Miptv 2017 news 1

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Monday 3 April 2017

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MIPDRAMA SCREENINGS

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Six awards were given to MIPDrama Screenings finalists at a ceremony last night

WORLD PREMIERE

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MIPDoc World Premiere TV Screening, ZDFE’s Big Pacific was discussed at yesterday’s MIPDoc Superpanel

MIPFORMAT KEYNOTES

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International Format Gold Award-winner Paul Gilbert of CBS was one of four MIPFormat Keynote speakers on Saturday

WORLD PREMIERE

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MEET US AT OUR STAND P-1.E58 Sky’s Riviera is tonight’s MIPTV World Premiere TV Screening

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CONTENTS NEWS

FEATURES

8 Early news from the market: MIPDrama Screenings awards; news from MIPDoc and MIPFormats; day-one deals; World Premiere TV Screenings; stars in Cannes; and more...

79 Opportunities for new voices What makes a drama co-production work?

PRODUCT NEWS 48 A round-up of what’s for sale in Cannes

89 Real, only better VR and AR are taking centre stage at MIPTV

PRE-LA SCREENINGS SHOWCASE Disney Media Distribution and Lionsgate have signed up for the inaugural Pre-LA Screenings Showcase at MIPTV. The event is from 09.00-09.45 tomorrow, and forms part of the MIPDrama series of events.

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The official MIPTV daily newspaper Monday 3 April 2017

The MIPTV Newsroom is located in the Gare Maritime

Director of Publications Paul Zilk Director of Communication Mike Williams EDITORIAL DEPARTMENT Editor in Chief Julian Newby Deputy Editor Debbie Lincoln Sub Editors Neil Churchman, Neil Crossley, Nigel Willmott Reporters Stuart Braun, Ben Cooper, Andy Fry, Juliana Koranteng, Max Leonard, Rachel Murrell, Gary Smith, Joanna Stephens, David Wood Editorial Management Boutique Editions Head of Graphic Studio Herve Traisnel Graphic Studio Manager Frederic Beauseigneur Graphic Designers Véronique Duthille, Yovana Filipovic, Carole Peres Head of Photographers Yann Coatsaliou / 360 Media Photographers Christian Alminana, Patrick Frega, Phyrass Haidar, Olivier Houeix, Michel Johner Editorial Management Boutique Editions PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT Publishing Director Martin Screpel Publishing Manager Amrane Lamiri Printer Riccobono Imprimeurs, Le Muy (France).

ADVERTISING CONTACT IN CANNES Silvia Ferreira: +33 7 78 35 43 99 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 BOULOGNEBILLANCOURT (FRANCE), VAT number FR91 662 003 557. Contents © 2017, Reed MIDEM Market Publications. Publication registered 2nd quarter 2017. ISSN 1967-5178.

Printed on PEFC Certified Paper.

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FROM PATRICK HARBINSON, WRITER AND EXECUTIVE PRODUCER OF HOMELAND STARRING HELEN M c CRORY

MIPDRAMA

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MIPDrama Screenings awards winners Buyers from all over the world and members of the international press attended the second MIPDrama Screenings, held in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals. Stars from some of the 12 chosen series were in Cannes for the event, and five of the titles were selected by three uries for special awards

The winners of the MIPDrama Screenings awards on stage — with Reed MIDEM’s Laurine Garaude (centre), Jerome Delhaye and Paul Zilk (far right) — at a special ceremony last night. Finalists were udged by the Grand Jury, a ury of TV critics and a ury of buyers, who chose a winner from a selection of works-in-progress and full episodes. In the full-episodes category the Grand Jury chose Brazilian prison drama Jailers, and German thriller Babylon Berlin in the works-in-progress section. The panel of TV critics gave the full-episodes award to French sci-fi series Missions, while Danish drama Ride Upon The Storm scooped the prize for works-in-progress. The ury of buyers also awarded the prize for works-in-progress to Ride Upon The Storm, and gave the full-episodes prize to British series Clique.

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Better Than Us is a compelling drama that explores the potential impact of artificial intelligence. Produced by Russia’s Yellow, Black & White Studios, the story is set in near-future Moscow where humans coexist with android robots. Pictured are director Andrei Dzhunkovskiy (left) and actor Kirill Karo.

Veni Vidi Vici is a 10-part series that centres on a movie director whose career is on the ropes after a series of terrible reviews. After a call from a friend, he ends up working in the adult entertainment industry, where he is forced into a double life that endangers his family. Pictured here are actors Thomas Bo Larsen (left), Livia Millhagen, Rafael Edholm and Fre a Edholm.

Ride Upon The Storm is about faith, both in the traditional, religious sense, but also in the wider context of what it is that guides us through our existence. The show is produced by DR Drama in co-production with ARTE France and SAM le Francais.

Pictured are creator Adam Price (left) and actor Lars Mikkelsen.

Babylon Berlin is a high-end drama based on the bestselling police thrillers by Volker Kutscher. Centering on inspector Gereon Rath’s investigations in 1920s Berlin, the 16 x 60 mins series is an atmospheric portrayal of the world’s most exciting city in the Golden Twenties. Pictured here are director/writers Tom Tykwer (left), Achim von Borries and Henk Handloegten.

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NEWS Japanese documentaries impress industry experts

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OUR works in progress were lined up at the Japanese Documentary Pitching Showcase, for appraisal by international broadcasters and producers.

They had been selected out of over 100 submissions to the most recent TokyoDocs, Japan’s leading international documentary pitching forum.

First up was Dr. Maaya And The Colors Of Life from The Far Eastern TV Entertainment Inc., about a woman living in the contrasting worlds of neurosurgery and fashion. Hug Me, Robot! examined how robots might help care for people with dementia, or bring socially isolated people back into their communities. Memories In One Twelfth, meanwhile, looked at people who

MIPDoc guests wowed

by Silva’s epic journey

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ASON Silva has a way with words. He beguiled the MIPDoc Networking Lunch talking to Tim Pastore, president of original programming and production, National Geographic Channel US, at the international unveiling of his new series, Origins: The Journey Of Humankind, which examines moments in history that shaped humanity. “It’s about how we became who we became,” he said, adding that he was fascinated by ‘feedback loops’ — how the things we invent then shape our own evolution.

Pivotal moments chosen by panels of expert scholars and authors include the mastery of fire, the advent of language and the invention of money. The stories are told using a mix of talking heads, documentary and scripted sequences, with Jason at the centre. Sound design is handled by internet polymath John Boswell.

The programmes are constructed around short “brain bursts” of information that lead into longer sequences, and the programme makers hope to introduce younger generations of viewers to fac-

immortalised their memories of significant places or things by commissioning a scale model.

And Surya – The Untold Story Of Surya Bonaly recounted the life of the controversial French figure skater who blurred the line between athlete and artist and faced up to racial discrimination on the ice.

Common feedback was that for international co-production — rather than acquisition — broadcasters might need some of the content based in their territory, so a balance between international and Japanese elements was desirable. Axel Arno of SVT Sweden hailed the advances in Japanese production: “There are a lot of documentary filmmakers ready to jump on the international market, it’s refreshing,’ he said.

Producers and judges at the Japanese Documentary Pitching Showcase

Exploring a new dimension for docs

THE VIRTUAL Reality: The

State Of The Market panel discussion aimed to give those involved in documentary at-

ties’ (i.e. programmes on traditional screens) a taste of what is claimed to be the fastest-developing area of factual. Immersive

storytelling had the potential to be more emotive, tangible and visceral, said Ellie Ngim, founder and co-director of Sin-

Panelists examined the state of the VR market

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Jason Silva

tual. “It’s bringing the sexy back to smart,” Pastore said. “It’s one of the most global programmes we’ve put out.”

Also at the lunch, Lucy Smith of Reed MIDEM thanked Fox Networks Group Content Distribution for hosting the networking event for the third year.

And Prentiss Fraser, executive vice-president and managing director of content distribution at Fox Networks Group announced Nat Geo’s new feature documentary slate, including Water & Power, Atlantis Rising — exec-ed by Alex Gibney and James Cameron respectively —and LA 92, which looks at the police assault on Rodney King in 1992. gapore-based BeVRR. UNICEF had made some VR fundraising films which attracted seven times as many donations because they were so empathetic.

But there was still no getting away from the cost: post-production budgets could typically be 35% to 50% more than an equivalent attie. However, this money could be found in creative places — often from a marketing budget for example.

On a creative level, sound in VR is very important for directing the viewers’ attention, the panel noted. And they warned producers not to get carried away with technical wizardry and instead concentrate on strong stories.

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NEWS

Innovation is essential for giving factual viewers the goosebumps

c Kyle Murdoch of NHNZ

BIG PACIFIC MAKES WAVES AS NHNZ’S AMBITIONS ARE REALISED “BIG PACIFIC is the biggest and most ambitious series we have ever produced,” said Kyle Murdoch, managing director of New Zealand’s NHNZ at the world TV premiere at MIPDoc. “It has the best crew, the best technology and the best co-production partners we’ve ever had.”

Shot in 4K HD, the series shines new light on the ocean’s mysteries, using cutting-edge scientific techni ues. The four one-hour episodes are themed by ‘emotion’ rather than the more usual geographic or scientific themes with titles such as Mysterious Pacific and Violent Pacific and are accompanied by a ‘making-of’ special. ig Pacific was co-produced

by CCTV9 of China; PBS (US); ZDF and ZDF Enterprises (Germany); Discovery International; Channel 9 (Australia); ARTE France; and recent addition, NHK. “ ig Pacific explores the most splendid ocean on the planet, and it is one which China is keen to protect,” said Zhang Ning, deputy editor-in-chief of CCTV. “This series is an indication of China’s desire to connect with the world, and to make further co-productions. ” Distribution is by ZDF Enterprises.

o-production is not enough to ensure high quality factual programming, concluded leading commissioners at Saturday’s MIPDoc Keynote Superpanel. To break through you need innovative ideas for content and marketing, they said.

Big Pacific, a MIPDoc World Premiere TV Screening from New Zealand’s NHNZ went for innovation. “We tried to find the unexpected,” said NHNZ managing director Kyle Murdoch. “So we made a really innovative sizzle reel and sent it to our co-production partners. We didn’t tell them it was a doc about the Pacific. We ust asked them what they thought.”

“It gave me goosebumps,” said Ralf Rueckauer, vice president ZDFE.factual, one of Murdoch’s many co-production partners.

“Excellent pictures, extraordinary music. I see hundreds of sizzle reels every year. This one really was outstanding.”

MIPDoc Superpanel

“We need our shows to look like Hollywood to meet audience expectations,” said Jens Monath, commissioning editor of TerraX ZDF, “and we need a log line that works in three sentences.”

Helene Ganichaud, deputy head of ARTE France, encourages producers to be ambitious and think big.

Like her, Yuan Tian, head of international co-production at China’s CCTV9 channel, looks for shows that domestic audiences can relate to. “We learn from our partners and other platforms,” he

said, “as when we did a series with Kyle called The End Of The Wild.

Sending a famous basketball player to Africa was a good way to help Chinese viewers understand what is happening there.”

“Co-production is important to us because it really helps us stretch our dollars,” said Pamela Aguilar, senior director of programming and development, PBS. “We don’t have tons of money to market our shows, but our network of local stations helps us reach a huge audience.”

Warrior Women wins International Pitch THIS year’s MIPDoc International Pitch was won by Warrior Women, a three-part documentary about female soldiers across the ages. Executive producers Sebastian Peiter and Richard Melman of UK production company Urban Canyons impressed the udges by portraying the lives of female warriors, from the fifth century BC to today, using exhaustive research to bring them to life through reenactment and CGI. “The quality of the re-enactment is very high, especially for the available budget, and it’s backed up by rigorous research and onscreen interviews,” said uror Kristina Hollstein, director acquisitions and co-productions, documentary, ZDF. “This is history that has never been told before, and it will be very watchable.”

Warrior Women was one of five

programmes shortlisted for their creativity, originality, storytelling, production values and global appeal.

Also shortlisted were two other historical studies that use reenactment. Secret Societies: The Struggle For Power by Arcadia Content (Canada) examines closed groups, ancient and modern, while Slavery Routes from CPB Films (France) focuses on recent scholarly research to find a new angle on slavery and its impact on modern economies.

The final two pitches focused on more contemporary topics. Dark Business Child Trafficking In The Heart Of Europe from Medienkontor (Germany), uncovers modern day slavery in the West and traces its routes. Finally, Trophy Hunters from Alleycats (UK) examines today’s big game hunters, and challenges their ar-

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Urban Canyons’ Sebastian Peiter (left) and Richard Melman

gument that the revenue from hunting is funding conservation in ways that liberals never could.

Hollstein’s fellow urors were Paul Hardy, creative director international development, A+E Networks; Justina Hemperek, manager factual acquisitions, eOne TV International; and Ben Nguyen, channel manager, SBS Corp, Australia.

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NEWS Co-producers find a way to shoot charging elephants

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OW DO you afford to film an army and 16 elephants charging across a plain? Coproduce internationally, according to David Royle, Smithsonian Networks executive vice-president of programming and production.

Speaking at MIPDoc’s International Coproduction Summit, he outlined different models that worked for Smithsonian, and highlighted Angkor Wat, about the lost Cambodian city, produced by EBS (Korea).

He had contacted the company after screening one of their films at MIPDoc and then took rights to Angkor Wat, with lavish dramatic reconstructions, for the US. “It was late in the game but it drove us into a model that really works for us,” he said.

This was the third annual international co-production summit, and the new format encompassed a presentation by Royle, round-table discussions focused on SVOD, and a panel, during which Laura Fleury of A+E Networks said her company intended to enter into more international co-productions, to help boost the profile of its channels outside the US. Conrad Riggs, meanwhile, affirmed Amazon Originals’ com-

Japan history film reflects new outward-facing mood

mitment to unscripted international collaboration now that it was a truly global platform.

Bo Stehmeier of Red Arrow International presented Inside Man, a series digging into the hidden stories behind international news events that could be expanded to focus on co-producers’ territories or interests; and Nicolas Deschamps of Gedeon Programmes presented technology-driven co-pro series, including Versailles, which uses sonar to map the hidden passages and intrigues of the French royal palace.

“SVOD is bringing a wave of change that is enveloping our business,” Peter Hamilton of DocumentaryTelevision.com, who moderated the event, said.

“Production costs will be shared in creative ways we haven’t imagined before.”

NHK’s Hiroshi Tanami

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T IS fitting that Tokyo Phoenix: The Rise Of Modern Japan was one of this year’s MIPDoc World Premiere TV Screenings — the earliest known moving images of the Japanese capital were shot by Les Films Lumiere in 1898.

The film was introduced by Hiroshi Tanami, NHK’s deputy director, programme production department, who said the film examined “why and how a city in the Far East became the biggest megalopolis in the world”.

He added that NHK had felt,

David Royle of Smithsonian Networks

Smaller producers meet their match THE MATCHMAKING sessions are proving highly popular at MIPDoc as they give smaller

producers face-time with big players they might otherwise struggle to meet. MIPDoc first-

Kristina Hollstein of ZDF Enterprises meeting Odin Media’s Julia Musatova

Planet+’s Isabelle Antraygue and Double Back’s Jenni Koski and Niina Brandt

timer Julia Musatova of Odin Media is a case in point. She met leading documentary investor Kristina Hollstein, director acquisitions and coproductions, ZDF Enterprises. They discussed her documentary series Kremlin: Era Of The Tsars.

“It was a good meeting, but my head is spinning!” Musatova said. “You only have a short time to establish a connection and talk about your programmes — and we have a big catalogue.”

Meetings are booked in ad-

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in its role as Japanese public broadcaster, that as interest grew around the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, it had a duty to help the world understand the city and its history.

The Japanese version of the film aired in 2014, and the tale of a rebirth from the ashes, twice over, had resonated in the aftermath of the Tohuku earthquake and tsunami.

The international version, made with the input of international producers, is available in three versions of different lengths. vance, but there are last-minute opportunities.

“We left it too late to book meetings, but we came to have a look — we’re so glad we did,” said producer Jenni Koski of Double Back Documentaries in Finland, who had a meeting with Isabelle Antraygue of Planete+.

“Some people booked but didn’t come, and we are hungry to find partners, so we took their slots.”

“We had emailed people in the past about our film My Secret Forest, but not all of them responded,” added her colleague Niina Brandt. “We met them all here.”

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NEWS PLATFORMS ‘TO SHAPE NEXT-GEN FORMATS’

Japanese content gurus lift lid on entertaining formats

E Sahar Baghery

THE WAY formats are watched and created will be influenced by the new platforms broadcasters are investing in, said Sahar Baghery, head of global research and content strategy at Paris-based Eurodata TV Worldwide, the international audience-ratings group.

During MIPFormats’ TV Viewing Trends presentation, Baghery updated delegates about the way broadcasters are adapting to emerging platforms and keeping track of young consumers’ viewing habits.

Speaking to MIPTV News before the event she said: “Now that the number of local and international OTT SVOD platforms is growing, we’ve entered a world where the content to fill those platforms is getting the most attention.”

With young consumers watching mostly short-form content on connected devices, established broadcasters, content owners and creators have been forced to take action.

“The emergence of these new (OTT) players is affecting how content is being produced because there is no doubt that millennials are watching less traditional TV,” she added. For example, German public service broadcasters ARD and ZDF have launched a joint venture called Funk, an app devoted to shows for young viewers.

As these trends will impact how formats will be produced and ratings are measured, Eurodata TV has invested in Paris-based Wizdeo and UK-based Tape Consultancy.

IGHT of Japan’s leading content creators came together in the Grand Auditorium on Saturday to showcase new entertainment formats at Treasure Box Japan.

First up was Masashi Yamamoto of TBS who introduced a new physical game show called Kunoichi (Female Ninja), in which 50 female contestants compete against each other across three indoor obstacle courses. Next was Yukiko Katie Nakano of Nippon TV’s format development division who presented a new show called Meet Me There. In this format, one person leaves a note that simply reads ‘meet me there’. Their partner must then work out where they mean by visiting places that are special to them both.

TV Asahi’s head of format development and sales Yuka Kakui pitched Experts Visit Experts while TV Tokyo sales manager Kei Kitamura outlined the factual entertainment format This Is My Mom. In the latter, people are stopped on the street by a camera crew who

then go with them to meet their mothers.

Asahi Broadcasting Corporation’s Chiyo Mori introduced novel cooking format Thief Chef while NHK’s Hisako Fujioka showcased Goodnight Japan. Fuji TV’s

Fumi Nishibashi pitched a slate of shows including Life Changing Funds and Hole In The Gap while YTV’s Akito Sasagawa outlined Exposed – Celeb’s Private. All of these formats can be discussed at the eight companies’ stands.

The eight Treasure Box Japan representatives

TV embraces formats from the dark side FORMATS examining the darkest side of human nature dominate some of the international format trends predicted during the MIPFormat session Fresh TV: Factual Entertainment & Reality Shows. “You will notice the dark themes in these ones,” said Virginia Mouseler, CEO of The Wit, the consultancy that analy- Virginia Mouseler delivers her MIPFormat address ses new international TV ing another true-crime format trends. Murder Or Suicide, a true-crime format distributed called Sins Of The Father, which

by Endemol Shine Group, follows explores the fate of people whose families who want answers when parents, such as the notorious they suspect there is more to the Charles Manson, are spending life behind bars for committing some alleged suicide of a loved one.

Israel-based Gil Formats is sell- of the most brutal crimes ever. It

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shows their children are also victims.

Other social-experiment formats include Sony Pictures Television International’s In Solitary, which is about experiencing prison solitary confinement; and 60dB Entertainment’s Mad About Me, which assists mental-health patients. The most controversial experiment format, however, is expected to be Denmark vs. Eastern Europe from Lineup Industries. Measured by customer satisfaction, pricing and quality, it asks who is better at doing a job: native labourers or the foreign ones?

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NEWS

The US unscripted business is in great shape at the moment. At MIPFormats, four leading players from the territory used their keynotes to give delegates an insight into their current activities and thinking

“If you follow the leader, you become part of the pack” AMAZON Originals head of unscripted Conrad Riggs used his MIPFormats keynote to say

Amazon’s Conrad Riggs

“Our business is about surety of execution”

that he sees “nothing but opportunity” in the unscripted business. “We’re just getting started,” he said, “We still refer to this as being ‘day one’.”

In terms of what Amazon is looking for he advised producers to prioritise original ideas.

“Most networks weren’t looking for the hit shows that came to them,” he said. “If you follow the leader, then you become part of the pack.”

Riggs talked about some of the access-based shows commissioned by the platform, examples being Le Mans, American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story and a series based around the McLaren Formula One team.

He also discussed Amazon’s plans for a local version of reality show The Bachelor in Japan.

TOM Forman, CEO of US producer Critical Content, said it has become easier for US independent producers to secure

Critical Content’s Tom Forman

“People always want to have shows with a track record”

“We’ve found our sweet spot with gritty, authentic shows” PAUL Buccieri, president A+E Studios and A+E Portfolio Group, A+E Networks, said his company has a “competi-

A+E Studios’ Paul Buccieri

an unscripted commission from US networks in the last two years, “but it hasn’t got any easier to own the rights”.

For this reason, the international market has become a key part of his strategic thinking. If he can get a Critical Content idea commissioned internationally first, it makes it easier to carve out an ownership position in the US, he said.

Forman also said producers in different markets should talk to each other more, rather than allowing agents and distributors to act as go-betweens: “Agents and distributors are great at selling, but our business is about surety of execution”.

ENTERTAINMENT industry veteran Paul Gilbert, senior vice-president international formats, CBS Studios International, told MIPFormats delegates that the biggest frustration in his career had been “trying to get buyers to buy an unproven format”.

This frustration is tempered by the fact that CBS controls proven formats like Wheel Of Fortune, Jeopardy!, The Match Game and Love Connection.

With all of these classic entertainment shows currently doing great business, he said: “People always want to have shows with a track record.”

Digital is also changing the game, however. With The Late Late Show segment Carpool Karaoke proving so popular online, it has been rebooted as a

tive advantage” in the format business because the company can call on so much broadcast data when talking to buyers.

Another key strength is the company’s adaptability, he said: “We have shows that can be scaled up or down to different price points, so lots of exibility.”

The company has had a lot of success with formats in the last couple of years, with titles such as Alone, 6O Days In and Bride & Prejudice proving popular. “I think we’ve found our sweet spot with gritty, authentic shows. My advice to producers that want to work with us is to bring us ideas that they are passionate about.”

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CBS Studios’ Paul Gilbert

TV format.

At the end of the keynote, Gilbert was presented with the International Format Awards Gold Award by C21, FRAPA and MIPFormats, for his outstanding contribution to the business.

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NEWS

From shy youngster to hero of the ‘real beauty’ movement

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ROOKE Hogan knows what it’s like to feel less than confident about her looks, which seems unlikely when confronted by the striking person she is today.

“No really — I was chunkier when I was younger and I also had bad skin,” said the reality TV star, actress, singer-songwriter, media personality and daughter of wrestler Hulk Hogan.

“In fact, it’s still a constant struggle to keep looking how I look.

I’m always working out and fighting the pounds. So I know how difficult it can be to live up to the unattainable standards of the fashion industry when you’re young and impressionable.”

Hogan was giving context to her latest TV project — Beauty World Search’s The Fashion Hero (8 x 60 mins), which aims to celebrate diversity, challenge per-

ceptions of beauty and pioneer a change in the fashion industry’s attitude to models.

Positioned as both a format and a “global digital beauty movement”, the Canadian concept sees would-be models compete before a panel of top designers to become the face of a major marketing campaign. The contestants are chosen on personality via blind speed-dating-style auditions, in dramatic contrast to the traditional casting of supermodel brand ambassadors.

“The concept of ‘real beauty’ is a global trend fuelled by social media,” said Beauty World Search president Caroline Bernier. “People everywhere are looking beyond the fashion industry’s unrealistic portrayals of beauty.”

In the run-up to MIPTV, The Fashion Hero was acquired by Singapore’s Bomanbridge Me-

dia, which has taken both the Hogan-fronted finished series and the format rights for the Asia Pacific region. Options have also been announced with Belgium’s Butterfish Group and Spain’s Boxfish TV. Format veteran Jan Salling’s Missing Link Media has repackaged the format and ready-made shows for international broadcast and distribution.

“The cool thing about The Fashion Hero is that, on top of all the cookie-cutter machinery of a good format, it’s also got such good spirit behind it,” added Hogan, who was also in Cannes to host Saturday night’s International Format Awards.

“Competition shows are fun to watch but they can get mean. We didn’t want to do that. Viewers these days are drawn more to the positive than to the negative.”

Brooke Hogan: challenging “unattainable standards of beauty”

Esuna’s Old Parrot wins format pitch

THE WINNER of this year’s

president international format production, said: “This wasn’t an easy decision because all this year’s contestants are winners, and all the ideas were ambitious.”

The other finalists were UKbased Malarkey Media, with music game show I Sang It My Way; Anat Nir from Israel, with Never; Spain’s Pausoka Entertainment, with The Best In History; and The Concept Collective from the US, which entered the game show Popular Belief.

According to all3media, the three-year-old competition triggered a record number of entries from 28 countries.

MIPFor mats Inter national Pitch is Colombia-based Esuna Casa Audiovisual, which impressed the judges with doc reality transmedia format Loro Viejo (Old Parrot).

Designed to counter the patronising view that older people are incapable of learning new tricks, Loro Viejo challenges senior citizens to go outside their comfort zone to learn a radical new skill. This could range from learning to be a DJ or a graffiti artist, to driving a car or using new consumertech devices.

Before Esuna’s content director Steven Morales Pineda came on stage for the top prize (€5,000 in cash, plus a €15,000 development package), Nick Smith, all3media International’s senior vice-

Esuna Casa’s Steven Morales Pineda wins MIPFormats International Pitch

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NEWS

Viewers are taking a shine to Gary

H

IGH-end drama continues to dominate the ratings and the headlines around the world, but entertainment formats are fighting back.

Cannes will see a number of highconcept, high-budget launches during the week, including tonight, when BBC Worldwide turns the spotlight on its latest entertainment shows including Let It Shine, Let’s Sing And Dance and Pitch Battle.

And inevitably Let It Shine will dominate the closeddoor event as it culminates with a performance by Take That front man Gary Barlow, co-creator and one of the judges on the show.

“The format of Let It Shine is very specific,” he told the MIPTV News. “Individuals audition with the view to making it into one of several bands created by the judging panel.

These bands then battle against each other, with public voting to determine the winning band. The prize the top band wins will be very much up to each broadcaster in their territory. For series one in the UK, we were after a boy band of five people to play a role in a stage show. It’s entirely possible for that same prize to be replicated in other countries, or the prize could be a TV event, a record contract or a live tour.”

Gary Barlow

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While some might feel that talent shows have reached saturation point, Let It Shine has defied the competition. “The premiere was within the UK’s top-five highest-rated new entertainment launches this decade, which is fantastic,” Barlow said. “According to the BBC the series reached a cumulative audience of 26.2 million viewers, so I think that shows that there’s obviously an appetite for the show even in this competitive sector.” He added: “The big difference with Let It Shine is that we are not just looking for singers. Our emphasis is on the skill of live performance, and we look for people who can sing as well as dance, and who also have real stage presence. There’s a warmth of tone to our show and the judges are all united in the single aim of bringing the best out of everyone.”

Tracy Forsyth, head of factual entertainment formats at BBC Worldwide, said the appeal of such shows was no mystery: “If you’re talking about trends, we’re living in an age of seismic political change and a great deal of uncertainty and we certainly feel that there is demand — and real need — for warm-bath television, sheer exuberance and joy. We’ve seen that in Let It Shine and we’ll see that in Let’s Sing And Dance.”

Barlow’s own career began with a talent show — which formed part of the BBC magazine show Pebble Mill At One. “By the age of 10 I was teaching myself piano on a keyboard,” he said. “When I was about fifteen I entered Pebble Mill At One and got to the semi-finals and that was probably when I realised I was capable of pursuing something musical.”

While he’s branching out into stage shows and TV, his day job is still with the band.

“I’m in Take That as my main job, that’s how I see myself, but Let It Shine is an extension of the band,” he said. “As you get older I think your audience expects more from you, the longer they’re with you they expect more and they want it deeper than 1991, they want more.” He added: “You have to do this job because you love it, not because you want people to love you or think you’re the best thing — take everything away and the most important thing is still the music.”

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NEWS

MGM turns crowdfunding into business entertainment show

M Join Instant’s producer, Melih Bas

MULTIPLAYER QUIZ OFFERS INSTANT DATA JOIN INSTANT, an interactive quiz show that can be played simultaneously by any number of people, was demonstrated in the Palais des Festivals by Turkish company Inter Medya in a live session presented by Melih Bas, the producer of the show.

The session ended with a lucky winner taking home the prize of a MacBook Pro. “Thanks to our simultaneous web-based elimination system, anyone with an internet connection can play from home as if they are in the studio, and players are eliminated instantly for a wrong answer, which means that we can reduce the number of players from tens of thousands to just one winner in one hour,” Bas said.

“Plus you only need to register once, then you can play any time by inputting your mobile number and password.”

Join Instant’s online platform offers instant analysis of the audience which can be used by advertisers and sponsors.

“The data that we harvest from participants is a powerful marketing tool,” Bas said.

He added that the show has recently been optioned in both India and Pakistan.

GM Television has launched the international format for Steve Harvey’s Funderdome in the Grand Auditorium on day one of MIPFormats.

Created by MGM TV president Mark Burnett, Funderdome is a business entertainment show based on the idea of crowdfunding, Matt Vassallo, MGM’s senior vice-president international TV distribution, said.

“Two products battle it out for a specified sum of money ranging from $10,000 to $100,000), with the audience deciding which one should get the money, based on 90-second pitches. They make their choice on which of the products they would be more likely to buy in a shop.”

The show launches later this year

on US network ABC as a 13 x 60 mins series. Each episode will see six products presented in three head-to-head duels. One important element of the show is the opportunity to cash out, Ludovic Attal, vice-president of international unscripted television and formats distribution at MGM, said. Before the audience decision is announced, lesser sums of money are randomly ashed up on screen — with each of the contestants able to accept an offer if they think they are likely to lose to their rival.

“It re ects real-life business decisions and adds some tension,” Attal said.

He added that discussions are already under way to adapt the show in some territories, with scope to vary the format depending on local requirements: “The

MGM Television’s Ludovic Attal

show can run at different lengths and can include video sequences with the back story of contestants. The host can also be either comedy- or business-oriented.”

Hollywood cooks up a car recipe IT’S BRAKES off for Bake Off’s Paul Hollywood, who is in Cannes with all3media’s production company North One Television to promote Car Nations, aka Paul Hollywood’s Big Continental Road Trip x 0 mins .

The celebrity UK baker has been a petrol head since he was given a toy model of James Bond’s Aston Martin DB — complete with ejector seat — as a small boy.

“I love all cars,” he said, talking exclusively to MIPTV News. “So

for me, learning about the character of a nation by looking at the cars they drive, how they drive them and the culture surrounding them was the perfect premise.”

Each episode of Car Nations, which rolls out on BBC One in late May, sees Hollywood set out on a road trip across three European countries with proud motoring histories — Germany, France and Italy — to mess about with the nation’s fastest, sexiest and most iconic vehicles.

North One Television’s Ewan Keil (left) and Neil Duncanson (far right) with celebrity baker Paul Hollywood

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He meets famous natives, pays homage to the country’s best — and worst — vehicles and, driving a different classic car in each territory, visits various sites of interest, from a nudist colony in Germany to a French chateau.

So what country did Hollywood enjoy visiting the most? “I’d have to say Italy,” he said — and not just for the food. “I love Italians and Italians just love their cars, whether it’s a Fiat 500 or a Lamborghini. They’re also very showy and amboyant — there’s a good reason why they invented the supercar.”

There is already talk that three more episodes of Car Nations will be shot in the US this summer. Neil Duncanson, North One CEO, said: “We’d like to continue our relationship with Paul and I can see this expanding into a franchise.”

Hollywood added. “Every time the three of us sit down with a pint we get excited about the possibilities.”

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NEWS Disney and Lionsgate join first Pre-LA Screenings Showcase

Lionsgate’s Peter Iacono

DMD’s Into The Deep

D

ISNEY Media Distribution and Lionsgate take part in tomorrow’s inaugural Pre-LA Screenings Showcase at 09.00 in the Grand Auditorium — part of this week’s MIPDrama series of events.

Peter Iacono, president international television and digital distribution, Lionsgate said: “We know that many of our clients who will be in Cannes are eager to have a first look at our May screenings line-up. It is particularly exciting to be able to debut our new series in the Grand Auditorium.”

Mark Endemano, senior vicepresident and general manager, Disney Media Distribution (DMD) EMEA, added: “Excitement is building for our new line-up of series, and to be able to share a sneak peek of this with the industry will just add to the buzz.”

Lionsgate’s key title is a new TV version of classic movie Dirty

Dancing. The film has been reimagined as a three-hour musical event that will be sold as a 3 x 60 mins mini-series. The new version stars Abigail Breslin as Baby, Debra Messing as Marjorie Houseman, and introduces Colt Prattes as Johnny Castle, the role immortalised in the feature film by the late Patrick Swayze.

DMD’s slate includes Marvel’s Inhumans, already greenlit as an eight episode series. “This is unlike anything you’ve seen on TV,” said Endemano. “It will explore the adventure of Black Bolt and the Royal family, superhumans with unique powers.”

The series is co-produced by Marvel Television, IMAX and ABC Studios. “In terms of the US premiere plans,” says Endemano, “this series will have an exclusive premiere event for the first two episodes in IMA theatres prior to the launch on ABC.” DMD’s other highlights are Cloak & Dagger, also from Mar-

vel, Into The Deep, an untitled Marc Cherry project and The Crossing, which, according to Endemano “may fill a gap for Lost enthusiasts. It’s about refugees from a war-torn country who show up in an American fishing town. They are from America, and the war they are eeing is over 100 years in the future.”

New Lionsgate mini-series Dirty Dancing

Welcome to LatAm drama’s new wave

THE WITT CEO Virginia Mouseler will be presenting a selection of the very best new drama from the LatAm region at the MIPDrama Latam Screenings today at 09.00 in Auditorium A. “High-end

drama from South America is increasingly attracting interest from the international community,” Mouseler said. “So we’ve put together a selection of exclusive premieres from around South America of the very best

DMD’s Mark Endemano

of the next wave of what are now being referred to as super series.”

The session includes brand new high-end content from 10 South American companies including HBO LatAm, Sony, Televisa,

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Telemundo, RCN, Azteca and Telefe. “These are still drama shows that can be broadcast daily but they typically feature 60-80 episodes, the topics they deal with are very different to the sentimentality of a telenovela, and the production values are much higher,” Mouseler added.

“They really are super series.”

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NEWS

Japan’s action man in Cannes

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HE JAPANESE action series Crisis is the first MIPTV Asian World Premiere TV Screening, taking place on Tuesday, at 11.45 in Auditorium A. Co-produced by Kansai TV and Fuji TV, the series stars Hidetoshi Nishijima (Tony Takitani, Dolls) as Timaru, a law enforcement agent who is investigating terrorist plots in Japan. Despite Japan’s safe image, Timaru insists that there are a number of potential dangers that might become reality.

“The story uses events that really happened in the past [to] imagine the possibility of criminal activity in the future,” said Nishijima, who is at MIPTV to p r omot e the ser ies.

“It explores these possibilities with hard action scenes that should appeal to people in every country, not just Japan.”

A police inspector in charge of international espionage, Nishijima’s character Tamaru is partnered with Inami, played by Shun Oguri Crows ero , an officer who takes a very different approach to his job.

“We are like the two sides of the same coin,” said Nishijima. “Inami is a stoical man. He confronts criminals in a very calm way. Together with their team they pursue a huge criminal case that sometimes forces them to resort to extra-judicial means. My character often has to do battle with his own philosophy of life just to get the job done.”

With the help of director Kazuki Kaneshiro, Nishijima endured weeks of difficult physical training in order to perform the intricate action scenes.

“It started for me about a year ago with training in a special form of martial arts called Kali Silat, from south-east Asia,” said Nishijima. “I needed to know how to use this fighting technique in order to act out the basic requirements for the action scenes. We had the help of a specialised action trainer team, even during the shooting phase. Just the training period itself lasted more than 50 days.”

The hard work was worth it. “I was able to do all the fight scenes myself, without any need for a stunt double.”

The series is distributed internationally by Fuji Creative Corporation, a subsidiary in charge of international distribution for Fuji TV, one of the largest Japanese broadcasting companies.

“MIPTV is delighted and honoured that Crisis from Kansai TV can be presented this year as the very first MIPTV Asian World Premiere TV Screening,” said Laurine Garaude, director of the television division of Reed MIDEM, organiser of MIPTV. “The exceptional quality of this Japanese police series makes it particularly suitable for international markets.”

Hidetoshi Nishijima

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NEWS

South of France sparks Right-to-die issue inspires new Neil Jordan thriller empathetic drama series

T

HE STARS of a “life-affirming” drama about assisted dying are in Cannes to launch the show on the international scene.

The show, Mary Kills People, centres around the lives of two doctors who risk their careers by offering end-of-life treatment including assisted dying to patients suffering in their final hours.

Speaking to MIPTV News, Caroline Dhavernas, who plays the lead role of Dr Mary Harris, said that the show prompts moral dilemmas and discussions among its viewers, fusing dark humour with serious issues.

She said: “Assisted dying is still illegal in the US and in most countries, but she’s doing it out of compassion and empathy. As the show goes on you find out more about her past and about why she’s doing this. We don’t

Julia Stiles in Riviera

T

ON IGH T’s M I P T V World Premiere TV Screening is Riviera, a 10-part thriller set in the south of France that was created by Academy Awardwinning writer and director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game).

Based on an idea by former U2 manager, Paul McGuinness, Riviera follows the story of art curator Georgina Clios, played

by Julia Stiles (The Bourne Identity), whose billionaire husband Constantine is killed in a mysterious explosion on board a Russian oligarch’s mega-yacht. Stiles took to the part immediately.

“In some sort of visceral way

I responded to the sophistication of the show,” she said. “It’s more poetic and mysterious than much of what I’ve seen on TV recently.”

McGuinness, who is Jordan’s long-time friend and lives on the Riviera, said the region directly inspired the idea for the series. “[It’s] the perfect place for a thriller,” he said. “When people ask me what the show is about, I say ‘It’s rich people in the south of France doing terrible things to each other’. There’s money laundering, art fraud, murder, yachts and Ferraris.”

Sky Vision handles the worldwide distribution for Riviera.

talk about death enough and we don’t celebrate life. This show is life-affirming it teaches the importance of appreciating how short life is and the value of it.”

Dhavernas is in Cannes with costar Ray Ryan, who plays Mary’s husband Joel, a plastic surgeon who joins his wife in her secret life outside of the emergency room.

The creation of newcomer writer Tara Armstrong, with Holly Dale directing, Mary Kills People is being showcased at MIPTV for its first international promotion, after launching in the US and then Canada.

It is a joint production of Cameron Pictures and Entertainment One, which is at MIPTV to launch the show. Entertainment One has also announced a wave of international sales for its hit detective series Private Eyes, starring Jason Priestly.

Mary Kills People stars Ray Ryan and Caroline Dhavernas

Turkey is global gateway for Nippon TV

NIPPON TV has sold the format rights for award-winning drama series Woman – My Life For My Children to MF Yapim – Medyapim, who will remake the series in Turkish for broadcast on Fox Turkey. The deal follows a successful venture last year when the companies partnered to remake Mother (which is entitled Anne in Turkey).

“We could not be more proud of the success that our series

Mother has achieved in Turkey,” said Cindy Chino, Nippon TV’s senior director of international business development. “It is one of the highest-rated series of this season and we are so happy that the Turkish audience appreciates the show, which is demonstrated by the fact that the numbers continue to grow each and every week. Turkey has become a gateway for Nippon TV for the global expansion of our scripted shows.”

Fatih Aksoy of Medyapim (left), Nippon TV’s Cindy Chino, and Faruk Bayhan of MF Yapim

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NEWS Korean creativity draws crowds to K-Formats Cannes showcase

T

he queues for yesterday’s K-Formats showcase confirmed that industry interest in Korean creativity is at a high.

“Koreans are truly among the most innovative people in the world,” said K7 Media’s Keri Lewis Brown, introducing the session. She illustrated her point with a string of titles unveiled at previous K-Formats showcases — Fantastic Duo, Hidden Singer, Better Late Than Never, I Can See Your Voice, The Society Game — which have gone on to do good business for broadcasters around the world.

Turning the spotlight on this year’s contenders for the Next Big Korean Hit, Lewis Brown said she had observed a marked

increase in collaboration between Korean and international companies. “Every year, we are seeing more industry partnerships and friendships forming,” she added.

As in previous years, the 2017 showcase spanned the genres, from singing through scripted to social experiments. An innovative hybrid was KBS Media’s Trick & True, a primetime proposition that the public broadcaster’s Hanbyul Kim described as a “combination of science and magic”. Contestants are challenged to guess whether an act is a magic trick or a genuine scientific phenomenon.

SBS’ The Heir, presented by Kim Insoon, is an edgy social experiment that “explores the dark side

of hierarchy”, currently in development with a US producer.

MBC pitched Duet Song Festival, in which professional singers collaborate with amateurs in a fastpaced sing-off, while CJ E&M’s Hwang Jinwoo presented the energetic, karaoke-inspired Golden Tambourine, which premiered on Mnet in December.

MBC’s Grace Na also unveiled an ingenious scripted format called W: Two Worlds Apart, in which a heart surgeon sets off to find her father, a famous comicbook artist, who has gone missing. “It’s about two worlds colliding — the comic book world and the real world” Na said. The suspense-laden drama, which is available in UHD, also has “pioneering CG built into the format”.

KBS Media’s Hanbyul Kim: science versus magic

SBS’ Kim Insoon: “the dark side of hierarchy”

Pitch Doctor Paul makes SMG’s format database newcomers feel at home to boost Chinese market A CANNES tradition — Paul ‘The Pitch Doctor’ Boross’s presentation to market firsttimers — kicked off MIPTV 2017 last night.

“I’m like the MIP warm-up man,” Boross said. “When you first come to this market, you can feel like a very small speck in a very big global business. My job is to welcome first-timers, get them to laugh and relax, and help them to feel as though they are part of the MIP experience.”

Reed MIDEM’s Isabelle Moulin described her mission as first-timers’ ambassador as “humanising” MIP TV for newcomers. “We want to give them the sense they belong to the MIP community,” she said. “My team is the friendly face of Cannes. We welcome first-timers, guide them and explain how to make the most of MIPTV’s global opportunities. Our aim is to make it

as easy as possible for firsttimers to bring their stories to the international industry.”

For Boross, networking is the allimportant skill. “Be prepared to talk to anyone and everyone,” he said. “And don’t forget to pack your smile along with your sizzle reels and business cards. As the great Victor Borge once said, a smile is the shortest distance between people.”

Paul Boross and Isabelle Moulin: “humanising” MIPTV

SHANGHAI Media Group hosted the MIPFormats Networking Cocktail on Saturday. The company has taken a dynamic role at MIPFormats to promote its new IFORMATS platform, the first online database of Chinese TV and OTT formats. Included are scripted, unscripted and app formats, each with videos, descriptions, ratings and content to facilitate acquisition. IFORMATS also provides reports and insight and will act as an agent, pairing international companies with Chinese partners. It is designed

to give foreign companies everything they need to successfully enter the Chinese market.

SMG is also celebrating concluding a deal for its entertainment format The Next, in which members of the public try to out-sing established stars. It has signed a worldwide agreement for the format with Endemol Shine.

The show helped propel SMG’s Dragon TV to the top of the official ratings last year, after CCTV, and it claims that this is the first time a wholly Chinese-originated format will be produced abroad.

Reed MIDEM’s Jerome Delhaye (left); Lin Zhiqiang and Zhu Tao, SMG; William Tan of Endemol Shine China; Reed MIDEM’s Laurine Garaude and Li Yi of Dragon TV

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NEWS Belanga’s top shows signed up in ZDF German-language deal

RTE OFFERS INSIGHTS ON LIFE WITH AUTISM

Autism And Me (RTE Global)

Z

DF ENTERPRISES has acquired all German-speaking rights for Balanga s two agship series, ace o ace and Bon Appetit with Gerard Depardieu. ace o ace, which recently won the Prix Export — the TV France International award for the best-selling French documentary series around the world, fea tures comparative portraits of two personalities or companies observed through the prism of rivalry. he series includes episodes covering o s vs ates, ady Di vs li a eth , astro vs uevara, ir us vs oeing and epsi vs oca. ace o ace originally aired on rance , and has so far een sold to more than 60 territories.

Bon Appetit (Balanga)

“We are delighted to start working with ZDF nterprises, a company that is a leading force in delivering high-end factual programming in German-speaking territories and around the world. We hope this is the beginning of a long term relationship, said alanga hristophe ochnac i. “ on ppetit is a travel-food series of 10 one-hour episodes in which Depardieu invites viewers to follow him on his quest through beautiful European regions such as uscany, rittany, cotland and Bavaria to discover famous local specialities. he show was co produced y , , anada and lo o. alanga is at tending MIPTV with the new 4K science series Adventures In Science.

BBC clinches Dooley doc deals

W DW D arrives in annes on the ac of glo al sales for its tacey Dooley strand of investigative documentaries.

Deals have been closed for three new documentaries y the presenter and our nalist, who rose to fame in after appear ing in several hree films a out child la our. ustralia, weden and DR Denmark have acquired Brainwashing tacey mins , which sees the intrepid Dooley immerse herself in groups with chal lenging ideologies and eliefs, from anti abortionists to big-game hunters. hina, the etherlands, inland and orway have also ta en rainwashing tacey, along with two minute tacey Dooley nvestigates titles anada s ost irls and oung e or ale n apan. erman pay channel utentic s

piegel Wissen, meanwhile, has pic ed up Young Sex For Sale In Japan and Brainwashing tacey. anada s ost irls continues Dooley s repu tation for tackling tough topics — in this case, the disappearance of hundreds of young women from indigenous communities. Young e or ale n apan is e ually hard hitting, e ploring the se ual o ectification of chil dren in apanese society. on indley, head of specialist factual and mu sic content at Worldwide, said “ tacey s s ill in as ing difficult and pro ing uestions no matter the circumstances is earning her acclaim from critics and fans across the world. hese documentaries ta e tacey out of her comfort one li e never efore and continue to demonstrate her a ility to engage the hard to reach younger audience.

35

YESTERDAY was UN World Autism Awareness Day, which aims to improve the quality of life of those with the life-long neurological condition. It’s a cause that resonates with RTE Television Programme Sales, whose MIPTV slate includes Firebrand Productions’ revealing and deeply moving documentary Autism And Me, featuring the experiences of several children, teenagers and young adults.

The one-hour documentary, which debuted on the Irish public broadcaster early this month, offers a rare opportunity to see life from the perspective of those living with autism. “I mostly try to show that I am not stupid,” is how one contributor, 16-year-old Fiacre Ryan, poignantly sums it up.

OVATION LANDS WARTIME DRAMAS US ARTS network Ovation TV has acquired US premiere rights to the historical drama series The Halcyon (8 x 60 mins) and three seasons of X Company (28 x 60 mins) in a deal with Sony Pictures Television.

“World War II has provided a dramatic backdrop for many movies and TV series over the years, but we found that both these series use this era to enrich some very unique and engaging character studies and plot lines,” said Scott Woodward, executive vice-president of programming and production at Ovation. Both series, he added, featured first-rate production values and top-notch performances.

The Halcyon (Sony Pictures Television)

miptv

NEWS CARGO ARRIVES WITH BIG HAUL OF DOC DEALS

Endemol’s Ambulance rushes back to BBC after hit debut

E Walking With Giraffes (Cargo Film & Releasing)

NEW YORK-based documentary specialist Cargo Film & Releasing reports a string of pre-market deals for several of its MIPTV priorities, including Walking With Giraffes, Jackson and The Lost Arcade.

National Geographic Channel Wild has taken the global rights to Iniosante Productions’ Walking With Giraffes, which explores the silent extinction of these majestic creatures.

Jackson, Maisie Crow’s examination of abortion in the US Deep South, meanwhile, is set to make its broadcast premiere on Showtime.

The award-winning documentary, which focuses on the last abortion clinic in Mississippi, “comes at a pivotal moment for reproductive rights”, according to New York Magazine. An SVOD deal has also been closed for The Lost Arcade, which looks at New York’s legendary Chinatown Fair. Lionsgate has picked up the Kurt Vincent-directed film for its Comic-Con HQ channel in the US and several international territories.

NDEMOL SHINE Group is in Cannes on the back of renewed broadcaster commitments and the launch of a cinematic social experiment that blends drama and entertainment with the highest production values.

On the factual front, Endemol Shine UK production company Dragonfly has been commissioned by BBC One for a new series of Ambulance (8 x 60 mins) following the strong performance of its first run last year. he new series, which will focus on the UK’s West Midlands Ambulance Service, will again go “way behind lue ashing lights to tell the complex story of a public service under intense pressure,” said Danny Horan, the BBC’s commissioning editor of documentaries.

Endemol Shine North America has also sold the new series of Ambulance to CBS in the US. A new series of another factual hit hine s unted has been commissioned by Channel 4 UK, where the second season of the factual thriller consistently outperformed its slot average. Meanwhile, Endemol Shine Netherland’s Simpel Media is producing a second series of the genre defining social e periment,

Ambulance (Endemol Shine UK)

which follows fugitives on the run, for Dutch broadcaster NPO. Over on the other side of the world, a new primetime run of reality format he ociety Game has been ordered by Korean heavyweight CJ E&M for its agship channel tv . he first fruit of the new co-development partnership between Endemol Shine Asia and CJ E&M signed last year, he ociety ame premiered last November, where its unique take on politics, complete with shocking election victories, dramatic coups and evolving alliances, proved a hit with tvN’s key youth demographic.

Lastly, Spain’s Movistar has commissioned an ambitious eight-

part series from Endemol Shine Iberia, whose CEO, Pilar Blasco said the show “really pushes the social-experiment genre to the next level”. roduced y eppelin , he Bridge (El Puente) challenges a group of strangers to win a hoard of treasure. he catch is that the treasure is on an island and, to reach it, they must build a 300-metre bridge across the water in just 30 days.

Lisa Perrin, Endemol Shine’s CEO of creative networks, said: “ he trend for ground rea ing factual programming with scripted sensi ilities continues. he Bridge brings stunning movielike qualities to the genre.”

Nelly And Caesar set for comeback ZORN Production international, the publishing group Averbode/ Erasme (Averbode Publishers) and the illustrator Ingrid Godon have signed an agreement to develop the second season of the animation series Nelly And Caesar (52 x 7 mins). he first series had success internationally, having been acquired and broadcast by more than 30 channels worldwide, including Disney hannel, i , u i , Ketnet, YLE, NOS/Z@pp, ABC, uftivi, , , , , , hannel, ata-

lunya, and Al Jazeera. “ han s to the network of partners and broadcasters who acquired the first season, we already have some interest from potentia l investors in the new season, which we are writing and developing right

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now,” said Rodolphe Dietrich, in charge of developing the series for Zorn Production International. “And we are looking for co-production partners as we plan to enrich the franchise with new ancillary products.”

Nelly and Caesar (Zorn Production International)

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miptv

NEWS Documentary marks return of Japan’s master of animation Hayao Miyazaki (NHK)

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AYAO MIYA ZAKI is widely regarded as the father of Japanese animation thanks to films including My Neighbour Tottoro and Spirted Away. In 2013, Miyazaki announced his retirement from feature-length films. “My era of animation is over,” he told journalists, adding: “Even if I wanted to ma e another film, would just put this down to the foolish thoughts of an old man.”

But NHK director and documentary-maker Kaku Arakawa kept in touch. “After retiring, Miyazaki lived a quiet, solitary life, but the desire to create eventually stirred again. When I visited him in January 2015, he talked about making a short animation called Kemushi No Boro (Boro The Caterpillar). This conversation was the spar that led to the filming of the documentary Never Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki.”

© Photo: Nicolas Guerin

iya a i first dreamed up emushi No Boro more than 20 years ago, only to abandon the pro ect ecause of the difficulties of realising his vision. But now he had no animators to call on, until he met a group of young, up-and-coming CGI animators. “Miyazaki seemed so happy. He teased himself about whether a retired old man should be working on such a project,” said Arakawa. “But he was having so much fun during the production process. After working with paper and pencil for fifty years, he had to draw on a thick LCD tablet screen with a touch pen, so there was a slight gap between the pen stroke and its position on the screen. This was all new to him and the documentary captures his struggles.” The documentary records Miyazaki at the age of 75 as he faces new challenges. Will he manage to finish filming Kemushi No Boro? Will he take it further and decide to make a featurelength film again ever nding Man: Hayao Miyazaki will be screened on Wednesday in Auditorium K at 12.30, followed by a sushi lunch.

NHK digital shorts target wider audience

AS JAPANESE viewers increasingly view content on smartphones, broadcaster NHK is launching 1.5 Channel, a new web-based service designed to put its content into the hands of digital natives.

“SVOD services like Netflix, Hulu and Amazon are changing the way people watch content,” said Hitoshi Furukawa, senior producer, global content development, NHK. “AbemaTV, which live-streams internet TV to PC and smartphones, launched last year and is growing at a rapid pace. Such services will surely change the way adults consume content, and this will also in uence ids way of consuming content.” s . hannel is a new internet service offering short clips from popular NHK shows

on YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. New smartphone-savvy designers have been brought in to re-package content in ways that will appeal to audiences that aren t regularly watching NHK. The service launched last week with 80 clips re-packaged from popular NHK shows.

“Each month we plan to release another 50 clips,” said Furukawa.

“The focus will be on infotainment and entertainment shows to start with. hildren s programming is likely to follow.”

A non-TV based service is a significant change for , which previously insisted all output was for TV.” “Previously when NHK has done this, it was to promote an upcoming show,” said Furukawa. “But 1.5 Channel — named because it shows the best

from Channel 1 and Channel 2 — is different because it offers a new way of watching high-quality content that we hope people will make use of in their daily lives, and share.” he service isn t currently available to other companies at this moment, but is not geo-blocked so anybody can watch from anywhere in the world.

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Hitoshi Furukawa, NHK

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miptv

NEWS Find Me In Paris (Federation Kids & Family)

Bear Grylls

PLATINUM READY TO THRILL WITH YOUNG GRYLLS A NEW children’s entertainment brand based on the adventures of the young Bear Grylls has been greenlit by Platinum Films, the production company behind the kids’ shows Matt Hatter Chronicles, Dream Street and Planet Cook.

YBG Films — an exclusive collaboration between Bear Grylls Ventures and Platinum — will develop an animated series that “brings the spirit of adventure and exploration to young kids in a way that fires their imagination and brings out the survivor in them,” said Grylls, the UK adventurer, writer and BAFTA-winning TV presenter. Platinum CEO Nigel Stone said that Young Bear Grylls would tap into all the qualities of “adventure, courage, survival and friendship” associated with the host of Man Vs. Wild and Born Survivor. He added: “We want it to be actionpacked, inspiring and fun, with a good dose of mischievousness and intrigue.”

With its focus on heroic escapades and epic missions, Stone said the new series would have what he called “that quintessential James Bond Britishness.”

Federation’s ballerina takes a bow on international stage

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IND Me In Paris, Federation Kids & Family’s live-action ballet drama for teens, has been sold to ABC Australia, Disney France and Italy, France Televisions and VRT Belgium in the countdown to MIPTV. Commenting on the deals, David Michel, founding partner of Federation, said: “We could not ask for better platforms to reach our intended premium viewership.”

The €11m ($12m) time-travel se-

ries, produced by Federation’s sister company Cottonwood Media, ZDF and ZDF Enterprises, was commissioned by ZDF. The action starts in Paris in 1905 when a young ballet dancer called Lena is hurtled into the 21st century by the power of an old necklace given to her by her boyfriend Henri.

While Henri frantically tries to ring ena ac , she finds herself increasingly enthralled with the 21st century — not to mention her handsome new dance partner Max.

Michel, who is also president of Cottonwood, said the show’s concept, with its focus on fun and creativity, had attracted interest from buyers. “Find Me In aris has clearly filled a niche, he added.

The series is being shot on the streets of Paris and in the worldfamous Garnier Opera House, whose choreographers are working with the show’s international cast to ensure the authenticity of the dance sequences.

A+E joins Newen in French venture A+E NETWORKS is partnering with Newen Studios to bring A+E’s most successful formats, including Alone and Bride & Prejudice, to French audiences.

“Our deal with Newen demonstrates A+E Networks’ commitment to continued expansion in the international marketplace through strong, long-term partnerships with the best broadcast and production players,” said Patrick Vien, executive managing director, international, A+E Networks. “Our formats are part of a new generation of television, in that they are entertainment with a social purpose. After major success

in the US and the UK we consider France’s audience to offer enormous potential for groundbreaking formats,”Alexandra Crucq, managing director of Newen subsidiary Production Valley added: “A+E formats question society and the world that surrounds us through new forms of storytelling, enabling them to reach a very large audience. Alone and Bride & Prejudice are already very popular in France.”

Newen’s most recent success is the historical drama series Versailles, with the first episode of season two attracting a large audience when it aired last month.

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Production Valley’s Alexandra Crucq

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NEWS

Classic wildlife catalogue is natural fit for Purecom

P John Danbury (left) and Daniel Coll pictured during the filming of Are We There Yet?

VISUALIZE ON A ROLL AFTER MIPTV DEBUT LAUNCHED a year ago, Visualize Films massively benefited from its presence at MIPTV 2016, according to company co-founder John Danbury. “It has been an insane year,” he explained.

“Danny (co-founder Daniel Coll) and I just decided to put some programme and format ideas together, and came to MIPTV for the first time. We luckily picked up a commission to make our first programme, a 10-part television series called Are We There Yet? starring former Coronation Street actor Charlie Lawson.”

Visualize Films has since signed an international distribution deal with TVS, and the show is launched at MIPTV this year. The duo also went into pre-production of a feature film with multi-award winning playwright John Godber, turning his stage play Tragedy Of Macbeth into a feature film. It has now been shot, edited and entered into the Cannes Film Festival with a UK Theatrical release scheduled for late September.

URECOM Entertainment International has acquired Amsterdambased Nature Conservation Films Worldwide (NCFWW), whose 150-title portfolio of series, specials and films includes wildlife classics The Leopard Son, Serengeti Symphony and Survivor.

NCFWW, which was founded by legendary Dutch wildlife filmmaker Hugo van Lawick, joins distributor Power Entertainment Media in the Purecom stable.

Power will take the distribution rights to NCFWW’s back catalogue and future productions, as well as more than 300 hours of HD and 4K wildlife footage.

NCFWW’s MIPTV slate features several new series, including two one-hour Wild Tanzania titles — River Battlefront and Queen Of The Hunt — and Surviving The

INDIAN broadcaster ZEE Entertainment Enterprises has licensed the telenovela Total Dreamer from Globo TV. The series, described as a modern fairytale, will premiere in primetime next week on Zindagi, the premium entertainment platform that showcases drama from around the world in Hindi.

Total Dreamer has been a success in Brazil and Portugal, and has already been licensed to air in Dubai, Africa, Uruguay, El Salvador and Israel, among others.

River Battlefront, now part of the Power Entertainment Media

Serengeti. In-production titles being showcased this week include Forest Hope, Baby Turtle Island, Giants Of The Deep and Wonders Of The Natural World.

Purecom founder Justin Bodle

said his company had been set up to work with the best in the media industry. “We have definitely found this in NCFWW, which is fantastic at giving viewers a look into wildlife like never before,” he said.

Balkan tales of the unexpected

THE LATEST series from Antenna International Enterprises feeds into the growing trend for documentaries about “astonishing human stories”, according to the Greek media group’s London-based managing director, Pete Smith.

At MIPTV, the distributor is previewing an episode of new documentary series Naked Balkans (15 x 45 mins), which investigates some of the region’s most disturbing customs, from cannibalistic criminal gangs to real-life vampires and bio-energy healing practices.

“Naked Balkans will highlight a wide range of topics from the Balkan countries that have never before been brought to the screen — whether it’s resurrecting a deceased, unmarried son for his wedding or the mysterious Rtanj mountains, where UFOs are often sighted,” Smith said, adding: “Viewers will be both amazed and unsettled in equal measure.”

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The series, co-produced by Antenna Studios and Adrenalin for PRVA TV (Serbia) and ANT1 (Greece), is currently in production. It will be narrated in English.

Naked Balkans (Antenna International)

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miptv

NEWS Keshet hits acquisition trail with German indie purchase

Blue Ant and Blink extend Love Nature partnership

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A NA DA’s Blue Ant Media, which produces and distributes 4K Ultra HD natural-history content, has entered into an exclusive two-year agreement with the UK’s Blink Films for its Love Nature brand.

The production and distribution output deal extends a partnership under which Blink will produce seven original 4K series over two years, helping to boost Love Nature’s naturalhistory catalogue to 400 hours from about 350 hours. By 2019, Blue Ant International will be offering the new content as part of its 4K wildlife and natural-

Keshet International’s Sammy Nourmand (left) and Tresor TV’s Axel Kuhn: “exciting opportunity”

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ESHET International has acquired German independent producer Tresor TV in a deal unveiled at MIPTV today.

The deal will see the two companies work side by side to acquire and produce new content.

Tresor will also source shows from Keshet’s catalogue, which includes scripted documentaries, quiz shows, dramas and dramedies.

Tresor managing director Axel Kuhn said that more co-development was likely as a result of the deal, which would enable “growth into new genres”.

Sammy Nourmand, Keshet Productions managing director for the UK and West Europe, said that the deal was an “exciting opportunity” for both companies.

“It’s important for us to have development teams in new markets and new areas,” he added.

“In Tresor we have found a likeminded company with a likeminded attitude to us in Germany. We have worked very well with Axel in the past and we share a vision moving forward.” he resor deal is the first ac uisition by Keshet, which currently has offices in el viv, ondon and Los Angeles.

Blue Ant Media’s Vanessa Case (left) and Love Nature’s Marcia Martin: “the next wave of content”

Ninja Warrior hits stride in Europe

Ninja Warrior: “accelerating”

history catalogue.

In addition, Blue Ant is seeking new co-producers in Cannes.

“We are looking to producers to bring us the next wave of content,” said Vanessa Case, Blue Ant’s executive vice-president, content.

“We are at a turning point where the next content to be commissioned has to look and feel very different from what is already in the marketplace,” added Marcia Martin, Love Nature’s senior vice-president of original content.

Blink productions and any new co-productions will be on the Love Nature platform, which reaches 39 countries.

SPORTS entertainment format Ninja Warrior has been licensed to Austrian network Puls 4 by The Story Lab and Dentsu, just as filming egins here in annes on season two of the French version for TF1.

Ninja Warrior is derived from the show asu e, first roadcast in Japan in 1997. Each episode puts hundreds of competitors through a high-energy, multilevel obstacle course, the winner being the last one left standing.

“We are very proud to be a part of the Ninja Warrior story,” said Michael Iskas, global president

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of The Story Lab. “The format is generating outstanding ratings across Europe, and we’re planning to accelerate it even further.”

Local versions have been made for TV2 Hungary, ITV UK, Antena 3 Spain, SBS the Netherlands, RTL2 Germany and Discovery Networks Italy.

The Story Lab is a global investor, producer and distributor of premium entertainment content. Part of the Dentsu Aegis Network, it is headquartered in ondon, and has offices in markets, including Los Angeles, Shanghai, Paris, Moscow, Hamburg, Madrid, Sydney and Mumbai.

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Cheap Cheap Cheap

FORMATS

Rich House Poor House

Three Wives, One Husband

FACTUAL

How To Live Mortgage Free

Episodes

COMEDY

Outnumbered

The Secret

DRAMA

Doctor Thorne

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www.hattrickinternational.com | @Hattrickint

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miptv

NEWS AFRICA’S M-NET BUYS MOB DRAMA GOMORRAH FROM BETA FILM

Daro Film seals big romcom deal with Great Point Media

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Beta Film’s Gomorrah

BETA FILM has sold its Sky Italia mafia series Gomorrah to M-Net, Africa’s biggest subscription TV network.

The series will be screened this month as part of the network’s new foreign-language TV series block on its flagship channel, M-Net 101.

The South African MultiChoice Group-owned TV service has only recently opened up to European productions and will broadcast the show in its original version with English subtitles as well as subtitles in local languages.

Gomorrah has also sold to India’s DTH service Tata Sky for its Tata Sky World Series service, and to Sundance TV in the US. Beta Film, Sky Italia, Cattleya and Fandango are in post-production on the third series of Gomorrah.

Beta Film has also signed a multi-hour deal with African telecommunications group Econet for its recently launched pay-TV service Kwese TV, including 50 German and French movies and other European feature films. All shows will be broadcast in sub-Saharan Africa in their original language with English and locallanguage subtitles.

ONACO-based distribution company Daro Film has closed a deal at MIPTV with Great Point Media for 29 romantic comedy and family TV movies. Twelve of the projects are completed and a further 17 are in production. Titles include Bad Dates Chronicles, It Had To Be You, Secret Summer and Twist Of Fate.

Pierre Andre Rochat founded Daro Film 35 years ago after working in marketing for FIFA: “I had always wanted to create my own company so it seemed like the right moment to go for it, but I honestly never thought I’d still be doing it 35 years later,” Rochat said. “While I was at FIFA I had met and become friendly with the creator of The Ghoulies, an animated show which he asked me to distribute, and that’s how the company started.”

Since then the company has become nown as a specialist in feature films and these days has a catalogue that includes The Shawshank Redemption, The Player and Papillon. “Alongside our regular partners Hallmark and Lifetime we co finance around films per year, and we have an output deal with French broadcaster TF1,” he added. “We are also looking at TV series but the truth is that films are less of a ris .

Daro Film Distribution founder Pierre Andre Rochat

NTV offers innovation and evolution LAST September, Russian channel NTV announced a change of strategy. “We promised new projects and we are delivering on our promise,” said Timur Weinstein, NTV’s general producer, pointing to his MIPTV slate of new ready-made series, documentaries and formats. e added “ he first string of shows eeps the balance between innovative and evolutionary. We have tried to build up something new, while preserving what our audience loves about us.”

Among NTV’s new formats are kids’ vocal contest Superyou!, crime-solving battle Psychics Vs. Detectives and Secret For A Million, in which cele rities share confidences in return for prize money. ew fiction titles include spy drama Devil Hunt, mystery thriller After Death, Soviet

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NTV’s Timur Weinstein: “delivering on our promise”

period drama Our Happy Tomorrow and a lavish adaptation of Aleksei Tolstoy’s trilogy The Road To Calvary, timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Russian revolution. The product line-up also includes new lifestyle and documentary titles.

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PRODUCT NEWS MGM TELEVISION

PRIORITIES for MGM at MIPTV include: The Handmaid’s Tale (10 x 60 mins), based on Margaret Atwood’s novel, starring Elizabeth Moss as a Handmaid trying to survive in a male-dominated totalitarian regime; Get Shorty (10 x 60 mns), inspired by Elmore Leonard’s novel about a hitman turned movie producer; Condor (10 x 60 mins), starring Max Irons as a CIA analyst who stumbles onto a plan that threatens the lives of millions; Steve Harvey’s Funderdome (13 x 60 mins), a seedfunding competition reality series; and factual entertainment series Mutiny (5 x 60 mins), where nine men set out to recreate the gruelling journey of the men who survived the mutiny on HMS Bounty.

miptv

CANAMEDIA

CANAMEDIA is launching two new travel and lifestyle series at MIPTV, both available in HD. Traveling With Emily M (13 x 30 mins) follows an adventurous young women who travels the world searching for exciting and unusual places. Travel Time With Linda (13 x 30 mins) is an upbeat global travel series that includes glamour, luxury and adventure.

Traveling With Emily M (Canamedia)

GAD

The Handmaid’s Tale (MGM Television)

CYBER GROUP STUDIOS

MEDIA RANCH

CYBER Group Studios is at MIPTV with the first episodes of its latest animation The Pirates Next Door (52 x 11 mins/HD), developed for France Televisions. The series has already pre-sold to Tele Quebec (Canada), SVT (Sweden), NRK (Norway) and AB Svensk (Scandinavia). Set in Dull-on-Sea, the quiet life of the town is turned upside-down by the arrival of a pirate family. The French distributor also brings: new episodes of Zak Jinks (52 x 13 mins/HD), targeting six- to 10-year-olds, following the adventures of a likeable shirker; Leo The Wildlife Ranger (60 x 11 mins/HD), with worldwide rights excepting South Korea and Singapore, aimed at three- to six-year-olds; and the third season of Zou (156 x 11 mins/HD), which features new characters.

CANADA-based producer and distributor Media Ranch brings a line-up of new formats to MIPTV. Verdict On Demand, created by Dutch indie producer Vincent TV Producties, features a judge who solves disputes after visiting the location and exploring both sides of the case with the help of a presenter, before delivering a legally binding verdict. Spin-off series Legal House Call sees a legal expert making house visits to people struggling with legal issues.

Media Ranch is currently developing both formats for the Canadian market. The company’s own format Save The Date features real-life stories that play out over national holidays, designed to be broadcast to coincide with the holiday. Other formats showcased include Canadian blind-dating show Thunderstruck, cooking format Tipsy Recipes, The Couple (AKA Double Occupancy), True Sex Confessions and Steel Panther On Sunset Strip.

The Pirates Next Door (Cyber Group Studios)

Verdict On Demand (Media Ranch)

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FACTUAL programming brought to Cannes by French distributor GAD includes the newly completed documentary from filmmaker Jawad Rhalib, The Time When The Arabs Danced (1 x 52 mins), which considers how a region that could formerly be carefree and tolerant has become the location for often violent fundamentalism. Other documentaries include archaeological study In The Eyes Of The Pharaohs (1x 52 mins), and 4K music specials Nemanja Radulovic And The Ensemble Double Sens (1 x 70 mins) and Auguri By Oliver Dubois (1 x 90 mins), at the Theatre National de Chaillot. GAD is also looking for pre-sales for: The Crude Poker Game (1 x 90 mins), about the oil industry; The Couple: A Fantastic Biological Adventure… (1 x 90 mins), a scientific study of couples; and history series SOS Vessel In Distress!

(8 x 52 mins).

The Time When The Arabs Danced (GAD)

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PRODUCT NEWS ARMOZA FORMATS

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PORTFOLIO ENTERTAINMENT

AT MIPTV, Armoza Formats is launching The Final Four (13 x 90/120 mins), the first primetime music show developed and distributed by the company. The show begins with four superstar-quality singers selected by a trio of music judges. In each episode new hopefuls try to steal a seat from one of them — anyone can enter via the dedicated app, with the most talented singers being invited to challenge the finalists in the studio.

The format slate also includes: Sex Tape (60/90 mins), which gives three couples per episode the chance to improve their relationship by sharing filmed intimate moments with other couples, under the guidance of a sex therapist; and Play Date (30 mins), a show that brings together five families, each opening their doors and providing creative activity for each other. While the kids play, the parents watch hidden from sight and see a new side of their children.

CANADA’s Portfolio Entertainment brings worldwide rights for new reality series Small Town, Big Mayor (10 x 30 mins) to MIPTV. The series was commissioned by US cable network UP TV, and will premiere later this year. Set in D’Lo, Mississippi, with a population of 456, newly elected Mayor John Henry Berry wears a white suit, drives a golf cart and has big plans for the town. With a crew of locals he sets out to turn D’Lo into a tourist destination and a location of civic pride. Small Town, Big Mayor is produced by American Chainsaws Entertainment and Captain Al’s Big Big Pictures.

The Final Four (Armoza Formats) Small Town, Big Mayor (Portfolio Entertainment)

HAT TRICK INTERNATIONAL

LONDON-based Hat Trick debuts its format Cheap Cheap Cheap at MIPTV 2017, a mix of comedy and game show. Originally produced by Hat Trick Productions for Channel 4 in the UK, where a 30 x 60 mins version is in production featuring Noel Edmonds as host. The show is based in a general store, owned by the host, who invites contestants to win money by correctly judging the value of different items. Couples play in pairs and must pick the cheapest of three similar items to win. A cast of characters gets involved, including Barry, the store manager, sales assistant Kelly, health and happiness guru Marijana and Keith, the odd-job man.

Cheap Cheap Cheap (Hat Trick International)

GLOBO

TELENOVELAS highlighted at MIPTV by Brazil’s Globo include: Total Dreamer (130 x 60 mins), a romantic comedy about a homeless girl who dreams of helping out her family by competing in a modelling contest; Time After Time (100 x 60 mins), a story of forbidden love told across different eras; Wounded Past (130 x 60 mins), about a couple torn apart when young who get the chance later in life to rekindle love; Lady Revolution (45 x 60 mins), about the tempestuous life of the daughter of a revolutionary in 19th-century Brazil; family-feud drama Burning Hearts (100 x 60 mins); and romantic comedy Rising Sun (100 x 60 mins). The company also brings a slate of series and films to Cannes.

APPU SERIES

APPU the elephant’s yogic powers know no bounds in Appu, The Yogic Elephant (52 x 11 mins), brought to Cannes by India’s Appu Series after a successful run on Pogo in India. He taps into his inner energies and channels power through the three dots on his forehead. His mission is to save the world from all disasters with his friends Neena and Tiger. Eight seasons are now lined-up for release, and a television movie is planned.

Appu, The Yogic Elephant (Appu Series)

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PRODUCT NEWS RCN TELEVISION

miptv

MARVISTA ENTERTAINMENT

COLOMBIA’s RCN brings a range of series to Cannes. Pambele (80 x 60 mins) is about world champion boxer Antonio Cervantes, better known as Kid Pambele. He hung around with the jet set in his world-beating years, but there was also a dark side to his story with scandal, drug abuse and violence.

Other drama series include Francisco The Mathematician (70 x 60 mins), You Shall Not Forget my Name (60 x 60 mins), Heart´s Decree (123 x 60 mins), A Thread Of Blue Blood (70 x 60 mins) and They Are Here (13 x 60 mins).

MARVISTA Entertainment debuts Negative at MIPTV, produced by MarVista and starring Katia Winter (Sleepy Hollow); Dexter Simon Quarterman (Westworld) and Sebastian Roche (The Man in the High Castle, The Young Pope). The series features amateur photographer Hollis (Quarterman) who unluckily snaps a picture of Natalie (Winter), a young woman who also happens to be an ex-MI5 (British Secret Service) agent on the run from the Colombian cartel members that she has double-crossed.

Pambele (RCN Television)

Negative (MarVista Entertainment)

ITV STUDIOS GLOBAL ENTERTAINMENT (ITVS GE)

THE MIPTV scripted slate from ITVS GE is topped by Fearless and Harlots. Written by Homeland writer and executive producer Patrick Harbinson, Fearless (6 x 60 mins) follows Emma Blunt (Helen McCrory), a solicitor who is trying to free a man she thinks was wrongly convicted of the killing of a schoolgirl. Harlots (8 x 60 mins) is set in 18thcentury London and based on the stories of real women, including Margaret Wells (Samantha Morton) and her daughters, as she struggles to be both mother and brothel owner.

The company also brings US thriller Somewhere Between (10 x 60 mins), which features Paula Patton as Laura, a superstar news producer in San Francisco. Laura discovers her eight-year-old daughter is going to be murdered, but she doesn’t know who the murderer is, or why, but she knows when it will happen, where, and how. ITVS GE also brings a slate of returning series including Victoria, Cold Feet, Poldark, Good Witch, Endeavour and Vera. ITV Studios Global Entertainment (ITVS GE) announced today that it has signed a deal with Canada’s Super Channel which will see Harlots air exclusively on the premium payTV channel.

DYNAMIC TELEVISION

DCD RIGHTS

LA-BASED Dynamic brings the English-language show and Hulu Original series with a all-Latino cast, creators and writers, East Los High, to MIPTV. Born out of a recognition that US Latino audiences are under-served and fatigued by their stereotypical representation. East Los High (60 x 30 mins) follows a group of inner-city Latino teenagers in their final years at an East Los Angeles high school. Dynamic is distributing all four seasons. From the film slate, a highlight is Valentine’s Again (1 x 90 mins), from Hallmark Channel and produced by UFO International Productions, in which a woman finds herself stuck reliving Valentine’s Day until she opens her heart to an unexpected suitor. Dynamic holds worldwide rights to both titles, excluding the US.

WHEN her husband is murdered, Sarah Manning realises that she knows nothing about his past, in HD series Acceptable Risk (6 x 60 mins). While coping with her grief at home in Dublin, she questions what her husband did for his global organisation, and why if he was a salesman he needed to carry a gun. The growing suspicion that his death may be connected to that of her first husband leads Sarah to confront a powerful conspiracy extending to Montreal. An Ireland/Canada co-production, the series is produced by Saffron Moon and Facet4 Media in association with Acorn Media Enterprises for RTE Ireland, financed with support from the Broadcasting Authority of Ireland.

East Los High (Dynamic Television)

Acceptable Risk (DCD Rights)

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PRODUCT NEWS

miptv

Missions (AB International)

AB INTERNATIONAL

A TOP priority for French distributor AB International is the first season of Missions (10 x 26 mins), which depicts a war between the US and Europe for the conquest of Mars.

After 10 months of travelling, the European team unwillingly has to rescue its rivals. The US team were first to land before losing touch with their country. Once on Mars, they find another survivor, Vladimir Bolelyov, Russia’s first astronaut in space who was thought to have died in 1967.

CITV

AUTENTIC DISTRIBUTION

CHINA International TV Corporation (CITV) is at MIPTV with an epic tale of the legendary life of Sima Yi in the heroic age after the Three Kingdoms period. The Advisors Alliance features the young timid scholar who was forced to be an official for the Cao Cao family in their dangerous struggle for the throne. He tries to help Cao Pi become a wise emperor, laying a foundation for the end of the inrest. CITV also brings China’s Mega Projects II from channel CCTV-9, which travels the country profiling some of the large infrastructure projects including roads, bridges, vehicles and ports.

COLOGNE, Germany-based Authentic is showcasing a range of factual entertainment programmes at MIPTV. Cyborgs: Human Machines profiles real-life cyborgs who fuse their bodies with technology to expand their senses. Two-part documentary Children Of The Sun: Wild Bees & Butterflies, takes a look at nature’s little helpers, and Raising Wildlife follows the daily routine of wildlife ‘nannies’. Jumble Rumble shows how people can turn your worthless scrap into cash.

The Advisors Alliance (CITV)

Cyborgs: Human Machines (Autentic Distribution)

A+E NETWORKS

A+E NETWORKS brings an extensive slate of its programming to MIPTV. Drama highlights include: Nightfall (10 x 60 mins), chronicling the events leading up to and following the persecution, downfall and eventual burning at the stake of the Knights Templar; Six (8 x 60 mins), inspired by real missions of SEAL Team Six, the unit best known for killing Osama Bin Laden; and Twenties murder mystery The Witness For The Prosecution (2 x 60 mins/3 x 45 mins). Formats include: Bride & Prejudice; extreme adventure Alone; and Seven Year Switch. Factual shows include: Leah Remini: Scientology And The Aftermath; The Curse Of Oak Island; Little Women: LA; Tiny House Nation; 60 Days In; Nightwatch; The Life & Death Of Tupac; The Notorious Life Of Biggie Smalls; L.A. Burning: The Riots 25 Years Later; and the second series of Gangland Undercover (season one, 6 x 60 mins/ season two, 8 x 60 mins). A+E also brings TV movies Beaches, The Night Stalker and Girl In The Box.

SONAR ENTERTAINMENT

A CO-PRODUCTION of Bavaria Fernsehproduktion, Sky Germany and Sonar Entertainment, new eightpart series Das Boot is a sequel to Wolfgang Petersen’s 1981 film and Lothar-Gunther Buchheim’s novel.

The original story followed the claustrophobic and brutal world inside a World War II German U-boat.

This series focuses not just on the German perspective, but on the experiences of the French Resistance and Allied forces on land and at sea, and the rising resistance in the U-boat port of La Rochelle. Through it all, Buchheim’s original message remains relevant, that blind fanaticism pushes young men into pointless war.

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Knightfall (A+E Networks)

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PRODUCT NEWS MONDO TV

BANIJAY RIGHTS

MONDO TV returns to MPTV with animation series Sissi, The Young Empress, which has sold to more than 35 countries, and this year will debut on Austrian national public-service broadcaster ORF. This four-year agreement gives ORF exclusive rights to three transmissions in German and/or English in Austria and South Tyrol.

BARONESS Von Sketch Show (6 x 30 mins), from Frantic Films for CBC, is a comedy series that takes a fresh look at narcissistic contemporary culture.

The all-female cast draws upon 15 years of comedy experience to present sketches capturing the banalities and absurdities of everyday concerns from the pretentiousness of ordering a fancy coffee to office and sexual politics.

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WDR MEDIAGROUP

COLOGNE’s WDR mediagroup brings international rights for new live-action children’s series WildWoods (26 x 11 mins) to MIPTV. From Belfastbased studio Sixteen South, the show — targeted at kids aged four to seven — is filming this year.

WildWoods features puppets in outdoor locations and aims to encourage children to appreciate nature. The show has been acquired by RTE for Ireland and by ABC Kids for Australia.

Baroness Von Sketch Show (Banijay Rights)

SHAMBALA CULTURAL INDUSTRY INVESTMENT

Sissi, The Young Empress (Mondo TV)

FACTUAL shows The Story Of Panda and The Summer Palace, on show at MIPTV, showcase the skills of China’s Shambala, a virtual-reality production company which integrates 360-degree panoramic videos with 4K flat videos enabling viewers to learn more about what attracts their attention within the experience.

TV ASAHI

JAPAN’s TV Asahi is highlighting new one-hour format Experts Visiting Experts at MIPTV. The travel reality show sees professionals of various fields visit their counterparts in a foreign country. The visiting experts encounter a different world of culture and tradition and make surprising discoveries in their own field of expertise. An example is a German Deutsche Bahn engineer who learns about the complex daily operations of the busiest train system in Tokyo.

Experts Visiting Experts (TV Asahi)

WildWoods (WDR mediagroup)

ZDF ENTERPRISES (ZDFE)

HEADING the drama roster for ZDFE is Before We Die (5 x 100 mins/10 x 50 mins), which follows Hanna, a cop in the organised crime unit of the Stockholm Police, who when her lover and colleague is abducted takes over his undercover investigation of a criminal biker gang. Dario Maltese (4 x 60 mins/8 x 50 mins) is about a murder case that becomes a tale of corruption. Factual programmes include: wildlife series Big Pacific (4 x 50 mins/4K, plus a Making Of); and history series Hitler’s Circle Of Evil (10 x 50 mins). Formats include game shows 4 For Family – The Big Family (150 mins) and You Can’t Fool Me! (90 mins). Kids highlights include live-action dramas Dance Academy – The Comeback (1 x 97 mins/4 x 24 mins), and Lexi And Lottie – Trusty Twin Detectives (26 x 24 mins).

Before We Die (ZDFE)

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PRODUCT NEWS QUINTUS MEDIA

TELEVISIO DE CATALUNYA

SPAIN’s Televisio de Catalunya brings a range of its programming to Cannes, including The Wizards Of Cake, which features a team of prestigious pastry chefs led by Christian Escriba as they work to turn the most impossible requests into reality. The company also brings Emergencies, a series about people who risk their lives to save others, including doctors, nurses, firefighters, police and other professionals.

The Wizards Of Cake (Televisio de Catalunya)

MEDINA MEDIA

SPAIN As Never Seen Before (4 x 90 mins) is a cultural travel series that profiles popular celebrations and landscapes in Spain in 4K. Included is the carnival in Cadiz, Holy Week and El Rocio. Also the series features aerial footage of the best and most unique landscapes to be found in one of the most sunny countries in Europe.

Spain As Never Seen Before (Medina Media)

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QUINTUS Media brings documentary series The Greatest Crimes Of All Time! (10 x 60 mins/HD) to MIPTV. The series documents crimes that have attracted worldwide attention, including murders, kidnappings, extortions and hostagetakings. The series uses exclusive archive material, original recordings and interviews with investigators and experts.

The Greatest Crimes Of All Time! (Quintus Media)

IGMAR

CONTRIBUTION — bought to Cannes by Russia’s Igmar — is a historical feature film starring Maksim Matveev and Elizaveta Boyarskaya. The story follows the investigation of the disappearance of a huge diamond, a detective story against the backdrop of psychological confrontation between the main characters.

Contribution (Igmar)

BLUE ANT INTERNATIONAL

BLUE ANT International brings a catalogue of more than 160 titles to MIPTV. The company’s expansion into new genres has added scripted fare to its line-up, including The Inspectors (44 x 30/HD), set in Washington and inspired by real cases handled by the US Postal Inspection Service. A range of 4K nature programming includes: two-year project Camp Zambia; Growing Up Wild (3 x 60 mins); Wild Survival (3 x 60 mins); Untamed Valley (3 x 60 mins); Africa’s Hunters II (6 x 60 mins); Guardians Of The Wild II (4 x 60 mins); and HDR documentary Alaskan Summer (1 x 60 mins). Factual entertainment series include: Guilty Rich (6 x 60 mins); A Know It All Guide To ... (12 x 30 mins); Home Chef To Pro Chef (14 x 30 mins); Paranormal Survivor III (10 x 60 mins); new 360 digital-video series, Paranormal Survivor: Evil Surrounds You; and Evil Nature (12 x 60 mins).

The Inspectors (Blue Ant Media)

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PRODUCT NEWS 9 STORY MEDIA GROUP

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FILM & PICTURE

THE PRIORITY for Paris-based Film & Picture is series Manon, 20 Years (3 x 52 mins), and second season Three Times Manon (3 x 52 mins). The show, about the life of 20-year-old mechanic Manon, is already sold to Netflix, Canal Play, C+ Poland, Tou.TV, Numero 23 and to Walter Presents in the US.

Manon, 20 Years (Film & Picture)

ONZA DISTRIBUTION

Vivi (9 Story Media Group)

TWO TITLES top the MIPTV slate for Onza Distribution. The Miracle Of Fatima (2 x 50 mins) marks the first centenary of the apparitions in Fatima, Portugal. This year celebrations include Pope Francis. In recent years the Fatima shrine has become an icon for world Christianity and is visited by millions of pilgrims every year. The company also brings Jungle Planet (26 x 26 mins/4K) presents the biodiversity of jungles and forests on the planet.

BALEUKO

BLACKIE & Company – Farm Friends is a 26 x 11 mins series that follows the antics of the animals living on Liberty Farm who, unknown to their human caretakers, talk, sing, dance and play. The series, from Spainish animation studio Baleuko, is based on the film Blackie & Kanouto (1 x 82 mins), about a black sheep who is obsessed with going to the moon. The company also brings: Amila’s Secret (1 x 65 mins), about a girl who has suffered several health problems since birth, yet discovers the magical door to a mythological world that needs her help; The Wish Fish (1 x 75 mins), about a boy unwittingly taken by aliens intent on draining the world’s oceans after he refuses to eat healthy food; and The Elf Who Stole Christmas (1 x 65 mins), set in the Pyrenees.

RTVE

SIX SISTERS, a daily series format, is about a wealthy family of six Spanish sisters in 1913, with stories of hardship, self-improvement and love. It is a period of great contrasts and social inequalities, and in which life is not easy, particularly for women. Spain’s RTVE is also prioritising Queens, the story of the rivalry between Mary Stuart of Scotland and Elizabeth I of England. The two women clashed over their political and religious convictions, under the watchful eye of Spain’s Philip II. The series was filmed in English, featuring spectacular outdoor locations in Spain and Scotland. Comedy series iFamily tells the story of two feuding brothers Kike, who is addicted to gambling, and Luis, a widower with four children.

Blackie & Company - Farm Friends (Baleuko)

Six Sisters (RTVE)

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NEW PRE-school animation series Vivi (52 x 11 mins) follows Vivi and her friends — Backpack and Flashy — as they embark on magical journeys to fantastic places. On each adventure they make new friends and overcome obstacles, while learning something about the world. The Canadian company is also highlighting holiday special Angela’s Christmas (1 x 30 mins), based on the children’s book by Frank McCourt. The funny, irreverent and poignant story is about the power of family and the desire of a child to ensure everyone is safe, warm and loved at Christmas time.

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PRODUCT NEWS ECCHO RIGHTS

STOCKHOLM-based Eccho Rights brings Star India’s new series Amala (Kya Qusoor Hai Amala Ka?) to MIPTV, which recently premiered on the Star Plus channel. The story follows a young woman overcoming a horrific group assault while confronting conflicting feelings for one of her attackers. The series is based on the series Fatmagul from Turkish producers Ay Yapim.

Amala (Kya Qusoor Hai Amala Ka?) (Eccho Rights)

Trust Me (Studiocanal)

HG DISTRIBUTION

HG DISTRIBUTION is launching Le Jardin D’Ewald (1 x 59 mins) at MIPTV, about the efforts of Senegalese people to outwit one of the country’s greatest mass murderers — drought. In the series, a farmer, an artist, a gardener and a young boy have one thing in common, mastering everyday life in Senegal with the lack of water. The programme is available in English, German and French. The Montreal-based distributor also brings: Montreal, Mon Amour, Mon Histoire, five one-hour documentaries exploring the Aboriginal, French and British history of the city, available in English and French; and Gamers: Beyond The Game (1 x 90 mins), about three competitive players.

Le Jardin D’Ewald (HG Distribution)

STUDIOCANAL

AVAILABLE from Studiocanal for the first time at MIPTV are three drama series. Trust Me, from the UK’s Red Production for BBC One, is a four-part drama set in Edinburgh which tells the story of a hardworking nurse who loses her job, and in order to provide for her daughter steals her best friend’s identity as a senior doctor to start a new life.

Something’s Rockin’ is a 10-part series from SAM Productions for TV 2 Denmark, co-produced by Sweden’s TV 4, and was inspired by the real events surrounding pirate radio station Radio Mercur.

La Porta Rossa is a 12-part series for RAI 2, a crime thriller with a supernatural twist.

CINEFLIX RIGHTS

THE MIPTV line-up for the UK distributor Cineflix Rights includes: Diana: The Day The World Cried (1 x 60 mins), marking the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s death, including testimony from some of the famous guests at Westminister Abbey and those behind the scenes; Pure (6 x 60 mins), a drama inspired by true events, the journey of a Mennonite pastor determined to rid his community of drugs and its ties to cross-border smuggling and ruthless Mexican cartels; Inside Dior (2 x 60 mins), an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the luxury empire as it celebrates its 70th anniversary; A Big LEGO Christmas (1 x 60 mins), following the opening of world’s biggest LEGO store in London; Mountains And Life (6 x 60 mins), featuring mountain landscapes and their communities; Bizarre Murders (52 x 30 mins), about strange yet true criminal cases; and Bizarre Bloopers (52 x 30 mins).

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URBAN FILMS

DOCUMENTARY series A Voyage Through Mediterranean Tradition (8 x 45 mins) is brought to Cannes by Madrid-based Urban Films. The eight films look at the sources of myths and beliefs and cover Abraham, East & West, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Kabbalah, Sufism and Ibn ‘Arabi.

Expedition Antarctica (Terranoa)

TERRANOA

FRENCH distributor Terranoa is at MIPTV with 62 hours of new content. Included on the slate are: Hong Kong, Handover Generation (1 x 52 mins/70 mins); Mexican Whistleblowers In La Haye (1 x 52 mins); and Disaster Capitalism (1 x 60 mins). A range of 4K titles includes: Cuba, A Paradise On The Brink (2 x 52 mins); Expedition Antarctica (2 x 52 mins); and Southern Africa (3 x 52 mins).

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PRODUCT NEWS ENTERTAINMENT ONE

NHK

PRIORITIES at MIPTV for Entertainment One include: darkly comic drama Mary Kills People (6 x 60 mins), about a single mother and emergency doctor who moonlights helping terminally ill patients who want to die on their own terms; comedy series Gap Year (8 x 60 mins), following a gang of travellers on a trip around Asia; Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (season 1 39 x 30 mins, season 2 33 x 30 mins/1 x 60 mins special), a late-night comedy series featuring Samantha Bee, the longest-serving correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart; two seasons of detective drama Private Eyes (10 x 60 mins,18 x 60 mins), starring Jason Priestley and Cindy Sampson; two seasons of futuristic series Into The Badlands (6 x 60 mins, 10 x 60 mins); and the first season of Cardinal (6 xv60 mins), based on novels by Giles Blunt, which follows detectives John Cardinal (Billy Campbell) and Lise Delorme (Karine Vanasse, Revenge) as they attempt to uncover the mystery of what happened to a missing young girl. Two more seasons are on the way.

JAPANESE artist Yayoi Kusama is known for her use of vivid colours and polka dots, and her works sell for huge sums. Kusama is 87-years-old but continues to paint at a frenetic pace. Yayoi Kusama: My Eternal Soul — an 8K production — follows the artist’s process from the initial brush strokes to completion. NHK also highlights Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki (1 x 48 mins/1 x 70 mins), about the creator of anime films including Nausicaa Of The Valley Of The Wind and Spirited Away. NHK director Kaku Arakawa profiles the master who two years after declaring retirement in 2013 decided to make a short animation called Kemushi No Boro (Boro The Caterpillar). The film records Miyazaki at the age of 75 as he embarks on this new endeavor, this time using CGI for the first time.

FREMANTLEMEDIA

FREMANTLEMEDIA is presenting a range of formats at MIPTV. The Next TV Chef, created by FremantleMedia’s Dutch production house Blue Circle, searches the country for the next TV chef superstar. The Chefs’ Line sees four home cooks take on professionals, with new cuisine, restaurants and contestants each week. Lost In Time, debuting in Cannes, brings Hollywood special effects to the TV screen using Interactive Mixed RealityTM (IMR), immersing contestants in a series of video-game-like worlds where they compete in a series of challenges, first as a team, and then as individuals. Flashback is a studio-based format that features three celebrities who each re-live an embarrassing and hilarious incident in their past.

Full Frontal With Samantha Bee (Entertainment One)

INCENDO

THIS year Canada’s Incendo has produced five made-for-television movies, and co-produced the second season of Versailles, with Capa Drama and Zodiak Fiction.

Incendo’s priorities for MIPTV include: limited drama series Los Juniors (in development); reality series Divorce Court (480 x 30 mins); drama series Versailles (seasons 1 and 2); and TV movies Run To Me, Love Blossoms, Serialized, FANatic, Girls’ Night Out, Early Release and Sometimes the Good Kill.

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The Chef’s Line (FremantleMedia)

LINEUP INDUSTRIES

LINEUP Industries is boosting its slate of formats with a new show at MIPTV. Airing in Denmark on TV 2, the original format Denmark vs Eastern Europe was produced by STV Production with support from the National Danish Film Institute. Two construction teams, one native, one foreign, each begin a project not knowing they are in competition. During the work process they are filmed and given various unexpected obstructions to deal with.

Experts compare the teams on efficiency, price, work environment and customer satisfaction. Lineup has global rights to the format (excluding Nordic regions).

Native Vs Foreign (Lineup Industries)

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PRODUCT NEWS DRIVE MEDIA RIGHTS

FACTUAL programming from the UK’s Drive includes: How To Build A Human (1 x 60 mins), in which Gemma Chan, star of drama series Humans, explores cuttingedge research into artificial intelligence culminating in an experiment where a robotic version of Gemma is built to take part in a real-life test; 8 Days That Made Rome’ (8 x 60 mins), which profiles eight days from Rome’s 1,000-year history that created, tested and defined Rome’s greatness; Annie: Out Of The Ashes (1 x 60 mins), which tells the story of the daughter of a white Irish traveller mother and a black British father who was shunned by her family; Volatile Earth (3 x 60 mins), an exploration of extreme catastrophes to have hit Earth; 1947: The People’s Wedding (1 x 60 mins), about the wedding of the UK’s Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947; and Marilyn: The Auction Of A Lifetime’ (1 x 60 mins), about the auction in LA of valuable possessions belonging to Marilyn Monroe.

How To Build A Human (Drive Media Rights)

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ATRESMEDIA TELEVISION

AMONG the drama titles from Spain’s Atresmedia are: La Casa De Papel (Money Heist), about a daring robbery culminating in the robbers spending 11 days in the National Mint, surrounded by police, with dozens of hostages; Mar De Plastico (Plastic Sea), about a young woman’s murder in southern Spain; and Pulsaciones (Lifeline), about a renowned surgeon who after receiving a heart transplant starts to have terrible nightmares related to the murder of the person who donated his heart.

La Casa De Papel (Atresmedia Television)

FREMANTLEMEDIA INTERNATIONAL

AMERICAN Gods (8 x 60 mins) is an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel. When Shadow Moon is released from prison, he meets mysterious Mr Wednesday and becomes his bodyguard. In this world magic is real and the Old Gods fear the New Gods — technology and media. Mr Wednesday seeks to build a coalition of Old Gods to defend their existence in this new America. The cast includes Ricky Whittle, Ian McShane, Emily Browning, Pablo Schreiber, Gillian Anderson, Crispin Glover and Kristin Chenoweth, and is brought to Cannes by Fremantlemedia International.

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American Gods (FremantleMedia International)

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PEEKABOO ANIMATION

BARCELONA-based Peekaboo Animation returns to MIPTV with two new educational series targeting pre-schoolers: Trip & Troop (52 x 3.30 mins) and The Tricky Band (28 x 4 mins), both produced in 3D CGI by Valencian studio 3de3. Trip & Troop is a musical series that allows children to discover animals and their characteristics through songs and riddles. The Tricky Band consists of an animated talent show where kids have to guess which musical instrument the band plays just by hearing few musical notes.

Other titles in the catalogue include: Mironins, Never Ending Tales, Snails, Cocorico and Edebits.

The Tricky Band (Peekaboo Animation)

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URBAN CANYONS

WARRIOR Women (working title/3 x 52 mins), brought to Cannes by Manchester, UK-based Urban Canyons, is a historical drama-documentary series about elite female soldiers from the 5th century BC to the present day, supported by dramatic re-enactment, CGI animation and interviews with historians, archaeologists and museum curators. Subjects include the original Amazons of the Eurasian Steppe; Gladiatrices, who entertained the Roman public; and the Mino ‘virgin’ regiments, who shaped African history and almost annihilated the French colonial forces. Coproduction partners include Smithsonian Networks (US), Planete (France), public broadcasters ZDF (Germany) and ORF (Austria), and Scandinavia’s Viasat.

Warrior Women (Urban Canyons)

TAKE THE TASKMASTER CHALLENGE To celebrate Avalon Distribution’s hit entertainment format TASKMASTER, we are bringing our own challenge to MIPTV

WIN DAILY CASH PRIZES FROM OUR STAND R7 M.11 Find out about this and other great shows at avalonuk.com/distribution

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PRODUCT NEWS ALFRED HABER

ALFRED Haber has announced that the recent 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards has been cleared in a record 197 territories around the world.This year’s show includes performances by Beyonce, Adele, Lady Gaga with Metallica, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd with Daft Punk, and the Bruno Mars tribute to Prince.

AVALON DISTRIBUTION

THE BABY Boomers Guide To Growing Old (4 x 60 mins) — a Liberty Bell Production for More 4 in the UK — is a light-hearted format that explores the world of the over65s through the eyes of 13 celebrity senior citizens. Each episode takes a wry look at a different subject area — love, work, bodies and fun. The celebrities pair up to immerse themselves in the activities and lifestyles of extraordinary oldies.

The Baby Boomers Guide to Growing Old (Avalon Distribution)

COTE OUEST AUDIOVISUAL

59th Annual GRAMMY Awards (Alfred Haber)

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COTE d’Ivoire-based Cote Ouest is presenting three original programmes at MIPTV this year. The Nairobians (26 x 48 mins), a production from Kenya, is a new crime drama based in the underworld of contemporary Nairobi. The series follows a 24-year-old leader of a grifting gang as he struggles to take care of his ailing mother and his troubled gang. Expecting Lagos (26 x 26 mins) is a Nigerian sitcom about a young couple expecting their first child. She is a happy-go-lucky school teacher and he is a neurotic artist/salesman.

People You May Know (5 x 24 mins), from South Africa, follows five people in their twenties trying to make a life for themselves.

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The Nairobians (Cote Ouest Audiovisual)

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KESHET INTERNATIONAL

FALLET/The Case (8 x 30 mins) is described by Israeli distributor Keshet International as a one-of-a-kind Scandi Noir crime dramedy. Keshet is launching the English- and Swedish-language series at MIPTV, along with new and returning programming spanning all genres. Other scripted shows include: Loaded, a comedy drama co-production between AMC, Channel 4, Hillbilly Television and Keshet UK; The A Word; Prisoners Of War India; and The Paper. The entertainment formats slate includes game show Contacts, in which players rely on the contacts in their mobile phone to answer questions against the clock; the outdoor game show Flight Club, in which a group of friends take part in challenges on their way to the airport to win a holiday; and the celebrity panel game show Lovers Or Liars.

PASSION DISTRIBUTION

SPIES (4 x 60 mins) sees three former British spies put a group of men and women to the test to see if they have the skills required to prevent a host of potential hidden threats. They go through a series of exercises where the 14 trainees’ intelligence, powers of persuasion and talent for concealment are judged by the exspies. Other titles from the British distributor include: Cannes: A Glamour Story (1 x 60 mins), marking the 70th anniversary of the world’s most famous film festival; game show The Game Of Dating (8 x 60 mins), in which three teams of friends and family watch real dates from the comfort of their homes, while offering commentary; The Trouble With Dad (1 x 60 mins) exploring the relationship between comedian and writer David Baddiel, his brother Ivor and their father Colin who suffers from a form of dementia called Pick’s Disease; and Cold Justice (10 x 60 mins), which follows former prosecutor Kelly Siegler and a team of crime-scene investigators and detectives as they crack cold cases.

Spies (Passion Distribution)

Fallet (Keshet International)

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PRODUCT NEWS COMERCIAL TV

ZED

NEW HD shows from Hola TV, brought to Cannes by Spain’s Commercial TV, include: Icons, which reviews the lives of celebrities; Vidas Reales, a series of biographical documentaries about royal characters; Especiales, focusing on fashion, royalty, glamour and lifestyle; and En Exclusivo, featuring face-to-face interviews with celebrities.

TWO TITLES top the MIPTV line-up from Zed. 19451953: From World War To Cold War (2 x 52 mins) is a documentary about the Yalta Conference, examining the new world order drawn up by three men — Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin. The film combines archive footage, photographs, original letters and witness testimonies. Vermeer, Beyond Time (2 x 45 mins/52 mins/90 mins) is a docu-drama set in 17th-century Holland about the artist Johannes Vermeer.

1945-1953: From World War To Cold War (Zed)

TELEMUNDO INTERNACIONAL

SPANISH-language US-based network Telemundo Internacional brings a vast slate of programming to MIPTV. Fame Has A Price/Guerra de Idolos is Telemundo’s first original music-drama series.

Brothers Julio and Mateo Solar are music stars, and when an unexpected tragedy shakes their lives they discover a network of corruption in the music business and Mateo falls for a criminal’s half-sister. Other titles showcased include: Le Fan, about how the president of an actor’s fan club runs into her idol; La Dona/Lady Altagracia, a story of revenge, betrayal and ambition, but also of redemption, justice and love; drug thriller El Chema/Chema: The Flight Of The Scorpion; drama Hugo Chavez – El Comandante; revenge drama Amanda; and family drama Ambar.

Penelope Cruz in Icons (Comercial TV)

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Fame Has A Price/Guerra de Idolos (Telemundo Internacional)

SVOD AND PAY TV CARRIAGE

VOTRE CHAÎNE PRÉFÉRÉE DE NOLLYWOOD FRANÇAIS CIBLANT L’AFRIQUE ET LA DIASPORA

NOLLYWOOD THE REVOLUTION IS ON...

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VISION FILMS

TOPPING the Cannes film slate for Sherman Oaks, California-based Vision Films are: Bloodline: Now Or Never (1 x 90 mins), which follows a determined Special Forces captain and anti-poaching crusader who goes on a savage rampage to avenge his murdered partner and stop criminal wildlife trafficking networks; Boone: The Bounty Hunter (1 x 85 mins), featuring a fame-seeking reality show bounty hunter who gets carried away; Executor (1 x 95 mins), about a reformed assassin; Ultimate Justice (1 x 92 mins), a revenge drama featuring ex-soldiers; and family film A Doggone Hollywood (1 x 85 mins).

Bloodline: Now Or Never (Vision Films)

RAINBOW

ITALIAN animation studio Rainbow returns to MIPTV with a new pre-school show. 44 Cats (52 x 13 mins) is a CGI animation about a group of cats who act like cats around humans — but when they are by themselves they act like humans. Storylines explore the themes of friendship and their love of helping others. The company has also announced a third season of live-action series Maggie & Bianca Fashion Friends — the original series is also ready to launch in the US with Netflix. And through a further deal with Sony Music in Italy, the show’s first album is planned.

VERALIA

SPAIN’s Veralia returns to Cannes with talent-show format The Red Seat. After a musical performance if all jury members give the contestant a green light, they can go to the next round, but if they get three red lights they sit on the red seat where the only way out is competing against an opponent in a singing duel. Other prioritised shows include: Gameworld, a family game show based on VR games; Play With Me, in which celebrities play video games while living with real e-sports teams and immersing themselves in the VR world; and Help & Bet, in which a panel of celebrities select people able to perform unusual challenges and then choose those they think will be winners on the night.

The Red Seat (Veralia) 673_HOLD_THE FROG_N_TV

GUIDE 2017

The Who’s Who of the global industry

Pick up your copy at the registration area Gare Maritime

A year-round networking tool

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DRAMA MIPDRAMA LATAM SCREENINGS: WHAT’S NEW FROM LATIN AMERICA 9.00-10.00 | Auditorium A Presenter: ■■

Virginia Mouseler, CEO, The WIT, Switzerland

Moderator: ■■

Stewart Clarke, Editor, TBI, UK

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Sahar Baghery, Head of Global Media Research & Content Strategy, Eurodata TV Worldwide, Mediametrie, France

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John Peek, Director, TAPE CONSULTANCY, UK Frederic Vaulpré, Vice-President, Eurodata TV Worldwide, France

SCREENING: ‘4 BLOCKS’ 10.00-11.30 | Auditorium K

PITCH PERFECT, HOW TO GET THERE? 9.45-10.15 | Agora

Presented by

Followed by Meet the Speakers Moderator: ■■

Mickey Rogers, President, MRM Inc, UK

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REINVENTING GLOBAL DRAMA CONNECTIONS

Sarah Legg, Producer, BBC (CBeebies)

10.15-11.00 | Auditorium A

Nina Pehlivanova, Executive Producer, Concept Studio, Bulgaria

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INNOVATION TALKS: WHEN ACADEMICS DECIPHER ENTERTAINMENT

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In partnership with

Jimmy Desmarais, Co-Managing Director, Producer, Atlantique Productions, France Moritz Polter, Executive Producer, Bavaria Fernseherproduktion GmbH, Germany Ran Tellem, Head of International Content development, Mediapro, Spain Kelly Wright, Head of Latin America and Executive Advisor Asia-Pacific, USA

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Simon Staffans, CEO/CoFounder, RETHINK NMS, Finland

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Dr. David Geerts, Research Manager, Mintlab, KU Leuven imec, Belgium Frank Bentley, Senior Principal Researcher, YAHOO LABS, USA (Innovation Speaker1) Dimph de Feijter, R&D Activity Coordinator, NHTV University of Applied Science, The Netherlands ( Innovation Speaker2) Teri Schwartz, Dean, UCLA School of Theatre, Film and Television, USA (Innovation Speaker3)

BEST OF WEB SERIES 11.10-11.40 | Auditorium A Speaker: ■■

Joël Bassaget, Chief Editor, Web Series Mag, Germany

THE NEXT BIG THING IN TURKISH DRAMA: ‘PHI’ 12.00-13.30 | Auditorium K

HOT NEW DOCS FROM NORWAY 11.15-11.45 | Agora

Presented by THE NORWEGIANS Presenter: ■■

Jesper Bergom-Larsson, Commissioning Editor, Western Norway Film Centre, Norway

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Seranay Sarikaya, Lead Actress ‘Phi’, Turkey

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Catay Kerem, Producer, CEO, Ay Yapim, Turkey

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Ates Ince, CRO, Dogus Media Group, Turkey

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Fredrik af Malmborg, MD, Eccho Rights, Turkey

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MONDAY 3 APRIL

OFFICIAL CONFERENCES & SCREENINGS

JUNIOR

4K ULTRA HD

TIPS AND TRICKS ON BOOSTING YOUR LICENSING SUCCESS RATE 10.30-11.00 | Agora

Followed by Meet the Speakers Moderator: ■■

Leslie Nelson Cressy, President, LNC Media, France

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Christophe Drevet, International Consumer Products Director, Studio 100, Germany Sergi Reitg, CEO, Imira Entertainment, Spain

4K ULTRA HD

Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK

Speaker: ■■

Masayuki Suga, Deputy Director, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, Japan

4K PRODUCTION FROM TBS DIGITAL CONTENT FROM NAKED EYE 11.30-12.15 | Sony 4K Ultra HD Theatre Moderator: ■■

Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK

Speakers: ■■

WELCOME INTRODUCTION 9.30-10.00 | Sony 4K Ultra HD Theatre

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Waterloo Ezaki, Producer/Manager of External Affairs International Content Development Office, TBS Vision, Japan Ryo Taguchi, Director, TBS Vision, Japan

Moderator: ■■

Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK

MEDIA MASTERMIND KEYNOTES

Speakers: ■■ ■■

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Rian Bester, CEO, Insight TV, The Netherlands Michel Chabrol, Senior Vice President New TV Formats, Eutelsat, France Joe Nakata, Senior Producer, Sony Corporation, Japan Claudia Vaccarone, Director Global Market Research & Customer Experience, Eutelsat, France

11.45-12.15 | Grand Auditorium

IVANA KIRKBRIDE, CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER, go90

DRAMA & FACTUAL FROM JAPAN IN HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE ULTRA HD 10.00-11.00 | Sony 4K Ultra HD Theatre Moderator: ■■

Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK

Speakers: ■■

Yoshiharu Kashima, Senior Manager / Programming Department, Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Japan

12.20-12.50 | Grand Auditorium

JØRGEN MADSEN LINDEMANN, PRESIDENT & CEO, MTG

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Jun Ochiai, Senior Manager, NHK, Japan

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Kate Bulkley, Media Commentator and Journalist, KG Bulkley, UK

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THE NEW FRONTIERS OF STORYTELLING TRENDS FRESH TV FORMATS

13.15-14.15 | Grand Auditorium & Balcony

TRENDS THE FUTURE OF VR IS SOCIAL 15.00-15.30 | Esterel Sponsored by

In partnership with

Followed by Meet the Speakers Presenter: ■■

Virginia Mouseler, CEO, The WIT, Switzerland

Moderator: ■■

Natan Edelsburg, EVP; Executive Editor, Muck Rack & Shorty Awards; The Drum’s Found Remote, USA

Speakers:

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Jane Fang, Director of Business Development, AltspaceVR, USA Fabrice Lorenceau, Co-Founder & Head of Production, LIVELIKE, France Julian Price, CMO, VTIME, UK

14.15-15.15 | Agora

Followed by Meet the Speakers Host: ■■

Anne Santa Maria, Freelance short form and long form series, online content, France

Pre-selection Jury: ■■

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A GLOBAL VIEW: THE FUTURE OF TV FROM INSIDE THE LIVING ROOMS OF THE WORLD 15.30-16.15 | Agora

Presented by ITV & Ampere Analysis

Vincent P. Aricco, Executive Director, Multiplatform Content Development, Disney Channel & Disney XD, USA

Speakers:

Julien Borde, Head of VOD, France Télévisions, France

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Neil Mortensen, Director of Audiences, ITV, UK

Jackie Edwards, Head of BBC Children’s Acquisitions and Independent Animation, BBC, UK Anuradha Javeri, Creative Director, YoBoHo, India Janine Weigold, Head of Children’s Content, Super RTL, Germany

4K ULTRA HD TRENDS VR ECOSYSTEM: LATEST TRENDS AND DEVELOPMENTS 14.15-14.45 | Esterel Sponsored by Speakers: ■■

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Greg Ivanov, Head of Daydream Business Development, GOOGLE, UK Alex Kunawicz, Vice President of Strategy, Laduma, UK Matthias Puschmann, Managing Director, VAST MEDIA, Germany

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UHD SUPER SESSION: DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT IN ULTRA HD 15.30-16.30 | Sony 4K Ultra HD Theatre Moderator: ■■

Chris Forrester, Journalist and Industry Consultant, UK

Speakers: ■■ ■■

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Rian Bester, CEO, Insight TV, The Netherlands Wolfgang Elsaesser, Commercial Director, Deutsche Telekom, Germany Chris Wagner, EVP & Co-Founder, NeuLion, USA

31/03/2017 11:23

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MONDAY 3 APRIL

OFFICIAL CONFERENCES & SCREENINGS

DRAMA

DIGITAL FRONTS

SCREENING: ‘PROFESSOR T – THE FORMAT SUCCESS’ 14.00-15.30 | Auditorium K Presented by

15.30-16.00 | Grand Auditorium Speaker: ■■

JC Cangilla, COO, New Form, USA

Guests:

FUTURE OF DRAMA: DOES DATA TRUMP CREATIVITY?

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Pierre Langlais, Journalist, Télérama / ACS, France

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Sebastian Burkhardt, SVP Digital & Acquisitions, Keshet Brendan Gaul, EVP and Global Creative Director for UM Studios Paul Kanareck, Group Director of Online, iTV Aline Marrache-Tesseraud, SVP, International Acquisitions Canal +

Digital Fronts Host: ■■

Jocelyn Johnson, Founder/CEO, Videoink, USA

Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy, Drama and VR, Amazon Studios, USA Jenna Santoianni, EVP, Television Series, USA

WORLD PREMIERE OF THE BRAND NEW TURKISH SERIES ‘THE LAST EMPEROR’ 16.00-17.30 | Auditorium K Coffee Break from 15.45

THE FUTURE OF STORYTELLING IS USER GENERATED CONTENT// JUKIN MEDIA 16.05-16.35 | Grand Auditorium Speakers:

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Josh Entman, Cofounder and Chief Development Officer, Jukin Media, USA Jonathan Skogmo, Founder & CEO, Jukin Media, USA

Digital Fronts Host: ■■

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Jocelyn Johnson, Founder/CEO, Videoink, USA

31/03/2017 11:23

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MONDAY 3 APRIL

OFFICIAL CONFERENCES & SCREENINGS

MEDIA MASTERMIND KEYNOTES

MIPTV WORLD PREMIERE TV SCREENING

16.45-17.15 | Grand Auditorium

ROY PRICE, VICE PRESIDENT, AMAZON STUDIOS

18.30-19.45 | Grand Auditorium - Doors open at 18.00 Presented by

Moderator: ■■

Scott Roxborough, Europe Bureau Chief, The Hollywood Reporter

17.20-17.50 | Grand Auditorium

PAUL TELEGDY, PRESIDENT, ALTERNATIVE AND REALITY GROUP, NBC ENTERTAINMENT Moderator: ■■

Stewart Clarke, Editor, TBI Vision, UK

CANNES INTERNATIONAL SERIES FESTIVAL PREVIEW 20.45-22.15 | Grand Auditorium

MEREDITH AHR, PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSAL TELEVISION ALTERNATIVE STUDIO, NBC ENTERTAINMENT Moderator: ■■

Stewart Clarke, Editor, TBI Vision, UK

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SCREENING: ‘ENGRENAGES (SPIRAL), A NEW INVESTIGATION’ A CANAL+ CREATION ORIGINALE Presented by CANAL+

© Caroline Dubois/ Son et Lumière / Canal+

17.20-17.50 | Grand Auditorium

Doors open at 20.15, the screening will be followed by a Q&A with the cast.

31/03/2017 11:23

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TOMORROW’S HIGHLIGHTS TUESDAY 4 APRIL

DRAMA

DIGITAL FRONTS

MIPDRAMA PRE-LA SCREENINGS SHOWCASE 9.00-9.45 | Grand Auditorium Doors open at 8.45 Presenting Partners:

CONNECTING GEN Z TO TV WHAT THEY ARE TELLING US 15.50-16.20 | Grand Auditorium Presenter: ■■

Richard Chambers, Head of Zoomin Studios, The Netherlands

Digital Fronts Host:

MIPTV ASIAN WORLD PREMIERE TV SCREENING

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Amber J Lawson, CEO, Good Amplified, USA

‘CRISIS’

11.45-13.00 | Auditorium A Followed by Sushi & Sake Lunch/Cocktail

16.30-17.00 | Grand Auditorium Presenter:

Presented by

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Kelly Day, Chief Digital Officer, AwesomenessTV, USA

Talent: ■■

Jenn McAllister

Digital Fronts Host: ■■

Amber J Lawson, CEO, Good Amplified, USA

MEDIA MASTERMIND KEYNOTES 17.10-17.40 | Grand Auditorium

DAVID SHING, DIGITAL PROPHET, AOL

MEDIA MASTERMIND KEYNOTE 11.40-12.10 | Grand Auditorium

MIPTV 2017 BRAND OF THE YEAR: ADAM HARTER, VICE PRESIDENT OF MARKETING & CULTURAL CONNECTIONS, PEPSICO

monday_news.indd 6

17.45-18.15 | Grand Auditorium

VARIETY’S 2017 ACHIEVEMENT IN INTERNATIONAL TELEVISION AWARD AT MIPTV: GILLES PELISSON, CHAIRMAN & CEO, TF1 Moderator: ■■

Henry Chu, European Bureau Chief, Variety, USA

31/03/2017 11:23

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miptv

FEATURE DRAMA CO-PRODUCTION

The Sky/Showtime co-production Guerrilla

‘Opportunities for new voices’ Andy Fry talks to the creative and commercial muscle behind several major drama projects to find out what makes a drama co-production work

T

HERE was a time when co-production was re-

creates potential for creative and commercial conflict, particularly because the financial stakes are so high in drama.

“It starts with good planning,” says Hakan Kousetta, chief operating officer, television, of See-Saw Films, the company behind dramas including Jane Campion’s Top Of The Lake and Banished from writer Jimmy McGovern. “You have to have as many conversations as you can as early as possible to address potential stress points. If you leave it too late, you find everyone has different assumptions.”

garded as a necessary evil in the field of television drama. But in the last two or three years, financial and creative collaboration has given birth to some extraordinarily ambitious scripted series. The Night Manager, Medici: Masters Of Florence, Babylon Berlin, War And Peace, The Young Pope, The Last Panthers, Cleverman and Versailles are just a few examples of scripted series that have benefited from going down the co-production route.

“There are traps,” says Frank Spotnitz, founder of Big Light ProducA key part of this is making sure Frank Spotnitz tions and showrunner on Medici. the lead broadcasters have a simi“But what I find really exciting lar profile and audience, adds Julie about co-production is that it creMeldal-Johnsen, ITV Studios ates opportunities for new voices.

Global Entertainment’s (ITVS GE) director of global As a US producer working in Europe, I think co- content. “There’s no cookie-cutter approach to co-proproduction has played a key role in enabling Eu- ductions,” she says. “But co-pros are difficult to do if ropean talent to compete with the US in terms of you are trying to pair up the wrong partners. I think budget and ambition.” you’d struggle if you were trying to marry up compaBut what does it take to get it right? Most high-end nies like CBS in the US and Canal+ in France.” co-productions involve a minimum of two broadcast- As an example of how to do it right, Meldal-Johnsen ers, two producers and a distributor. Inevitably, this cites Harlots, a Monumental Pictures production for

Co-production creates opportunities for new voices. I think it has played a key role in enabling European talent to compete with the US

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miptv

FEATURE It’s incredibly important to believe in the creative team. You have to back a singular vision and be uncompromising in pursuing it Simon Vaughan

ITV Encore and Hulu that is launching at MIPTV. Harlots is set against the vibrant, cosmopolitan backdrop of 18th century Georgian London and offers a bold new take on the city’s most valuable commercial activity — sex. Based on the stories of real women, and the men who surround them, this character-driven series stars Samantha Morton (The Last Panthers), Lesley Manville (Maleficent), Jessica Brown Findlay (Downton Abbey) and Eloise Smyth (Fortitude). “This is a provocative period drama co-produced by Hulu and ITV Encore, a pay-TV channel within our family,” MeldalJohnsen says. “This has worked well because the two have similar tastes and similar audiences. I think it would have been more challenging to partner Hulu with free-to-air channel ITV.” Something that everyone agrees on is that all the stakeholders in a drama co-pro need to be willing to buy into a central creative vision, regardless of whether this is driven by a US-style showrunner, a European-style auteur or a two-handed writing team.

Simon Vaughan, CEO of BBC Worldwide-backed producer Lookout Point, has been immersed in the co-pro market for decades, most recently with War And Peace and The Collection. “It’s incredibly important to believe in the creative team,” he says. “You have to back a singular vision and be uncompromising in pursuing it. Generally, the more you lean into the project, the further you get from an excellent result.”

This can be a tough message for companies that have a lot of money riding on a project. So it also requires skilled executive producers to act as the bridge between the backers and the creatives, says Howard Burch, who left Kudos last year to become head of drama at Keshet UK. “These days, you’ll find numerous executive producers on any show,” he says. “The best ones know how to give directions without losing sight of who is actually driving the car.

It’s a particular skill when you consider that creators vary enormously in char-

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acter. We work with some people who want to stay completely clear of the white noise of production, and others who love the process and want to know everything about the mechanics of the show they’re writing.”

Rola Bauer, managing director Studiocanal TV, is another who has navigated the co-pro market with great skill. She says companies also need to ensure they are backing stories and characters that have the ability to transcend borders: “The co-production narrative has to be on a higher decibel level — it has to rise above the medium sounds of television. It needs a larger-than-life narrative that can engage its viewers.”

Bauer cites an upcoming example: “We recently announced the first production from Benedict Cumberbatch’s company SunnyMarchTV, The Child In Time, alongside Pinewood Television. Based on Ian McEwan’s novel and commissioned by the BBC, it was a natural editorial fit to do a co-production with PBS/Masterpiece, who nourish this type of heartbreaking drama of loss and the power of things unseen combined with top talent.” Studiocanal will handle the show’s distribution.

In addition to linking up the right partners and protecting the creative vision, there is also a lot of work to be done around the nuts and bolts of production, says Jane Millichip, managing director of distributor Sky Vision: “Is it an ensemble project? And if so, what does that mean for casting? Where is it set? Is there soft money to be had in the form of tax credits and incentives?”

While it is important that commercial questions do not become a distraction, there are situations where they can be decisive in whether the creative vision is realised. Imagine a scenario, for example, where an Alist writer is available for a big-budget project, but the money is not yet in place to ensure its viability. The risk is that the writer will go elsewhere. “We’ve been in situations where we have put in significant sums of money at an early stage to ensure that a show goes into production on time,” Millichip says. “We’re fortunate to be well resourced, but that kind of confidence can encourage other partners to greenlight, rather than everyone waiting for others to act.”

Because of the complexity of co-production, it is notable that some like-minded companies form on-going strategic alliances that stretch across a number of Monumental Pictures’ Harlots

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miptv

FEATURE Sonar Entertainment’s period drama Taboo, starring Tom Hardy

scripted co-productions. Pay-TV channels Sky Atlantic and Showtime, for example, have worked together on dramas including Penny Dreadful and Guerrilla. On the eve of MIPTV, they also announced plans to back Melrose, a five-part drama executive produced by and starring Benedict Cumberbatch, with Sky Vision on board as distributor.

Echoing Spotnitz, Millichip says the beauty of co-pro is that it creates the potential for new kinds of stories to be told: “If you stay flexible and keep your options open, you find some interesting projects. We’re involved in Travellers, a time-travel show from Peacock Alley Entertainment that is going to air on Showcase Canada and Netflix. We were also involved in The Last Panthers, a show that had two producers, two broadcasters and two distributors. It was like being in Noah’s Ark. There was potential for catastrophe there, but it proved to be a successful collaboration creatively and commercially.”

Especially important in this opening up of the coproduction market have been the SVOD players. Sky, for example, is in partnership with Amazon on Britannia, while Netflix has just announced plans to partner three ambitious European co-productions. One of these is Troy: Fall Of A City, produced for BBC One

by Wild Mercury Productions in association with Endemol Shine Group’s Kudos.

The script is from The Night Manager’s David Farr.

Netflix is also partnering the Jane Millichip BBC on Black Earth Rising, a thriller about the prosecu-

tion of international war crimes; and with Canal+ on The Spy, based on Eli Cohen, an Egyptian Jew who operated as a spy in Syria at the start of the 1960s. The latter series, from Legende Films (La Vie En Rose), is being written and directed by Gideon Raff (Prisoners of War; Homeland).

Introducing the shows to the international market, Ted Sarandos, chief content officer at Netflix, said: “After four years of original programming and filming in 18 countries, we know compelling stories can come from anywhere and, no matter their origin, can resonate with audiences around the world. Of the European shows available on Netflix last year, more than half of watchers came from outside of Europe, which is why we are confident our upcoming slate of international shows will be enjoyed by viewers in their home countries and beyond.”

The good news about the new wave of co-production is that there is a tier of studios that have the development-to-distribution capabilities necessary to make such projects fly.

Producer Laurence Bowen (The Eichmann Show), for example, has FremantleMedia as a 25% stakeholder in his new indie Dancing Ledge. “When I set up in 2016, I could see there was a genuine interest in drama co-productions, which is something I hadn’t really witnessed before in my 25 years as a producer,” Bowen says. “So it made sense to work with a company that could help set up a big event production at the international level.” He adds that FremantleMedia also has stakes in a number of other European producers, which “creates new opportunities for collaboration”.

We were involved in The Last Panthers, a show that had two producers, two broadcasters and two distributors. It was like being in Noah’s Ark

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FEATURE Dancing Ledge is now working on a range of projects, including a series based on an Alistair Maclean novel and another that will star Martin Freeman (The Eichmann Show; Sherlock; Fargo). In addition to the advice given above, Bowen says: “I think you also need to make sure the identity of the project is clear to yourself. The more you can be clear in your own mind about its tone and personality, the less potential for conflict there will be when you get to the expensive end of the process.”

Sonar Entertainment is another company that has developed expertise in co-productions, recent examples being the Tom Hardy period drama Taboo, set up for the BBC and FX in the US. A second season has been renewed by BBC One and FX, where it has been averaging 5.8 million total viewers.

At MIPTV, Sonar is headlining Das Boot, a high-end project from Bavaria Film in Germany that has Sky on board as broadcaster in a number of European markets. Overseeing the international effort is David Ellender, Sonar’s president of global distribution and coproductions. “A key part of our role is to find stories and elevate them with great showrunners and theatrical talent,” Ellender says. An illustration of this point is the news that Andreas Prochaska will direct Das Boot.

“He’s an acclaimed director and having him on board ensures that the original vision for the story and the series will hold true,” he adds.

John Hurt in The Last Panthers

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The more you can be clear in your own mind about a project’s tone and personality, the less potential for conflict there will be when you get to the expensive end of the process Laurence Bowen

For Ellender, another experienced co-production exec, one golden rule of co-pros is “not to have too many partners”. This is another reason why this emerging tier of distribution-enabled studios is so important — they can head off situations where creatives overpromise to broadcasters at an early stage of the project in the hope of securing finance.

This point is reinforced by Moritz von Kruedener, managing director of German-speaking territories at producer-distributor Beta Film. As with Ellender, Von Kruedener favours a situation where a co-pro begins with Beta Film and one strong broadcaster partner: “It’s about trying to avoid too many commercial interests and voices at the very beginning of the process.”

When it is time to start putting some flesh on the coproduction bones, “then you need to make sure you are combining the best possible creative elements, not just putting together some weird combination”, Von Kruedener says. “A good example is our German-language series The Same Sky, where we had a great German director [Oliver Hirschbiegel], an excellent English scriptwriter [Paula Milne] and international acting talent in Sofia Helin. The result was a really strong show that has sold to 100 territories [including Netflix for English-speaking markets].”

Most drama execs are honest enough to admit that coproduction is still primarily driven by the need to raise budgets. But the result can be creatively excellent, says Lars Blomgren, chairman of scripted exchange at Endemol Shine Group, and co-founder and managing director of Filmlance International. Blomgren points to the Sky/Showtime co-pro Guerrilla, which is being executive produced by an army of talent including Patrick Spence and Katie Swinden for Fifty Fathoms (Fortitude), Tracy Underwood for ABC Signature, Idris Elba for Green Door Pictures and Michael McDonald for Stearns Castle.

Guerrilla tells the story of a couple whose relationship and values are tested when they liberate a political prisoner and form a radical underground cell in Seventies London. Their ultimate target becomes the

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FEATURE

Nicole Kidman stars in the second series of Jane Campions’s Top Of The Lake

Black Power Desk, a secretive counter-intelligence unit within the Special Branch dedicated to crushing all forms of black activism.

“This is such a brilliant example of new TV drama,” Blomgren says. “Some of the best creative people on the planet attached and two great broadcasters willing to get on board. Not only beautifully executed, but about a subject that is becoming more and more relevant every day. One of the best television dramas I’ve seen for years.”

Addressing universal themes can be key to a successful co-production. The aforementioned Top Of The Lake was among the first of many missing-children-themed series that today dominate the schedules — what Virginia Mouseler of research company The Wit calls “the Broadchurch effect”.

The first series (2013) followed Detective Robin Griffin (Elizabeth Moss) and her investigation into the disappearance of a pregnant 12-year-old girl Tui. The new series, subtitled China Girl, takes place four years later and follows Griffin as she investigates a

The Nº1-selling shows over pretty much the last three or four years involved the death or abduction of a child Hakan Kousetta

86

body that washes up on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

“BBC Worldwide came to us a couple of years ago and they sent this person whose job it is to do statistics, and they’d analysed what dramas sell around the world and they’d broken it down by male protagonist, female protagonist, ages, settings, time periods and all that kind of stuff and they worked out that the Nº1-selling shows over pretty much the last three or four years involved the death or abduction of a child,” See-Saw Films’ Kousetta says.

Top Of The Lake — like another disappearing-child story Twin Peaks (David Lynch, 1990) — stands out from others as the creation of a celebrated movie director. Both series are also defined by their chosen locations – the first series was set in an area where in real life creator Jane Campion goes to rest and reflect, an eerie but beautiful part of New Zealand’s South Island, known as Paradise in the series.

Series two moves to Sydney. “You definitely see the non-tourist version of Sydney. She’s very good at dragging you into a world that is familiar but also unfamiliar at the same time. And this time we’re exploring maybe more accessible themes than maybe the first series did — motherhood, relationships that are grounded in what it means to be a mother — both in the western and non-western sense,” Kousetta says. “She does a great job of drawing together the story of Elizabeth Moss’s character trying to reconnect with her daughter who she gave up for adoption, with a traditional crime-solving case when a body washes up on a beach. And these two stories brilliantly inter-connect in a very Jane Campion way, with extreme drama and unexpectedness.”

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miptv

FEATURE

vTime, “the world’s first sociable network”

Real, only better VIRTUAL REALITY

VR and its close cousin AR are taking centre stage at MIPTV, with numerous sessions dedicated to the current state of the art, and its future implications for both content creators and consumers. Juliana Koranteng reports

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IPTV delegates eager to understand the future of entertainment should immerse

themselves in the series of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) sessions, keynotes and summits on offer this year, which range from discussions about VR and AR as a social experience for consumers to the opportunities they present to branded content, kids entertainment and scripted storytelling.

Rikard Steiber, president of Viveport, the fast-growing high-end VR app store operated by Taiwanese tech conglomerate HTC Corporation, says it is time to establish there is more to VR than gaming.

“We want to help VR developers and creators across categories outside of games to reach global audiences and sell their experiences,” he says. “Storytellers can finally create stories that evoke real emotions, where the audience is not just watching the story but is in the story. Since you are fully immersed with your visual and auditory systems, as well as using your body to interact with the environment, you can achieve what is often called ‘presence’. Presence means your brain believes what you experience in VR is actually real.”

BRANDED ENTERTAINMENT

Brands from Toyota’s luxury carmaker Lexus and Time Inc’s Sports Illustrated magazine to alcohol beverage Pernod Ricard want media channels that can retain consumers’ full attention. VR’s ability to surround a user totally in sound and vision fits the bill.

Australia-based Start VR offers its Interactive Cinematic VR tech to clients including Pernod Ricard, Qantas,

Samsung and national broadcaster ABC. It involves filmmaking and interactive-gaming techni ues that permit users to influence the brands’ storytelling. The client also has the option to control how the content is distributed via Start VR’s dedicated distribution platform, Startgate.

“We are seeing brands and content-creators really embracing the technology and are using this period before mass adoption to learn and build a new audience,” says CEO Kain Tietzel.

Endemol Shine Beyond USA, the interactive division of TV-content production giant Endemol Shine, recently joined forces with Sports Illustrated to produce a documentary series called Capturing Everest — the first ever ascent of the iconic mountain in VR. Its creation involved installing bespoke VR cameras in hazardous surroundings, giving viewers the closest possible experience to actually being on the world’s highest mountain. Available on Life VR, the new distribution platform operated by the magazine’s owner Time Inc, Capturing Everest also raises awareness of Sports Illustrated’s reputation as a source of stories related to human endurance in competitive sports and other activities.

“You are able to hit all the emotions and bring that to your brand,” says Bonnie Pan, president of Endemol Shine Beyond USA. “You have the audience’s entire attention and they are never distracted.”

Consumers could not fail to notice a high-end car brand such as Lexus — especially when Rikard its campaign makes you feel you are a pas-

‘Presence’ means your brain believes what you experience in VR is actually real

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Blend Media’s Damian Collier 2 VR City’s Darren Emerson Start VR’s Kain Tietzel 6 Nickelodeon’s James Stephenson

Microsoft France’s Michel Rousseau The VR/AR Association’s Sam Witters

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senger and the driver is debonair British film star Jude Law. Pulling off that feat is VR City, a London-based VR production house with a growing portfolio of brand clients that also includes Diageo’s uality single-malt whisky Lagavulin.

“Brands are always trying to communicate what makes them different. If you enjoy an experience that was profound, fun and exciting, that leaves a lasting impression,” says Darren Emerson, VR City’s chief creative officer and co-founder. “Full VR, especially, has the ability to create memories, because you feel you are physically doing something. Brands have been excited about this new tech’s ability to connect with consumers in a memorable way since 2015.”

In what is described as a world-first, a12-minute brandedcontent 360-degree video called Operation Fang shows surgeons working on a lion’s massive root canal. Filmed at a South African wild-animal sanctuary run by the ‘Lion Whisperer’ Kevin Richardson, the VR video was made by next-generation London-based multiplatform content producer Spirit, supported by Fixodent, the P G denture-adhesive brand.

The film highlights the plight suffered by rescued lions and other endangered animals when they have to lead lives dramatically different to their existence in the wild. Life-threatening tooth problems develop when the animals bite on objects not designed for their teeth — such as the metal bars protecting them.

“VR enables viewers to understand what it’s like to be the Lion Whisperer, as opposed to just seeing what he sees during the operation,” adds Matt Campion, Spirit’s

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creative director.

TV-entertainment brands are best placed to adopt VR, says Wayne Scholes, executive chairman at international VR content specialist Laduma. “You may have a cop drama set in the streets of Los Angeles, but the people watching it are spread across the globe,” he adds. “So how can you get a stronger connection with your audience? How about getting a lead actor to show in VR exactly how the stunts are done, for example? This sort of content is really easy to capture, but transporting the viewer there is incredibly powerful.”

VR content will not replace traditional TV but rather, Scholes believes, add another dimension to viewer enjoyment. “Smart production companies are using VR to draw in new audiences, enhance their content offering and create a deeper connection with shows,” he adds.

SCRIPTED VR

VR technology gives viewers control over a storyline’s development. Incorporating that into scripted narratives, such as soap operas or mini-series, delivers new challenges for content creators. This will be discussed during tomorrow’s session Scripted VR: Making Serialised Content Interactive.

“From the scriptwriting process to myriad new capture and post-production techni ues, and then all the way through to publishing and distribution, everything is being reinvented,” Start VR’s Tietzel says. The company’s in-

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Brands are always trying to communicate what makes them different Darren Emerson

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FEATURE teractive crime thriller VR Noir was one of last year’s high-profile scripted VR shows. It is packed with the mystery, suspense and narrative twists associated with the 19 0s film-noir detective stories. This time, however, the viewer is invited to determine how the narrative progresses.

“We have a brand new creative palette for storytelling and it enables viewers to interact with the environment, experience a uni ue perspective and help shape the outcome,” Tietzel adds.

But industry experts agree that the execution of such new concepts will not be easy. “Inevitably, scripted or narrative productions re uire the audience’s attention to be focused on a certain action point at a specific time, and this may be more challenging when the viewer has access to 360 degrees of content within a VR experience,” says UK-based Damian Collier, CEO of VRcontent distributor Blend Media. “Fortunately there are tools being developed to combat that problem, such as directional and spatial audio, as well as Facebook’s Guide tool, which gives you the ability to pull the viewer to a specific place within the 360 environment.”

Israel-based drama producer Keshet has been investing in VR to lure a new generation of viewers accustomed to gaming storytelling formats. “We express ourselves and tell our stories on every available platform, so naturally we will do so in VR as well,” says Ziv Rabinovich, Keshet International’s head of gaming and interactive.

“This approach brought authenticity to our first VR game and the [gaming] community recognised this and responded accordingly.”

If you want to tell a scripted story in VR, then that authenticity must also come through, Rabinovich argues: “It sounds like a paradox, but if you want to invest in VR, don’t invest. Create, deliver, listen: that’s what we do in traditional media and this is what we’re doing in new media.”

VR FOR KIDS

VR also looks set to fire the imagination of young consumers. London-based international interactivemedia specialist Nexus Studios is building a portfolio of VR kids’ content that includes Rain Or Shine, which was made for the VR storytelling platform Google Spotlight Stories.

Targeting kids also means taking the most appropriate display platform into account, advises Nexus’ cofounder Chris O’Reilly. “It’s important to realise that, unlike TV, VR is not one consistent medium. It includes YouTube or Facebook 360, where you are watching 360 content without a headset, inexpensive mobile headsets such as Google’s Daydream and high-end tethered set-ups with sophisticated levels of interaction and immersion, such as Vive. So Vive might not be the best platform for your pre-school idea. YouTube Kids, on the other hand, has embraced in-browser 360-degree stories that have no age restriction.”

We have a brand new creative palette for storytelling and it enables viewers to interact with the environment and help shape the outcome Kain Tietzel

Nickelodeon, the Viacom-owned children’s TV network that also owns gaming content, has high hopes for kids’ VR entertainment too, despite at press time not having any specific projects to announce. “What’s exciting about VR is that it lets kids experience things firsthand in a way they may not be able to in their everyday life — like front-row seats to the Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards or being slimed,” says James Stephenson, Nickelodeon’s senior vice-president of animation

HoloLens, the first self-contained holographic computer

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and games. “VR is one of the ways we are looking to connect with kids beyond TV. For us, everything comes down to being creator-driven and we are approaching VR as the next way to tell stories.”

VR SOCIAL NETWORKS

One criticism against VR is that, because of the individual headsets re uired to experience it, it loses the potential to be truly social, in the way that families can watch TV together. Nickelodeon’s Stephenson disagrees with that assessment, which will be among topics dis-

cussed during today’s MIPTV panel, The Future Of VR Is Social. “VR experiments have shown kids socialising and collaborating together and those have been very rewarding,” Stephenson adds.

In fact, UK-based vTime is on a mission to prove VR can offer the ultimate social experience with its technology, which chief marketing officer Julian Price describes as “the world’s first sociable network”. It enables family and friends located in any part of the world to chat, share and socialise in eye-catching VR destinations via their headsets and smartphones.

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“What makes vTime uni ue is the feeling of presence that the user experiences,” Price says. “After a few minutes in a destination, chatting with some of their friends, users genuinely believe they are there in the same space with others.”

Alchemy VR, part of TV group Atlantic Productions, brings people together via VR in real-life social settings, such as museums. A popular example is David Attenborough’s Great Barrier Reef VR, showing at museums in the UK, Canada, Australia and Norway.

Start VR’s VR Noir Nexus Studios’ The Gruffalo Spotter

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FEATURE Visitors wearing VR headsets effectively join the legendary British explorer as he dives into the ocean to survey the reef, the earth’s largest living organism, in Australia. “These are screened to theatres full of people viewing simultaneously,” says Alchemy VR’s head of production, Ian Syder. “In addition to group viewings, where people are able to experience this immersive content together, we’re also experimenting with synchronised soundtracks, which would mean viewers wouldn’t need individual headphones and could interact during the viewing with their neighbours.”

Rather than wait for VR to be commercially available as a mass-market product, FremantleMedia has come up with Lost In Time, which the company describes as the first-ever blending of family primetime TV and mobile entertainment. The entertainment format features a trademarked tech called Interactive Mixed Reality, which FremantleMedia conceived with Norwegian tech pioneer The Future Group.

Lost In Time transports the studio contestants to an alternate-reality world set in different eras, including the Wild West, the Ice Age and the Jurassic period, to complete a set of challenges. Via an app, viewers can also compete against each other and the studio competitors for the same cash prize. “We’re always looking for ways to introduce something bold and ambitious to audiences. And we wanted to work with a network that wanted to be at the forefront of this,” says Petter Testmann-Koch, managing director of FremantleMedia Norway, of TV Norge, which commissioned the show.

“The important thing is to develop a show that puts user experience at the front.”

AR AND HOLOGRAMS

AR is another alternate-world technology with which the TV industry is currently grappling. While VR invites users to immerse themselves totally into a different environment, AR superimposes holographic digital objects on to users’ physical surroundings.

Nexus Studios recently brought UK forestry to life when it created AR content for Magic Light Pictures’ TV animation The Gruffalo in partnership with the Forestry Commission. “It encourages kids to go on woodland walks and find the creatures. I think these type of experiences are going to become the norm,

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and audiences will expect to be able to engage with the characters they love, either in the real or virtual worlds,” Nexus Studios’ O’Reilly says.

Viveport’s Steiber believes AR will complement VR as they both develop commercially: “I think both will be breakthrough consumer technologies with massive opportunities, though with some differences. AR will help enhance our daily lives with an additional digital layer on our reality, and VR will provide totally immersive experiences. We are looking to help both creators and consumers make the most of both these great opportunities.”

Computer software goliath Microsoft says its latest tech HoloLens, the first self-contained holographic computer, is beyond AR and VR. Paris-based Michel Rousseau, UX/UI and HoloLens tech evangelist at Microsoft France, says both AR and VR will have revolutionary influences on marketing brands, live events, interactive movies and even the way newspapers are read. HoloLens, on the other hand, is exceptional because “you do not need any external PC or any external sensors”, he adds. “HoloLens embeds all the hardware re uired to achieve both the visualisation of the holograms and the way you interact with them, without wires or cables.”

He adds: “We are aiming at enabling our business-tobusiness customers to change their business processes, as well as improve their return on investments on specific projects. We believe holograms have the potential to revolutionise the way people work, communicate and learn.”

We believe holograms have the potential to revolutionise the way people work, communicate and learn Michel Rousseau

Sam Witters, international advisor to the New Zealand chapter of The VR/AR Association, says New Zealand is among the nations that are well placed to exploit VR and AR entertainment commercially. The country is home to several innovative special-effects and post-production houses, such as Weta Digital, which has won Oscars and BAFTAs for the out-of-this-world landscapes it created in movies including The Lord Of The Rings franchise, Avatar and The BFG. Witters is particularly impressed with Geo AR Games, the New Zealand firm that encourages children to explore the outdoors via its Magical Park — a tech that converts a standard urban park into a digital fantasy world. “Through geo-location technology, Magical Park is downloaded at a specific park or area and allows kids to run around catching [holographic] dragons and dinosaurs with their phones or iPad,” she says.

“To me that is how AR should work. It should enhance an experience and create an illusion that is better than sitting on the couch.”

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4K ULTRA HD SCREENINGS & SESSIONS Sony 4K Ultra HD Theatre (Audi I) - Palais 4

MONDAY 3 APRIL PROGRAMME 09.30 – 10.00

WELCOME INTRODUCTION

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DRAMA AND FACTUAL FROM JAPAN IN HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE ULTRA HD

Chris Forrester, Journalist; Joe Nakata, Sony Corp; Michel Chabrol, Eutelsat; Rian Bester, Tern/Insight TV

Yoshiharu Kashima, Takeshi Shibasaki, Jun Ochiai NHK; 11.15 – 11.30

JAPAN’S ROAD MAP FOR 4K ULTRA HD, AND BEYOND

Masayuki Suga, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications 11.30 – 12.15

4K PRODUCTION FROM TBS: DIGITAL CONTENT FROM NAKED EYE

Waterloo Ezaki, Ryo Taguchi, TBS Vision, Inc 15.30 – 16.30

UHD SUPER SESSION: DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENT IN ULTRA HD

Rian Bester, Tern/Insight TV; Wofgang Elsasser, Deutsche Telekom; Chris Wagner, NeuLion

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