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DRAMA MASTERCLASS ANNA WINGER
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EDITORIAL
MIPTV Online+ brings you the best of MIPTV 2020 WELCOME to the MIPTV Preview, a publication that was prepared for the new, reimagined MIPTV before the decision was made on March 4 to cancel MIPTV 2020. The international television industry continues to evolve at pace, facing new challenges at every turn. For this year, a new-look MIPTV was designed to address those challenges and equip our industry partners to navigate the changes ahead. This publication was designed to share that new market experience with delegates, ahead of MIPTV 2020. In the light of the cancellation of the event, however, that spirit of reinvention and change will be reflected virtually at MIPTV Online+, a premium digital experience available for free to all registered MIPTV, MIPDoc and MIPFormats 2020 clients. Launched on March 30, MIPTV Online+ offers connected access to exclusive content originally programmed for the 57th edition of MIPTV which, together with MIPDoc and MIPFormats, was scheduled to run March 28 to April 2 in Cannes. Some of the highlights of that programmed content feature here in this edition of the MIPTV Preview. MIPTV Online+ is designed to enable buyers to stream programmes scheduled for the MIPTV Drama Buyers’ Summit and the MIPDoc Screenings Library. The service will also stream the In Development, MIPDoc and MIPFormats project pitches, as well as MIPTV’s exclusive market intelligence conference sessions, Fresh TV and the Factual and Kids Content Showcases.
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A REDESIGNED FLOORPLAN TO CONNECT COMMUNITIES MORE EFFECTIVELY • E njoy a revamped market space streamlined across three Halls: P-1, R7 & R8 • Take advantage of numerous collaborative user-friendly meeting spaces in the Palais, on each level. (replacing Participants and Gold clubs) • A combined VIP and Buyers Lounge, in P-1
Our clients are unable to come to MIPTV in Cannes, so we are bringing MIPTV to them. From March 30, delegates from 94 countries can interact online and experience originally scheduled MIP programming from the comfort of their office or home. Nothing replaces face-to-face meetings, but MIPTV Online+ content, networking and access to the international entertainment business community will do its best to help you to continue to do business. In addition, the MIPTV online database, accessed via miptv.com, will be available during the months ahead, allowing users to connect and interact with the MIPTV community and to access personalised recommendations of people that match their business objectives.
Laurine Garaude Director, Television Division Reed MIDEM
Details of MIPTV Online+ features will be regularly updated and communicated on the MIPTV website. This is only the beginning of the journey as we continue to evolve as the Global Content Market of the Future, in partnership with the industry as it faces the changes ahead.
Lucy Smith Deputy Director, Television Division Reed MIDEM
And meanwhile we hope you stay safe and healthy in the coming weeks and months, and look forward to welcoming you in Cannes again soon. All the best...
A FOCUSED CONFERENCE PROGRAMME TO MAXIMISE BUSINESS EFFICIENCY • A dedicated programme for buyers along with a streamlined schedule to facilitate dedicated time for business meetings •W hat’s Next showcases: discover the freshest content available worldwide •W hat’s Trending sessions: access to exclusive market intelligence to help you anticipate the next big industry developments •K eynotes from high-profile thought leaders and business experts
MIPTV PREVIEW •
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The three pillars of MIPTV 3 NEW WAYS TO CONNECT • A data-driven recommendation tool to promote relevant participants/ programmes/projects for sellers, buyers and producers through the MIPTV online database •M eet the people that matter to you. Networking made easy with ‘matching sessions’ (themed according to the business needs you expressed through the online recommendation service) •C o-production events across all genres
EDITORIAL
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MEDAILLES D’HONNEUR AWARDS Each year MIPTV recognises executives and creators for their outstanding contributions to the international television business and leading roles in developing the global TV community. This year’s honourees are: Bibiane Godfroid (left), CEO, Newen (France); Jim Packer, president of worldwide television and digital distribution, Lionsgate (USA); and Anna Winger, writer, producer, showrunner, Studio Airlift (Germany)
IN DEVELOPMENT • The gateway to international financing and strategic partnerships • Access to a range of international financing opportunities for producers and early-stage projects for distributors and buyers • Targeted pitches across every genre • P roducers showcases • E fficient, pre-organised networking events • H appy hours and breakfasts informal networking
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• An exclusive opportunity to discover the excellence and creativity of the Korean production sector and its advanced broadcasting technology services • The Korea Country Of Honour showcase is sponsored by Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the organisation responsible for policies in Korean broadcasting and communications services • T he MIPTV Opening Networking Cocktail
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•M IPTV’s Drama Buyers Summit will unveil 12 of the most anticipated series in production • The hottest upcoming international content for Factual, Formats, and Kids programming •D iscover the exciting new series presented by distributors • World Premieres
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MIPTV’S SDG AWARD Time to celebrate those in media that are working toward building a better global future. MIPTV presents its first Sustainable Development Goals Award. The inaugural Award recognising a media company’s action and contribution to delivering the UN’s SDGs will be accepted by Jeremy Darroch on behalf of Sky Group
• E very April, the world’s leading producers of children’s television compete to be recognised at the International Emmy® Kids Awards, the world’s pre-eminent platform for global excellence in television • E mmys for kids content are presented across seven categories annually at MIPTV. It celebrates the best in children’s programming from around the world
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CONTENTS
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The third CANNESERIES, which is now co-located with MIPCOM in October, is a celebration of the best new TV series. In competition will be Apple TV+ series Trying. A CANNESERIES and MIPCOM World Premiere, the British comedy series is about «growing up, settling down and finding someone to love”
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Korea. Story Connects Us Korea is MIPTV Country Of Honour for 2020. The Korea Country Of Honour series of events is sponsored by the Korea Communication Commission (KCC), the body responsible for regulating the country’s broadcasting and communications services, as well as fostering the global competitiveness of the country’s content. KCC chairman, Han Sang-hyuk, spoke to the MIPTV Preview What is the KCC’s role in promoting Korean content around the world? In order to promote international co-operation and content exchange, the KCC concludes broadcasting co-production agreements and hosts international co-production conferences. As MIPTV Country Of Honour, Korea and the KCC will strengthen its global networks and work with broadcasting partners from around the world to explore and create a vision for the future. Why is now the right time to turn the spotlight on South Korea? The Republic of Korea is pleased to be the Country Of Honour and to showcase Korea’s outstanding broadcasting content. In 2005, the former Korea Broadcasting Commission (the predecessor to the KCC) was host of the MIPTV 2005 Spotlight On Korea event. In the 15 years since, Korean broadcasting content has experienced dramatic growth and has attracted the attention of broadcasting professionals around the world. Korea is participating as the Country Of Honour for
How significant is the success of The Masked Singer internationally to the industry in Korea?
MIPTV to highlight its excellent content to overseas buyers and production companies.
The format of the Korean variety programme The Masked Singer has been exported to approximately 50 countries and is a successful example of exporting a format to overseas markets, including the US and Europe. Viewers all over the world welcome the concept behind the programme, where singers are judged anonymously and solely on their vocal talent, free from prejudice and stereotypes. The success of this programme has also helped to grow the mask production industry and other related industries. Most importantly, I believe the global success of The Masked Singer has served as an opportunity to highlight Korean content in the eyes of broadcasting professionals overseas.
Han Sang-hyuk:
“The Masked Singer has served as an opportunity to highlight Korean content in the eyes of broadcasting professionals overseas” KCC chairman Han Sang-hyuk
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news: COUNTRY OF HONOUR Do you expect further success for Korean formats on the international market? The strength of formats is that, with a good idea, they can be customised and produced to align with different countries’ cultures and sentiments. Formats are quickly becoming an attractive business model for Korean broadcasters and producers. Other successful examples of Korean formats in the international broadcast market include the Korean KBS2 TV drama The Good Doctor, which sold to ABC in the US, where it receives very high ratings. The format of Mnet’s I Can See Your Voice has sold to 10 countries, including China, and is enjoying great popularity among viewers. There are many new formats that are popular in Korea now. I believe that once they are shared with the rest of the world, international viewers will love them too. The Korean government provides financial and institutional support for Korean content to enter the international marketplace, and Korea’s status as the Country Of Honour is a part of these efforts. Furthermore, I think the rise and spread of fandom culture surrounding K-pop and K-dramas helped spotlight Korean music and culture, in addition to broadcasting content around the world. I hope that Korean content will continue to grow and serve as a means for dialogue and exchange with people around the world. What are the main strengths of the audiovisual industries in Korea? The KCC chose the slogan ‘Korea. Story Connects Us’ to signify the idea that Korea is with the world, and Korea meets the world. We are preparing Country Of Honour events under the
banner of these ideas. Koreans enjoy imagining and storytelling, and this culture intertwines with Korea’s advanced ICT to create exceptional broadcasting content. Korea was the first in the world to launch terrestrial UHD broadcasting and commercial 5G services, and the related broadcast content with these technologies has been produced to very high standards. In the future, I view this area as a blue ocean. Every year the International Conference on Broadcasting Co-Production is held in Korea, and this year it will be hosted in July in Seoul. I hope many international partners will attend and take advantage of the conference’s many opportunities. What did the KCC have planned for the week in Cannes? There were a variety of events prepared, including: a screening of the most popular, hot-topic Korean content at the Fresh TV Korea session; conference sessions and case studies on Korean content, Korea’s content platform and distribution strategy, and successful examples of international co-operation; pitching sessions for carefully selected, outstanding Korean content; and one-on-one business networking meetings. The conference sessions were designed to look at successful examples of Korean content’s entry into overseas markets, the globalisation strategy of Korean-style OTT as well as short-form and traditional media, realising 5G-based convergence, and new forms of international co-operation through successful co-production agreements. Pitching and business meeting sessions would enable attendees to meet with professionals responsible for Korean content.
The Good Doctor, a global Korean drama hit
The Masked Singer: a hit in some 50 countries. Photo courtesy Fox
I Can See Your Voice: another hit format from Korea
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‘We’re entering a critical decade on the road to climate recovery’ The SDG Media Compact is an initiative designed to encourage media companies around the world to spread the message of the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. A member of the Compact, Reed MIDEM is launching the MIPTV SDG Award this year. Julian Newby spoke to UN Under Secretary General for Global Communications, Melissa Fleming, and the Award’s inaugural recipient, Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch JEREMY Darroch, CEO of pay-TV group Sky, is to be the first recipient of the inaugural MIPTV SDG Award. Reed MIDEM, a member of the SDG Global Media Compact, is launching the Award this year. The award will be given annually to a media company for its action and contribution to delivering the 17 United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The first award is dedicated to the Climate Action/ Life Beyond Waters SDG. Darroch will receive the Award on behalf of Sky Group. “It’s a great honour to receive this award, especially for Sky’s commitment to the environment,” Darroch told the MIPTV Preview.
Rescue campaign. In 2017 the company launched Sky Ocean Rescue, and for the last three years has campaigned for ocean health, reaching more than 47 million people with its message to give up single-use plastics. “Sky: they really live it,” Under Secretary-General, Global
“All 32,000 Sky employees across Europe have played their part in this award and each of them should be proud of where we are on this journey and where we’re headed.” Sky became the first carbon-neutral media company some 13 years ago; one of its early achievements in its campaign was the saving of one billion trees in the Amazon with its Sky Rainforest
Jeremy Darroch
“We all need to take action, because the world can’t wait” Sky CEO Jeremy Darroch
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Communications at the UN, Melissa Fleming told the MIPTV Preview. “These are very specific actions that can make a huge difference in changing people’s view of every-day things that they have been depending on, but not realising how damaging they are to the environment.” The SDG Media Compact is designed to galvanise media companies to spread the message of the SDGs. It was launched by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres in September 2018 with 31 founding members. That number has grown to 89, comprising media and broadcast companies from all over the world, their compliance with the SDGs manifesting itself both in terms of company policy and the content they produce. Mattel’s Thomas And Friends and IMPS’ The Smurfs are examples of programming whose storylines are SDG-compli-
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news: MIPTV SDG AWARD ant. “We’ve partnered with them and they have used these really popular children’s programmes to build-in SDG messaging into this content,” Fleming said. “This is of course shaping minds at a very early age.” Hello Kitty, produced by France’s Monello Productions and Watch Next Media in partnership with Japan’s Sanrio, is another kids show that carries the messaging. “Hello Kitty is teaching the SDGs to kids all around the world,” Fleming said. “And staying in Asia, NHK has produced a series of very powerful documentaries on the climate crisis and particularly on plastic pollution, using the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports as their guidance; and Nikkei is now hosting an annual SDG symposium. So it’s not all about broadcasting, it’s also about using networks to bring media executives together on the SDGs.” She added: “The Tokyo Olympics is being designed in an SDG-compliant manner. So just by having everything being built in a sustainable fashion, they are sending out a big message to the world and to the media that will be covering the Olympics. The more the media and others embrace the message, the more it gets talked about. And the more that news organisations like Sky not only broadcast the SDG message but actually live in accordance with the SDGs, the more people understand the practical applications.”
The messaging in children’s programming works with Fleming’s stated aim to change the narrative from “doom and gloom” to “coverage that has a solutions focus. There’s growing evidence that more and more viewers, readers and listeners, are switching off the news because they’re feeling overwhelmed, depressed, fatalistic,” she said. “There was a very interesting BBC global study of youth that found that young people under 35 want to be informed about what’s happening in the world but they want to have some hope. They want to know what can be done about it and how they can get involved.”
“We’re entering a critical decade on the long road to climate recovery and all businesses have the opportunity to accelerate progress and become part of the solution,” Darroch said. “That’s why we’ve recently launched our net-zero-carbon strategy, Sky Zero. Over the next 10 years we will halve the emissions from our own business operations, our supply chain and the emissions from the use of our products in customer homes. This is our commitment to be net-zero-carbon by 2030. But we also want our channels like Sky News, Sky Documentaries and Sky Nature to inspire our customers to make their own changes and live a lower-carbon lifestyle.” Sky set its Fewer, Bigger, Better environmental goals in 2012, from the reduction of waste to investment in renewable energy, and Darroch said these have all been met. “We’re also on track to have removed all single-use plastic f ro m our operations, products and supply chain by the end of 2020,” he said.
This approach feeds into the programme-making process too. “We set targets across all areas. For instance, we’re building Europe’s largest and most sustainable production facility in Elstree in 2022. And we’re working towards making all our Sky original productions and live sports and news broadcasts net-zero-carbon by 2030.” Sky also works with other broadcasters and production companies through the Albert Sustainability working group, to measure and reduce the carbon footprint associated with production. The company collaborates with its production partners too. “For example, Endemol Shine — who produced MasterChef in Germany — measured and reduced the carbon footprint of the programme and incorporated this work into their content,” Darroch said. “We’re at a tipping point on the path to climate recovery and we all need to take action, because the world can’t wait,” the Sky CEO warned. “It’s time for all business leaders and individuals to make changes that can ensure future of this world for our grandchildren. I hope that MIPTV can provide an open forum for the media industry to learn and lead the way for more sustainability behind the scenes and inspirational environmental content on screen.”
Melissa Fleming
“Hello Kitty is teaching the SDGs to kids all around the world”
UN Under Scretary-General, Global Communications, Melissa Fleming
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‘We are not content with not being able to tell our own stories’ SWEDISH actor, producer and #MeToo activist Sofia Helin was scheduled to be in Cannes for a Drama Masterclass called Embracing The Multi-Dimensional Woman; and to promote her latest series, Atlantic Crossing, which has been selected in competition for the third CANNESERIES, which is being held in October alongside MIPCOM. Helin speaks about the need for everyone involved in producing series drama to work harder to create well-rounded, meaningful parts for women actors. It’s an issue she faces rarely these days, her sustained success in series drama making it easier for her to pick and choose roles. But, “I’ve done things that I’m not so content with, where I felt that I wasn’t using all my tools as an actor,” she said. “When you’re starting out, you just take any job you can find — it’s like that for every actor. You just want to get experience.” Yet even from the outset, Helin has always read her parts “with feminist glasses on”, she said. “And now that happens to be the passion of the day, so I’m happy about that. But it’s been on my agenda the whole time. I think I approach all of life with feminist glasses on — I can never take them off. But it’s not that I can’t make a joke about things.” Recently she has moved into production and with more women in roles behind the camera she believes things can only improve for women actors. “It is happening. And it’s going to be the future, I’m certain of that,” she said. “Because half of the population of the planet that we are living on is made up of women and we are not content any more with not being able to tell our own stories.” She recalls an event in Cannes a few years back when she was proposing a project to some German
producers. “I explained the story and they were actually laughing at me,” she said. “They couldn’t picture a woman actor developing what I was describing. It was a couple of years later, when I returned to the same event and suddenly the world was open. Now everybody is asking for our stories. I’m just very happy and grateful for that — it’s about time. In Beta Film’s Atlantic Crossing, 1940s Norway is occupied by Nazi Germany. Crown Princess Martha and her children are offered shelter by Franklin D Roosevelt as political refugees in the White House. Her presence soon influences Roosevelt’s views on events unfolding in Europe. Speaking out against the Nazi tyranny she convinces the President to support Norway — a move that eventually leads to the US joining the war. “It was quite a surprise for me to get to understand how challenging it is for a human being to be a part of royalty,” she said. “There is so much in a life like that that is about containing everything inside yourself, to try to be the perfect person all the time and give the perfect performance in public. And after playing [police investigator] Saga Noren in the Bridge, that was quite the opposite. As Princess Martha I just could feel my body resisting. It was like, ‘I just want to get out of this dress!’.” Helin had to learn Norwegian for the role – for a multilingual script that includes
Norwegian, Swedish, English, American-English and German. The series was shot almost entirely in the Czech Republic, whose backdrop was used for several locations including Washington. “It’s an extraordinary country in that sense, because they have so much history — so much there is very old and not destroyed. You can make any city out of it.”
MIPTV PREVIEW • 16 • March 2020
“I think I approach all of life with feminist glasses on”
Sofia Helin
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How to make a drama with no fuss, lots of friends and many languages THE NETFLIX commissioned four-part English-Yiddish language mini-series Unorthodox is the first project from writer/ producer Anna Winger’s newly launched company, Berlin-based Studio Airlift. Adapted from Deborah Feldman’s novel Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection Of My Hasidic Roots, by Winger and filmmaker Alexa Karolinski, it tells the story of a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman in New York who flees her arranged marriage and religious community to start a new life in Berlin. The creation of the series was due to be the subject of an In Development Masterclass, featuring MIPTV 2020 Medaille d’Honneur winner Winger and the series’ director, Maria Schrader.
Anna Winger
With three feature films to her name, Unorthodox marks director and actor Schrader’s move into TV directing. And she said the experience has already changed her approach to filmmaking. “To develop and finance a feature film usually takes years. Only a few people are involved at the beginning and then slowly grow into a bigger crowd,” Schrader said. “With Unorthodox, everything started almost at once: writing, casting, scouting, parallel dialogue with a lot of people on so many levels.” She added: “We delivered the show within less than a year and it was a constant and yet adventurous and beautiful rush. This pace generated new abilities and capacities: I more and more trusted instant decisions and started to love the fast flow;
50 days of shooting flew past. I am preparing a feature film for the summer. I guess I will seek for the change of rhythms from now on.” Winger said the project “grew organically” out of her relationships with all the people involved. “Deborah suggested it! We all love the book and she gave us great creative freedom in adapting it. Then Netflix agreed to film in Yiddish, so we were off and running.” And it was a tight-knit group that developed the project. “Deborah Feldman’s son is at school with my girls; Alexa Karolinski and I had wanted to write something together; Maria is the star of my other show, Deutschland 83, a friend, and a very talented director,” Winger said. Back in 2016, Deutschland 83
Maria Schrader
MIPTV PREVIEW • 18 • March 2020
made headlines for being the highest-rated foreign-language drama on UK TV. The explosion of multilingual TV dramas around world since that time means viewers are no longer fazed by shows punctuated by subtitles. Pioneer Winger’s English script was translated into German for Deutschland 83 and she has continued working in that vein. “Everything I write is multi-lingual and rarely in the language I’m writing in — which is always English — so I’m used to that. In this case we had a great asset in Eli Rosen, our Yiddish translator and language coach, a native speaker who was always on set.” Schrader also has a background in multi-lingual filmmaking. “My film Stefan Zweig – Farewell to Europe, was shot in seven different languages,” she said. “A variety of languages and cultural backgrounds on set is enriching in every way. All of us are asked to put a little effort and thought into communication, which usually creates more sensitivity and tenderness.”
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Shaping the future of entertainment REFLECTOR Entertainment CEO and co-founder Alexandre Amancio, one of the visionaries behind Assassin’s Creed, is a contributor to MIPTV’s new What’s Trending series of initiatives. In Emerging Technol-
Alexandre Amancio
ogy: Pushing The Boundaries Of Creativity And Experience, a session Amancio was due to present, he discusses how “unorthodox content creation and deployment strategies enabled by groundbreaking technologies” could shape the future of entertainment. A pioneer in transmedia storytelling, he believes that “pushing the boundaries of creativity and experience are key to survival, success and audience engagement” in the rapidly evolving global media landscape. Amancio said he sees gaming and traditional TV “simply as conduits... two different roads that lead to the same ultimate concepts: character and universe”. In the future, he said, “as technology to enable audiences to pull media from their devices in an increasingly personalised way, the lines between media will evaporate. Audiences will essentially be able to continue inhabiting the universe of a television series through an array of interconnected media, including books, video games and comics — all on the same device.” He said the key to transmedia storytelling is the “storyworld”, the shared universe within which settings, characters, objects, events and actions of one or more narratives exist. “In transmedia storytelling, there is oversight from a central storyworld core team, but the actual process of creating in an individual medium is ostensibly the
MIPTV PREVIEW • 20 • March 2020
same,” Amancio said. “The creative process must essentially be focused through the lens of the specific universe — its timelines, characters and unique rules must be taken into account.” He added: “In practice, the storyworld team provides the container in which to create and the creator has free rein within that container. With traditional, linear storytelling, the story itself is the end-all, be-all, without outside considerations for storylines and media that need to be interwoven into the framework of the universe.” At the moment, as well as building transmedia company Reflector, he is creator and executive producer of Unknown 9, Reflector’s first transmedia storyworld. “For the past three years or so, along with an incredibly talented, multi-disciplinary team, I’ve been working hard on building a mythology that will be deployed through a series, novels, comic books, podcasts and video games, to name but a few. Unknown 9 is an occult conspiracy thriller centred on nine mysterious immortals who hold the keys to universal knowledge.” He added that “certain key learnings from the gaming industry can be leveraged to refresh and disrupt established viewership and distribution models. Technology lets us create a centralised platform that supports multiple media — from series, to novels, comics and video games — and leverage game mechanics that enable participation and engagement, all-the-while harnessing real-time data on viewership patterns and audience habits that can be used to further personalise the experience.”
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Brace for change: we must all prepare for a ‘wild ride’ PHIL Schuman is a senior managing director at FTI Consulting, a global business advisory firm dedicated to helping organisations manage change. His session entitled Bracing For Change In 2020: Winning Streaming Strategies Today, was offering research-based advice on “how to survive and thrive in the new landscape of broadcasters, premium and pay channels, SVOD and AVOD players, all fighting for unique content”, during what he describes as a “wild ride”. He told the MIPTV Preview: “It was only in 2015 that CBS, ABC etc. were the largest media companies.”
So did he foresee where we would be in 2020, and was he optimistic back then? “Five years ago it was possible to know that things were changing in a fundamental way, but I could not have foreseen all the specific changes,” Schuman said. “It was certainly unthinkable in those days that News Corp would have sold the assets it did to Disney.” And he was optimistic — certainly for some of the digital players, and less so for some of the legacy players. “On balance, though, I think you have to say that the last five years has been a Golden Age. So many incredible new entertainment products have been invented, amazing creativity has
occurred and immense fortunes have been made.” But even he couldn’t have predicted the rise of Netflix the way it happened. “Many people who have worked in media for a long time predicted that one day there would be vast libraries of content available to consumers, on demand, and it would trigger a huge change,” he said. “This is what Netflix became. If they didn’t do it, someone else would have come along. However, I certainly could not have predicted how fast Netflix has grown. It just shows the consumer demand for the very efficient solution of an OTT-based SVOD service, especially at the price they are
Phil Schuman: “In 10 years time things will be so exciting”
MIPTV PREVIEW • 22 • March 2020
able to offer it. I think as long as they keep growing their participant base they have a very sustainable model and it’s hard to bet against them doing that.” But the SVOD cracks may start to show as the new players come on stream. “It’s likely there will be some winners and some losers. But there appears to be good consumer demand for these kinds of products so we have to see how many will make it. Certainly Disney+ is off to a great start.” Meanwhile the legacy broadcasters aren’t going anywhere. “First, they continue to bring wide reach and that is the most efficient way for advertisers to speak to their audience. And second, they have sophisticated infrastructures to produce live programming,” Schuman said. “For broadcasters, I think the future is about continuing to hone their programming to bring to consumers programming that fits to mass audiences and programming that has an immediacy is also appealing. Fox in the US is an interesting case study in programming evolution toward heavier sports and live programming.” He added: “While change is part of the future of broadcast I think there is a compelling future for that kind of programming service.” Looking ahead, in 10 years time things will be “so exciting. Some areas grow less and others grow faster, but few things just go away. The one thing I might suggest is that entertainment is getting more and more atomised and I do think that, while it will always have mass experiences, entertainment will increasingly have more micro experiences for people to enjoy. Planning for winning in a dual mass/micromedia environment would appear to be a good goal for the industry.”
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news: WHAT’S TRENDING
Korea, literature and podcasts: where the new IP is coming from
The Wit CEO Virginia Mouseler
KOREA, formats and fiction are key areas of significant activity in the international marketplace, according to the presenter of MIPTV and MIPCOM sellout Fresh TV sessions, Virginia Mouseler, CEO of Switzerland-based research agency The Wit. The Wit is constantly updating its research and in the formats genre things can change fast. But according to Mouseler, the global success of ITV Studios’ dating show Love Island is likely to spawn a string copycats and increase demand for similar shows. “In the field of unscripted content, there is most activity in the area of dating shows at the moment,” Mouseler said. “It seems that people don’t want too many twists and turns and complications in reality shows right now — Love Island is proof of that. Maybe that’s partly the influence of Instagram, which is very simple, visual and in-your-face. The trend
is certainly for good stories based on real life.” And it’s an unscripted hit that has turned all eyes on Korea in the past year or so — MIPTV’s Country Of Honour. “Non-scripted content from Korea is particularly relevant now after the breakout format The Masked Singer [originally MBC’s The King Of Mask Singer], which is the biggest format of the last 18 months in terms of the number of adaptations there have been,” Mouseler said. “Because of that we feel everybody is searching for the next big hit from South Korea. Whether it exists or not we don’t know, but it’s a hot country right now.” She added that sometimes it takes just one hit show to open up the international marketplace for a country. “I think there may be one or two other formats coming from South Korea in the coming months and buyers will have their eyes on
the country now,” she said. “Previously, partly because of language issues, the international marketplace wasn’t looking to closely at South Korea. But they will now. It’s like, in the past, people didn’t look at Israel but now they do. So it’s a new source of content.” A strong trend in fiction programming is to base new shows on existing IP, Mouseler said. “That minimises risk. So there is a large number of projects around at the moment based on strong literary brands.” Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock, Bram Stoker’s Dracula and Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials are all examples of works of literature adapted for television that are enjoying success around the world. “This has always happened in the past but there are many more such adaptations around today,” she added. Another strong trend observed by The Wit is for dramas based on
MIPTV PREVIEW • 24 • March 2020
real events — Chernobyl (HBO) and The Crown (Netflix) being particularly strong examples. “Everybody can relate to these stories — many of the viewers actually lived through them, so they are easy to market. And they are educational. And with so much content around now, audiences like to know that they are learning as well as being entertained.” Podcasts represent a comparatively new source of content for TV series — Amazon Studios’ homecoming starring Julia Roberts; and Dirty John, created by Wondery and the Los Angeles Times, and picked up by Bravo and Netflix, being two strong examples. “You may see 10 or 20 adapted for TV in any one year, so it’s not that many. But these are cheap pilots. So we see this sub-genre of IP growing. We expect to see a number of new titles in the near future reflecting this market trend.”
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news: WHAT’S TRENDING
What happened on TV around the world last year, according to research by Glance MIPTV’s spotlight on Market Intelligence, designed to give delegates detailed industry insight from leading experts and analysts from around the world, includes research from One Television Year In The World, presented by Paris-based research company Glance. The exclusive annual review of audience data covers 4.1 billion viewers and 7,000 channels across over 120 territories. The company was due to give “a snapshot of what happened in 2019 and what is driving mass audiences across countries” at MIPTV, Glance head of content Avril Blondelot said, “by focusing on the best-performing launch across 35 counties; that will be the show that has been able to create the best event of the year.” One element of the report analyses what these top shows across different countries have in common.
Not surprisingly last year’s One Television Year report, focusing on 2018, showed that “fic-
tion was dominant across most countries”, Blondelot said. New scripted series topped the an-
Avril Blondelot: “Fiction was dominant across most countries”
nual charts in three quarters of the countries studied, with 80% of them local productions, the report said. Comedy also showed a resurgence in many territories. “The proportion of shows that had market share above the usual average was quite high compared with three years ago,” she added. “And you still had channels managing to reach higher audiences in 2018 than they did the previous year.” The report’s primary focus is linear. “We are monitoring 100 digital platforms and we closely follow what they produce but we don’t have the ratings — nobody wants to share that for now,” Blondelot said. But statistics have shown that children’s programming is an important genre for the digital platforms. “Shiny and noisy drama series are hugely popular for the digital services, but they are quickly forgotten. With kids content, people come back over and over again.”
What makes a format into a global hit? A MIPTV session New Superformats – What Makes A Global Hit, aimed to examine the phenomenon that has turned celebrities singing behind masks and millennials arguing in paradise, into global TV sensations. Jonathan Broughton, lead analyst at UK research organisation Broadcast Intelligence (BI), and Jesse Whittock, insight editor at sister publication Broadcast, were planning to identify the elements that turn a format into a superformat. For Broughton, Love Island, The Masked Singer, The Wall, The Secret Life Of 4-YearOlds, What Would Your Kid Do?, All Together Now and First Dates all fall into that category. So what links them all? “At first glance they are very, very different, but each of them tell stories which are in no way limited to the country from which they originate — they have some-
thing to which everyone can relate,” Broughton said. “In general, we all love music and singing, we’ve all been on dates, we’ve all had good and bad social interactions. So, without being too philosophical, the common factor is us, and our experiences.”
BI defines a superformat as “a non-scripted entertainment format, which has been adapted for use in five or more markets, and crucially has achieved mainstream success”. Korean smash hit The Masked Singer is a particular phenome-
Jonathan Broughton
Jesse Whittock
MIPTV PREVIEW • 26 • March 2020
non, as until quite recently — with some notable exceptions — much Asian entertainment content has stayed at home. “Here is a show that has clearly found success because of the bleed-through of Karaoke culture,” Broughton said. “I think that social media has also had an impact on our openness to this type of show — today we’re more directly exposed to celebrity and non-native language content than we used to be. People’s tastes have widened, they have become more aware of other cultures, as the way they consume information has changed.” So what’s his prediction for the next big hit? “I’d say, come up with a celebrity-driven, nostalgia format, which takes another angle from either social, dating or singing and you’ve got a hit. Celebs Go Dating In The Nineties — I’d watch that…”
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news: WHAT’S TRENDING
A new age in which the service providers know where you are CREATIVE data and technology agency Wunderman Thompson UK’s annual The Future 100 Report examines “some of the most compelling and impactful themes for 2020 and beyond”, according to Marie Stafford, European director, innovation group at the agency. Stafford was slated to present a session on the report — Snapshots From The Future 100 — during MIPTV. “As a futurist, I am looking for patterns of change in consumer behaviour, culture, society and technology that point to future trends,” Stafford told the MIPTV Preview. “Our team defines visions of the future that help Wunderman Thompson clients identify and capitalise on growth opportunities, as well as avoid disruption. We have been doing this for about 15 years now, and have built a reputation in our industry for provocative thinking.” Stafford’s message to the industry is clear: “As technology continues to fuel innovation and re-
invent the ways we can discover and enjoy entertainment, content creators must evolve to stay relevant,” she said. And this means that companies will have to get a lot more creative about how they generate excitement around shows. “For bigbudget productions, that might mean investing in a launch akin to that of a blockbuster film. But there are other ways to engage viewers and build conversation,” Stafford said. “I think in some ways social media has replaced the old water-cooler moment. So you may not know anyone in your immediate circle who loves the shows you do, but you can certainly find and engage with them online.” This is challenging but it also unlocks new opportunities, she said, as evidenced by the growth in shorter, snackable content. “It’s spurring creativity too. I love that the new short-form platform Quibi has announced it will only unlock new episodes of its Steven Spielberg drama After Dark
by checking the user’s location to make sure it is indeed, after dark.” They know where you are… Looking ahead, a wave of emerging technologies, like extended reality, AI and the power of 5G promise another future, she said. “One where we are fully immersed and engaged, interacting with characters and even participating in the story. Gaming elements will play a bigger role too. It will deliver a completely new wave of storytelling, where we reinterpret what content can be. To fully capitalise on emerging tech like this, content creators need to experiment to really exploit its potential.” So given Stafford’s agency experience, what is the future for ad-funded models in this brave new world? “There was some research I saw recently, which said that 59% of Americans were not willing to pay more than $20 a month for streaming services,” she said. “It suggests that people are willing to pay, but that there might not be room for lots
Wunderman Thompson UK’s Marie Stafford
MIPTV PREVIEW • 28 • March 2020
and lots of subscription services to get into every household. So I think ad-funded models will still remain popular, and a crucial way of funding content.” But the 30-second spot might not have quite the power it once had. “The vintage KFC buckets that appeared in season two of Netflix’s Stranger Things was an interesting twist on product placement. There’s also a growing trend in brands funding content creation, or even doing it themselves. Last year in a trend we called New Narratives, we reported on the rise of brands like P&G and Mailchimp doing just this, creating their own prestige content.” Meanwhile there is evidence that consumers — or fans — still have a desire for the actual rather than the virtual. “We’re seeing the rise of companion podcasts for shows — for example The Crown, Chernobyl and Inside No 9 — where fans can go to hear plot discussions or interviews with cast and crew,” she said. “There are even real-life experiences like the Peaky Blinders festival or the FriendsFest. I think we’ll see more innovation around driving engagement and conversation like this.”
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Producers must not ignore linear as streamers disrupt commissioning GUY BISSON, research director of UK data and analytics firm Ampere Analysis, was scheduled to present a study of how streaming and the internationalisation of content has impacted what commissioners want across scripted and unscripted programming, during a MIPTV What’s Trending session. “It was really the streamers’ need for global rights that kicked off the whole original content boom that we find ourselves right in the middle of now,” he told the MIPTV Preview. “We’ve certainly moved well beyond the days when one or two broadcast groups in each country called the shots when it came to commissioning.” The streamers’ have changed the commissioning process too. “They are perhaps a little faster moving and can also greenlight entire budgets for certain shows rather than employ the traditional deficit model were a local
Ampere Analysis’ Guy Bisson
commissioner might pay for 25% of budget and leave the deficit for international distribution.” But brand loyalty can be a vic-
tim of this evolution. “It’s important to realise that streaming players measure success on very different terms to broadcasters
Digital: the old guard can fight back ANOTHER take on the disruption brought upon the industry
MIDiA Research’s Tim Mulligan
by the streaming companies is offered by Tim Mulligan, who heads
up the online video research practice at UK-based MIDiA Research. In his planned What’s Trending session, Scheduling & Marketing Strategies In The Streaming Era, Mulligan aimed to focus on the twin challenges faced by linear TV in the face of competition from the streamers. TV networks need to respond proactively to the rise of streaming by incorporating best practice from the streamers to reinforce the point of differentiation between live TV and on-demand, he said, adding: “Linear is now effectively an alternative to streaming and needs to recognise that it is working in partnership with VOD consumption behaviours
MIPTV PREVIEW • 30 • March 2020
and that can also lead to shows getting cancelled a little more quickly than they may have done on network TV.” Bisson had advice for producers in this brave new world. “Consider alliances, partners and sales opportunities equally and don’t necessarily obsess over a global Netflix deal — although that, of course, can be an attractive route.” Others are jumping on the commissioning bandwagon too: “I’d include the social-media players, regional telecoms and traditional pay-TV operators in that,” he said. “The other key thing to understand is that the whole market has moved towards a global model and stories that work globally, by incorporating elements on a universal human level, can work well.” And don’t write off the traditional broadcasters who are “still major commissioners of content in their own right. A well-structured distribution deal sold on a territory-by-territory basis can often bring in more money than a one-stop global deal, however attractive the global deal may at first appear.”
to ensure long-term viability of this strategy.” Another issue brought about by the rise of the streamers — and other digital competitors to linear, including social media — is that of diminishing brand loyalty: how to ensure prolonged fandom. “Fandom has to live beyond the initial release window of the show, as no distribution model is able to guarantee success in the fragmented distributed audience landscape of the streaming era,” Mulligan said. “Building fandom is now built on super-serving niches — moving beyond the four-quadrant commissioning approach, and expanding fandom inputs to include non-traditional TV elements such as video games, and crucially allowing showrunners to build streaming optimised story arcs.”
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news: MIPTV DRAMA BUYERS SUMMIT
Beau-Sejour (Belgium)
Benidorm (Spain)
Nasdrovia (Spain)
Paris Police 1900 (France)
The Sea Beyond (Italy)
The Window (Germany)
Bloodlands (UK)
The Baker And The Beauty (US)
The Machinery (Sweden)
Unseen (Belgium)
Wolf Trap (Russia)
International buyers get a first-look at new titles from around the world NOW IN its fifth year, the MIPTV Drama Buyers Summit was designed to meet the growing international demand for high-end drama series and present an exclusive first-look at a selection of international new series, to 450 leading acquisition executives and commissioners.
The selection was made with the support of the MIP Drama Buyers Advisory Board of global industry executives with extensive experience in acquisitions, co-productions, and international business development. It is a common perception that the big streaming services have
MIP DRAMA BUYERS ADVISORY BOARD Ignacio Barrera, senior vicepresident, sales & business development, Telemundo Global Studios (USA); Geraldine Easter, director of programming & acquisitions, Nine Network (Australia); Aline Marrache-Tesseraud, senior vice-president, development/original scripted
content, Universal Music France (France); Anette Romer, head of acquisitions & formats, TV2 (Denmark); Sarah Wright, director of acquisitions, Sky (UK); and Viktoria Wasilewski, head of content, Amazon Italia Services (Italy).
Disappeared (Spain)
changed TV drama, by speaking to international audiences, which are happy with a variety of different approaches to storytelling. “In terms of genre, no one size fits all, of course, but in general we are seeing more flexibility in length and form, a boost of limited series in traditional high-end drama markets and more high-end drama formats in traditional telenovela markets — even telenovela’s themselves are now being adapted into shorter versions to attract new audiences,” head of strategy at UK-based research organisation K7 Media, Girts Licis, said. “It seems like the streamers’ mantra of ‘Make the series as long as there is a good story to tell’ has been picked up by traditional broadcasters as well.” A key trend Licis has observed is that of dramas that look at the
MIPTV PREVIEW • 32 • March 2020
world “from a female perspective. This means not just putting a female protagonist in the centre of the story, but really telling the stories from a female perspective,” he said. “Think of the BBC’s The Trial Of Christine Keeler — a true story which has been told before, but so far, always from the political drama angle, never considering the drama going on with Christine. Another current drama buzzword is ‘true’. True stories of any shape and size are trending, from true crime to true events fixed in books or magazine stories, or plots inspired by true stories — from most recent to centuries back.” Among the highlights of the Summit was the planned Drama Showcase of 15-minute previews of 12 series in production, selected for their writing and production values, originality and worldwide appeal.
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news: CANNESERIES
The scene is set once again to celebrate the best in TV series CANNESERIES, the Cannes International Series Festival that celebrates drama series from all over the world, is now in its third year. Co-located with MIPTV, it was set to run from March 27 to April 1, during which time a jury would judge on a shortlist of 10 new series. And according to festival CEO Benoit Louvet, he and his team have stuck to a winning formula for its third season. “The structure of the festival has not changed,” Louvet said. “The length will be the same: from a Friday opening ceremony to a Wednesday closing ceremony. The number of series in competition is the same: 10. For season three, however, we do have some new things in store.” They include The CANNESERIES Writers Club, an event dedicated to recognised professionals and emerging talents in the field of television series, where they can share creative ideas through masterclasses, case studies and round tables. CANNESERIES is also introducing The Student Prize, which is an award for the Best Series of the Competition as chosen by a jury of eight high-school students from the Nice region. “And CAN-
NESERIES will have its General Headquarters at CANNESERIES Land,” Louvet said, “Two minutes walking distance from the Palais where audiences, journalists and talent can run into each other.” Series from all over the world are shown on the big screen in the Grand Auditorium of the Palais des Festivals during CANNESERIES. All genres are accepted for the competition, except for kids shows; the series have to be fully commissioned — no pilots; and of a minimum of five episodes, each of which must be at least 20 minutes long. But there are opportunities for shorter series too. The Short Form Series competition is open to series with a minimum of five episodes, each less than 20 minutes in duration. And there are Out Of Competition screenings too. Every evening, a glamorous pink-carpet line-up precedes the World Premiere or French Premiere of a series selected on merit rather than for competition. Two of these are presented in association with MIPTV. In the build-up to the third season, Louvet said he had not identified any specific or emerging
trends in series drama. “The multiplication of platforms leads to such a diversification of content that it seems impossible to identify a particular genre,” he said. And while there is an unprecedented amount of content now available to the ever-expanding numbers of streamers and broadcast networks, the quality of available content remains high. “It’s such a competitive business,” he said. “But the quality of series is not diminishing. The platforms are complementary to other modes of production. There’s room for everyone. That’s why CANNESERIES really tries to go beyond its mandate and really helps to connect people and help get their series sold.” And that’s working so far. Louvet said that all the series premiered during CANNESERIES last year “have an international outlet which is a real triumph for CANNESERIES”. Other highlights from the 2019 season, for Louvet,
CANNESERIES SELECTION The 10 series selected in competition for the 3rd CANNESERIES • 257 Reasons to live (Beta Film), Russia • Atlantic Crossing (Beta Film), Norway • Dignity (Red Arrow Studios International), Chile, Germany • Kidnapping (Arte), Denmark • Losing Alice (Dori Media International), Israel • Man in Room 301 (About Premium Content), Finland • Partisan (Federation Entertainment), Sweden • The Grave (Federation Entertainment), Israel • Top Dog (ZDF Enterprises), Sweden • Trying (Apple TV+), UK
CANNESERIES CEO Benoit Louvet
MIPTV PREVIEW • 34 • March 2020
included “Dame Diana Rigg accepting the Variety Icon Award, the revelation of Leticia Dolera’s Perfect Life, and the extraordinary reaction at the screening of the masterpiece Years And Years”, the Russell T Davies series starring Emma Thompson, which closed the festival. And the big names keep on showing up, including showrunner Darren Star (Sex And The City, Emily In Paris), who was named festival patron for 2020. Meanwhile Louvet’s passion for series drama remains high as he lists his binge-favourites for the past 12 months: “Euphoria, Big Little Lies, Le Bureau des Legendes, Gomorra, The Crown… and so many more.”
• In the light of the cancellation of MIPTV the third CANNESERIES will now be co-located with MIPCOM, October 9-14. Screenings will be open to all MIPCOM registered participants
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18/02/20 17:53
news: TECH & CREATIVITY
Industry focuses on UHD content as consumers buy into new technology CONSUMER enthusiasm for UHD TV is up. Which means areas dedicated to UHD content at the Cannes markets become even more relevant this year. At MIPTV a focus for this trend was the Sony Innovation Stage, designed to show the latest UHD 4K and 8K productions, most of which are created in High Dynamic Range. Consumers are enthusiastically buying into 4K displays now that prices have softened. According to Germany’s GfK Retain & Technology, the share in the German market enjoyed by UHD was more than 70% this past winter, and climbing, and the large 55” sets were the most popular, although sales of 65” during the pre-Christmas quarter recorded a 23% increase on 2018 sales. In Cannes Sony was due to
showcase content on its Bravia Master Series 98” 8K display, including productions from: ZDF Germany, for example the timely Anthropocene, directed by Jens Monath and which addresses global issues and delivers a cinematic look to Earth’s natural wonders. Other highlights included Off the Fence, UK’s Terra Mater documentaries; CJ ENM, South Korea’s Under, an 8K story about life under the rocks, the sea and the cities in South Korea; France’s The Explorers, an organisation that is creating an inventory of natural and human heritage in 4K and 8K and which recently won Apple TV’s Best App of the Year for its work; Blue Danube Media’s 8K look-back at the history of Winter Sports in Austria; the US’ Golden Gate 3D’s growing portfolio of 8K productions; and nat-
ural-world filming from France’s Saint Thomas Productions in 8K and even higher resolutions. The latest global data and adoption of 4K/UHD was due to be explored by UK research organisation I H S Markit, and satellite operator Eutelsat. Masterclass sessions were designed to offer valuable insights into understanding 8K/UHD, including: Monetising 8K; Shooting Tips And Equipment; Filming In The Wild; Accessing OTT and Cloud Distribution; and Understanding 4K and 8K. Japan’s NHK, which was due to film and broadcast the Tokyo Olympic Games in 8K, was due to showcase its 8K drama A Stranger In Shanghai. Beautifully set in 1921 when one of Japan’s most endearing and highly regarded novelists Ryunosuke Akutagawa, author of Rasho-
A Stranger In Shanghai (NHK)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 36 • March 2020
mon, visits Shanghai as a newspaper correspondent. He’d read classic Chinese novels growing up, but Shanghai is quite different from the utopian place that he was expecting. It’s hard for him to reconcile fantasy with reality. This true story of Akutagawa’s time in Shanghai is notable because the author came to be known as the Father of the Japanese Short Story, after his masterwork Rashomon was published. It was later made into a classic film by one of Japan’s most influential film directors, Akira Kurosawa. “Nowadays, not a day passes without China making news,” director Taku Kato said. “It can be said that one hundred years ago was the beginning of modern China. Shanghai, one of the most captivating, cosmopolitan cities of the time, was in the midst of major turmoil. How did the magisc city of Shanghai look through Akutagawa’s eyes? His journey is filmed in beautiful high definition.”
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19/02/20 13:33
news: RUSSIA
Russia launches incentives for international producers AS MIPTV was turning its attention to content production in 2020, the Made In Russia initiative had plans to highlight new production incentives available to international producers who
REC’s Evgenia Danilchenko
choose to produce in the country. The Russian Export Center (REC) and the Russian Office of Film Commissions have jointly announced new production incentives, allocating $12.8m towards rebates this year, a figure doubling to $23.5m for 2021. The subsidies are distributed by the REC and managed by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation. “Above all, we consider the incentives programme as an effective economic tool in a global context,” head of the Creative Industries Export department at the REC, Evgenia Danilchenko said. “Depending on the country and the schemes, return on the investment can be from between three and five times. And apart from the economic value, incen-
tives provide jobs, bring business to related service companies and contribute to the growth of local production.” She added: “In addition, incentives encourage international producers to introduce Russian themes into their stories and this can in turn contribute to film tourism in the future. The country has a great range of locations which is not always obvious to foreign producers.” International producers of feature films and series are eligible if they spend at least RUB15m ($235,000) in Russia. Documentaries have to pass the threshold of $59,000, and animation $78,500. International companies first have to find a Russian partner, as only local companies can apply. Recipients are selected by an expert board, which includes representatives of federal institutions and experts from key national production
MIPTV PREVIEW • 38 • March 2020
and distribution companies. The rebate is set at 30% of the estimated amount of spend in Russia; that can rise to 40% for projects that reach a whole set of targets — for example, for feature films: shooting for 19 days in Russia, spending at list RUB75m ($1.2m) in the country and employing at least 80% of Russian crew. Content is not restricted or censored, but covering Russia and Russia-related topics helps towards receiving the maximum rebate. The Russian Export Center has been facilitating the export of Russian content since 2017. This year the REC was supporting the Russian pavilion at MIPTV, bringing together some 20 companies under the Made In Russia brand, and operated by Expocontent — a consulting company which assists Russian, Ukrainian and CIS companies in the content industry, to build strong international distribution networks. Those companies include Star Media, Sreda, Mars Media Entertainment, Riki Group, Souyzmultfilm, among other key producers and distributors from Russia.
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The Decade of Action starts with you
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Let’s transform our world together. We have only 10 years to achieve the Global Goals and everyone has a contribution to make. Whether you’re in government, business, civil society or the media: the Decade of Action starts with you.
FEATURE: IN DEVELOPMEMT PROJECT PITCHES
Stephen Mowbray Jane Gogan
Luiz Filipe Figueira
Chris Rose
Vicky Schroderus
Michele Zatta
‘Why does the producer want to make this and why will the viewers watch it?’ Project Pitches from around the world are a key feature of the third edition of MIPTV’s In Development initiative and can be seen at MIPTV Online+.The Pitches feature an official selection of high-end projects looking for international financing and coproduction partners. We spoke to a selection of the jurors
P
REMIUM content is driving the evolution of the entertainment industries internationally, as streaming services present growing competition to traditional broadcasters — so there is a greater need for digital and linear providers to enter the production cycle at the earliest possible stage. Three international juries of industry experts have selected projects that will be pitched to potential partners in three categories: Drama Series, Kids Series and Creative Talent, the
latter focusing on independent creators/producers with original scripted and serialised creative concepts drawn from a diverse range of media, including web series, social media stories, podcasts and YouTube channels, to be developed as scripted series. Jane Gogan, director at Ireland’s Yellow Path Productions and juror for the Drama Series Pitch, said she was looking for “insight to the story, truth and relevance”. For example: “If it’s historical, what is it about the drama that makes it relevant now? It’s more important for a
financier to understand the producer’s and writer’s ambition for a drama than getting detail on the plot at pitch stage,” she said. “Why does the producer want to make this series and why will an audience want to watch it? What is it about the drama that makes it interesting and relatable to people outside the home country? Every series is not for every viewer so have ideas about who your series will be interesting to and what platforms might be drawn to it — streamers, broadcasters, distributors?” “We look for stories that have a
MIPTV PREVIEW • 41 • March 2020
Zia Bales
true soul and are able to speak to the broadest possible audience,” Drama juror Michele Zatta, commissioning editor at Italy’s Rai Fiction, said. “Stories that, even if fantastic, dystopian or surreal, are told in a way that almost every viewer could be involved by getting the feeling that the story is somehow relevant for them.” A good pitch, therefore, should “focus on the heart, on the soul of the story. Let’s always start from the characters, their needs, their fears, their weaknesses,” Zata said. “Let’s always start from the basic question: ‘Why should I love them and decide to travel with them through their story?’”
Michele Zatta:
“A good pitch should “focus on the heart, on the soul of the story”
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2 STEP
YOUR MIPTV Connect and re-connect with your professional network and attend one of the numerous Matching Sessions to get the most out of MIPTV 20.20
4 STEP
FEATURE: IN DEVELOPMEMT PROJECT PITCHES Drama juror Stephen Mowbray, head of programme acquisitions at Sweden’s SVT, said he is on the lookout “for something that will resonate with the viewers and what, in the over abundance of fiction on offer, feels unique”. There are three important ingredients for successful drama, he said: “Characters you can identify with, that feel authentic, and that you can love or hate. What we don’t want is generic cabana tees who do not resonate.” For Gogan, a good drama needs “a good story and truthful characters. And in an age of fake news, ideas that tell us more about the world and the human condition, capture the imagination and give a show a greater chance of connecting with an audience,” she said. Opinion differs where trends in series drama are concerned. For Zatta: “There are still huge differences in the editorial lines of public and private networks and each territory has its own recipe and follows its own directions,” he said. “In the US there’s still the trend of growing budgets that, in my opinion, might turn out to be a limit to creativity. In Europe, es-
pecially in the upcoming countries, the small budgets force the producers to make the best out of small money. This means looking for the best ideas, relying on very good scripts and smart direction.” He added: “But each time you bet mainly on free and widespread creativity you seldom fail. Think of Undone [US animated drama on Amazon], a wonderful masterpiece of pure creativity.” Mowbray has observed a strong trend “for shorter series with a strong emotional or relationship themes”, while Gogan has seen “a greater interest in the truth behind a story that is familiar through news”. Kids Series Pitch juror Chris Rose, vice-president, animation at Nickelodeon, said he “likes to hear from creators with a passion for their project, and who know why their idea is best for us”. And they should understand the brand and the platforms: “How will your show sit in our portfolio; what is about it that will make our audience immediately think of it as a Nickelodeon series?” Kids Juror Zia Bales, senior ac-
quisitions manager, EMEA, at Turner, in the US, said her channels focus on “creator-driven content, so it’s helpful to have the person who lives and breathes the idea in the pitch”. And Bales is seeing more diversity of characters in pitches: “This is really positive for the industry and our audiences,” she said. “In this ever-evolving multiplatform world, it’s also exciting to see new format ideas that serve the needs of kids today.” For Turner’s Cartoon Network and Boomerang channels, “comedy with heart is a key ingredient”, Bales said, “alongside authentic characters that our fans can relate to and want to engage with”. Kids Juror Vicky Schroderous, acquisitions executive at Finland’s YLE, has pitching advice: “I would start the pitch with the facts, such as the format and the target group. Then move to explaining the basic concept and describing the main characters. Finally, I would tell a story or two. All this information needs to be delivered in a very short time. Especially as broadcasters receive a lot of pitches, so with this struc-
ture you would get the listener into the right mindset.” And what are three key ingredients of a hit show? “Story, story and story!” Luiz Filipe Figueira, acquistions and programme strategy executive at Brazil’s Globosat, adds to that: “I personally like to see people’s ambitions and don’t mind when pitchers compare their projects to former hits, saying: ‘We want it to be the next...’. I don’t encourage people to copy former hits, of course, but it helps to materialise where that project stands on the kids content landscape or spectrum. “Don’t start with a long back-story,” he added. “I prefer when people go straight to what the show will be like, if the show is going to make kids laugh — or make them cry, and why.” And a hit kids show must have characters. “The main characters especially should have a very good reason to be featured in a series,” Figueira said. “Many times they are just your ‘ordinary animation character’ dressed by a story background. A hit show needs hit characters and those characters need to be, at the same time, absolutely familiar and intriguingly special.”
THE CREATIVE TALENT PITCH THE CREATIVE Talent Pitch is open to independent creators and producers to present an original scripted and serialised creative concept from a diverse range of delivery media — for example web series, social media stories, podcasts, gaming and YouTube channels — for development into scripted series formats. The initiative is an opportunity for producers, linear and non-linear buyers and commissioners, distributors, talent agents and brands, to discover fresh ideas and talent in this field. A juror on the Creative Talent
Pitch, general manager at global media and tech company Webedia Rights, Gregg Bywalski, said: “Short form for us is all about the idea and its creator, author, talent. If it does stand out from everything else we have seen then the second step is how passionate one can be about the topic and how legitimate he/she can be on the subject. “One simple piece of advice would be to go straight to the main key differential elements of the pitch and focus on what outcome is expected from such a pitch to adapt the language/
arguments used during the session, according to your audience.” The creative approach is different when targeting multiple platforms, non-linear platforms and unconventional programme lengths, he said. “The creative exercise needs to try and have a singular approach for each type of platform you are targeting. Mastering and understanding the constraints and opportunities of each will help deliver the proper appealing message during the pitch.” The key ingredients for a multiplatform hit, meanwhile, are
MIPTV PREVIEW • 43 • March 2020
Webedia’s Gregg Bywalski
clear: it must have “appeal, innovation and potential”.
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FEATURE
MIPTV Producers To Watch
M
IPTV Producers To Watch is a brandnew initiative to provide producers with additional exposure and opportunities to connect with potential international partners. A panel has selected independent producers from around the world with a strong track record in their field; highly recommended by their local broadcasters, producer associations and export agencies; innovative and 100% international facing. The full list of the MIPTV Producers to Watch is available at MIPTV Online+ and MIPTV delegates can access them via the MIPTV Online Database. In the following pages we hear from some of the producers selected for the initiative …
MIPTV PREVIEW • 45 • March 2020
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: DRAMA
Camera, action! Part of the reimagined MIPTV 2020 experience is a sharper focus on content development — and drama is arguably the genre in most demand right now, as the habit of binge watching continues to take over people’s lives all around the world. Andy Fry talks to the drama producers preparing to unveil hot new concepts
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HE DEMAND for original programming is particularly acute in the drama market, with both legacy players and streamers —and even distributors — jostling to identify and get involved with projects at the earliest stages of their life cycle. Andrew McCann Smith, producer at Toronto-based Sienna Films, says his company currently has a packed slate: “Sienna just finished delivering Cardinal season four [for CTV] and Helen Shaver’s feature film Happy Place. We’re also deep in the edits of the first season of Trickster, a premium indigenous teen drama, based on Eden Robinson’s book, Son Of A Trickster.” McCann Smith says the market is “a great place to expand
connections”. He is looking for “unique and bold projects” with co-producers, distributors and studios. “An interesting financing trend we’ve noticed is that distributors and studios want to come in earlier,” he adds. “We want to work with strong and engaged partners, so we hope this continues.” According to McCann Smith, Sienna is no stranger to co-production: “Our previous series, Ransom, was originally a Canada-France co-production, which then became a Canada-Hungary co-pro. We’ve also completed co-pros with the UK, France, Germany and South Africa.” The arrival of the streaming platforms gives producers like Sienna “more opportunity”, McCann Smith adds. And he is comfortable with other recent trends,
Comedy drama series Dead Still (Acorn Media Enterprises)
such as the rise of non-English-language drama and the emergence of stories set against new and unusual backdrops: “We’ve always been interested in stories that are very specifically set, so we’re thrilled with this new development. As for language, Canadian financing is reliant on 50% of the language spoken being in English or French, but we are excited about collaborating in any language.”
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Marie-Claire Marcotte, co-founder of She Said Films, says her company is developing two new series: office comedy Trust Me and, with IGP Productions, an adaptation of the graphic novel Operatic by Kyo Maclear and Byron Eggenschwiler. In addition, She Said Film’s flagship IP — two seasons of dramedy digital series Running With Violet — is being adapted for television while,
with Danish company Mannd, it is adapting the children’s book Sit by Deborah Ellis into a VR experience. “We’re also in the financing stage for a feature film, Pippa,” Marcotte says. Marcotte says In Development is an opportunity for She Said Films to pitch its in-development projects “to financiers from around the world that we wouldn’t otherwise have the chance to meet”. She adds: “We also plan on meeting with certain platforms to get a better sense
of the type of content they are acquiring. More generally, it’s important to know what’s being talked about in the industry — the trends on both the digital and traditional channels.”
Marie-Claire Marcotte: “It’s important to know what’s being talked about in the industry — the trends on both the digital and traditional channels”
Networking with producers is another priority, Marcotte says: “Our presence at markets has also always led to interesting international collaborations and we remain open to the possibility of teaming up with other international producers.” The SIT-X VR project is an example: “The Canada Media Fund happens to have a co-production agreement with the Danish Film Institute, so Mannd and She Said Films were encouraged to continue pursuing
MIPTV PREVIEW • 47 • March 2020
the work on SIT-X together.” As for the impact of the SVOD/ OTT players, Marcotte says it is proving to be both an opportunity and a challenge: “The platforms have made it possible for us to immediately show our two digital series to a wider audience. That said, it’s even harder to cut through the noise, as these platforms pump out huge amounts of content.” Jonas Dornbach, a producer at Berlin-located Komplizen Film, says his company is cur-
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rently developing a series with Christian Schwochow (Bad Banks) called F*ck My Heritage. Another series at a very early stage of development is The Flame by Mia HansenLove (Father Of My Children; Things To Come), produced by Charles Gilbert’s CG Cinema. “Added to this, we are developing a mainly Spanish-language series, La Huaka. Together with Alexander Lindh [Druck; Mapa] and Laurent Mercier [Eden], we are also working on A Better Place.” To date, Komplizen has been best-known for its feature-film projects, but has recently expanded into TV series. “In the serial segment, we are the new kids on the block,” Dornbach adds. “We just set up Komplizen Serien with a new partner, David Keitsch. We want to expand our network and find potential partners for our new projects.” Dornbach is upbeat about the impact of the SVOD platforms: “It’s an incredibly exciting time for content. Netflix and Amazon are certainly active right now. Our experience with Netflix on Skylines [a series about a music producer who inadvertently becomes involved in organised crime] was positive. We are also looking forward to the ‘new players’.” Gernot Stadler, owner of Austria-based GS Film, arrives in Cannes with a new fiction series called Among Thieves (working title), a co-production with Prague-based KM Plus Media and New York-based Big Media. According to Stadler, ORF Enterprises, the commercial arm of the Austrian public broadcaster, is involved with the project, which is due to start shooting in the summer of 2021. GS Film is also looking for a French co-producer for Among Thieves, Stadler adds: “But since we are convinced
© Lilja Jons
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: DRAMA
Sagafilm’s The Minister
that the project is internationally very appealing, we are open to anyone who might be interested.” Wiktor Piatowski, managing director of Warsaw-based Bahama Films, says his company is currently developing a number of film and TV projects, including a mystery/coming-ofage series featuring a strong female protagonist. “We’ve pitched it to one of the leading streaming platforms and we’re waiting for their decision,” he adds. “We’ve also teamed up with Endemol Shine Poland to develop a few feature-film projects.” Also in the works is a TV series that offers “a new take on the 20-year-old Frederic Chopin and his crazy first year in Paris after leaving Poland”, and Lullaby, which Bahama is developing with Endemol Shine Italy and Black Sheep Films from France. “At the same time, we run a few daily shows in Poland, which finance the development of our latest international projects,” Piatowski says.
Among Piatowski’s goals is “networking and finding partners we can team up with at the earliest stage of development — not only other production companies but also distribution and financing partners”. He says that Bahama is currently negotiating a deal with Endemol Shine Poland to co-operate on its Polish shows, but would like an international partner to help market its other projects. “The way MIPTV is changing could be very helpful in achieving those goals,” he adds. Piatowski says the way in which projects are funded has not changed significantly in Poland: “But we notice changes on the international level. Sometimes it’s easier for us to find an international partner for a bigger show than a local co-producer or network for a Polish project. We co-operate with writers and creatives from five countries and develop more projects in English than in Polish, so more international co-pros is what we aim at. We’ve had a few promising meetings with big distri-
MIPTV PREVIEW • 49 • March 2020
bution companies and we hope to sign the first deal with one of them soon.” As to the impact of SVOD/ OTT, Piatowski says: “New players and the new business models they implement can bring great opportunities.” For example, Bahama is developing several projects for young adults which, as Piatowski points out, is an age group that is not usually perceived as interesting by traditional broadcasters. Bahama is one company that has definitely benefited from the growing global interest in non-English language dramas, Piatowski adds: “The first idea for a TV show I ever had ended up as the first original TV series produced by HBO in Poland [Wataha]. That series travelled to over 30 countries, even though it’s in Polish. That wouldn’t have been possible five or 10 years earlier but, now, thanks to Netflix and other platforms, non-English-language dramas are getting more popular.”
Wiktor Piatowski: “The first idea for a TV show I ever had ended up as the first original TV series produced by HBO in Poland. It travelled to over 30 countries, even though it’s in Polish” Paul Donovan, managing director of Ireland-based Deadpan Pictures, has two new series launching. “Acorn Media Enterprises will launch our 6 x 60 mins comedy drama series Dead Still, which is set in 1880s Dublin and features a photographer caught up in a series of murder mysteries,” he says. “We made the show with RTE, BAI and ZDF Enterprises, in a co-pro with Shaftesbury of Canada.” Deadpan’s second series is South Westerlies, represented by ZDF Enterprises. The 6 x 60 mins light drama focuses on a community in a seaside town wrestling with the potential arrival of a wind farm. Both
Dead Still and South Westerlies are in development for second series. Donovan sees MIPTV as an opportunity to generate interest in new projects and make new contacts: “We have a slate of comedy dramas in development. I hope to advance a number of our new projects and secure partners for some of them.” In terms of the changing face of production financing, Donovan says: “Our background financing indie feature films feels like a great apprenticeship for the way drama series are coming together. Co-productions, co-financing, pre-sales, sales advances, multi-currencies and cash flow are all familiar challenges that we’ve dealt with in getting feature films off the ground. Coming from Ireland, we’ve never been able to make drama with one funder, so we’ve always had to be alert to co-ordinating different sources while being true to the core idea.” Donovan adds: “Coming from
© Iris Janke
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: DRAMA
She Said Films’ Marie-Claire Marcotte. Photo: Tim Leyes
Komplizen Film’s Jonas Dornbach
Ireland, co-productions, co-financing, pre-sales, sales advances, multi-currencies and cash flow are all familiar challenges” SVOD, Donovan says, “has thrown open some new doors” to funding. “There is a huge appetite for material, but it’s not just about quantity — it’s about quality and originality,” he adds. “It feels like there’s a great demand for a wider range of drama compared to what previously were only a few slots with traditional broadcasters. In our case, the Irish national broadcaster [RTE] has become more responsive to new ideas that are
being pitched with or can attract co-funders.” Up in the Nordic region, Sagafilm has established a strong reputation as both a production-services company and a producer. Initially launched in Iceland, the company now has a division in Sweden called Sagafilm Nordic. CEO of the Stockholm-based operation, Kjartan Thor Thordarson, says: “Sagafilm is currently shooting Sisterhood in collaboration with Sky Studios for Viaplay and Siminn. This is a very different take on the Scandi crime drama, as we know who did it from the first episode.” Sisterhood starts when the body of a 13-year old girl is found some 20 years after she was murdered. The lives of three women are turned upside down by the discovery because, as 13-year-old teenagers, they were all involved in the girl’s death. “So instead of just exploring who did it, we explore how a serious crime like murder affects the lives of these women and their families today,” Thordarson adds. In pre-production, meanwhile, is the second season of neonoir drama Stella Blomkvist, in collaboration with Red Arrow Studios for Viaplay and Siminn. Also upcoming is cyber-thriller Signals, which was featured in the Berlinale Co-Pro Series and is now in the final stages of financing.
Vertigo’s thriller series Bullets: production is planned for 2020/21
MIPTV PREVIEW • 50 • March 2020
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: DRAMA
Deadpan Pictures’ Paul Donovan
Sagafilm Nordic’s Kjartan Thor Thordarson
Vertigo’s Minna Virtanen
Bahama Films’ Wiktor Piatowski
Sagafilm also produced RUV Iceland series The Minister, the 2019 political tragi-comedy series about a politician with bipolar disorder who gets elected prime minister of Iceland, distributed by Cineflix. “We have a new series called Wastelands, which is another Sky Studios collaboration and our first English-speaking series. It’s an anthology series where our incredible Icelandic landscape is a character in the show and what binds the stories together. It’s a Fargo-esque type of series — tales from the middle of nowhere.” Looking at trends and developments in the scripted market, Thordarson says: “Financing for European series has changed dramatically in the last few years. In the past, one or two broadcast partners were all you needed for a drama series. Today, a series involves a lot of moving parts, with many broadcast partners and financiers, so the need to be connected has never been greater. There are more European co-pros than ever and distributors have become more important in the financing stages of the projects. So overall, it means that partnerships are key to successful financing.”
Kjartan Thor Thordarson: “In the past, one or two broadcast partners were all you needed. Today, a drama series involves a lot of moving parts, with many partners and financiers”
has to help his son. It requires a crime. His wife is a cop, and he has to hide the crime from her. But that’s easier said than done,” Virtanen explains. Bullets is based on the book Dark Light (Musta Valo). “The pilot is ready, with production planned for 2020/21. Right now we are looking for partners,” Virtanen says. That is an ambition that she hopes MIPTV can help with moving forward: “MIPTV is a great place to meet partners to collaborate on projects. And I’m aware that the market has started to accommodate early-development projects.” On financing, Virtanen argues that “the basic rules have not changed”. She adds: “A domestic broadcaster is still needed in most cases in order to get financing outside our own territory. But after that, we need a feasible plan. The total financing will come from variety of sources: distributors, broadcasters, institutional financiers, tax-incentive systems, etc. And there are new players in the field, such as venture investors focusing on content.” In Vertigo’s experience, co-productions have become a standard way of financing. “But co-producing depends totally on the project,” Virtanen adds. “Not all projects are attractive.” As for the new players, she says: “SVOD has changed
broadcasting in almost every TV territory and Finland is no different. VOD streamers such as Elisa are fast in their decision-making and willing to commission bold content. I’ve noticed that, as the result of increasing competition, companies with strong digital TV and streaming services, such as C More, are moving faster than before and are also willing to commission brave content. There are also more domestic broadcasters acquiring scripted content. From the producer’s point of view, there is a huge demand for good, high-end stories.” As for the trend towards non-English-language drama, Virtanen says: “Distributors today are interested in strong, compelling stories. It doesn’t matter where these stories come from. Thanks to the streamers, non-English-language drama is now visible in the global drama world. People are interested in seeing stories from different parts of the world. It’s connecting people in a wonderful way.”
He adds: “The SVOD players have become key partners in most of our productions and that will continue to grow.” Regarding the increased demand for non-English-language drama, Thordarson says: “Icelandic drama has very much been in demand because it’s new and foreign and quite unlike other dramas on the market. Having said that, Icelandic producers are influenced by Scandinavian, British and US drama. So perhaps it’s the combination that creates our unique approach and tone.” In nearby Finland, indie producer Vertigo has already made a mark internationally with thriller Bullets. Now, the company is developing a sixpart character-driven domestic thriller, says Vertigo’s creator/ producer Minna Virtanen. Commissioned by C More/ MTV in Finland and written by Antti Pesonen (Bullets), the drama centres on a husband and wife, and the secrets they keep from each other to protect their family. “The father
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Minna Virtanen: “People are interested in seeing stories from different parts of the world. It’s connecting people in a wonderful way”
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PRODUCERS TO WATCH: FACTUAL
Bleu Kobalt’s In Search Of The Orient-Express for ARTE
Real stories start here For factual producers, making it in the age of the SVOD giants is about more than creating the right content — it also requires the right mindset, format and strategy. MIPTV has identified a number of Producers To Watch in various genres. Here Juliana Koranteng talks to some of the creatives that are pushing factual entertainment into the streaming age
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HE ARRIVAL of the SVOD platforms is challenging both experienced and emerging factual producers to be at their most innovative as entrepreneurs. Award-winning Chinese producer and director Qi Zhao says working with Tencent Video, the streaming platform belonging to tech-and-media goliath Tencent Holdings, offered the right surroundings for him to create Encounter, a documentary real-
ity show and “the first of its kind in China”. Now in its second season, the 10 x 60 mins series invites 10 Chinese celebrities to travel to 10 different foreign destinations to experience adventures that deliver an inspiring message about social issues. While he would not have structured the narratives differently had he been commissioned by a linear-TV broadcaster, Zhao says Tencent Video was incentivised to be resourceful because it also wants exclusive shows for
its estimated 100 million subscribers and 400 million daily active users. “As the online giants are looking for exclusive content to meet user growth, they’re willing to pay more than traditional TV stations to work with creative teams offering promising projects,” he adds. Zhao’s success on the VOD platforms has encouraged him to be inventive in his creativity — he is also developing a mobile-first short-content series — and has made it easier to attract
MIPTV PREVIEW • 53 • March 2020
funding. He has raised more than $10m in two years. Director Hongmiao Yu of Beijing-based production outfit ShutterBug Studio is developing Seek Fragrance, a six-part documentary epic about China’s unique relationship with scents, perfumes and incense. Yu, whose previous productions have aired on state broadcaster CCTV and major local SVOD platforms, including iQiyi and Youku, is collaborating on Seek Fragrance with Bilibili, the youth-focused streamer with 128 million monthly active users. “Unlike modern perfumes, the ancient Chinese used fragrances from plants more than 2,000 years ago. Fragrance was very important to their lifestyle. Incense permeated their daily lives, emotions, thoughts and beliefs,” she says. Although Yu does not disclose
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PRODUCERS TO WATCH: FACTUAL
Aito Media’s Erna Aalto
Bleu Kobalt Productions’ Florence Sala
GS Film’s Gernot Stadler
ShutterBug Studio’s Hongmiao Yu
Slash’s Jean-Christophe Liechti
Concept Street’s Roy Aalderink
Gina Dreams Productions’ Sunah Kim
Big Deal Films’ Thomas Stogdon
how Seek Fragrance is funded, she admits that winning commissions directly from the legacy broadcasters or via co-productions is becoming more difficult
in China. All the same, SVOD in China is ideal for maverick producers, “because talented creators with hot revolutionary production styles will get the au-
dience to follow them”, Yu adds. Korean-American producer Sunah Kim, who is developing or in pre-production with several documentaries via her company Gina Dreams Productions, is positive about the opportunities presented by the SVOD services. She is working with My Love Pictures, a Korean production house, on an original Netflix documentary scheduled to debut later this year. “My experience with Netflix has been wonderful,” Kim says. “Their funding is generous and the creative producers we work with are supportive and respectful.”
While Kim fears the documentary slots on linear broadcast services are diminishing, she advises producers to remain adventurous when offering ideas to the legacy-TV services. With another Korean firm, J Wonder Content Creator Group, Kim is working on an educational infotainment format called The Survivors, which teaches viewers how to cope during natural disasters. Such a storyline is ideal for a state broadcaster like Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), which has commissioned a first season of 14 episodes. Kim and J Wonder also highlights My Favourite Food From The Hermit Kingdom, a shortform series that seeks to dispel stereotypical views of North Koreans through the culinary skills of those who have defected to South Korea. The need to work with both the legacy and next-gen streaming services requires creators
Sunah Kim:
The Survivors (Gina Dreams Productions/J Wonder Content Creator Group)
“My experience with Netflix has been wonderful. Their funding is generous and the creative producers we work with are supportive and respectful”
MIPTV PREVIEW • 55 • March 2020
PRODUCERS TO WATCH: FACTUAL to develop different versions of the same production, Kim adds: “For example, J Wonder has produced a web series about the misadventures of a North Korean family settling in Seoul. It’s a drama series, but we’re making factual interview clips as online supplements.” Finnish linear broadcasters, including state-owned YLE, are major investors in streaming-powered OTT services that commission original content, according to Erna Aalto, head of development and executive producer at Aito Media. Finnish platforms such as Yle Areena, Elisa, C More, Dplay and Ruutu+ each has its own approach, which “has given content producers several interesting opportunities to create new ways of storytelling”, Aalto adds. “Some stories work best in short form. For example, our hit comedy series Pirjo is one of the most viewed shows on YLE’s VOD platform Areena. It couldn’t exist without the online approach.” Among other productions in the
Aito Media pipeline is Happiest Person On The Planet, a documentary seeking the happiest person in the country that was officially ranked by the United Nations as the world’s happiest last year. Also in development at Aito is docu-reality format The Au-Pairs (9 x 28 mins). Florence Sala, CEO and producer at Paris-based documentary-maker Bleu Kobalt Productions, says the emergence of the streaming services has made buyers and viewers more demanding about quality. “Streamers have created highend expectations with cinematographic standards in terms of the filming and the narration, [which requires] a significant production budget,” says Sala, who is a Canal+ and Studiocanal veteran. “But the same projects could also suit the needs of linear broadcasters for their primetime slot.” When creating for the SVOD platforms, producers must create documentaries that audiences will not find anywhere else. “This is an opportunity to think outside the box for the
creation of our content,” Sala adds. “It is forcing us to find exclusive projects, secure exclusive talents and create great universal stories.”
Florence Sala:
“This is an opportunity to think outside the box — to find exclusive projects, secure exclusive talents and create great universal stories” On Sala’s upcoming agenda is Titanic: At The Heart Of The Wreck, a 90-minute primetime documentary commissioned by France Televisions. For this, Bleu Kobalt has nabbed a contribution from James Cameron, the Hollywood producer whose epic movie Titanic, based on the real-life disaster, won 11 Oscars. The documentary premieres this year. Last year, Bleu Kobalt completed In Search Of The Orient-Express, a €1m co-production with the UK’s BBC for Fran-
Pirjo (Aito Media)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 56 • March 2020
co-German network ARTE. And for French channel RMC Decouverte, the company made Supersonic: The Great Adventure, which received help from NASA and the US Air Force to tell the extraordinary story of supersonic aviation. After several years of responding to linear broadcasters’ demands for one-off documentary films, Austrian producer Gernot Stadler believes it is more efficient to produce series these days. The founder and CEO of GS Film | Film- & Fernsehenproduktion says that approach enables his company to be more flexible in the way it packages shows. “The strong need for content has encouraged us to create series instead of oneoffs,” he adds. “If you direct a series, it gives the broadcaster more options to use a single film, but we will own several episodes to offer elsewhere. The 52-minute duration is the old linear-TV standard. If you talk to the VOD platforms, they’re easier to make changes for.” For example, a new GS Film documentary with the working title Europe’s Wild Rivers (5 x 52 mins) was inspired by Tagliamento: King Of The Alpine Rivers. It is a one-off documentary that was a hit for GS Film, which made it for 3Sat, the German-language network in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The working title of another GS Film factual series in development is The Story Of Prostitution (2 x 52 mins), which explores the history of prostitution from a female perspective. A third project — To The Ends Of The Earth: Following The Trail Of Bold Women Of Discovery (5 x 52 mins) — profiles female explorers of the past two centuries, several of whom made breakthroughs in the male-dominated pro-
PRODUCERS TO WATCH: FACTUAL fession before they were even allowed to vote. But the SVOD platforms’ growing influence on creativity in the factual and unscripted genres does not mean the legacy broadcasters’ authority is waning. “The traditional broadcasters are still our most important clients,” says director and producer Roy Aalderink, founder and chief creative officer of Concept Street in the Netherlands. “It’s a dynamic market and I see new opportunities arising all the time.” On Concept Street’s slate is a local remake of social-reality format The Restaurant That Makes Mistakes for Dutch broadcaster SBS6. The original premiered on the UK’s Channel 4. Simultaneously, it is working on a docu-series called Olympic Heroes for RTL Netherlands’ streamer Videoland. The show follows the fate of the Dutch athletes participating in the 2020 Summer Olympic Games. Concept Street is constantly pitching to the linear networks’ SVOD units, such as Videoland,
The Story Of Prostitution (GS Film)
Talpa Network-owned Kijk and Discovery’s Dplay, as well as to global services like Netflix, Amazon and Insight TV. This requires factual producers to be nimble in conceiving ideas and executing them, Aalderink says: “It’s wise to consider a show as a new brand from the development stage. That way, it’s easier to think of online supplements, podcasts, merchandise and events, among other formats.”
Roy Aalderink:
“It’s wise to consider a show as a new brand from the development stage. That way, it’s easier to think of online supplements, podcasts, merchandise and events” As the launch of Quibi, the streaming mobile-first platform founded by Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, draws nearer, Thomas Stogdon, creative executive of UK-based Big Deal Films,
Les Nouveaux Veterinaires (Slash Production)
says his company is well placed to serve such next-generation digital-entertainment operations. “We started in the short-form digital space, so the transition to the needs and requirements of these platforms sits within our wheelhouse of expertise” Stogdon adds. That experience has also given Big Deal expertise in creating factual entertainment for young viewers. Existing projects include a 25-minute pilot for ScamProof, a 6 x 25 mins series for BBC Three. The series aims to educate young viewers about the pitfalls and scams that abound on social media. Also in the works is My Life: Picture Perfect, a 30-minute documentary that follows 11-yearold Nigerian child prodigy Kareem as he prepares for his first art exhibition. Doing business in a small market like Switzerland’s French-speaking region raises barriers for independents like Slash Production. But Switzerland’s multilingual market means there are opportunities to sell content to the country’s German- and Italian-speaking networks too. Slash, founded by Jean-Christophe Liechti, is producing the
MIPTV PREVIEW • 57 • March 2020
third season of the Les Nouveaux Veterinaires for French Swiss channel RTS. The first two seasons of the documentary, which examines the challenges facing the animal-welfare profession, were broadcast in German and Italian as well. Liechti says the generous funds offered by the global SVOD services can create a false sense of security for small operations such as Slash, which is also seeking partners for Emergencies In The Alps, a documentary about dramatic rescues on Switzerland’s ski slopes and mountains. “We are a production company that still only works in French-speaking Switzerland, which has about 1.6 million people,” he adds. “France, which is our closest overseas market, is difficult to enter. With the SVOD platforms, the situation is even more frustrating.” However, that very frustration is forcing Slash to raise the bar on its own expectations. “Quality is pushed upwards,” Liechti adds. “All this is good. As a producer, it is exciting to be part of this evolution.” • Find out more on Producers To Watch at MIPTV Online+
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: KIDS
From Combat Wombats to ‘heroes without capes’ C
REATIVE fund-raising is among the skills being built up by independent children’s TV and film producers as demand for their work from both linear-TV and SVOD platforms grows. One in three internet users globally is a child, according to The Children’s Media Foundation in the UK, which explains why an increasing number of producers are broadening their funding options to cover all platform bases. Nadine Bates, co-founder and CEO of development at Australia’s Like A Photon Creative (LAPC), and partner Kristen Souvlis, CEO of production, have added venture capital and business angels to their fund-raising strategy to support their platform-agnostic movies
and programmes set in multiple universes, which they call the “multiverse”. “We’ve made it a point to create our own business model and try to weather the production/ development cycles a little easier,” Bates says. “As such, we’ve raised private equity and we’re also working on creating our own alternative financing models, which will hopefully utilise private capital more effectively to prop up some of the funding sources that we are seeing shrink each year.” LAPC’s current projects include The Wishmas Tree, Combat Wombat and Daisy Quokka: World’s Scariest Animal — three new titles from the company’s animated family-movie franchise Tales From Sanctuary City, which centres on a universe where animal citizens live,
Paradise Valley (Sagafilm) work and play. “We noted the changing face of the industry five years ago and started to work towards building a company that was independent of the platform challenges,” Bates says. “Although we will always work with traditional broadcasters and streamers alike, we can’t rely on them for our content to reach audiences. So we try and create content that will find audiences via multiple avenues.”
MIPTV PREVIEW • 58 • March 2020
Nadine Bates:
“We noted the changing face of the industry five years ago and started to work towards building a company that was independent of the platform challenges”
At LoveLove Films, the UKbased independent multimedia production firm, managing director/producer Georgina Hurcombe and her team chase a host of funding options in order to respond effectively to the multiple distribution outlets in the market. “The fundamentals of developing a kids’ series remain the same,” she says. However, there is now a greater focus on how “our brand is rep-
resented across the digital platforms”. One LoveLove brand is Pop Paper City, a 3D paper-animation pre-school craft show, which is currently in development. The 52 x 7 mins series follows the adventures of friends made out of paper who live in the capital of a country made out of paper. Live-action elements teach its young audience how to make fun paper objects while engag-
MIPTV is throwing the spotlight on up-and-coming producers with the talent, vision and ambition to drive the entertainment industry into the future. Juliana Koranteng talks to the producers that are reshaping children’s entertainment with their ability to think creatively, commercially, digitally — and differently ing with the animated characters. Other LoveLove animation projects in development include Ergle & Anne’s Unplanned Land Band, a 2D pre-teen musical comedy set in the present and
MIPTV PREVIEW • 59 • March 2020
the future; and Sprongles, a five-minute series that follows the adventures of tiny robotic creatures stuck on a spaceship. The opportunities to reach Generation Alpha — children under the age of 10 — and other
032_TODO_PV_TV
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: KIDS young viewers are broadening, thanks to the numerous local and global SVOD services being launched. Yet LoveLove believes the right partnerships, such as its agreement with the sales division of UK-based Aardman Animations, can make it easier to navigate the complexity of an increasingly overcrowded market. “We have an eye on how our brand is represented across the digital platforms, whether on digital, social or linear, so that our audience can discover our content on whichever platforms they use,” Hurcombe adds.
Georgina Hurcombe:
“We have an eye on how our brand is represented across the digital platforms, so that our audience can discover our content on whichever platforms they use” Finding the right co-production partners can cover a multitude of financing sins, especially when you are working in a highly specialist sector like animation in a small country like Finland, notes producer Pablo Jordi from Helsinki- and Barcelona-based Pikkukala. Royals Next Door, the studio’s animated sitcom about a royal family that lives among ordinary people, is backed by Finnish broadcaster YLE, Spanish children’s network Clan, Ketnet in Belgium and Ireland’s RTEjr. “We managed to put together an unusual financial structure with a strong European flavour, which allowed us to work with our talented co-production partners at Lunanime in Belgium, and Ink and Light Films in Ireland,” Jordi says. “Royals Next Door is probably the first time a Finnish-created animat-
ed series of this calibre has the potential to become an international co-production. Consequently, we needed to put together many countries, which might sound complicated, but it’s something we are very happy about, because that variety brings big creative value.” In Finland, at least, the stakes are high, as Pikkukala has to compete against global animation giants such as Rovio Entertainment, creator of the Angry Birds franchise of movies and TV content, and Moomins, the popular children’s entertainment brand based on Tove Jansson’s books. Meanwhile, a Franco-Belgian co-production for Chien Pourri (Stinky Dog), another Pikkukala animation, is benefiting from a multi-territory European collaboration and the support of Spanish broadcaster Televisio de Catalunya. With the right European co-producers, Jordi believes Pikkukala can become a global player too. He also points out that today’s animators must invest in gaming technology as young audiences are influ-
A Bear Named Wojtek (Animation Garden)
enced by what they see on the mobile-gaming platforms. That approach can be seen in Stella’s Royal Vlog, a web animation series that uses what Jordi calls “agile animation techniques”. He adds: “Mobile gaming is an
Pop Paper City (LoveLove Films)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 61 • March 2020
ever-changing landscape that keeps us awake and aware of new technologies. We are very committed to developing those techniques. Motion capture, computer vision, game engines, and virtual and augmented re-
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: KIDS ality are excellent tech tools if you want to advance in that direction.”
Pablo Jordi:
“Mobile gaming is an ever-changing landscape that keeps us awake and aware of new technologies”
Animation Garden’s Iain Gardner
LoveLove Film’s Georgina Hurcombe
Co-production funding is among the strategies from which Scotland-based Animation Garden plans to benefit at MIPTV, says director Iain Gardner, who hopes to nab the outstanding finance required for A Bear Named Wojtek in Cannes. A co-production with UK-based The Illuminated Film Company and Filmograf Poland, the halfhour special is influenced by the true story of Wojtek, an orphan Syrian brown bear adopted by a Polish artillery corps in the Second World War. He was effectively enlisted for the 1944 Battle of Monte Cassino to help move ammunition. Gardner says the project’s nar-
Kristen Souvlis and Nadine Bates of Australia’s Like A Photon Creative
rative was inspired by how Wojtek became a symbol for Poland’s fight for independence. “Bears are normally thought of as savage beasts, but Wojtek was a humane creature surrounded by the war’s human savagery,” he adds. “I see this story as an entry point for children to learn about this terrible time in our history. Wojtek has attracted investment and my priority is to find the buyers to get us over the finishing line.” Another Animation Garden project with a social message designed to educate and entertain young audiences is Mustard & Ketchup, an animation comedy
series about two badgers who happen to be in a same-sex relationship. “I see it as similar to the rapport between Laurel and Hardy — a friendship where the nature of the relationship is not an issue in the universe they live in,” Gardner says. “In this case, we’re ideally aiming for a public broadcaster, since the SVOD platforms are already ahead of the curve when it comes to LGBT issues.” Co-production can make a substantial difference to a company like Sagafilm. The Icelandic production house is co-creating The Verne Enigma, a major adventure mystery series for
10- to 12-year-olds, with several other production ventures, including Germany’s Letterbox Filmproduktion. Also in its portfolio is Paradise Valley (52 x 11 mins), which is made by Sagafilm animation subsidiary GunHil. The series is a spin-off from the animated film Ploey – You Never Fly Alone, which follows a family of migrating birds and the perils that one chick must circumvent to avoid predators. “The changes in digital distribution are also welcomed as they give us more options in financing,” says Hilmar Sigurdsson, Sagafilm’s CEO. In the end, he adds, it is a question of picking and mixing funding strategies: “We have seen a drastic cut in both minimum guarantees and investments from the legacy broadcasters, requiring us to get commitments from more of them.” All the same, the ability of the SVOD platforms to outbid traditional networks should be explored with caution, Sigurdsson adds. He points out that streaming-TV funding will not necessarily cover an animation’s costs, especially if quality is not to be compromised: “Traditional funding has been our way of going forward with our properties, because the newer media has not always been able to meet our investment requirements.” Ivan Agenjo, CEO and executive producer at Barcelona-based Peekaboo Animation,
The Wishmas Tree (Like A Photon Creative)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 62 • March 2020
FEATURE: PRODUCERS TO WATCH: KIDS
Peekaboo Animation’s Ivan Agenjo
Dinamita’s Julian Sanchez
Pikkukala’s Pablo Jordi
Sagafilm’s Hilmar Sigurdsson
plans to introduce potential buyers to My Little Heroes, a 5 x 7 mins biographical series profiling famous historical high achievers, including Nobel Prize scientists Marie Curie and Albert Einstein. The series aims to empower children by pointing out that “not all heroes wear capes”, Agenjo says. Other Peekaboo titles in development are pre-school series and comedies Home Villa Tours (26 x 11 mins) and The Meds (26 x 7 mins). Agenjo agrees that legacy TV’s tried-and-tested financing methods create a secure scenario within which to work. “For us, as main funding sources, the streaming platforms have not totally replaced linear broadcasters, especially the freeto-air ones that are ideal for creating brand awareness when building a licensing-and-merchandising strategy,” he adds. This is crucial to know, since the requirements of individual SVOD platforms can vary significantly. Producers need to consider new narrative structures for binge-watching, along with innovative episode durations that differ from the standard 30- to 60-minute formats, and irregular commercial breaks for ad-funded VOD services. “So you have to do your homework and know your client,” Agenjo adds. As a production venture, Colombia-based Dinamita Animacion only started pitching
content ideas about six years ago. While the streaming giants have disrupted the TV-funding landscape during this period, the Latin American streaming-TV sector is still evolving compared to its counterparts in more mature economies. As a result, the region’s producers still rely on state subsidies to get animation content off the ground. Digital operations like Dinamita, which is making the second series of award-winning online series Las Cronicas Elefantiles (26 x 60 mins), still depend on co-productions, according
to executive producer Julian Sanchez, the company’s animation producer. “Las Cronicas Elefantiles is actually being co-produced by four companies, including Ad Infinitum & Co and the Colombian public broadcaster Senal Colombia,” says Sanchez, who is also looking for new co-producers and/or investors for the project. Another Dinamita title in development is Simon Says, which is about the imaginative adventures of a seven-year-old boy and his grandfather. The project is being produced with Bogo-
ta-based Moon Rabbit Studio. But there is a positive aspect to Latin America’s current dependence on state subsidies at a time when a host of digital platforms are being launched. According to Sanchez, it is stimulating Colombian and other Latin American production communities to be more proactive about pitching ideas. “We are aware that, to develop a stable industry, we must find new ways to make it more independent, so that the audiovisual sector becomes more sustainable,” he adds.
The Meds (Peekaboo Animation)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 63 • March 2020
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FEATURE: DRAMA BUYERS
On the lookout for drama Project Blue Book, a hit for Viasat World
As the global demand for fiction programming grows, MIPTV continues as a key focus for drama buyers and commissioners seeking content for broadcast, streaming and distribution around the world. Andy Fry reports
A
MONG the growing number of buyers in search of great scripted content is Angus Ross, director of programming at Seven Network in Australia. His priority is targeting mainstream English-language dramas for the 21.00 primetime slot. “Given all our local production budget is invested in big, local, stripped, tent-pole programming in the 19.30 slot, we need
to fill 21.00 with acquisitions, which is a great opportunity for distributors,” Ross says. “Dramas do good business for us — we had the top UK drama in Australia for 2019 with Manhunt, and the number one and two US dramas with The Good Doctor and 9-1-1.” According to Ross, Seven does not tend to get experimental with its acquisitions for these slots. “Our audience results in drama [both broadcast and
VOD] have never been as good when we don’t stay in our lane,” he says. The main way in which Australian viewing habits are changing is in terms of how audiences watch television. “Australia, like a lot of markets, has seen a shift in consumer preference to watching dramas at a time that suits them,” he says. This explains why Ross is in the market for exclusives that can work on the broadcaster’s 7plus AVOD
MIPTV PREVIEW • 65 • March 2020
service. It also means that deals need to be devised to reflect the changing balance of linear and on-demand viewing: “The price and rights mix need to take into account declining broadcast numbers and increasing VOD consumption,” Ross adds. Australia, in common with many major territories, has seen widespread take-up of streaming services. “It hasn’t influenced the content that is available yet,” Ross says. “At this point, the streamers are not seeking out the broad mainstream network dramas that do the best business for us. In terms of rights, we insist on VOD stacking rights for most of the license period — and we are prepared to walk away if we don’t get what we require.”
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FEATURE: DRAMA BUYERS
Seven Network’s Angus Ross
RTE’s Dermot Horan
Viasat World’s Karin Heijink
Across the world in another English-speaking market, Dermot Horan, director of acquisitions and co-productions at Irish public broadcaster RTE, says he is mainly looking for programming for the 2020/2021 season — “although I’m always open to licensing a one-off series that could go earlier”, he adds. His priorities are event and shortrun returning drama series, with four, six and eight episodes the preferred format. This, Horan believes, is a worldwide trend that is putting pressure on US suppliers to adapt: “The classic US 22-part network show is struggling worldwide. There are just too many episodes for current viewing
patterns. Shorter-run series can be turned into event TV and are more conducive to catch-up and VOD habits. They tend to be shot more on location and can attract a higher calibre cast, as the actors can perform their roles over a shorter period, allowing them to do other work, including films.”
In terms of emerging content acquisition trends, Horan says: “Australia and New Zealand are producing very interesting dramas these days, which are now viewed by us in exactly the same manner as those from the US and the UK.” Horan’s take on the streamers is that they vary in their approach, and as a result represent different kinds of threat to a public broadcaster like RTE: “Some, like Apple, are commissioning their own dramas, so are competition for eyeballs but not rights. Others compete for both.” A key area of contention, he adds, is catch-up rights: “As broadcasters promote and develop the second generation of their online players, the extension of non-linear rights is becoming a factor almost as important as the quality of the programme itself. Given two series of similar quality, where one only has five episodes and 30 days catch-up and the other has a longer VOD availability, the latter will now be chosen.” Mignon Huisman is head of series acquisitions at NPO. For the Dutch public broadcaster, the content working best right now is European drama, including Scandinavian series and UK detective/layered crime series. “Costume drama still finds an audience,” she adds. “This year, we say farewell to Homeland, but we
Dermot Horan:
“The classic 22-part network show is struggling. Shorter-run series can be turned into event TV and are more conducive to catch-up and VOD habits”
Chernobyl, headed for VRT in Belgium
MIPTV PREVIEW • 67 • March 2020
NPO’s Mignon Huisman
VRT’s Sven Van Lokeren
have room for one-of-a-kind US series like Patrick Melrose, Killing Eve and The Loudest Voice.” Unlike Seven’s Ross, who is sourcing content for a commercial network, Huisman can be more experimental: “There is so much around that it’s difficult to predict where the next hit is coming from. That makes it like a treasure hunt. French, Spanish and Italian series have all improved their production values and make a nice change, because they are culturally different. Language used to be a barrier, but not so much anymore. For example, we were quite surprised by the success of Spanish series The Pier.”
Mignon Huisman:
“There is so much around that it’s difficult to predict where the next hit is coming from. That makes it like a treasure hunt”
FEATURE: DRAMA BUYERS Huisman believes eco-drama, dystopian thrillers and strong female-led stories will be in demand in 2020. Echoing RTE’s Horan, she also believes the audience is most interested in shorter series: “They like fourto six-parters instead of eight to 10, because that works well for binge. And I think 90-minute stand-alone stories will get popular again. One story, one evening is relaxing.” For Huisman, the biggest challenge for buyers these days is the complexity of the windowing. “It’s like a big mathematics puzzle,” she says. “You need more and more flexibility in the way you do deals to adjust to the individual possibilities available. Some parties demand long oneto three-year windows. That’s really a waste because, quite often after a long window, the series has lost its attraction, since there are so many new series around. I do feel shorter windows would make more sense.” In terms of the new streamers, she adds: “This new competition will have an impact, of course. It will be hard for the audience to decide which subscriptions they choose — and how many.” For Sven Van Lokeren, buyer of international fiction series acquisitions for VRT in Belgium, scripted series are a priority right now. “Last September, we created a new double slot [two episodes] on Wednesdays on our second channel Canvas,” he says. “The aim is to offer ‘the best of the best international series’. This has proven to be very successful with our audience and the press. It has reinforced our brand, our channel and created talk value for every title we’ve launched — Sharp Objects, Das Boot, Perpetual Grace Ltd, Killing Eve and The Handmaid’s Tale. I’m sure this will continue with upcoming titles True Detective season three, The Loudest Voice and
Chernobyl until the summer break.” Outside the Canvas ‘double slot’, Van Lokeren says that Friday-evening UK crime, such as The Bay, Midsomer Murders and Vera, on VRT’s first channel Een continue to attract loyal fans, as do Saturday-evening edgy thrillers on Canvas, including Cardinal, Below The Surface and upcoming titles Face To Face and Darkness: Those Who Kill. “The Name Of The Rose is also doing well in our period-drama slot, even though it’s a stylistic change and a more complicated storyline than previous shows, such as Victoria and Poldark,” he adds. In terms of general observations, Van Lokeren says: “As always, I’m on the lookout for content for our main slots while, simultaneously, scouting for new genres, styles and trends. We have started acquiring new drama formats, by which I mean scripted series that could be considered short-form drama and tie into the new online shorter-form viewing trend. Examples are the 30-minute formats Face To Face and Exit, as well as 10-minute episodes in the series State Of The Union.” In terms of content trends, he says: “True crime has slowly but surely spilled over from documentaries into drama series. We have acquired A Confession, Manhunt and White House Farm, and several more are in the works.” Looking at the impact of market disruption, Van Lokeren adds: “Everything seems to be uncertain, in flux, with several streamers yet to launch in our territory. Some of them are aggressively bidding on certain content and effectively taking it off the market — most of the time, there’s not much point in broadcasting shows after long exclusive VOD windows on streamers. For the moment, there’s still an enor-
Killing Eve: a hit for Dutch public broadcaster NPO
mous amount of content on offer. We’ll have to wait and see how this develops. We concentrate mainly on European series, which limits our exposure to the fallout from US streamers.” Karin Heijink, vice-president of pay-TV channels and products at Viasat World, oversees Epic Drama, a channel that delivers premium scripted content to Eastern Europe and Turkey. “Epic Drama’s audience comes to the channel to find the very best quality, acclaimed period-drama titles curated from all over the world,” Heijink says. “It’s no surprise, therefore, that the big-budget, blockbuster titles that we have acquired really resonate — shows such as Das Boot, La Peste, World On Fire and Project Blue Book. We also have successful returning franchises, such as Endeavour, Poldark, Frankie Drake Mysteries and Murdoch Mysteries. These are just some of the acquisitions fuelling the channel’s success.” Content wise, Epic Drama invests heavily in European productions: “Our inventory mirrors the trend at large — that drama is travelling like never before. Almost 50% of our content is European, excluding
MIPTV PREVIEW • 68 • March 2020
the UK. Driving this is the audience’s desire for authenticity. For drama to travel, it needs to strike a balance between storylines, quality and relevance or context. Engaging, universal, human stories, done well and with local touchpoints, make for a winning formula.”
Karin Heijink:
“Engaging, universal, human stories, done well and with local touchpoints, make for a winning formula” In terms of priorities, Heijink says Epic Drama’s period-drama content pipeline is “extremely healthy for 2020/21 and well stocked across the sub-genres”. However, she is always on the lookout for the next project: “When we talk about period drama, it can be anything not in the here and now. There are a wide variety of sub-genres within it, from historic to crime, from costume to war. We’re definitely interested in addictive period-crime shows, mystery, intrigue, big IP and drama with a genuine co-viewing hook. The real key for us is local resonance,
FEATURE: DRAMA BUYERS which makes it relatable for our audience.” In terms of her more unusual or experimental acquisitions, Heijink says: “We’ve invested in titles that are multi-language and multi-location — for example, Vienna Blood, which we are set to air later this year. We find the CEE markets are ahead of the curve in terms of their consumption of foreign-language and/or multi-language content, bearing in mind we localise it anyway.” On the hot topic of streamers, she adds: “It will be interesting to see how the consolidation and streaming wars play out in the next 12 months. We will probably see some studios withholding content for their own services. But that will result in an internal struggle, as programme sales represent a011_THE significantWIT__PV_TV revenue stream.
For local players to compete with these super-streamers, there will be two routes: serve the audience with very local content, or compete with the big-budget productions, which is only possible with co-productions.” Heijink is not intimidated by the shift in the market, however: “For an acquisition-led company like Viasat World, there are rich pickings in the spoils of these wars. The rise of the streamers has led to big broadcasters and platforms investing in top-quality content to compete — titles such as Das Boot from Sky Deutschland and La Peste from Movistar in Spain, which are available for us to come in as a co-pro or early pre-sale.” Turning to the Americas, Alejandro Vazquez, network director of content at Mexi-
co-based MVS Net, is responsible for acquiring titles across all genres. Looking specifically at drama, he says that action and romantic-comedy movies are a priority. Although he has not made any unusual or unorthodox acquisitions recently, he adds: “We are always looking for new sources of programming and MIPTV is excellent for that.” For Vazquez, the most obvious impact of the streamers is on the format of TV series. “Before, it was very common to have an extensive offer of 13or 26-episode series,” he adds. “Now, most series are produced in seasons of four, six or 10 episodes. For linear TV, those formats are very difficult to programme and promote.” Like many of his peers, Vazquez highlights the combination of apprehension and excitement
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MIPTV PREVIEW • 69 • March 2020
that buyers now feel in the disrupted TV market: “We are living in a turbulent era. We do not yet know the final realignment of the market and how linear TV will survive the streaming assault, but it’s clear that content is going through its best time. The emergence of creative and disruptive series from an increasing number of countries is something programmers should appreciate.”
Alejandro Vazquez:
“We are living in a turbulent era. We do not yet know how linear TV will survive the streaming assault, but it’s clear that content is going through its best time”
FEATURE: FACTUAL BUYERS
In search of the facts From pyramids to princes, from history to mystery, from Trump to trains — factual remains the real thing for both the world’s buyers and the genre’s rapidly growing fan base. Juliana Koranteng steals a look at the wish lists of factual buyers
T
HE NEEDS of documentary and other factual buyers have become simultaneously more nuanced and more intricate as the number of global and national platforms, from linear TV to niche streaming services, soars in an increasingly competitive marketplace. In a world where the amount of linear and on-demand airtime to fill with premium documentaries is growing, while audiences are becoming more fragmented and niche in their tastes and preferences, the job of the factual buyer demands more skill than ever. It has also become much more scientific, with buyers having a much clearer idea of what they need to fill slots and please their multifaced audiences. And Polly Scates, acquisitions manager at Channel 4, the UK-
based commercial public-service broadcaster, is in no doubt about what she is looking for: “Ancient history is a priority for us right now — especially if it incorporates archaeology. And war, particularly World War II, continues to perform. I’d be interested to see anything within this genre that contains a new discovery.”
Polly Scates: “Ancient history is a priority for us right now — especially if it incorporates archaeology” Scates would like to repeat the success that Channel 4 enjoyed with Egypt’s Great Pyramid Uncovered, produced by London-based Windfall Films. “The new-evidence angle of this documentary is something that really
appeals to our audience” she says. Considering how the lives of the UK’s Duke and Duchess of Sussex, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, have dominated global headlines recently, it comes as no surprise when she adds: “Royals are also of interest.” Most of the viewers being served by Scates belong to the ABC1 demographics (high- to middle-income earners and professionals), and she is particularly keen to find lifestyle shows targeted at ABC1 female viewers. In the digital-viewing environment, Scates is seeking non-scripted factual content aimed at younger audiences. Expectations for All 4, Channel 4’s on-demand service, are skyrocketing, she adds: “It’s a real area of growth for us and we are actively acquiring exclusive content for that service.”
MIPTV PREVIEW • 70 • March 2020
Australian buyers will also be out in force in Cannes. Ben Nguyen, channel manager at free-to-air broadcaster SBS, says his network’s viewers crave high-end history-themed shows. “Interest in international history remains strong, from ancient civilisations to recent political histories, from social-history stories of royals to notable companies through to famous figures, as well as everything in between,” he says. Chronologically relevant stories are equally high on his shopping list: “There are some significant anniversaries in 2020. We are already committed to a number
Photo: NASA
PBS series Chasing The Moon
of projects and we are looking well stocked in World War II commemorative programming.” Nguyen is also on the lookout for premium content to fill two niche channels: SBS Food and SBS Viceland. The latter is an SBS-operated free-toair venture based on Viceland, the lifestyle-factual network co-founded by Vice Media in the US that features SBS acquisitions and original commissions. “Strong talent is important for our food channel,” he adds. “And SBS Viceland often explores male-skewing factual entertainment, as well as sexuality and relationships.”
Content sellers approaching SBS should bear in mind that the broadcaster is engaged in a juggling act between its linear programming requirements and its SBS On Demand service. “We are constantly learning what factual content will work best for audiences in the digital environment,” Nguyen says. “There is still a large correlation between audiences consuming our factual content on our linear platforms and what works on digital. Although we are yet to have a breakout factual hit on SBS On Demand, we have had success with observational series looking at everyday drama and social issues.”
Meanwhile, Angus Ross, director of programming at commercial free-to-air service Seven Network, one of Australia’s biggest TV operations targeting 25- to 54-year-olds, is searching for acquired factual entertainment to fill Seven’s 21.00 slot, as well as content for the broadcaster’s niche digital terrestrial services, 7mate, 7TWO and 7flix. 7mate features male-skewing, big-character observational documentaries, such as A+E Networks’ American Pickers and Pawn Stars. “On 7TWO, it’s older female-skewed UK lifestyle
MIPTV PREVIEW • 71 • March 2020
and true crime, and on 7flix it’s younger female-skewed reality,” Ross adds. There is a massive appetite for documentaries at Dutch public-service broadcaster VPRO, which buys about 25 high-quality productions annually. Nathalie Windhorst, head of factual acquisition, says she expects sellers and producers to bring something fresh and new to the table. VPRO, she adds, wants “stories we could never make ourselves because we have no access to the topic, or because we admire the talent of the filmmaker, or because we simply lack the budget to produce it ourselves”.
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FEATURE: FACTUAL BUYERS
SBS’ Ben Nguyen
C4’s Polly Scates
VPRO’s Nathalie Windhorst
Nathalie Windhorst “We want stories we could never make ourselves because we have no access to the topic, or because we admire the talent of the filmmaker, or because we lack the budget”
chael Moore’s highly acclaimed political documentary feature Fahrenheit 9/11 takes a scathing satirical look at the 2016 US presidential election. In Windhorst’s view, documentary series such 63 Up, earlier editions of which aired on the NPO Start Plus platform, do well for the broadcaster because they are returning events. “The Clinton Affair and Tricky Dick are excellent series that have a juicy topic but also stand out in their creative storytelling and their use of archive,” she adds. “Chasing The Moon was a wonderful contribution to the anniversary programmes celebrating 50 years since the moon landing. And Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9 did very well with our younger audiences.”
very popular on our VOD platforms.” The challenge is to pick the right shows and juggle their transmission between the VPRO linear service and the broadcaster’s niche digital and on-demand offshoots, which include catch-up TV platform NPO Start and SVOD channel NPO Start Plus. To illustrate the complexities faced by buyers when scheduling programmes, Windhorst highlights the necessity for imaginative marketing and scheduling, even with SVOD offerings: “We are aware that more and more people would rather watch TV on-demand. So all our titles are offered on linear first, then for 30 days as a free catch-up on NPO Start, then for a period of 12 months on our SVOD platform NPO Start Plus. In fact, our documentaries are already available for free on NPO Start as a preview during the weekend before we air them on TV. We hope people who watch them will then become ambassadors for the show and promote the titles via social media to give a boost to our linear transmission.”
Windhorst adds: “We want to offer our audience the best documentaries, especially those that tackle urgent and relevant contemporary political issues in a creative and surprising way. Our audience is well educated, has an interest in politics and art, and is also open for adventure and innovative, and sometimes provocative storytelling. We like to challenge our audience.” Last year, VPRO performed well in terms of viewership thanks to documentaries including Michael Apted’s 63 Up, a continuation of ITV’s acclaimed series detailing the lives of real British people since 1964. Other documentary series on VPRO were The Clinton Affair from A+E Networks and Tricky Dick, produced by CNN and distributed by eOne. Both series explore monumental scandals in US presidential history. Chasing The Moon, the Robert Stone documentary series for PBS, chronicles the real challenges behind sending men to the moon, while Mi-
Windhorst is among the growing number of buyers who want to see more documentary series — which represents a shift for a sector that has traditionally prized documentary features and their premium cinematography. “These series are often made by directors who have proven their skills as storytellers in the documentary field, which means they have the quality of a festival documentary” she says. “A series means there is more time to go deeper into the topic and follow a story for a longer period. They are also easier to schedule and promote, and are
So which high-end factual shows deliver in terms of audience appeal? Channel 4’s Scates points to Hunch Media’s Shocking Emergency Calls, which tells the true stories behind the myr-
MIPTV PREVIEW • 73 • March 2020
iad calls received by emergency services worldwide; and Oscarand BAFTA-winning Free Solo, created by US directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin. The latter follows celebrated US rock climber Alex Honnold on his free solo climb of the treacherous El Capitan, the 3,000-foot vertical granite formation inside the Yosemite National Park. “Shocking Emergency Calls felt like a natural fit for us, because it partnered so well with our existing blue-light commissions,” Scates says. “We were also thrilled to secure the rights to the critically acclaimed Free Solo last year. It’s a hugely inspiring documentary about an incredible feat.” Meanwhile, SBS’ Nguyen emphasises the importance of shows with well-known international presenters telling gripping stories the resonate with local viewers. An example is Great Australian Railway Journeys, which is made by UK-based Fremantle subsidiary Boundless, was originally commissioned by the BBC and is presented by a British former politician. “The combination of a popular presenter mixing travel with social history and local relevance really works,” he adds.
Ben Nguyen: “The combination of a popular presenter mixing travel with social history and local relevance really works” The HBO documentary Andre The Giant, a 2018 film about the late French wrestler Andre Rene Roussimoff, also performed well for SBS, Nguyen adds: “It took a popular international figure with a really fascinating life story and made it accessible for a wide audience, whether they were interested in wrestling or not.”
FEATURE: KIDS BUYERS
A look at the future of kids TV Recent acquisition deals highlight the seismic changes that are sweeping the global kids’ market. A new generation of streamers is challenging the linear broadcasters with exclusive original content and 24/7 access across screens and devices. But don’t underestimate the power and reach of the legacy players, writes Andy Fry — they’re still the biggest kids on the block
O
VER the last few months, much attention has been paid to the latest round of disruption in the global streaming business. For the most part, this has been framed as a story about scripted content. But the arrival of Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ is also having a profound impact on children’s content, both in terms of international acquisitions and origination. New SVOD platform Disney+ may have a vast reservoir of inhouse content, but this has not stopped it from searching for fresh shows. It has, for example, just greenlit a range of unscripted series to accompany its existing strength in animation. Among its new shows is a reboot of ABC’s fantasy-based game show The Quest, in which teen contestants
compete in an unfolding drama peopled by mystical beings and magical encounters. Similar in tone is a new game show set in the Star Wars galaxy. Called Jedi Temple Challenge, the exclusive series will “test young contestants’ abilities in the core Jedi principles of strength, knowledge and bravery”. Further underlining the importance of non-fiction content to the burgeoning service, Disney+ has also greenlit problem-solving game show The Maze and picked up National Geographic’s Meet The Chimps. Produced by Blink Films, the latter is a six-part natural-history series set in Chimp Haven in Louisiana. WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer platform HBO Max has also identified children as key to its offering, ordering four Adventure Time specials. Just
a year after the offbeat comedy-animation series ended a 10-season run on Cartoon Network, Adventure Time: Distant Lands will air exclusively on HBO Max, with the first two specials set to debut in 2020. Commenting on the decision to revive Adventure Time, Sarah Aubrey, head of original content at HBO Max, says: “The enchanted world of Adventure Time has mesmerised viewers and critics alike.” AppleTV+, meanwhile, is also going down the origination route, setting up partnerships with Sesame Workshop and Wildbrain. The latter is creating content based on Charles M Schulz’s iconic Peanuts franchise. Until the new streamers came along, SVOD’s leading platform, Netflix, had established itself as a
MIPTV PREVIEW • 74 • March 2020
major feature of family life. With 60% of its subscribers watching children’s and family content, the streamer is keen to maintain this status in the face of the onslaught by Disney+. As a result, it has also been aggressively pursuing kids’ content since MIPCOM last October. In terms of originations, Netflix’s strategy echoes the approach at the new streamers — namely, an emphasis on proven IP that it can reinvent as exclusive
The Bureau Of Magical Things (ZDFE)
franchises. It has, for example, commissioned Oggy Oggy, a spin-off from Xilam Animation’s hit pre-school animation Oggy And The Cockroaches. It has also greenlit a new animated original series based on the 1980s classic He-Man & The Masters Of The Universe. The CGI series, produced in partnership with Mattel, will introduce a new generation of kids to He-Man and his nemesis Skeletor.
Netflix has also just brokered a landmark multi-year volume deal with Viacom-owned kids’ network Nickelodeon. Under the deal, the two partners will create original series and films based on Nickelodeon characters, as well as developing new IP. “Nickelodeon has generated scores of characters that kids love and we look forward to telling original stories that re-imagine and expand on the worlds they inhab-
it,” says Netflix’s vice-president of original animation, Melissa Cobb.
Melissa Cobb: “Nickelodeon has generated scores of characters that kids love and we look forward to telling original stories that re-imagine and expand on the worlds they inhabit”
MIPTV PREVIEW • 75 • March 2020
All of the above platforms are global in ambition, but another player shaking up the kids’ business is CBS All Access, currently only available in the US, Canada and Australia. In November 2019, the streamer announced that it would be adding 1,000 episodes of children’s programming to its existing 12,000-plus-episode library. Titles coming on to the platform include Bob The
FEATURE: BUYING FOR CHILDREN Builder, Inspector Gadget, Madeline, Heathcliff, The Adventures Of Paddington Bear and a slate of Nickelodeon shows. Reinforcing the demand for new content based on classic IP, CBS All Access has also announced plans to stream Wildbrain’s Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs and Boat Rocker’s Danger Mouse. Explaining the move, Marc DeBevoise, president of CBS Interactive, says: “Bringing children’s programming to CBS All Access is a significant step towards providing even more value for our subscribers and for their children as well. We’re bringing to market a fantastic roster of exclusive originals, along with a library of marquee series for families, and we look forward to expanding our children’s programming offering, especially with the addition of Nickelodeon programming.”
Marc DeBevoise: “Bringing children’s programming to CBS All Access is a significant step towards providing even more value for our subscribers and their children”
For international kids’ buyers, the emergence of CBS All Access is a positive development — at least until it rolls out into more territories. This is because the platform is not currently in the market for global rights. For example, it recently picked up the US rights to Xilam’s reboot of animation classic Mr Magoo. That show has also been acquired by, among others, Turner for multiple territories, Discovery Kids Latin America, Germany’s Super RTL, Belgium’s VRT and RTBF, Portugal’s SIC K, Spain’s RTVE, Switzerland’s RTS and CITV in the UK. In other words, there are still plenty of rights to share around. There is a similar dynamic at play with Hulu, another Disney-owned service currently only available in the US. Hulu has just joined forces with YTV in Canada for a live-action adaptation of classic children’s book series The Hardy Boys. Children’s content, of course, continues to be a major priority for established regional players around the world. Nordic Entertainment (NENT) Group, for example, has just agreed a deal that will see NBCUniversal International Distribution kids’ content available on its
From short-form to long-form: Lucas The Spider
Adventure Time: Distant Lands, headed for HBO Max
streaming and pay-TV services Viaplay and Viasat. As a result, the NENT services will be the first in the Nordic region to show DreamWorks Animation’s hit series Where’s Waldo?. The agreement also covers library content, such as Kung Fu Panda and Trolls. “High-quality kids’ content is a cornerstone of Viaplay’s unique offering,” says Filippa Wallestam, NENT’s executive vice-president and chief content officer. “This agreement means our younger viewers can experience fantastic entertainment featuring their favourite characters.” In terms of buying trends by sub-genre, the Hulu/YTV’s The Hardy Boys deal is indicative of the continuing demand for live-action content aimed at teen/tween audiences. Broadcasters including Disney France, France Televisions, ABC in Australia and RTBF in Belgium have all acquired the third season of Find Me In Paris, distributed by Federation Kids & Family and ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE). In a similar vein, the UK’s CBBC, Australia’s Seven Network and New Zealand’s TVNZ have commissioned a drama called Mystic from Slim Film+Television. Based on the Pony Club Secrets books by
MIPTV PREVIEW • 76 • March 2020
Stacy Gregg, the family drama is an environmental thriller focusing on climate change. Nickelodeon also continues to be a fan of live action. It has acquired fantasy series The Bureau Of Magical Things from ZDFE and has secured the rights to Amazon Prime’s series Just Add Magic, produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment. Aimed at six- to 11-year-olds, the latter charts the adventures of three friends who discover a book full of magic recipes. The show currently runs to three seasons, with a spin-off in the works called Just Add Magic: Mystery City. The planned sequel will launch on Amazon Prime before airing on Nickelodeon. Unlike the other global streamers, Amazon recently decided to step back from volume kids’ content production, preferring to order shows on a selective basis. That said, the company has accumulated a raft of strong children’s shows, available to the international buying community via Zodiak Kids. Animated series Lost In Oz, for example, has been acquired by France Televisions, among others. Canada’s Knowledge Network, meanwhile, has taken a package of Amazon Prime originals, including Creative Galaxy and Tumble Leaf. And
FEATURE: BUYING FOR CHILDREN Sweden’s SVT has secured animation/live-action hybrid Little Big Awesome and live-action series Gortimer Gibbon’s Life On Normal Street. Animation from pre-school to tween via six-to-nine action-comedy is generally still a priority for buyers. In most cases, animation seems to be agnostic in terms of the types of platform it can play on — unlike drama, which varies in character by platform type. Discovery Kids Latin America, Boomerang EMEA and French free-to-air broadcaster TF1 have all, for example, acquired 3D animation Agent Binky: Pets Of The Universe. Distributed by Nelvana, the series is based on Ashley Spires’ Kids Can Press graphic novels and follows the adventures of a cat and his chums as they seek to protect their human families from extra-terrestrial threats. Animals saving their owners from trouble is also at the heart of Pat The Dog, an animated series from France-based distrib-
utor Superights. Like Binky, the show has also demonstrated an ability to work across platforms. Already picked up by WarnerMedia and Disney for their payTV channels in Europe, Pat The Dog has just been acquired by Mexican free-to-air commercial broadcaster Televisa. It has also been licensed to pubcasters including France Televisions, Finland’s YLE and Italy’s Rai, as well as securing distribution via Chinese VOD service Mango TV. Historically, animation in the age group between pre-school and tween has tended to skew towards comedy action-adventure. But one series that stands apart is Studio 100 Media’s Heidi, now going into its second season. Based on the classic novel by Johanna Spyri, the show has been picked up France’s TF1 and a raft of Eastern Europe networks, including Polish children’s channel TVP ABC, Hungary’s MTVA, Slovakia’s RTVS, Slovenia’s ProPlus and Lithuania’s LRT.
Interest in pre-school animation is also buoyant. Despite the challenges in terms of recouping on pre-school production, buyers now have a wide selection of choices from an increasingly broad range of territories. Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, for example, has acquired 44 Cats from Italy’s Rainbow Group for its dedicated children’s channel. The series follows a group of cats who play in a band. Elsewhere, Disney, Super RTL and France Televisions are among the broadcasters to have picked up new seasons of pre-school series Gigantosaurus from French producer Cyber Group Studios. Channels in Israel, Latvia and Poland have acquired Russian 3D animated series Little Tiaras from APC Kids, while US payTV broadcaster Condista has secured five seasons of Brazilian pre-school series Earth To Luna! from Monster Entertainment. Trends within animation for younger audiences include a growing willingness among buy-
Agent Binky: Pets Of The Universe (Nelvana)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 77 • March 2020
ers to air series that are shorter than the traditional 11-minute format. BBC pre-school channel CBeebies, for example, is one of several broadcasters to acquire Cake’s Kiri And Lou, originally commissioned by TVNZ and CBC Canada. Others to find a spot in their schedule for the show include Australia’s ABC Kids, Finland’s YLE, Sweden’s SVT, Czech Television, EVision and BeIN in the Middle East, and Showmax in Africa. Similarly, CITV in the UK has just picked up Team TO’s slapstick comedy Mighty Mike, also distributed by Cake, in a deal that indicates another re-emerging trend: dialogue-free animation. Widely available on Cartoon Network and Boomerang, Mighty Mike has also been acquired by on-demand platform Tencent in China. The Chinese in general continue to be big buyers of children’s IP, despite the occasional regulatory clampdown on foreign
FEATURE: BUYING FOR CHILDREN content. SVOD platform iQiyi, for example, is in the market for kids’ animation, while Youku is one of several platforms to have picked up animated series Ricky Zoom from Entertainment One (eOne). Asian buyers in general are busy snapping up kids’ shows for their services. South Korean free-to-air broadcaster EBS, for example, has just acquired three seasons of pre-school megahit Peppa Pig from eOne. EBS will also act as licensing agent for Peppa Pig, managing consumer products. In addition, EBS has acquired the above-mentioned Ricky Zoom. Specialist kids’ distributor Jetpack has sold a broad slate of shows to Asian buyers in recent months. Tooniverse and English Gem in South Korea, Pop Life in the Philippines and Viet Content in Vietnam have all picked up product from Jetpack’s portfolio. Elsewhere, Disney Channel Southeast Asia and Bravokids in Korea have acquired the first season of animated comedy Cupcake & Dino: General
Services from eOne. Seasons one and two of the series, which is aimed at six- to 11-year-olds, are also on Disney Latin America. Vietnam’s SCTV has also bought Cyber Group Studios’ Mini Ninjas. Repeated reference to Disney, Nick, Cartoon Network and Boomerang is a reminder that the pay-TV kids’ channels, like their streaming counterparts, are also on the hunt for great shows, despite producing a lot of content in-house. An interesting recent development is a global deal involving Cake, Fresh TV Cartoon Network and Boomerang around an animated franchise called Lucas The Spider. Originally devised as a series of animated shorts on YouTube, the plan now is to create a long-form CGI animated series. “Cake and Fresh TV are some of the best partners we’ve worked with,” says Adina Pitt, vice-president of content acquisitions and co-productions at Cartoon Network. “Co-developing a beloved and viral
short to series globally on Cartoon Network and Boomerang is a really exciting partnership to be a part of.” Evidence that it is not just streamers seeking factual content is the news that TVOKids in Canada and BYUtv in the US have ordered a second season of marblemedia’s All-Round Champion. Echoing the classic format Superstars, the show features 10 young athletes as they compete in each other’s sports. While volume deals have tended to go out of fashion in recent years, with cherry-picking now in favour, there are scenarios where such deals make sense — notably for streamers seeking to stack content. Canadian pubcaster CBC, for example, has acquired 100 episodes of kids’ content from 9 Story Media Group for its streaming service CBC Gem. Included in the deal are Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood and Australian live-action scripted series Grace Beside Me.
Mr Magoo (Xilam)
No matter how much competition there is in the market, there always seems to be room for new services. The Lego Group has just teamed up with Future Today to launch The Lego Channel on major OTT streaming platforms in the US and Canada. In India, Toonz Media has outlined plans to launch three VOD brands targeting kids, while Viacom18 has launched Voot Kids, a junior version of its existing OTT service Voot. Welcoming a new phase in the Indian kids’ TV market, Viacom18 group CEO Sudhanshu Vats says: “Viacom18 has grown by focusing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential. As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids’ content for the past five years. Our digital play Voot is the second largest VOD platform in the country today. Voot Kids is a synergy of these growth stories.”
Sudhanshu Vats: “Viacom18 has grown by focusing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential”
Heidi (Studio 100 Media)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 78 • March 2020
FEATURE: BUYING FOR JAPAN
Japan is seeking co-production partners and shows in all genres MIPTV annually brings buyers together with producers and rights holders with networking sessions, content pitches, market-intelligence presentations and more. We spoke to two key Japanese acquisitions executives — from NHK and Hulu Japan — about their buying strategies
J
APAN state broadcaster NHK is on the hunt for factual programming for three of its slots that showcase international productions. NHK’s World Documentary targets businesspeople and other adult viewers, and is broadcast on one of the organisation’s satellite channels daily, Monday through Wednesday. Subject areas featured include current affairs, social issues, politics, the economy and human-interest. Dramatic Planet is a documentary slot for family viewing, aired weekly on NHK’s terrestrial educational channel. “The genres featured here are natural history, ancient history, science, astronomy, technology, mega-structures, adventure, factual entertainment, mystery and heart-warming human stories with protagonists aged around four to 12 years old,” according to Sayumi Horie, executive producer at NHK’s Global Content Development Division. Welcome To The Wonderful World of Documentaries is a weekly terrestrial slot: “This is aimed at attracting women, so culture, fashion and touching human stories are preferable,” Horie said. A recent factual hit on NHK is National Geographic’s One Strange Rock, combining “stunning images, a universally appealing theme and a profound message”, Horie said. “It got
quite well talked about among viewers in their 20s to 40s.” Another hit acquisition is Banijay’s The Secret Life Of 4 Year Olds, “a factual entertainment programme that presents the world of children from a distinctive viewpoint. It was a hit with families that have growing children.” Radio Gaga, from Amsterdam-based Lineup Industries — which originally aired in Belgium — is another hit for NHK. “In this show, two radio hosts travel through the country with their mobile radio studio, stopping in various places for two days at a time to run a local radio service for locals,” Horie said. “It went down very well in Japan as a heart-warming factual entertainment show.”
NHK’s Sayumi Horie:
NHK’s Sayumi Horie:
“Our interest ranges from blue-chip documentary series to small — but spicy — unique stories NHK’s in-house production team covers a vast range of genres and produces the majority of the content shown on its numerous channels. “That said, we’re always looking for projects with good stories that cover areas, people and situations that we can’t cover on our own,” Horie said. “Our interest ranges from blue-chip documentary series to small — but spicy — unique stories. Also content that appeals to people aged 20 to 40. Hulu Japan’s most popular re-
Hulu Japan’s Kazufumi Nagasawa
MIPTV PREVIEW • 79 • March 2020
cent acquired series is Locked Up, originally a Spanish suspense thriller set in a women’s prison, acquired from Madrid-based Mediapro Studio during MIPTV 2018 — according to Kazufumi Nagasawa, Hulu Japan’s chief content officer. Nagasawa said that some 30% of content on Hulu Japan is acquired from outside of the country and that the company is currently increasing the number of co-productions with international producers. Hulu Japan is keen to acquire “outstanding and unique shows with a strong track record in the home market from around the world”, Nagasawa said, and the company is “flexible in terms of genre”. He added that he is “open both to new acquisition and co-production opportunities”.
NHK’s Sayumi Horie
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In these pages we highlight a selection of the variety of multiplatform content available
FRANCE TV DISTRIBUTION A PRIORITY for France tv distribution is Laetitia (6 x 45 mins), a drama based on real events. Eighteen-year-old Laetitia has disappeared. Her overturned scooter is found in the early morning in front of her house and the police quickly reconstruct her last hours, leading to an arrest. However, while they are certain that they have identified the perpetrator, the investigators can’t find the body. The cast includes Marie Colomb, Sophie Breyer, Yannick Choirat, Sam Karmann and Kevin Azais. Laetitia (France tv distribution)
DARO FILM DISTRIBUTION DARO Film has joined the series project Around The World In 80 Days in an associate producer/distributor role. The series is a co-production between France Televisons, RAI and ZDF, with David Tennant in the lead role as Phileas Fogg. Daro has David Tennant, star of upcoming taken all rights for Eastern Eu- Around The World In 80 Days (Daro Film Distribution) rope, CIS and the Baltics, English-speaking Africa and Portugal, with the series expected late 2020. The Monaco-based company is also showcasing The Journey Home, shot in the Canadian Rockies, featuring Natasha Henstridge and Chinook the Alaskan Malamute. Daro retains worldwide rights excluding North America, and is preparing for a mid-2020 release.
HG DISTRIBUTION
WIN SING GUANGZHOU-based Win Sing has two Chinese animation series to present to the internatonal market. GoGo Bus & Team Steam (104 x 15 mins), aimed at three- to six-year-olds, features six kids who each use their different STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) areas of expertise to solve problems. Living on Tomorrow Island — filled with new technology, natural phenomena and wildlife — the intrepid team is ready to respond to any emergency by combining knowledge, ingenuity and teamwork with help from their GoGo Bus & Team Steam friend Gordon the GogoBus, an artificial in- (Win Sing) telligence vehicle. The company also highlights the 15th season of GG Bond: Racing (104 x 15 mins), featuring the Star Agent who accidentally enters into an unknown area of space. He must participate in speed races to find his team and the way back home.
HG DISTRIBUTION’s 4K family sci-fi thriller Le 422 (13 x 22 mins) is set in an abandoned house where five youngsters discover a secret passage to a mysterious world that hides a priceless treasure. They soon learn that the treasure is coveted by some seedy characters and the youngsters embark on a treasure hunt that pushes them to their limits.
Le 422 (HG Distribution)
BANIJAY RIGHTS BANIJAY Rights is launching 60-minute game show Burning Time, in which six players compete in quiz rounds against each other, and the clock. Contestants play with an unknown time limit. The person in play when time runs out is sent home. Banijay Rights also brings new psychological thriller Into The Wilderness (8 x 45 mins), about a woman who disappears in the Alps. When her family follows her journey, in her honour, new evidence is found. Burning Time (Banijay Rights)
YOBOHO DIGITAL CONTENT A PRIORITY for YoBoHo is animation Momo And Tulus (30 x 1.5 mins), about inquisitive monsters who live on another planet and unintentionally turn situations into fun and ridiculous moments. Every episode throws surprise objects from the human world at Mom and Tulus, including a camera and a magnifying glass. Their curiosity leads them to interact, experiment, play and eventually make these elements a part of their own cool world. Momo And Tulus (YoBoHo Digital Content)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 81 • March 2020
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DORI MEDIA NORMAL (8 x 60 mins) is a drama about 24-year-old Noam, who hits rock bottom in his life then finds his own route to normality in the unlikeliest of places: the psych ward. He is disappointed when he’s finally discharged — for being normal. Other titles from Israel’s Dori Media Normal (Dori Media) include: psychological thriller Losing Alice (8 x 60 mins), which tells the story of an ambitious 47-year-old who becomes obsessed with a 24-year-old femme fatale; and crime drama Rampensau (Dumb Germany/10 x 60 mins), in which a failed actor plays the role of her life as an undercover policewoman at a Berlin school in exchange for the release of her arrested boyfriend.
MEDIAWAN FRENCH distributor Mediawan offers four new 4K productions. Lobsters Catch & Cash (6 x 52 mins) follows the fishermen who harvest this valuable shellfish. Man 2.0 R-Evolution (6 x 52 mins) investigates the growing role of science in shaping human life. Wetlands (1 x 90 mins) is about the importance of these rich habitats for biodiversity and their role in combating climate change. Via Italia (4 x 52 mins) follows old Roman paths across beautiful landscapes, encountering people along the way.
SINKING SHIP ENTERTAINMENT SINKING Ship Entertainment highlights several new series, including: Endlings (12 x 22 mins), a sci-fi live-action/CGI series, an intergalactic adventure featuring four youngsters, exploring themes of extinction, biodiversity, isolation, abandonment and rebirth; a new instalment of the PBS series Odd Squad Mobile Unit (35 x 22 mins), about an elite team of agents that travels the world to solve odd cases; a new season of Dino Dana (52 x 22 mins); and Dino Dana The Movie, which releases theatrically and in museums in North America before broadcast on Endlings (Sinking Ship Entertainment) Amazon Prime and TVO.
ALFRED HABER US DISTRIBUTOR Alfred Haber has secured exclusive international rights to Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince, a celebration of the legendary, 38-time Grammy nominee and seven-time Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, musician and producer. Set to air on the CBS Television Network later this year, stars featured include: Beck, Common, Earth, Wind & Fire, Foo Fighters, John Legend, Chris Martin, Mavis Staples, Usher and Sheila E and The Revolution.
Lobsters Catch & Cash (Mediawan)
NEW FILMS INTERNATIONAL AS PART of its strategy to add to its catalogue with the digital market in mind, California-based New Films International is introducing live-action Russian action-thriller series Territory and action movie Pistolera. Territory tells the story of a town crippled by corruption where seemingly ritualistic murders begin occurring. Two warring detectives come together to find the killer. Pistolera is a revenge story of Angel, who witnesses the death of her family at the hands of a ruthless drug lord. Years later, Angel sets out on a spree of violence to ensure the Territory (New Films International) drug lord pays for his sins.
Prince, remembered in Let’s Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute To Prince (Alfred Haber)
PRIME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP PART of Paris-based producer and distributor Prime Entertainment Group’s new line-up includes new episodes of Hollywood’s Stories (13 x 26 mins). The series unveils the best-kept secrets of Hollywood and the well-known scandals of the showbiz world. Topics include the Harvey Weinstein scandal and #Metoo movement, mysterious celebrity deaths and the insane lifestyle of the rich and famous, including archival footage, exclusive interviews and re-enacted scenes.
MIPTV PREVIEW • 82 • March 2020
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ATV
HAT TRICK INTERNATIONAL
THE OTTOMAN is a new Turkish drama that made its premiere in November in Turkey. From ATV, the series tells the history of Kurulus Osman the first, father of the Ottoman Empire, and his passionate love for Bala Hatun. Another focus for the Turkish network is two seasons of the family saga Hercai.
THE UK’s Hat Trick International highlights a second series of Flack, which brings the total number of 60-minute episodes available to 12. Set in the world of high-stakes public relations, Robyn (Anna Paquin) is a sharp and witty PR agent, but a complete self-saboteur when it comes to her personal life. Daniel Dae Kim and Sam Neill will be joining the show for its second series. Neill plays Duncan, who has a very complicated relationship with the PR agency boss, Caroline; Kim plays a tech titan who begins a romance with someone at the firm.
The Ottoman (ATV)
CINEFLIX RIGHTS GRIPPING Icelandic political drama, The Minister (8 x 60 mins), from London-based Cineflix Rights, stars Olafur Darri Olafsson (Trapped, True Detective) as a populist Prime Minister with a worsening bipolar disorder threatening the stability of the government and the lives of those around him. Another top title on the slate is Happily Married (10 x 60 mins), mixing dark comedy with relationship drama. After dropping their children off at camp in July 1974, two middle-class suburban couples descend into a ruthless spree of murder The Minister (Cineflix Rights) and criminality.
ABOUT PREMIUM CONTENT (APC) CO-PRODUCER and distributor About Premium Content (APC) is launching new Australian drama series Buffalo. The six-part series turns the events and frightening truths of the British atomic tests in the 1950s into a blend of espionage thriller, political satire and black comedy, set in the outback of South Australia. APC also offers six-part series Man In Room 301, a psychological thriller about a family whose lives irrevocably changed when two-year-old Tommi is killed by a gun. Whilst on their family holiday in Greece 12 years later, they come across a man that looks just like the boy’s alleged killer. Drama series La Linea Invisible (6 x 45 mins), goes back to 1963, to the early days of the Basque nationalist paramilitary group ETA, and follows an idealistic young man who gets gradually more involved with the increasingly violent organisation, until there is no turning back. Buffalo (APC)
Flack (Hat Trick International)
IGMAR A HIGHLIGHT for Russian producer Igmar is The End Of The Season, a touching, modern-day drama inspired by the Anton Chekov play Three Sisters. The compelling, character-driven story of the sisters is explored by a cast led by Yuliya Peresild, Yulia Snigir and Anna Chipovskaya. The End Of The Season (Igmar)
TCB MEDIA RIGHTS IN EDGES Unknown (8 x 60 mins) Brett Rogers and Cliff Quinn go to extremes in an attempt to understand where we as human beings developed the know-how that allowed us to thrive on the planet. From advancements humans developed 300 years ago, to primitive skills first seen 3,000 years ago, every episode tests them as they immerse themselves fully in extreme environments, places where nature can be unforgiving, and where wrong decisions could have catastrophic results. Edges Unknown (TCB Media Rights)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 83 • March 2020
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ALBATROSS WORLD SALES
LAGARDERE STUDIOS DISTRIBUTION
CRUISING The Baltic Sea – A Summer On The Water (5 x 52 mins/ HD) explores the beauty of Baltic coastal landscapes — including picturesque Swedish villages, Finland’s bustling capital and historical St. Pe- Stories Of The Mediterranean Forest tersburg — com- (Albatross World Sales) bined with insights into life on board ship. Other titles from Leipzig, Germany-based distributor Albatross World Sales include: Fascinating Places (26 x 15 mins/ HD); bear-watching show Grizzly Encounters (2 x 52 mins/4K); and Stories Of The Mediterranean Forest (6 x 52 mins/HD) following animals living in one of the planet’s most biologically rich regions.
ON THE drama slate from France’s Lagardere Studios are: thriller The Machinery (8 x 45 mins), in which Olle wakes up on a ferry between Norway and Sweden with a gun, a bag full of money and no memory of how he got there; Merli: Sapere Aude (8 x 50 mins), a spin-off from Catalan series Merli, following Pol, now studying philosophy at university; and He Even Has Your Eyes (6 x 52 mins), about a black couple who adopt a white baby, then discover they are having their own child; the second season of supernatural murder story Beau Sejour (10 x 52 mins); police drama Maroni 2: The Land Of Shadows (6 x 45 mins); and Ines Del Alma Mia (8 x 55 mins), an adaptation of Isabel Allende’s historical novel.
KEW MEDIA DISTRIBUTION THIS Could Go Anywhere (6 x 60 mins) is a new travel show from London-based Kew Media. The series follows cricketers Brendon McCullum and Phil Tufnell as they travel across New Zealand, playing golf and discovering the country’s most famous courses. Their adventures also take them skydiving at Lake Taupo, speedway racing in Wellington and line dancing in Queenstown. The Machinery (Lagardere Studios Distribution)
RED ARROW STUDIOS INTERNATIONAL RED ARROW Studios International is launching quirky comedy drama Californian Commando (10 x 24 mins). Perfect Commando features a 23-year-old rich kid from California who was expecting a five-star holiday in Finland with his girlfriend and instead is shot with a stun-gun at the airport by Military Police, then dragged unconscious to an army barracks in the middle of nowhere. His dual American-Finnish citizenship means he’s forced to do military service. The company also offers season six of crime drama Bosch (10 x 45 mins), based on the novels of Michael Connelly, which brings the total number of episodes to 60.
This Could Go Anywhere (Kew Media Distribution)
RED CARPET STUDIO
Space Dr. Cat (Red Carpet Studio)
RUSSIA’s Red Carpet Studio is highlighting the second series of Space Dr. Cat (26 x 5 mins), an animation that has reached more than one million views on YouTube. The second season is in production and the first season is being translated into English. Space Dr. Cat is the edutainment show for children 2- to 4-years-old. At the end of each episode, after helping the inhabitants of different planets, Space Dr. Cat offers quick and healthy recipes and security, health and hygiene tips.
Californian Commando (Red Arrow Studios International)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 84 • March 2020
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ADD CONTENT
DYNAMIC TELEVISION
TWO DRAMAS top the slate for Israel’s ADD Content. The Commune follows a young Israeli man living in Germany with his girlfriend, who feels compelled to return to the Tel Aviv Kibbutz he grew up in when it falls on hard times. The show explores the reality of people living together who are emotionally, financially and socially intertwined. Unchained explores the experience of orthodox Jewish women The Commune (ADD Content) who are unable to get a divorce in any circumstances without co-operation from their estranged husbands. Both series are available as scripted formats.
SCIENCE-fiction live-action series Vagrant Queen (10 x 60 mins) follows Elida from child queen to orphaned outcast, as she scavenges the treacherous corners of the galaxy, always one step ahead of the Republic’s army, which is out to extinguish her bloodline. When her old friend Isaac shows up claiming her mother Xevelyn is still alive, they head off with their new ally, Amae, to stage a rescue that will take her back into the perilous heart of her former kingdom and up against a deadly foe from her childhood, Commander Lazaro. Producer and distributor Dynamic Television, which has offices in LA, Paris and Berlin, is also highlighting horror series Creepshow (12 x 30 mins/6 x 60 mins), featuring stories from the Creepshow comic book. Vagrant Queen (Dynamic Television)
CYBER GROUP STUDIOS
GOQUEST MEDIA VENTURES
THE FIRST 26 episodes of Bananimals (78 x 7 mins), produced by 2 Minutes, are available from France’s Cyber Group Studios. The series features the inhabitants of a farm whose main activity is to go and ask mentor Gordon the Bull for help and advice. The company also highlights completed animation Purple Turtle (52 x 7 mins/HD), inspired by the educational book of the same name, encouraging kids to explore and make choices.
DISTRIBUTOR GoQuest Media Ventures is showcasing a new drama series. I’m On Your Side (24 x 45 mins), produced by Media Group Ukraine, is a romantic crime drama based on the fairytale Beauty And The Beast. Criminal Maksym marries Anastasiya, a young surgeon, in order to silence her after she witnesses a murder committed by his criminal boss. Brought together by unfortunate circumstances, will Anastasiya be able to fall in love with Maksym I’m On Your Side and change him for good? (GoQuest Media Ventures)
ZDF ENTERPRISES (ZDFE) Purple Turtle (Cyber Group Studios)
JETPACK DISTRIBUTION COMMISSIONED by CBBC, A Week To Beat The World (15 x 30 mins) is from Rumpus Media, and on the roster of UK’s Jetpack Distribution. The live-action show features six sporty kids on an adventure to see if they can compete in some of the toughest, most unusual sports on the planet. The UK-based kids travel to Guatemala, Kenya, Brazil and Mongolia, among other locations, to take on locals at their A Week To Beat The World national sports. (Jetpack Distribution)
HEADING the kids slate for Germany’s ZDFE is the live-action drama series Heirs Of The Night (26 x 26 mins), centred on the remaining vampire clans in Europe. The company also offers two animations: SimsalaGrimm (52 x 25 mins), based on fairytales; and the second season of Coconut The Little Dragon (104 x 12 mins). Dramas from ZDFE include: Top Dog (8 x 45 mins), about the unlikely partnership between a businesswoman and a mafia member who are trying to find a kidnapped youngster; and Dunkelstadt (6 x 45 mins), a noir-influenced series about a failed policewoman who becomes a private investigator.
Heirs Of The Night (ZDFE)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 85 • March 2020
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STUDIOCANAL
NELVANA CORUS Entertainment’s Nelvana reveals its latest production, The Hardy Boys. Based on the beloved book series, the family-friendly mystery drama follows Frank and Joe Hardy as they investigate a smalltown mystery with The Hardy Boys far-reaching ties to (Nelvana) their own family history. Co-produced by Nelvana and Lambur Productions, the live-action series is set to deliver this later this year.
SHADOWPLAY (8 x 60 mins) is set in divided Berlin. American policeman Max McLaughlin (Taylor Kitsch) arrives in Berlin in 1946 to help create a police force in the chaotic aftermath of the war. Max’s goal is to take down ‘Engelmacher’ Gladow (Sebastian Koch), a gangster in the broken city. Secretly Max also undertakes a personal crusade to find his missing brother, who is killing ex-Nazis who are in hiding. Max doesn’t realise that he is being used as a pawn in what will become the Cold War. Shadowplay is produced by Tandem Productions and Bron Studios, in co-production with ZDF. Tandem Productions is a Studiocanal company and Studiocanal has worldwide distribution rights.
ORANGE SMARTY IN BRING Back The Bush: Where Did Our Pubic Hair Go? (1 x 52 mins), author and feminist campaigner Chidera Eggerue explores the relationship women have with their pubic hair and discovers what happens when she lets her own hair grow. She enlists a group of influencers who also grow out their pubic hair and join her in putting on a pop-up exhibition, while exploring their own relationship with their bodies, asking questions about identity, power and cultural pressures. Her quest is to make women fall in love with their pubic hair again and allow their bodies to be natural.
Shadowplay (Studiocanal)
GENIUS BRANDS INTERNATIONAL GENIUS Brands International presents the new comedy-adventure animated series Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten (52 x 11 mins), starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Genius Brands co-produced the series with Alibaba Group, and the series will be seen in China on Alibaba’s Youku streaming platform. Created by Stan Lee and targeting kids aged four to seven, the series is also co-produced with Lee’s Pow! Entertainment and Schwarzenegger’s Oak Productions. Schwarzenegger, who serves as executive producer, lends his voice as the lead character in the series. The series features superhero-driven stories, including valuable lessons about health, exercise, nutrition, anti-bullying and using your talents for good. Bring Back The Bush (Orange Smarty)
RUSSIAN WORLD VISION RUSSIAN World Vision presents Red Ghost, a dramatic new film set in WWII. The Red Ghost concerns the heroic myth of the invincible Soviet soldier — the idea that each time one soldier dies, another will rise to take their place. The events in the film unfold rapidly within a single day. On March 8, 1942, a small detachment of Soviet soldiers is forced to fight in an unequal battle against a special unit of Germany’s Wehrmacht. None of the Soviet soldiers was born a hero, no one wanted to die and no one knew how that day would end. Red Ghost (Russian World Vision)
Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten (Genius Brands International)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 86 • March 2020
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CORUS STUDIOS
RIKI GROUP
COOKING competition Junior Chef Showdown (8 x 60 mins), from Corus Studios, sees 14 young chefs face-off in a series of challenges that showcase their culinary skills and passion for food. Other top titles from Canada’s Corus include: Hot Market (8 x 60 mins), following a team of real estate agents navigating a competitive housing market, hustling for listings and finding buyers luxurious dream homes; and Scott’s Vacation House Rules (10 x 60 mins), in which contractor Scott McGillivray finds and transforms tired, dated and rundown spaces into unique rental-worthy properties.
ST PETERSBURG-based Riki Group’s animated series Tina And Tony (52 x 5 mins) is a show that has reached two billion views on YouKu Kids since November 2018, when it launched on the Chinese kids content platform. Another priority for the company is BabyRiki (120 x 5 mins), an edutainment preschool series featuring musical stories
Tina And Tony (Riki Group)
RTE INCREDIBLE Homes, brought to the international market by Ireland’s RTE, sees Irish architect Dermot Bannon traveling across the globe to showcase a selection of the world’s most amazing and unique architect-designed homes, and the people who live in them. Spectacular properties are profiled in Sydney, London, Melbourne, New York, Los Angeles and Sweden.
Junior Chef Showdown (Corus Studios)
GLOBAL SCREEN GLOBAL Screen offers a broad line-up, from crime series to romance and family entertainment. A Good Year is an eight-part convoluted Belgian crime drama about two dodgy characters claiming to have found Hitler’s wine cellar, but their fraud spirals out of control. Petronella is an animated series featuring a nature-loving witch and her five hardworking helpers who are kept busy keeping the fruit trees in their garden blooming, until a new family moves in and puts their paradise in danger.
MONDO TV ITALIAN producer and distributor Mondo TV’s new animated series MeteoHeroes (52 x 7 mins) addresses the issues of climate change, ecology and respect for nature through the adventures of six children who have super-powers that allow each of them to control a weather phenomenon. The MeteoHeroes is supplemented by a website and app. Other priorities for Mondo TV include: the third season, and new format, of animated series Sissi The Young Empress (26 x 1 mins/3D/CGI), in which Sissi begins a new life as an empress; Invention Story (52 x 11 mins/3D/CGI), about a fox who creates amazing new inventions that impress most of the rabbit residents of Carrot Town; and 260-episode, web-based show House Of Talent, featuring more than 20 teenage online influencers who test their talents in a range of activities, including cooking, science, fashion and music.
MeteoHeroes (Mondo TV)
Incredible Homes (RTE)
BETA FILM ATLANTIC Crossing is a priority series for Beta Film. US actor Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks) stars as President Franklin D Roosevelt and Swedish actor Sofia Helin (The Bridge) plays Norwegian Crown Princess Martha in the eight-hour series. Other priorities from Germany’s Beta include: new Russian comedy 257 Reasons To Live (13 x 30 mins); Swedish youngadult thriller series Cryptid (10 x 24 mins/5 x 48 mins), a supernatural story about an ancient creature living in a lake; four-hour Second World War drama The Turncoat, directed by Florian Gallenberger; six-hour drama series La Unidad, from Spain’s Movistar+, about an anti-jihadist strike in the Spanish-Morocan enclave of Melilla; and comedy Supernormal (6 x 30 mins), about a woman juggling her private life and career.
Atlantic Crossing (Beta Film)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 87 • March 2020
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AMC NETWORKS
MAGNIFY MEDIA
AMC‘s varied line-up includes: The Walking Dead: World Beyond (10 x 60 mins), which follows the first generation raised as the surviving civilization of a post-apocalyptic world; Dispatches From Elsewhere (10 x 60 mins), a magical mystery dramedy; Soulmates, a series set in the near future when a test can match people to their soulmates; comedy series Brockmire (32 x 30 mins); supernatural horror series NOS4A2 (20 x 60 mins), about Vic McQueen and her quest to destroy an evil soul-sucking vampire; and travel documentary series Ride With Norman Reedus (24 x 60 mins), which follows The Walking Dead star and motorcycle enthusiast, who in each episode takes a companion on the The Walking Dead: World Beyond (AMC Networks) road.
THERAPY For Couples — from the UK’s Magnify Media — is a scripted comedy where mismatched pairs pour out their hearts in couples therapy, with all the primary characters played by the same actor. The stories follow 10 couples attending their therapy sessions and struggling with issues including: ‘What do you do when your husband is too soft and avoids any conflicts?’; ‘How do you deal with your hardcore feminist wife who sees male chauvinism in every situation?’; and ‘How do you make your boyfriend understand how difficult life as a blogger really is?’
DANDELOOO
Therapy For Couples (Magnify Media)
FRENCH animation producer and distributor Dandelooo offers Pompon Little Bear (39 x 7 mins). Based on picture books by French author and illustrator Benjamin Chaud, Pompon Little Bear is a 2D pre-school series, set to premiere on France Televisions, about a little bear with an active imagination. The series is produced by France’s Supamonks Studio, with Dandelooo responsible for worldwide distribution.
SUPERIGHTS ON THE slate of Paris-based Superights is Pat The Dog, a series about Lola and her lovable dog with a snout that sounds like a horn. The first season (78 x 7 mins) is to be followed by a second season (63 x 7 mins), 10 non-dialogue shorts and four 22-minute specials — Christmas, Halloween, Summer Holidays and a story about Lola and Pat’s first meeting. Further titles on the roster include Geronimo Stilton (26 x 3 mins) and Helen’s Little School (52 x 13 mins).
Pompon Little Bear (Dandelooo)
TEAMTO ANIMATION Mighty Mike is an original TeamTO production with Canada’s Digital Dimension, featuring the comic adventures of a sophisticated pug who has to constantly defend his home from furry intruders. The series is distributed by Cake, excluding France, Germany and China. The French company also manages the licensing business for Mighty Mike, and its other title Angelo Rules, now in its fourth season, with its first collection of books recently published by Mightly Mike (TeamTO) Dragon d’Or.
Pat The Dog (Superights)
FREMANTLE FREMANTLE is showcasing new drama series We Are Who We Are, a new coming-of-age story about two American teenagers who, along with their military and civilian parents, are living on an American military base in Italy. The cast includes Chloe Sevigny, Jack Dylan Grazer, Alice Braga, Jordan Kristine Seamon, Kid Cudi, Faith Alabi, Spence Moore II, Francesca Scorsese, Ben Taylor, Corey Knight, Tom Mercier and Sebastiano Pigazzi. The drama is an HBO-Sky production, the showrunner, executive producer, writer and director is Luca Guadagnino, and the series is co-produced by Small Forward and internationally distributed by Fremantle.
MIPTV PREVIEW • 88 • March 2020
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PBS INTERNATIONAL
PASSION DISTRIBUTION
PBS INTERNATIONAL’s new kids series Molly Of Denali (76 x 13 mins/ HD) is aimed at ages four to eight. The series follows the adventures of resourceful 10-year-old Alaska native Molly and her dog Suki, along with friends Tooey and Trini. Molly Of Denali is the first US nationally distributed children’s series to feature a Native American lead character. Each episode is grounded in kid-relatable issues — meeting new people, getting from one place to another, solving a problem, or mastering a skill — and stories include planting vegetables, building snow forts, learning songs from village elders and racing canoes. Molly Of Denali (PBS International)
DYNAMO: Beyond Belief (3 x 60 mins) tells the story of magician Dynamo’s road to recovery from the career-threatening onslaught of chronic arthritis, and follows him as he brings stunning magic ideas to life. Adventures include a spine-tingling encounter in Japan with a Geisha in one of Tokyo’s royal tea rooms, vodka shots which turn to ice in the heart of Moscow’s underworld and a daring adventure into one of Mexico’s notorious Barrios. The series is brought to the international market Dynamo: Beyond Belief by the UK’s Passion Distribution. (Passion Distribution)
MARVISTA ENTERTAINMENT
INCENDO
MARVISTA Entertainment has a slate of new movies for multiplatform distribution. Heading the roster is the thriller Island Of Shadows, starring Anna Hopkins, Christopher Jacot, Alex Paxton-Beesley and Ernest Erin Agostino. True-crime author, Carly (Hopkins), and her husband Kevin (Jacot) take a vacation at Carly’s distant family’s mansion on Crawford Island. Carly plans to research the unsolved murder of Diana Crawford (Agostino) as the subject of her next book. Local resident Lauren (Paxton-Beesley) seems keen to help Carly, but what Carly doesn’t know is that Lauren is actually the daughter of a woman who went to prison for life after an earlier book by Carly revealed her crime. Now Lauren is out for revenge.
Island Of Shadows (MarVista Entertainment)
CANADIAN producer and distributor Incendo’s priorities include the thrillers Glass Houses, No Good Deed and Within These Walls; and drama series in development The Unfound, Next of Kin, Faithless, Taylor Camp and ICE. In Within These Walls (starring Jennifer Landon), single mother Mel, finding her relationship at a standstill, breaks up with her boyfriend. After he moves out, strange things start happening in her house that threaten her safety and wellbeing.
Within These Walls (Incendo)
POORHOUSE INTERNATIONAL LES HEURES Chaudes De Montparnasse – Montparnasse Revisited (13 x 60 mins) is presented by arts specialist Poorhouse International, in co-operation with INA. Between 1900 and the Second World War, the Montparnasse quarter in Paris attracted a unique and widely influential community of creative talent. In the early 1960s filmmaker Jean-Marie Drot recorded more than 170 interviews with people who had contributed to or witnessed the heyday of Montparnasse, including Appolinaire, Sylvia Beach, Chagall, Cocteau, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Giacometti, Kiki, Modigliani, Man Ray and Poulenc. The historic footage has been newly integrated with documentary film and coverage of the artists´ work in colour and, having originally been shot on film, upgraded by INA to HD. Alberto Giacometti, featured in Les Heures Chaudes De Montparnasse – Montparnasse Revisited (Poorhouse International)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 89 • March 2020
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TF1
ABC COMMERCIAL ABC COMMERCIAL’s slate of natural history series includes the recent factual commission from Wildbear Entertainment, Wild Wars: Australia (4 x 60 mins), about the fascinating, dramatic and often bizarre killing strategies employed by Australian animals — venom, stealth, power and cunning; and Wild Australians (6 x 60 mins), a series that travels from coast to desert and back again to tell the stories of some of Australia’s spectacular wildlife and how they survive extreme environments.
NEW THRILLER Fear By The Lake (Peur Sur Le Lac/6 x 52 mins), from producer Elephant Story, is on the roster of France’s TF1. Lise and Clovis have to face a baffling threat when several people are suddenly struck down by a mysterious and mortal virus spreading in the city of Annecy. It’s a race against the clock to find out where the virus came from and keep it from becoming an epidemic. Was it an accident? A crime? An act of terrorism? Does the virus have a link to the mysterious disappearance of a little girl and her father? Every minute counts as the number of victims continues to rise.
KESHET INTERNATIONAL (KI) NEW ROMCOM The Baker And The Beauty (9 x 60 mins), from Israel’s KI, features Daniel, who works in a family bakery. On a wild night in Miami he meets Noa, an international superstar and fashion mogul, and his life moves into the spotlight. Will this unlikely couple up-end their lives to be together and pull their families into a culture clash? From the reality slate comes Exposed: The Church’s Dark Secret (2 x 60 mins), exposing Bishop Peter Ball, a celebrated figure in the Church of England and one-time confidant of Prince Charles, as a prolific abuser of young men.
Fear By The Lake (TF1)
AVALON DISTRIBUTION AVALON has produced new stand-up comedy specials, brought to the international market by Avalon Distribution, totalling nine 60-minute shows, including: Edinburgh Comedy Award nominee, Jayde Adams; the arena-selling and online star, Paul Chowdhry; co-creator and co-star of the TV show Catastrophe, Rob Delaney; viral sensations, Flo & Joan; podcaster Ed Gamble; Edinburgh Comedy Award-winner, Rose Matafeo; podcaster Chris Ramsey; double Edinburgh Comedy Award-nominee Ahir Shah; and the voice of Love Island, Iain Stirling.
WILD BUNCH TV PARIS-based Wild Bunch holds rights for Nudes (10 x 20 mins), from Norway’s NRK, which focuses on three very different teenagers who, each in their own way, are plunged deep into a crisis due to leaked nude photos. They are forced to cope with the situation to regain control of their own lives. A second season is in development. The company also highlights offbeat drama Albatros (8 x 45 mins), about 10 obese strangers at a weightloss camp, facing a battle with their bodies, their minds — and each other. One by one, the doors to their troubled pasts are opened and for each guest, an intense emotional rollercoaster begins.
The Baker And The Beauty (KI)
NEWEN MARKING the first co-production between Newen subsidiaries Capa Drama and Reel One Entertainment, new thriller Band Of Spies is currently in development with Israeli media group Ananey Communications and its subsidiary producer Nutz. The international drama series tells the true stories of the Israeli Mossad agents responsible for hunting down members of the Palestinian terror group Black September, following the 1972 Munich Olympics terrorist attack, looking at the situation from the viewpoints from both the Israeli and Palestinian sides, and set against the backdrop of a fast-changing 1970s Europe.
Nudes (Wild Bunch TV)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 90 • March 2020
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SILVERGATE MEDIA
ELECTRIC ENTERTAINMENT
THE FIFTH season of Octonauts (26 x 11 mins), from Silvergate Media, is backed up with 26 complementary one-minute shorts and a 22-minute special. The pre-school series features new creatures — including an endangered giant Chinese salamander — and exotic habitats, including the Florida Everglades, African rivers, the Volcanic Islands of Australia and the Yangtze River. Other titles from the London- and New York-based company include: fantasy animation Hilda, with one completed series, a second series in production and a third in development, along with a movie; and two series of pre-school animation Peter Rabbit.
LA-BASED Electric Entertainment highlights Almost Paradise, starring Christian Kane as a former US DEA agent forced into early retirement on a tropical island in the Philippine Archipelago. Despite his best efforts to begin a tranquil new life, he’s pulled back into a world of dangerous people and deadly situations. Other titles on the slate include fantasy drama The Outpost (10 x 60 mins); mystery film Change Is In The Air (1 x 94 mins); and Say My Name (1 x 83 mins), a comedy romance, where when a onenight stand gets interrupted by a robbery, strangers are forced to navigate the underbelly of a sleepy Welsh isle to get their stolen property back. Almost Paradise (Electric Entertainment)
FILMRISE
Octonauts (Silvergate Media)
9 STORY DISTRIBUTION INTERNATIONAL THE SLATE of new kids programming from Canada’s 9 Story includes: Moon And Me (50 x 22 mins), a pre-school series about toys that come to life; Clifford The Big Red Dog (78 x 11 mins), a pre-school series about Emily Elizabeth and her dog Clifford; Xavier Riddle And The Secret Museum (75 x 11 mins + 1 x 55 mins special), following friends as they travel back in time to meet famous heroes; and Book Hungry Bears (52 x 11 mins), a pre-school story about bears who play and explore together, learning lessons from the books. Returning series include Luo Bao Bei (52 x 11 mins) and Daniel Tiger’s Neighbourhood (206 x 11 mins); and the company also brings Anne Of Green Gables Collection (3 x 88 mins) and The Magic School Bus: Rides Again (26 x 22 mins).
Moon And Me (9 Story Distribution International)
ICON: Music In The Frame (6 x 60 mins) presents the stories behind some of the greatest music images, from those in front of and behind the lens. Featured are performances, interviews and images from artists including Elton John, Mick Jagger, Queen, Led Zeppelin, Graham Nash, The Who, Beyonce, Lars, Stormzy and Jay-Z. Other titles from New York-based Filmrise include: Bloodline Detectives (20 x 60 mins), a series exploring the advanced form of familial DNA testing in crime detection; Driveways (1 x 83 mins), a film about an unlikely friendship between a young boy and a Korean War veteran; The Dog Doc (1 x 101 mins), a documentary about a philosophical veterinarian; and thriller Browse (1 x 80 mins).
NHK ENTERPRISES NEWLY released titles from Japan’s NHK Enterprises include Space Spectacle: Our Livable Universe (4 x 49 mins/4K). The series follows the latest technologies breaking new ground in the understanding of the cosmos, featuring 4K CGI and experts at the forefront of the latest developments. The Frankenstein Temptation (4 x 44 mins) profiles historical incidents that reveal the irresistible temptations of science, and the scientists who leaned towards the dark side. From the drama slate comes Scarlet (150 x 15 mins/HD), in which after the second world war Kimiko relocates, because of her father’s debts, to an area famed for its pottery. Enraptured, she determines to live as a potter, in a profession dominated by males.
Space Spectacle: Our Livable Universe (NHK Enterprises)
MIPTV PREVIEW • 91 • March 2020
March 2020
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/mipmarkets
/mipmarkets
@mipmarkets
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013_ZDF formats_PV_ TV
MIPTV stand no. P-1.L2, P-1.M1 zdf-enterprises.de
AZ_MIPDOC_Preview_unscripted_Great_Inventions_RZ_02.indd 1
13.02.20 18:29