The Class of ‘23

One of the highlights of MIPTV 2023 will be the return of Producers To Watch, a dynamic creative-led programme that seeks to introduce ground-breaking independent producers to the global marketplace

COVERING scripted, factual, formats and kids, this year’s Producers To Watch cohort represent more than 30 companies from around the world. On the eve of the market, Producers To Watch was scheduled to unveil factual producers from Canada, France, Italy, Korea, Spain, the UK and the US. Each of the producers in this genre is bringing shows at various stages of development — in the hope of finding partners.

Sunah Kim, producer/director at Korea-based Gina Dreams Production heads to Cannes with four-part food documentary series Temple Food Masters and three-part series Untold Truth Of The BTA Army.

Leading French producer Gedeon is also part of the programme, and arrives with around a dozen projects in development, including The Seven Lives Of Pablo Picasso. Executive producer Fanny Glissant said the firm is seeking to build co-production or co-financing opportunities. “ We’re looking to extend our reach internationally, but also with an additional emphasis on new major streaming players in the US and Europe. ”

In fiction, there are nine producers from Bulgaria, Germany, Iceland, Lebanon and the UK. Flying the flag for Iceland is Hörður Rúnarsson, producer/co-owner of Glass- river. He is looking for co-production partners and collaborators for three projects: As Long As We Live, Cold Haven and Magaluf. From Bulgaria, Agit Prop’s Martichka Bozhilova is bringing a large slate including Gold War and Babyland. A 6 x 55-minute series, Gold War is set in the 1980s and tells the story of three young athletes and their coach impacted by the politics around the Moscow 1980 and Los Angeles 1984 Olympics.

Formats brings seven strong candidates to MIPTV from Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Turkey, the UAE and the UK. From Turkey, Lucid Dream Entertainment CEO Nilufer Kuyel brings a mixed slate of scripted and non-scripted formats. Key titles include The Wall Project, a winner at MIPformats, and 40 Questions, a popular primetime format, that has been on air for 100 episodes in Turkey and also sold internationally. The Netherlands is represented by Roy Aalderink, founder and chief creative officer of Concept Street.

Backed by MGM, Aalderink’s slate includes studio-based guessing game We Are Family and dating formats Virgin Island and The Mating Game. In kids and teens, producers to watch include eight firms from Australia, Finland, Italy, Nigeria, Spain and the UK.

Damilola Solesi, a producer at Smids Animation Studios in Nigeria, has Markebolts, a 2D animation about three friends uncovering exciting adventures in an abandoned junkyard. Spanish executive producer Iván Agenjo from Peekaboo Animation will be at the market pitching My Little Heroes (52 x 7 mins); while Lucia Geraldine Scott of Red Monk Studio in Italy will be “looking for partners for our shows and pitching our new development slate”. In addition, ”we’ll be introducing our newly set-up studio in Milan. Thanks to a merger with the Superprod Group in early 2021, Red Monk Studio has opened a three-floor studio in Milan, counting 80 workstations and fully running 3D and 2D pipelines and a strong creative team.”

“PRODUCERS To Watch is a great initiative to put the spotlight on production companies and talent with high potential, but not so well known yet in the international TV landscape. In our case, the global success that Spanish fiction has been experiencing in recent years is helping the Spanish audiovisual industry as a whole to gain greater visibility abroad. We have both established names and newcomers among the professionals who are starting up new production companies — focused not only in the scripted genre, but also in factual series, entertainment formats and kids content.”

The process of bringing so many talented producers to Cannes and creating a networking platform for them is facilitated by producers’ associations around the world. We spoke to association members and to producers who have experienced the event in the past …

“THE PRODUCERS

To Watch event which launched at MIPTV last year was a great initiative that brought focus onto the importance of international production and co-production. The UK PACT members who took part last year, who were in the early stages of internationalising their business, really benefited from taking part.”

“IT IS a great honour to be included in Producers To Watch. I got involved after our TV series Bullets was a winner of the Buyers Coup de Coeur Award at MIPTV in 2018. In all, this initiative provides fantastic networking opportunities with interesting people and companies. It gives very good visibility to the producers involved. For me MIPTV has been very important market as we have launched many series here. Our latest launch was drama thriller A Good Family in 2022.”

Damilola Solesi creative director and CEO Smids Animation Studios

THE PRODUCERS To Watch initiative is amazing; I was able to network and connect with a few producers from various backgrounds from the first event, and I was soon able to develop my tribe through the programme. In addition, there was a networking event where we met other producers, which was beneficial. Overall, MIPTV has been my best market yet. The market is so comfortable and allows for deep, advanced interactions with possible partners. I met the people I needed without having to worry about schedules, and the session was very straightforward and tailored to my needs.

Nicolas Boucher executive producer, CEO DBCom, Canada

“FOR US, The Producers To Watch initiative is a source of credibility. It’s a proof, for all potential partners, that you really do stand out and that you really do deliver. In our case, we deliver what others don’t. And we produce in ways that others won’t. People — broadcasters, streamers, producers, thinkers, bankers — come here looking for one single thing: content. And our job is to stun them with the unexpected by producing premium quality content as expected. And we’re here at MIPTV to do just that.