere Active’s TV channel division has acquired broadcasting rights to Bugsted for two youth and family platforms, Gulli and Canal J. Aimed at a tween audience, the new multiplatform project from Spanish production company Vodka will be available as a 13 x 1 min TV mini-series and as a gaming-app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Bugsted follows the adventures of a group of mutated bugs from the Moon that accidentally land on planet Earth. The series follows their humorous, failed attempts to return home. Lagardere Active’s TV channel division will also play an important role in the promotion, launch and exploitation of the gaming app. In addition, its licensing and new business department will act as the licensing agent for France. Toy company Simba has been named master toy licensee for EMEA. Toys will be rolled out simultaneously with the game app and TV series during the latter part of 2013. Lagardere Active TV channel division is committed to Vodka’s children’s content and entertainment brands after last year’s success with Jelly Jamm, aimed at four- to six-yearolds and currently broadcast in over 150 countries in 18 languages.
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RENCH producer Telfrance met with Korean producer Hoon Media at MIPTV this week to unveil Sacred Space, an ambitious 3D documentary that will explore 15 sacred places around the world. The project, which is part-funded by the Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA), also has Canamedia on board as a production partner. In terms of broadcasters, High Fidelity HDTV Canada and ARTE France have signed up and more announcements are expected soon. Catherine Alvaresse, joint director of ARTE’s factual unit, was present to see the launch of a 3D trailer for Sacred Space. She said her channel was attracted by the ambition and scale of the project. Due for completion in 2014, ARTE will air a 2D version in two formats. The first is a 4 x 90
From left: Hoon Media’s Jeesoo Han, Telfrance’s Christine Le Goff, Arte TV’s Helene Coldefy, Telfrance’s Christophe Nobileau, Arte TV’s Catherine Alvaresse, RAPA vice-president Youngshin Cha and Telfrance’s Veronique Legendre
mins primetime edition that will divide the content up by religious categories. The second is a 15 x 30 mins version that will focus on each of the locations featured in the series. These include Songgwangsa Temple in South Korea, the Royal Mosque in Iran and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in
Israel. Jeesoo Han, vice-president at Hoon Media, said government agency RAPA played an important role in the funding of the Sacred Space production. No Korean broadcaster has yet been announced, but she expects the Korean episode of the series to be ready in late 2013.
LGMA brings War & Peace to America A MIPTV deal between Russia’s War & Peace Media Group and LGMA will see the launch of an interactive cloud-casting TV channel. To be called War & Peace America, the new IPTV platform will air a mix of ready-made US content and documentary programming adapted from the War & Peace Russia channel. LGMA, which will operate War & Peace America, also intends to produce its own content for the new channel. Vitaly Fedko, CEO of War & Peace Russia, said: “To support the launch of the new channel, we are offering the rights to all our programmes that we believe will have resonance with the American public.” These include entertainment format Epistle From The Four and Corona Films’ Submarine documentary series.
LGM A president Georges Leclere said: “LGMA is seeking edgy, sharp programming for War & Peace America, as well as partners interested in supplying
branded blocks of content.” Leclere added that War & Peace America would be based on a hybrid subscription/advertising model.
Georges Leclere (left) and Vitaly Fedko celebrate channel launch
WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL PRODUCERS’ HUB PRODUCERS’ HUB
WOMEN IN TECH & MEDIA 8.30-9.30 I Foyer Balcon, Grand Audi, Level 3 Moderator Asta Wellejus, Director, Die Asta Experience/ MEDEA, The Netherlands Speakers Jesse Draper, Creator and Host of “The Valley Girl Show” Stéphanie Hospital, Executive Vice President, Orange Digital Audience and Advertising Division, Orange, France Françoise Laborde, Commissioner CSA-Conseil Superieur de l’Audiovisuel (French broadcast regulatory body) and President, Association for Women in Media, France Kim Moses, Principal, Sander/Moses Productions, SLAM & Creator, The Total Engagement, USA
PRODUCERS’ HUB PRODUCERS’ HUB
KIDS CONTENT MAKERS’ SHOWCASE 10.30-11.30 I Foyer Balcon, Grand Audi, Level 3 Discover new Kids and Youth programmes from: U.S.A., Sweden, Canada and Japan will be presented during this showcase, followed by matchmaking with the audience. Open to registered buyers only.
PRODUCERS’ HUB
4K TELEVISION’S NEXT REVOLUTION SUPER SESSION In Partnership with Sony & SES ASTRA
Audi A, Level 3
THE BROADCASTERS 10.00-11.00 Jesse Draper
Stéphanie Hospital
Françoise Laborde
Kim Moses
Moderator Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK Introduction Thomas Morrod, Senior director, consumer electronics & media technology, IHS Global, UK
PRODUCERS’ HUB
MATCHMAKING: MEET THE DIGITAL PRODUCERS 9.45-10.15 I Foyer Balcon, Grand Audi, Level 3 Presenter Simon Staffans, Content Developer, MediaCity Finland, CEO, ReThink Formats, Finland Speakers Jason DaPonte, Managing Director & Executive Producer, THE SWARM, UK Benjamin Faivre, Producer Telfrance Serie, Project ANARCHY, France Jonathan Kneebone, Digital Producer, Writer, Director & Michael Ritchie, Digital Producer, Executive Producer, The Glue Society / Revolver, Australia Leonardo Levis, Project Manager, Mira Filmes, Brazil Håkan Lindhé, CEO, Pocket Entertainment, Sweden Josée Vallée, President and Producer, Attraction Images, Canada
Jason DaPonte
Benjamin Faivre
Jonathan Kneebone
Leonardo Levis
Håkan Lindhé
Josée Vallée
Michael Ritchie
Featured Speakers Mike Gunton, Creative Director - NHU / Executive Producer, BBC, UK Gary Davey, EVP programming, Sky Deutschland, Germany Speaker Norbert Hoelzle, Senior Vice President Commercial Europe, SES, Luxembourg
Thomas Morrod
Gary Davey
Mike Gunton
Norbert Hoelzle
THE TECHNOLOGISTS – HANDS ON ADVICE FROM 4K PRACTITIONERS 11.15-12.15 Moderator Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK Speakers Barry Bassett, Managing Director, VMI.TV, UK Maryline Clare-Charrier, 4EVER Project Manager, France Telecom/Orange, France Berti Kropac, DoP and Founder, KROPAC MEDIA, Germany Jean-Marc Thiesse, PhD, Research Engineer, ATEME, France David Wood, Consultant, Technology and Innovation, EBU, Switzerland
Barry Bassett
Maryline Clare-Charrier
Berti Kropac
Jean-Marc Thiesse
David Wood
OFFICIAL CONFERENCES & EVENTS GRAND AUDI
ESTEREL
UNITED NATIONS GLOBAL EDUCATION FIRST INITIATIVE AT 50 YEARS MIPTV
TALKS
BRANDS: THE NEW COMMISSIONERS
11.00-12.30 I Grand Audi - Level 1
Presented by Gordon Brown, former UK Prime Minister, United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education
Gordon Brown
Featured video introduction from United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. Guest Speakers David Zaslav, President & CEO, Discovery Communications, USA John Wood, Founder and Board Co-Chair, Room to Read, USA Robert Lance Triefus, Chief Marketing Officer, Guccio Gucci, Italy Ziauddin Yousafzai, Adviser on Girls’ Education to the UN Special Envoy for Global Education, Gordon Brown Ziauddin’s daughter Malala became a figurehead for the right of girls to education when she was shot by the Taliban for simply going to school. Tirivashe Simango, Youth Ambassador, a young woman who will share her inspiring personal story of overcoming tremendous obstacles in order to go to school.
Moderator Kate Bulkley, Presenter and Commentator, UK Speakers Cody Hogarth, Head of Entertainment, Ogilvy Group, UK Thomas Jamet, President of Brand Content, UDECAM and CEO, Moxie, France Robert Ramsey, Partnership Lead, Channel 4, UK Antoine Wolf, Global Advertising Manager for Electric Vehicles and Innovation, RENAULT SAS, France
Cody Hogarth
Thomas Jamet
© Emmanuel Vivier
© OGSB
10.15-10.45 I Esterel, Level 5
Robert Ramsey
Antoine Wolf
AGORA SQUARE
5 WAYS TO SHAPE THE MULTI-SCREEN USER EXPERIENCE Sponsored by Viaccess-Orca
David Zaslav
John Wood
©Sergio Villareal
9.45-10.15 I Agora, Level -1 Robert Lance Triefus
Speaker Ofer Weintraub, Executive Vice President, Innovation, Viaccess-Orca, Israel
Ziauddin Yousafzai
Ofer Weintraub
SQUARE
ESTEREL
TV HACK SHOW & TELL Powered by BeMyApp
10.30-11.45 I Agora, Level -1 TALKS
DISTILLING THE NUMBERS DOWN TO THE TWO THAT MATTER MOST: ONE-TO-ONE 9.30-10.00 I Esterel, Level 5
SQUARE
TV BEYOND BOXES & CONNECTIONS (2015-2020) Sponsored by Orange
12.00-12.30 I Agora, Level -1
Moderator Kate Bulkley, Presenter and Commentator, UK Speaker Scott Ferber, Chairman and CEO, Videology, Inc., USA
Scott Ferber
Speakers Stéphanie Hospital, Executive Vice President, Orange Digital Audience and Advertising Division, Orange, France Henri Sanson, Head of Content Aggregation Services, Orange Labs Research, Orange, France Patrice Slupowski, VP Digital Innovation, Orange, France
Stéphanie Hospital
Henri Sanson
Patrice Slupowski
WEDNESDAY 10 APRIL OFFICIAL CONFERENCES & EVENTS
PRODUCERS’ HUB
ESTEREL
PRODUCERS’ HUB
TALKS
FUNDING ALTERNATIVES WORKSHOP
REINVENTING DISTRIBUTION IN THE ‘ANYWHERE’ AGE
14.15-15.00 I Foyer Balcon, Grand Audi, Level 3 Moderator Jason DaPonte, Managing Director & Executive Producer, THE SWARM, UK Speakers Maro Chermayeff, Founder/Partner, Show of Force, USA Caroline Petit, Deputy Director, United Nations Regional Information Centre, Belgium Brad Wyman, Vertical Lead, Film/Video/Web, Indiegogo.com, USA
15.45-16.15 I Esterel, Level 5 Moderator Mike Dicks, Co-Founder, Descience Limited, UK Speakers Neil Berry, Vice President, EMEA, Ooyala, UK Razmig Hovaghimian, CEO and Co-Founder, Viki, USA Ashley MacKenzie, Founder & CEO, Base79, UK
Razmig Hovaghimian
Neil Berry Maro Chermayeff
Caroline Petit
Brad Wyman
ESTEREL
Ashley MacKenzie
AGORA TALKS
PRODUCERS: TAKE BACK YOUR MONETISATION POWER 14.15-14.45 I Esterel, Level 5 Moderator Mike Dicks, Co-Founder, Descience Limited, UK Speakers Maryse Thomas, CEO, Pokeware, USA Jadis Tillery, Director of Social Media, dot.talent, UK
THE MIPCUBE INNOVATION SHOW SNACK & SCREEN 12.30-14.00 I Agora, Level -1 Featuring the MIPCube Competitions & Awards Followed by a snack lunch in the MIPCube Square
SQUARE
WORKING WITH YOUTUBE: A CREATORS MASTERCLASS FOR CONTENT PRODUCERS 14.15-15.15 I Agora, Level -1
Maryse Thomas
Jadis Tillery
Speaker David Ripert, Head of YouTube Next Lab EMEA, Google, UK David Ripert
TALKS
TURNING BIG DATA INTO BIG REVENUE 15.00-15.30 I Esterel, Level 5
SQUARE
GETTING CREATIVE WITH CODE
Moderator Mike Dicks, Co-Founder, Descience Limited, UK Speakers Jeroen Doucet, Managing Director, ExMachina Strategies & Concepts, The Netherlands Owen Hanks, General Manager, Europe, YuMe, USA Marc Hernandez, Managing Director Europe, Trendrr, France
Jeroen Doucet
Owen Hanks
15.45-16.15 I Agora, Level -1 Moderator Jason DaPonte, Managing Director and Executive Producer, THE SWARM, UK Speakers Wale Gbadamosi Oyekanmi, CEO, Darewin, France Syd Lawrence, Developer, We Make Awesome Sh., UK
Marc Hernandez
Wale Gbadamosi Oyekanmi
Syd Lawrence
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neWs Cinegi film service raises revenue by opening doors to new venues Cinegi Media’s Patrick Towell and Mandy Berry
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K-BASED Cinegi Media is launching a dedicated digital platform that offers film-content owners a quick and cost-efficient means for reaching audiences in independent cinemas and public venues across the UK. Called Cinegi, the platform is designed to deliver film and video content online to all kinds of venues and theatres offering public screenings UK-wide. Patrick Towell, Cinegi Media’s joint CEO, said the service, available later this year, is needed because audiences outside big city centres and towns are being underserved in terms of choice as they have no access to mul-
tiplexes or even traditional cinemas. With a technology like Cinegi, he said that independent-film rights owners could benefit from a potential extra $90m (€69m)-plus that is currently not earned from box-office receipts in four years’ time. This is because online delivery would give them access to venues that are not so easy to reach currently. “All we need is to be supplied with the digital master and we can take care of the rest,” added Mandy Berry, Cinegi Media’s other joint CEO. Cinegi is backed by the European Union’s MEDIA programme and the UK’s Creative England, the state-owned investor in the creative industries.
Red Touch Bridge to build relationships RED TOUCH Media has brought its suite of digital content management and distribution solutions to MIPTV, including Red Touch Bridge, which allows distributors to control all aspects of their digital assets — from production and distribution management through consumption tracking and user-behaviour monitoring, to billing and reporting. “At root, our technology connects people through content — in effect we’re bringing back the sort of relationships that used to exist 20 years ago,” Red Touch Media CEO Wayne Scholes, said. “We have had long and fruitful relationships with our existing clients which include Sony, Paramount and NBC, and we believe that this is a good time to show the wider industry how our technology makes the management, distribution and analysis of content more efficient and much more cost effective.” A client recently reported having saved
$6.75m (€5.18m) last year thanks to Red Touch’s systems and, according to Scholes, giving value lies at the heart of what the company does: “I firmly believe that the only good way to create real relationships with our clients is to offer them value from day one,” he said. “So we start by listening to how they manage their content and then adapt Bridge to their specific needs. Then when they come back to us with their cost-savings, we work out a deal based around that.”
MIPTV NEWCOMER LORELLA BALANSINO MARKETING MANAGER, FEEDBACK ITALIA, ITALY “OUR COMPANY has been working almost 15 years in interactive video conferencing over IP. We have designed and developed a software platform that allows people to be interactive in audio and video during TV shows — we can make any size audience interactive in any kind of TV format. “We are at MIPTV because of the importance of the MIPTV audience and we’re looking for partners interested in exploring the possibility of interactive video communication, both for new and existing formats. “Our company is growing quickly and the market is ready for our innovative solutions, which enable an ‘always on’ offer, reducing time and costs. “Our motto is ‘We move ideas, not people’. In the coming year we plan on moving even more ideas.”
I first came down here in 1991. I was completely green, fairly young and knew nothing. And I just thought: ‘Oh, ok I get it — a TV buying and selling market in the middle of a beach, in Cannes! What’s wrong with that?’ FINN ARNESEN, senior vice-president, international distribution and development, Hasbro Studios
The Red Touch stand at MIPTV
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BRB joins YouTube to boost animation
S SMALL World IFT’s The Fan — the first Thai format to be adapted in Europe — has generated an “awesome” response for TV4 Sweden, where it debuted on to a 28% share. “We won big time,” said TV4’s Cathrine Wiernik (far right), pictured here with Nice Group’s Henrik Biskjaer (left) Baluba/Nice Group’s Linnea Kia, Small World IFT’s Colleen and Tim Crescenti, and TV4’s Asa Sjoberg. Crescenti added: “Henrik was the first person to believe in this format two years ago, when he optioned it for the Nordic area. And it was a ballsy move for TV4 — the biggest channel in Scandinavia — to option a format from Thailand and premiere it at this time of the year with a Eurovision Song Contest-themed episode. It’s a fan-damtastic result!” The Workpoint format has now been optioned in all European countries.
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PANISH kids’ company BRB Internacional has set up an animation aggregator on YouTube to maximise the performance of its in-house IP, do the same for third party content, and connect animation content creators with media agencies and advertisers. “It is a great honour that the world’s leading video website has given us the opportunity to become an associate aggregator for animation,” Marijo Arnaiz, director of digital media for BRB Internacional, said. “It is principally because of our demonstrated capacity to generate viewing traffic on our own YouTube channel, and those of our series Bernard, Suckers and Canimals.” BRB plans to use its experience
in channel management and digital rights to ensure a constantly updated flow of content, and to screen new formats — capsules, webisodes and interactive media.
BRB Internacional’s aggregated animation
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neWs Moonscoop agrees co-production deal for cricket-themed format
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OS A NGELES-based kids’ animation company Moonscoop has agreed a co-production deal with Mumbai’s Shemaroo Entertainment to produce a new animated series inspired by the world’s greatest cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar. Sachin Tendulkar’s Master Blasters (26 x 30 mins) is a comedy-adventure about a team of 12-year-old cricketing talents from around the world who train and play in a flying spaceshiplike stadium. The idea was pitched to Moonscoop co-CEO Mike Young by Shemaroo’s Vijay Bhanushali. “This is the first Indian co-production in which pre-production is being done in India,” Young said. “We’ll use Commonwealth writers, but the scriptwriting will be run out of LA to make sure it has the energy and pace of US shows.” “Cricket is in the blood of every
Shemaroo Entertainment’s Rajiv Jhaveri (left), Moonscoop’s Mike Young, Shemaroo’s Vijay Bhanushali, Moonscoop’s Nicolas Atlan, Liz Young and Steve Rosen
Indian child, and Sachin Tendulkar is like a god in India,” Bhanushali said. “And the Indian Premier League is huge there.” The producers believe the show will have a ready audience in cricket-loving Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the UK too. Young said it will have enough adventure, humour and story to
engage non-cricket-lovers too. “The challenge will be to get it into the non-cricket countries, and particularly the US,” Young said. “It helps that Moonscoop owns Kabillion, which is viewed by seven to 10 million kids per month across all portals. A lot of shows that we debut go on to other channels.”
GLOBAL AMBITIONS FOR “GRUESOME CITY GUIDE” FROGGIES Media returns to MIPTV with new format Crime Cities, a show that founder Tim Newman believes will be a huge success globally. “This show is a gruesome city guide,” said Newman. “It gives viewers an opportunity to discover the history of a city through the course of its most famous crimes in the 20th and 21st century.” Froggies Media has produced the first show about the bloody anecdotes of Paris, narrated by French movie actor Frederic Diefenthal. Paris, City Of Crime has been acquired by NBC Universal and is available as a 90-minute documentary, a book and DVD.
Global Agency format cashes in on Cannes
Froggies Media’s Lucile Carricaburu and Tim Newman
DE L E GAT E S were g iven the chance to win free cash on Monday as part of Global Agency’s promotional campaign for its new street game show,
“Financing shows is completely different now,” said Newman. “Now, our speciality is financing projects using private equity. We create a way for investors to benefit from the power of the show, outside of the show.” Michel Lafon Publishing has financed Paris, City Of Crime with a deal to roll-out a book at the same time as the broadcast. Tim Newman was the CEO of NBDC, which produced TV programmes such as Rapido (BBC) and Passengers (Channel 4). Newman also created Rapido TV with the partners of NBDC and Richard Branson (50% NDBC, 50% Virgin), which produced a number of programmes including the cult show Eurotrash (Channel 4).
Don’t Say It, Bring It! Lucky delegates were approached by the show’s host and his team, and invited to take part in a scaled-down version of the
Money, money, money: MIPTV delegates celebrate an unexpected windfall, courtesy of Global Agency
format. The players were asked a question — such as: “What do you use to dial a number and speak to somebody?” — but, instead of answering verbally, had to physically show their response, in this case a phone. Those who answered correctly won €10 in cash. Over the course of the day, more than 1,000 people won the €10 prize. Izzet Pinto, CEO of Global Agency, said: “Global Agency has become well known for its attention-grabbing marketing stunts. We represent some of the world’s best formats and we want to make sure everybody knows about them.” Created by Madrid-based Phileas Productions, Don’t Say It, Bring It! has already been commissioned by Switzerland’s SRF zwei, where it launched in a primetime slot last Friday.
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neWs Galassi rises to the challenge of Spain’s straightened times
MIPTV NEWCOMER
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ESPITE Spain’s economic difficulties, Gabriele Galassi, BBC territory manager, Iberia, is upbeat, underlining the importance of creative distribution and seeking out opportunities rather than waiting for knocks at the door. Having recently closed a sale with Wuaki.tv, an OTT service that is the self-styled Spanish version of Netflix, Galassi explained that VOD is undoubtedly en vogue; Wuaki.tv is hugely successful and has acquired two new series that are going to be premiered in the territory. “We are getting close to the VOD model that Netflix is applying in the US market,” said Galassi. “Doctor Who series seven and A Young Doctor’s Notebook are going to be launched on Wuaki.tv before the pay-TV window; for Wuaki.tv it’s great publicity and for us — but in addition we have got a big volume sale and a big presence on the platform.” According to Galassi, factual programming continues to prove popular with the premium pay-TV window — especially landmark documentaries, such as Africa and Frozen Planet. “Pay-TV channels are specialised and work for a very specific target,” said Galassi.
BBC Iberia’s Gabriele Galassi
“From the distributor perspective, if you have the kind of content they’re looking for then fine — otherwise it’s really hard to break in. However OTT services are hungry for content and haven’t specialised that much yet; they are like virtual shelves where you can find a bit of everything.”
H2 delivers more facts of History THE UK launch of new channel H2 next month is set to be a gift for fans of factual history shows. It aims to allow viewers to delve deeper into the past, with programming complementing the original History channel. H2, which History channel operator A+E Networks has brought to MIPTV, is already a hit in the US
Serial Killer Earth (H2)
where it has been available since September 2011. Now, the H2 network is being licensed to the international sector. “H2 allows us to expand on the quality content available on our flagship History channel by offering viewers more information, more facts and even more entertainment,” Tom Davidson, A+E Networks UK’s managing director, said. Among the first H2 programmes, which cover military history, ancient history, modern history, science and technology, is Serial Killer Earth, a (10 x 60 mins) series on historic natural disasters.
VALENTYNA MALA CEO, OPERA PRODUCTION, FRANCE “OPERA Production is a full-service TV news agency offering a tailored approach to video news production services. There is growing demand among international news channels for made-to-measure news services that are designed to suit specific audiences. Our newsroom team and international correspondents can research, write, record and edit news reports that are tailor-made for the client channel’s audience. “Naturally we operate in line with our own ethical code of conduct; there are clear editorial boundaries in place. However, I do not see any intrinsic ethical issue in the basic concept of tailoring news to suit individual audiences. “I would expect that in the next 10 years we’ll see news consumers move almost entirely away from traditional TV news formats and switching to new media. We are already witnessing the dying days of the era in which people tuned in to news bulletins at set times of the day. “The trend will be towards more convenient news nuggets. New formats and platforms will emerge to access video news on handheld devices (or whatever innovations have replaced them in 10 years’ time!). Viewers will still probably watch sport, documentaries and movies on flat screen TVs, but the news industry will be at the cutting edge of new media. It will be an exciting period for the industry and one in which we hope to be able to play our own role.”
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neWs Rollman and DQE announce major strategic partnership US BRAND management company Rollman Entertainment this week announced a strategic partnership with Indian animation studio DQ Entertainment (DQE) for the development, production, distribution, licens-
ing and merchandising of animated and live action TV series, feature films and new media content, targeted at the global marketplace. Rollman, led by ex-Fox Family Productions’ Eric Rollman, currently works with DQE on NFL Rush Zone, the top-rated animated TV series currently airing on Nicktoons USA; Iesodo, an original animated series targeting the CBA market; and The Jungle Book, the $50m (€38m) theatrical animated feature now in pre-production. The companies are targeting five television series through 2016 with budgets toRollman’s Eric Rollman (left) with DQE’s Tapaas Chakravarti talling $35m.
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Flying Winemaker unveils wine revolution at Cannes WITH the boom in global cuisine, most people are now familiar with Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Malaysian and other Asian cuisines… but what about the continent’s excellent wine production? Eddie McDougall, also known as the Flying Winemaker, is on a mission to help the world discover fine, unknown vintages from India, urban Hong Kong and from Japanese vineyards that pre-date Australian or New Zealand wine production. The idea is also to introduce people across Asia — who may think that wine is only European — to wine culture. His HD show (13 x 30 mins) — a mix of travel, gastronomy and wine, produced by Australia’s WD Entertainment — has been pre-sold to Discovery Networks
Eddie McDougall, the Flying Winemaker
Asia-Pacific, and is at MIPTV with ABC Commercial for further pre-sales in other territories. On Monday night, McDougall staged a Rose Revolution wine-tasting at the Majestic, which featured Asian — and no French — wines. “I want to get people tasting wine without being intimidated by the mystery that surrounds it,” he said. “Wine works with Asian food, it’s about taking risks and thinking outside the box.”
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neWs 9 Story seals market deal to look after CCI Entertainment’s kids
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A NA DA-based 9 Story Entertainment and CCI Entertainment sealed a new deal at MIPTV that sees 9 Story boost its portfolio of children’s-and-family programming, while leaving CCI to focus on the production of the genre. The CCI Kids-owned Children’s and Family library of kids’, tween and family content, will now be marketed and distributed by 9 Story in a first-look deal. Additionally, 9 Story will distribute youth-oriented shows handled by CCI Releasing, CCI Entertainment’s own distribution division. The agreement gives 9 Story more than 1,000 hours of content
Molly Monster (Studio 100 Media)
MONSTER DEAL FOR STUDIO 100
Getting down to business in Cannes: CCI’s Charles Falzon (left), 9 Story’s Vince Commisso, CCI’s Arnie Zipursky and 9 Story’s Natalie Osborne
to distribute internationally. “The timing is just right because we always intended to grow our library, and CCI can focus on content creation in that genre,” said Vince Commisso, 9 Story’s
co-founder. “There are more distribution opportunities today and I don’t think it’s going to stop because there’s a demand for volume for the new platforms as well.”
IN-FLIGHT entertainment company Spafax has secured a MIPTV deal with Platinum Films for a Matt Hatter Chronicles branded block on board Emirates from May, and British Airways from July. Platinum Films’ head of international programming Natalie Llewellyn said: “The sky’s the limit — this marks another new chapter in Matt Hatter’s tremendous journey and takes the show’s global reach to new heights.” Emma Gunn, acquisitions manager at Spafax, added: “We’re looking to extend the global in-flight footprint of Matt Hatter over the coming months.” Pictured in Cannes are: Spafax’s Emma Gunn (left) and Emma Dunne (right) with Platinum Films’ Natalie Llewellyn.
Broadcasters go wild for Content’s doc
Facing The Atlantic: reels in the deals
CONTENT Television, a division of Content Media Corporation, has announced multi-territory licensing deals for its flagship natural history documentary Facing The Atlantic (from the Content West division) with a slew of international broadcasters, including National Geographic Channel, Discovery Networks, France TV and VRT. The 3 x 60 mins series, journeying to the wildest and most remote locations of Western Europe and featuring the indigenous wildlife on land and under the sea, will broadcast
later this year across National Geographic Channel’s pay-TV and digital platforms throughout the UK, Europe (excluding Italy and Germany), Japan and Africa. The Discovery Networks sale is a pan-territory agreement covering Asia. “Content West’s rapidly growing portfolio is proving very popular in the global market, and we’re looking forward to showcasing Facing The Atlantic to broadcasters alongside our latest factual series Helicopter Rescue,” Greg Phillips, president of Content Television, said.
STUDIO 100 Media has struck a MIPTV deal with Molly & The Monsters to sell the international TV rights to the pre-school animation series Ted Sieger’s Molly Monster. The deal gives Studio 100 the worldwide TV distribution rights (excluding Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Scandinavia) over a five-year period for the 52 x 5 mins series, and for a 26-minute animation special Molly And The Christmas Monster. Home entertainment and VOD rights are also included.
CANAL+ PICKS UP BANSHEE CANAL+ has acquired 10 episodes of Banshee, the series created by Alan Ball (Six Feet Under, American Beauty) for Cinemax (HBO), this week in Cannes. The French broadcaster has also picked up nine episodes of Vikings directed by Johan Renck (Breaking Bad, The Walking Dead) and produced by Michael Hirst (The Tudors).
OXYGEN CONTINUES
SEARCH FOR FACE OXYGEN Media has greenlit a second season of modelling competition series The Face, produced by Shine America with Naomi Campbell as executive producer. Returning with 10 episodes, The Face goes beyond the glamour as three iconic supermodel coaches battle it out to find the newest face of a wellknown national brand. Shine International is featuring the format at MIPTV.
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Dogwoof Global’s Vesna Cudic: expanding network of collaborators
DOGWOOF’S DOCS DO THE BUSINESS
ITVS GE develops Love/Hate relationship with Channel 5
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TV STUDIOS Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) has licensed Octagon Films’ gritty Irish gangland drama Love/ Hate to the UK’s Channel 5, which has acquired the first two series to run as a 10 x 60 mins season later this year. Love/Hate, the finale of which garnered a 56% share on RTE last December, has been equally successful abroad. It has now been acquired by 72 territories, including in Asia, Australia, Italy, and the Middle East. Jayne Redpath, senior vice-president, EMEA, of ITVS GE, said: “Love/Hate is a powerful drama
that received rave reviews and phenomenal ratings on RTE. I’m sure it will be just as successful when it launches on Channel 5 in the UK.” ITVS GE has also signed a raft of international deals for its returning detective franchises Agatha Christie’s Marple, Vera and Lewis. The new sixth series of Agatha Christie’s Marple (3 x 120 mins) has been pre-sold to 10 broadcasters: France 2 and TMC (France), ABC (Australia), Prime (New Zealand), Pramer (Latin America), Latvian Television, RTV (Slovenia), HRT (Croatia), United Media (China and Tibet)
and Chungwa (Taiwan). Co-producer WGBH in the US will also air the series. The new third series of Vera (4 x 120 mins) has been pre-sold to Mystery Channel (Japan) and Chungwa (Taiwan). Meanwhile, series two has been acquired by KT Corporation (Korea), Canal+ (Poland), Norwegian Broadcasting Corp, YLE (Finland), RTV (Slovenia) and DR Denmark. The new seventh series of Lewis (3 x 120 mins) has been pre-sold to Seven (Australia) and Prime (New Zealand). Co-producer WGBH in the US will also air the series.
Unicorn makes move into kids
Go Away Unicorn! (Tricon Films & Television)
TRICON Films & Television is to make its first foray into kids’ programming in collaboration with Mercury Filmworks. The two companies are to develop a new animated series for four- to seven-year-olds called Go Away Unicorn! (52 x 11 mins), based on the popular children’s book written by author and illustrator Emily Mullock. Tricon will also handle the international distribution for the new series, which
launches this week at MIPTV. Meanwhile, Tricon’s continuing relationship with IFC sees the Canadian independent production company premiere Maron, featuring cult comedian Marc Maron, at MIPTV. “The show is based on Marc projecting himself and his life into Hollywood,” Jon Rutherford, Tricon’s vice-president of distribution and business development, said.
DOGWOOF Global, the international sales arm of the UK documentary distributor Dogwoof, has sold The House I Live In, which features heart-wrenching stories about America’s drug war, to TVP Poland and HBO Latin America. Dogwoof international TV sales and acquisitions executive Vesna Cudic said there had been “tremendous international interest” in Dogwoof’s documentaries. In addition to The House I Live In, the company’s MIPTV slate includes The Network, Village At The End Of The World and F*ck For Forest, about one of the world’s most bizarre charities, which is based on the idea that sex can save the world. Cudic added that The Network, which tells the story of Afghanistan’s first independent television network TOLO TV, where many of whose employees are women, has also attracted interest because of the impending withdrawal of foreign troops from the war-torn country in 2014. She said: “This has been our first visit to MIPTV and we have been kept busy expanding our network of collaborators, and meeting broadcasters from around the world. We expect to finalise more deals by the end of the market.”
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T, Russia’s 24/7 multi-lingual news network, chose the 50th MIPTV to announce the launch of Ruptly, its new video content offer to the international marketplace. “Ruptly’s website offers news organisations the opportunity to download raw video footage on everything from the death of Margaret Thatcher to topless Femen activists confronting Putin and Merkel,” Jeanne Sartor, Ruptly’s new director of business development, said. RT has been giving users free access to its footage for four years through FreeVideo, an online agency for RT footage filmed for
Ruptly’s Jeanne Sartor: “News is changing”
its own use. Ruptly’s offer, Sartor said, is wider and deeper. Headquartered in Berlin, it is delivering materials created for outside distribution, and drawing on a growing network of international bureaux — there are currently 23 — and a large database of international stringers. “Ruptly is staffed by experienced
journalists, including many who have worked for Associated Press (AP), Reuters and CNN, and a growing network of stringers,” Sartor said. “Although we aren’t as big as AP and Reuters, we consider them our competition.” Subscribers pay according to the size of their distribution network, but there is no immediate requirement to cover its costs. Editor-in-chief of RT, Margarita Simonyan, said:“The ultimate goal for Ruptly, as it has been for RT, is to provide balance in the global media coverage of the world news, and offer an alternative in a highly-concentrated market of professional video footage.”
BEYOND Distribution’s new general manager Michael Murphy (pictured) has said that he is intent on building new bridges with US, UK and European producers as part of a drive to re-establish the distributor’s presence in the Northern hemisphere and acquire more European content. Speaking to MIPTV News he said: “We will be seeing as many producers as possible. It’s about getting out and letting people know what we do. There is an impression that we’re based in Australia but the majority of our catalogue is from the UK, US and Canada.” Beyond is at MIPTV with a raft of new shows to offer to the market, including children’s shows Totally Rubbish and Junior Vets, both of which were commissioned by CBBC in the UK.
Federation aims to encourage new partnerships with Africa THE SOUTH African Screen Federation (SASFED), an umbrella federation representing independent film and television sector organisations in South Africa, is at MIPTV for the first time. David Forbes, executive committee member of the federation and executive director of Shadow Films, organised the Focus On Africa panel with Reed MIDEM at MIPCOM in 2012. “This year, we have brought 10 South African companies and a representative of the National Film and Video Foundation to begin reestablishing the platform we had here prior to the global crash. The difference this time is that this initiative is a private-public partner-
ship, initiated by SASFED, and will continue to grow with each market,” he said. The strategy is designed to push forward the acceptance of African content in the global marketplace, and encourage co-production projects, especially with those companies looking for African partners on an equal footing. “We want better access for our products in Europe and America, and the power of the African diaspora has showed us that the demand already exists for content made by Africans.” Forbes emphasised that financial incentives for film and TV in South Africa are good and improving every year, another reason
SASFED’s David Forbes
to be positive about the prospects for the industry. He predicts that the country will be making its presence felt in the near future. “I think you will see a lot more African content on your screens in the coming years,” he said. “We have a lot of experience of facilitating global production, so we are not lacking in experience, talent, locations, return on investment or incentives. We have great stories, and we prefer to tell them ourselves.”
CATALAN STAND SEES RECORD PARTICIPATION
Joan Antoni Gonzalez, general secretary of PROA (left) with Elena Rue, co-ordinator at Catalan Films & TV
AT MIPTV, the Catalan Films & TV stand has seen record participation, with 50 companies covering licensing, as well as animation, fiction and factual production. For the first time this year, the stand is being run by Catalan producers association PROA (Productors Audiovisuals Federats), with the support of the Department of Culture of the Generalitat of Catalonia. “The Catalan industry is a proven force in the production of series and formats whose quality is widely recognised,” Joan Antoni Gonzalez, general secretary of PROA, said. “In our role as a European content development hub, Catalan Films & TV’s priority is to enhance fruitful relationships through trade missions to Canada, France, Belgium, Brazil, Russia and China, among others.” On the second day of the market, we are closing significant numbers of sales, pre-sales and co-production agreements, which confirms our faith in the local industry and our commitment to continue and grow in presence and volume of trade at MIPTV.”
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neWs Breakthrough Entertainment ready to unwrap Napkin Man
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ANNICK Bisson, star of CBC primetime hit series Murdoch Mysteries, is to take the lead in CBC’s new action-animated children’s show, The Adventures Of Napkin Man. Produced by Toronto-based Breakthrough Entertainment and due to air on CBC in September, Breakthrough will also manage all distribution outside the US. The show’s creators, Little Airplane Productions, will handle US distribution. In the series of 30-minute episodes Bisson stars as Mister Anthony, a pre-school teacher who draws a superhero named Napkin Man for his students — a character who magically comes to life in an animated world to help
children manage their everyday challenges and concerns. “I was instantly smitten by the series, and look forward to The Adventures Of Napkin Man captivating children and parents
alike,” Bisson said. “Caringly crafted, the series is completely fresh and different, and I believe elevates pre-school television to a new level of entertainment and child development.”
The Adventures Of Napkin Man (Breakthrough Entertainment)-
SWEDISH TV personalities Mikael Svensson and Lars Beckung are at MIPTV for some behind-the-camera business: their production company Mexiko has signed a deal with Nordisk TV, which will see the Banijay Group company both produce with, and distribute for, Mexiko. From left: Svensson and Beckung shake hands with Nordisk’s Jacob Houlind and Peter Hansen.
Wellness welcome for delegates MIPTV delegates are being invited to de-stress during the conference with massage and recharge stations put on by healthyliving broadcaster Veria Living Worldwide. The US channel, which broadcasts and distributes a range of shows dedicated to food, wellness and healthy lifestyles, is offering the stress-busting treats at the Veria Living Wellness Lounge. Veria Living Worldwide chief revenue officer Ray Donahue said: “We know how gruel-
ling the markets can be and we wanted to give something back. We represent feeling good and
The Veria Living team at the broadcaster’s Wellness Lounge
wellness; we want to show people what we’re all about.” Exhibiting at MIPTV for the fourth year in a row, Veria Living is promoting a range of lifestyle programming, including food and travel show Good Food America and exercise shows Workout From Within and Yoga Sutra Now with Jai Sugrim. Donahue said: “We want to create global awareness of the brand and find markets for formats, programme distribution and also linear distribution.”
XII Tribes’ Yse Brisson (left), and executive chairman Michel Zgarka
SIGNS ARE GOOD FOR XII TRIBES MICHEL Zgarka, executive chairman of Montrealbased production house XII Tribes Entertainment, is at MIPTV, reporting “huge growth” for his company, which has increased its roster 10-fold in the past year. Taking a stand for the first time this year, the company is prioritising drama series Signs, as well as four new properties and several feature films in development, and is looking to forge connections with major players. Zgarka said XII Tribes was dedicated to building long-term relationships with USbased and international distributors, broadcasters, and potential partners at MIPTV, to develop and create successful financial packages for new film and TV projects. “MIPTV and MIPCOM are must-attend events. Over 75% of our revenue is generated by being here, as well as getting a true sense of where the market is heading.” Zgarka added: “XII Tribes is committed to production and coproduction in Canada, and is leveraging its involvement on highly advantageous grant and funding policies across the country.” At MIPTV XII Tribes brings: Signs, a drama series about two competing companies working against the backdrop of a global crisis; factual formats Back-Alley Brokers and Hunter Force; and Gummybear Christmas Special.
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BBC Global News chief has story on new base for integrated news service
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“FOR TWO years we have been running the only 3D TV station on Deutsche Telekom IPTV network, called 3D The Channel. We produce most of the content, all in native 3D. We are also licensing our content for linear and VOD. The focus of our productions is lifestyle, travel, sports and events, and we also license our vast library of SD/ HD travel documentaries. “The next step for our company is to launch new native 3D channels internationally. At MIPTV, we are looking into the European, Asian and Russian markets. We hope to meet a significant number of players in Cannes so that we can give them a presentation of our channel and our productions. “We are looking for satellite, IPTV, cable or mobile platforms that are interested in using our channel as a marketing and sales tool like Deutsche Telekom does very successfully. We might also be interested in licensing partners, and partners like other linear channels in markets we do not work in, or for VOD. In certain cases we might be interested in co-production partnerships. “Our business is developing quite well even if it is still a niche. We are happy to count the biggest players as our clients like Sky Germany, Samsung and of course Deutsche Telekom.”
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PBS INTERNATIONAL has finalised a deal at MIPTV for documentary JFK with Australian broadcaster SBS. This new biography on America’s 35th president by American Experience is currently in production and will be available for broadcast to coincide with the 50th anniversary of JFK’s assassination on November 22, 2013. France 3 is a co-production partner on the film. “While the market will likely have several films on JFK, it is widely recognised that when PBS and American Experience take on a presidential biography, it becomes a benchmark of excellence in terms of quality and production values,” said Tom Koch, vicepresident, PBS International. “Broadcasters such as France 3 and SBS foster these values and we are very pleased that they are on board.”
BBC Global News’ Jim Egan: “international role is crucial”
journalists in more places around the world than anyone else.” The integration of online and TV will mean fewer trade-offs between platforms, Egan said, and the company is focused on working harmoniously across pay TV and its other outlets. BBC World News recently recruited Yalda Hakim, a young Afghan-born Australian journalist, from SBS, as part of an editorial team that will employ a more vivid, appealing tone than previously, across all platforms. SBS is also signing on CSI: JFK (working title) by Nova, a film that re-opens Kennedy’s assassination case to discover if state-of-the-art forensic science can shed light on what actually happened. © Douglas Jones, LOOK Magazine Photograph Collection, Library of Congress
MARCO H DEUTSCH OWNER/CEO, HOLLYWOOD CINEMA.TV/3D THE CHANNEL, GERMANY
OLLOWING last year’s merger of the BBC’s international news channel and its news website, Jim Egan, chief operating officer of BBC Global News, is promoting the new integrated newsroom at Broadcasting House, which he hopes will serve the BBC for a decade. “BBC World News is literally coming from the heart of the BBC now,” he said. “We have 2,000 journalists, working in 27 languages. It’s a state-of-the-art broadcast facility.” “The BBC’s international role is crucial to its strategic future,” he said. “News was there at the beginning, and remains very much part of that.” For BBC Global News, the commercial arm of its international news operations, that means around a 25% increase in its programme budget, its first consumer marketing initiative, and new support for its partners and distributors. “We’re using the line ‘live the story’,” he said. “It’s an editorial ethos too. We still have more
JFK (PBS International)
Thatcher to be first World Wide Icon A TRIBUTE to the late Baroness Thatcher has been announced today at MIPTV by World Wide Entertainment and ITN Productions. The biographical documentary — which will be ready to air by next Wednesday — will form the first in a series of World Wide Icons, biographical documentaries to be made under a new partnership between World Wide Entertainment and ITN Productions, which was also announced this week in Cannes. According to Izzet Pinto, CEO of World Wide Entertainment, the Thatcher bio will profile the Iron Lady’s career prior to Parliament, her achievements, the controversies that surrounded her term in office and the special relationships that she forged with the US and
Soviet Union. Pinto said: “There’s no doubt that Thatcher was one of the iconic figures of the 20th century, some even saying as important as Winston Churchill in terms of her legacy.” Other candidates for World Wide Entertainment/ITN’s World Wide Icons (13 x 60 mins) include Queen Elizabeth II, Nelson Mandela, John F Kennedy, Muhammad Ali and Bill Gates. The films will be based on unique footage from ITN’s extensive news archive, interspersed with expert analysis. The deal marks the first time that distributor World Wide Entertainment, which was acquired in 2012 by Turkish format house Global Agency, has commissioned its own programming.
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S COMIC actor Kevin Hart is at MIPTV to promote his new ‘faux reality’ show. Real Husbands Of Hollywood features famous actors playing themselves in a spoof take on the reality television genre in which creator and star Hart finds himself in a series of farcical comic situations. Also featuring Boris Kodjoe, Duane Martin and Nick Cannon, the show recently aired in the US on BET, a cable network owned by Viacom, and is now being offered to the market for international syndication. “I call it the realest fakest reality show around,” Hart said. “It’s based around real actors’ lives and experiences which we’ve embellished for the show.” He said that a key target for syndication was the UK market, which was hungry for such shows, and had the advantage of a shared language. Hart said MIPTV was a crucial event on the world stage for promoting content. “Those who don’t understand it have no idea about the magnitude of this event,” he said. “MIPTV can do so many things for you and
The War On Doping (Matine Film and Television)
Irv Holender
INDUSTRY veteran Irv Holender — chairman of Multicom Entertainment Group, which he established — has been attending MIPTV since its early years. He started out with Desilu Studios in 1966 and throughout his long career has handled licensing in over 80 countries including for Fremantle Corporation Kevin Hart
your product. If you don’t come here there’s a wall in front of you.” Caroline Beaton, Viacom International’s senior vice-president international programme sales, said: “The reason Kevin is here is that his show is the number-one US rated cable sitcom for 18- to 49-year-olds. From a Viacom perspective we have always sold programming from BET and this show is a good way to dispel the myth that BET is a niche programme maker.”
LANCE Armstrong’s admission that he took performance enhancing drugs may have been too little, too late for most, but it came as a big boost for the producers of The War On Doping (1 x 52 mins/1 x 58 mins). “We released the film for the London 2012 Olympics,” said producer Bjorn Bertoft of Matine Film and Television. “Armstrong’s confession now, prior to the 100th anniversary of the Tour de France, as well as the coming 2014 Winter Olympics and Youth Olympics, have renewed interest in it. So we are now updating it with information about Armstrong, and more on winter sports such as cross-country skiing.” The new version will be available at the end of the year from Mercury Media.
Chello Zone gets show on the road UK BROADCASTER Chello Zone has acquired a 26-part 3Danimated series, Heroes Of The City, for children’s channel JimJam, from Your Family Entertainment, Munich. The adventure series Heroes Of The City (Your Family Entertainment) from Swedish production company, Ruta Ett, is set to premiere on the international pre-school channel next month in more than 60 territories. Heroes Of The City follows a group of rescue vehicles, including Paulie Police Car and Fiona Fire Engine, as they help the city’s residents find troublesome thieves, put out fires and solve
50TH ANNIVERSARY
mind-boggling mysteries. “It’s a great fit for our young viewers, encompassing our channel’s values to provide educational, entertaining and engaging content for our viewers,” said Kathy Fairbairn, director of programming for JimJam. Klaus Forch, executive vice-president legal and sales at Your Family Entertainment, added: “Our positive co-operation with JimJam has flourished over the past few years. We are very happy to have been able to supply the channel with quality content to support their growth strategy, and individual markets. Heroes Of The City is a perfect fit for JimJam’s EMEA feed.” Following a rapid expansion since its launch in 2006, JimJam is now available in 13 languages to over 19 million subscribers worldwide.
What do you recall of the early MIPTV markets? They were totally different from today. The industry was obviously much smaller so it was easier to forge firm friendships, and the atmosphere at the market was much more personal. Deals were often sealed on the strength of a handshake. Do you have a favourite MIPTV anecdote? There are too many to relate… I have some great memories of the markets over the decades, and of the many personalities and characters who have worked in the television industry. Sadly, so many of them have now gone. However, I have to say that Lew Grade made a particularly big impression on me. He had a tremendous personality, and was always full of hilarious stories about the TV business and the people working in it. Lew was always so very friendly and I have to say that I learned a lot from him. He had been deeply involved with the growth of commercial television in the UK since its origins back in the Fifties, and he just knew so much about the industry. It was impossible not to learn from his great knowledge, and sound advice. How has the television industry changed? Well obviously costs used to be a lot lower, so it was possible to negotiate some great deals at reasonable prices. Nowadays they have soared out of all recognition and the global recession means that new avenues of revenue have to be constantly explored. My personal feeling is that there are now too many markets around the world, which are becoming more and more expensive for companies to extend, but obviously MIPTV remains the flagship event for the international industry. What are your plans for the future? We are continuing to work on co-productions, constantly making new acquisitions, and developing a number of new exciting and entertaining series. This is still a great industry to be involved with.
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neWs Nevision offers UK drama producers a new approach to shortfall funding
U
K COMPANY Nevision is making its market debut, offering new funding strategies for UK drama producers. The company’s founders Tim Buxton, Neil Zeiger and James Cabourne, are not new to the business, however. With long experience respectively in distribution, drama production and finance, they want to help UK producers “mind the gap” — by providing friendly finance to make up the difference between the broadcast fee and total production budget. Nevision comes to MIPTV with the money secured — the investment criteria being that the target series should have a UK broadcast commission and an inherent appeal to the global market. “It’s too easy to grab the first funding that comes along, but it usually
On the money: Neil Zeiger (left), James Cabourne, Tim Buxton, founders of Nevision
has strings attached,” said Buxton. “We want producers to know how uncomplicated we can be.” Although they are happy to offer advice, the trio stress the money comes with no creative stipulations. Nevision will not impose a preferred distribution or co-production arrangement, and will work
to maximise the benefits of the distribution deal. “We want to enable producers to do what they do,” Zeiger said. Nevision hopes quickly to take on two or three projects at MIPTV, and form long-term working relationships with UK producers and broadcasters. “It’s a re-investment model,” said Cabourne.
THE Format People (TFP), a global TV consultancy whose mission to clients is the “transfer of expertise”, worked with Northern Ireland Screen to prepare 10 Irish creative professionals prior to their first MIPTV visit. A pre-MIP workshop was held in Belfast and the new participants were given a first-day tour of the Palais by TFP chief creative officer, Justin Scroggie (sixth from left).
Prime closes package deal with Sky UK
David Freydt (left) with Bernardo Bertolucci
PRIME Entertainment Group has closed a range of deals for its shows including a major package deal with Sky UK. The network signed HD episodes of Prime’s Hollywood’s Best Film Directors (78 x 26 mins), featuring filmmakers such as Ridley Scott, Ron Howard and George Lucas. A new season of the show has been launched featuring Rob Marshall and Bernardo Bertolucci. “We already had a deal
in place with Sky New Zealand and Sky Italy, so the deal with Sky UK is a fantastic addition to those deals,” said David Freydt, managing director of Prime. “It is very encouraging for us to see how successful our programmes are on these leading movie networks and we hope to add more Sky channels soon.” Further sales by Prime include, in Latin America, LAPTV’s acquisition of 104 HD episodes of the bestseller Zoom In.
TCB MEDIA BAGS ANIMAL SHOWS TCB MEDIA Rights has kicked off MIPTV by acquiring the rights to over 80 hours of new content, as well as licensing the first two series of Animal Airport (26 x 30 mins) to SBS Netherlands. The show, originally made by Icon Films for Animal Planet Europe, goes behind the scenes at Heathrow Airport and focuses on the animals, from cheetahs to tortoises, that are — legally or illegally — passing through the airport every day. Continuing the animal theme, TCB has inked a deal with Primate Planet Productions for all seven series (134 x 30 mins) of the popular docu-soap Monkey Life, which follows the work of the Monkey World ape rescue centre. US-based Indie Steel Spyda’s Mega Food series (6 x 60 mins), which visits some of the busiest kitchens in the world, from an Airbus A380 to a cruise ship, is now also part of TCB’s catalogue.
ESTRELLA TV SEALS DEALS ESTRELLA TV — the US Spanish language network — has closed programming deals in Honduras and the Dominican Republic for its original primetime programming. Sociedad Televisora Nacional, owner-operator of Canal Once and DTV in Honduras, has licensed the third season of Mi Sueno Es Bailar, Estrella’s dance competition show. Dominican Republic broadcaster Grupo Super Canal has licensed internet video clip show Que Jalada, news magazine Alarma TV, and suspense thriller series Historias Delirantes.
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miptv
feature MEDAILLE D’HONNEUR AWARDS
MIPTV honours six of the best To mark its 50th anniversary, MIPTV is honouring six international television executives with the inaugural MIPTV Medaille d’Honneur, recognising outstanding contributions to the international television business. The awards will be presented tonight by Paul Zilk, during the MIPTV 50th Anniversary Gala dinner. And the winners are… JAN MOJTO CEO of Beta Film WHEN he was awarded the Legion D’Honneur last July by the French Ambassador to Germany during the Munich Film Festival, it was, according to French President Francois Hollande, for his ‘democratisation of art through the international distribution of artistic works’. Before leaving his home country, communist Czechoslovakia, Mojto harboured ambitions of being a movie scriptwriter, but after arriving in Germany, he realised that he would never be able to write to his own satisfaction in a foreign language. But a stint at a local business school proved decisive in a way he did not expect: “After graduating, I got a job at an insurance company, but after two hours there I knew that I’d made a grave error. So when I was offered a job by Leo Kirch as script reader in 1979 I jumped at the chance, and in fact I was still working on that same contract 23 years later when the company went bankrupt, even though I was the acting number two.” That was also the year of Mojto’s first MIPTV. “I was initially confused and not sure why we were all there, but then I had a very positive experience when I sold a German/Austrian co-production, a show called Rings-
I got a job at an insurance company, but after two hours there I knew that I’d made a grave error trassenpalais — which was regarded as unsellable due to its very local interest — to the Italian broadcaster that would later become RAI.” Mojto points to Kirch as both a personal inspiration and an industry visionary: “35 years ago he was already talking about the situation we are in now, where you really can have your content anywhere and watch it anytime, but he also knew that it wouldn’t be happening any time soon. So now that we have arrived at a situation Leo foresaw, the big issue for me is how content will be financed in the future. And I don’t mean tomorrow, I’m talking about where we will be in a few years from now. Of course we are seeing more advertising money being invested in production, and that’s a good thing, because although the advertising industry has different vested interests to the TV industry, in the end, we’re all being judged by the same consumers.”
ARMANDO NUNEZ Sr ARMANDO Nunez Sr started out his career working in film production for Twentieth Century Fox in Cuba, before moving to the company’s New York office. “Twentieth Century Fox was having a bad run of movie flops and people were being made redundant, so when Abe Mandell, the head of ITC in New York, phoned me and asked me to come and work in the TV business, I was delighted. I ended up staying there for 30 years through the PolyGram and Universal acquisitions, first as head of the Latin American territories, then I was asked to take care of the Asian market as well. I’m particularly proud of being the first person to sell a dubbed version of The Saint to Telemundo, a broadcaster that had previously only bought Hispanic shows.” Nunez Sr, who was reporting to TV legend Lord Lew Grade at the time, got his first taste of MIPTV in 1979. “They were knocking down the old Palais and I arrived ready for business, in fact I think I was one of the first Americans to visit the event. What I really noticed was that most of my ITC colleagues were making fun of me for being so eager, but I was just happy to be busy and selling shows.”
Having worked in the industry since the Sixties, Nunez Sr has seen enormous change, but one thing in particular strikes him as fundamentally different: “15 years ago there were only the broadcast networks, and selling anything, whether it was a TV series or a movie, hinged on having it acquired by one of the US networks — after that everyone else wanted it. I was trying to sell The Return Of The Saint but was getting nowhere with the US broadcasters so I pitched it to CBC, and they took all 22 hours. When I phoned Lord Grade to tell him the good news, he immediately got on the phone to NBC, telling them that it had been acquired by the Canadians, and made a deal.”
My colleagues were making fun of me for being so eager, but I was just happy to be busy and selling shows 49
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BABY 2.0
ILDREN AND A TALE OF CH E AGE OF TH PARENTS IN E MEDICINE. REPRODUCTIV 1 11.02/13.0 th o o B r u o Visit us at
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miptv ARMANDO NUNEZ Jr President and CEO of the CBS Global Distribution Group WHEN CBS Corp CEO Leslie Moonves named Armando Nunez Jr head of global distribution in October of last year, he described him as being ‘pound-forpound, one of the best executives in town’. While Nunez Jr’s business acumen is all his own, growing up as the son of Armando Sr left its mark: “I always thought he had the coolest job in the world. I remember being asked aged 12 what I wanted to do, and replying that I wanted to be in global TV.” Nunez Jr started his career sending telexes out from the international department of Telepictures Productions, a company which was later acquired by Warner Bros. He joined CBS in 1999, where he is credited with building the company’s international sales division into a hugely important part of the operation, expanding into satellite, VOD, format sales and streaming services. “We live in a time of great opportunities, and I’m feeling very optimistic and bullish about the future, because the evolution of TV over the last 30 years has given us so many different platforms. Alongside that, digital technology gives us another set of ways to deliver content. Currently there are more people watching CBS’ shows than ever before, and I love the challenge of building on that.” Nunez Jr’s first MIPTV was in some ways very different to the MIPs of now, but in one way, very much the same: “One thing that struck me very powerfully on my first visit was that MIP brought the world of TV
together, and it still does. The other thing that amazed me as a first-timer was the fact that when I arrived at the Carlton and switched on the TV, it was playing the test card. At the time, there were only three channels, and none of them were broadcasting at that moment.” Another abiding memory is of the period 1986-7 when privatisation of the broadcast market started: “There were suddenly a lot of new channels, but a lack of production infrastructure providing them with shows. It was, however, the beginning of where we are today.”
There were suddenly a lot of new channels, but a lack of production infrastructure providing them with shows
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miptv MASAO TAKIYAMA President and representative director, Sony Pictures Entertainment Japan, Animax Japan, AXN Japan and Mystery Channel MASAO Takiyama originally wanted to be a journalist, but an opportunity to work for Nippon Television (NTV) while at college led him into the industry. “I was news room assistant, then I started to work for the news editor, and after that became the assistant director for NTV’s documentary programmes.” This all happened during the era of oil shortages: “Japanese TV stations stopped hiring, so I went to work for the America Japan Press which was the representative agent for Newsweek in Japan, where I started to write about the movies for specialist magazines like Roadshow and Screen. In 1975 I was hired officially by Asia Vision, the production and distribution company affiliated to Fuji Television. My job at that time was to distribute Fuji’s programmes to Asian countries. Then, when the international division was established in 1980, I started to participate in the international markets and in April 1981 I went to MIPTV for the very first time. At Sony since 1998, Takiyama sees real progress in Japanese production: “On a general level I dream of finding a business model that will make our content production more innovative. Historically, our problem has been that the local production system always depended entirely on the domestic TV networks — with the notable exception of animation — and consequently Japanese content has been very slow to get commissioned
I dream of finding a business model that will make our content production more innovative and made. And we are now paying the price of being risk-averse, of avoiding things like ensuring copyright clearances for second usage. However, recently the government has started the Cool Japan strategy, making copyright clearance much simpler, and our producers also have started to enter into more active co-production agreements and production business models with overseas producers. “I hope to be one of the supporters of a new wave of Japanese content production. I also think that given current circumstances, the quality of the content is everything.”
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miptv
feature NICOLAS DE TAVERNOST Chairman of the board, Groupe M6 NICOLAS De Tavernost studied political science and public law at Bordeaux, and like many young French high-fliers, went into politics with a post as advisor to the ministry of foreign trade and as secretary general of the French Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Zurich. In 1978 he returned to live in France working at the Ministry of Communication. In 1984 he was appointed as head of public services to the Delegation for Video Communications and two years later, he became head of the audiovisual services of Lyonnaise des Eaux. Tavernost takes up the story: “In fact I was hired by Lyonnaise des Eaux in 1986 to steer an investment project in television which led to the creation of M6, on March 1, 1987. So my first MIP was spring 1988. In
What I remember most clearly is that we bought more or less everything we viewed
those days there was only a single market programme with no MIPDOC, MIPCube or MIPJunior. It was nowhere near as big as it is today, but what I remember most clearly is that we bought more or less everything we viewed.” M6 is rightly seen as a channel that knows its audience, and despite the increasing complexity of the broadcast world, Tavernost is focused on one area: “I see one thing in common between the world of television today and that of 25 years ago, namely the importance of choice in content offers, and the existence of certain concentrations of success, as well as increasing globalisation. The digital revolution has undoubtedly changed our situation, because in France we went from six television channels to dozens, and that, combined with the internet, is significantly changing patterns of distribution and consumption of content. And for M6 that means that we must continue to grow our audience share and our advertising share for all of our channels. This will also be accompanied by the further development of our business diversification, namely our content production, our mobile interests, film distribution and e-commerce.”
SOPHIE TURNER LAING Managing director of entertainment, news and broadcast operations, Sky THE 50th MIPTV is the 30th for Sky’s Sophie TurnerLaing and her first since Sky’s acquisition of Parthenon Media last year. That move provides the foundation for the establishment of an international distribution business on the back of the company’s growing investment in original programming. While she concedes that she can now be classified as an industry veteran — even though “it makes you sound like you were in the trenches” — she says her passion and enthusiasm for the industry are as strong, if not stronger, than when she first showed up in Cannes 30 years ago. “I was unpacking loads of trunks full of flyers and ¾-inch tapes. It was tapes in those days, no DVDs, nothing on an iPad or anything like that,” she says. “So when I’d finished unpacking my stand I had nothing left to do for a while, and so I went down and offered my assistance to Central Television as it was called at the time. So I got to know all of those kinds of people. That was the start of it.”
Peter Orton was absolutely brutal with us. He was like, ‘Come on, get down that corridor, find that buyer!’
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She recalls her early move from secretary to salesperson, working for HIT Entertainment founder Peter Orton. “Peter was the ultimate salesperson, sadly no longer with us. He would stride down the Croisette with a large cigar in one hand and he had been up all night and still was absolutely on the metal for doing the sales. And he was absolutely brutal with us. He was like, ‘Come on, get down that corridor, find that buyer!’ We were all in the basement because it was the first year the Palais was open — and can you believe it, everyone used to smoke, it was like some night club down there. And nobody saw the light of day ever, because you were all day in the Palais and then you used to stay up all night.” Key to Sophie Turner Laing’s longevity in the business is her ability to keep up with the pace of change. “I think what one has to remember is just how fast this business moves. And at the end of the day it is good content, great shows, great storytelling that drives this business.” She adds: “I’ve been incredibly lucky, to be working in an industry that is ever changing — no way is tomorrow the same as today.”
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