Mipcom 2024 has once again presented an excellent edition in Cannes, with great conference and networking dynamics, with important announcements, attractive screenings and a large public presence.

*By Luis Cabrera and Ana Paula Carreira, from Cannes, France

A first day of great announcements and screenings of top-of-the-line products marked what is becoming Mipcom Cannes 2024, a fundamental event for the industry, which continues to be of enormous relevance for all players.

With a good public presence, the participating brands shared that they were very satisfied with the agenda that brings them to Cannes, an event that distributors -to name a fundamental part of the machinery- consider unavoidable, even within a calendar of international events that is not short of opportunities to do business.

The Palais des Festivals remains the place to be, as evidenced by the presence of hundreds of companies from around the world, with some fantastic stands and an impressive number of meetings.

It is also the place to present the latest in each catalogue to potential buyers. For instance, Telefilms Group hosted a screening of Los Colorados, the animation based on El Chapulín Colorado, which left a pleasant sensation with its humor and ability to reach multiple generations within the same family: “El Chapulín Colorado, as a superhero without superpowers, so loved in Latin America and so well-known and endearing, it was very important for us to do something very early with this character and send him back to the world, so that they remember him again, giving him a disruptive twist and trying to do something new,” said Bruce Boren, CEO of THR3 Media Group.

Later, it was the turn of Valentina, mi amor especial, the co-production by VIP 2000 TV and Zee Entertainment, a telenovela which updated an original script by Zee about a girl with autism, to give it a more adult twist and present the character in another stage of her life. “What captivated us most was the story,” explained Rosalind Rotundo, VP of VIP 2000 TV. “Being able to represent a young autistic girl, who has a meaning for society. Eliminating the social stigma that exists due to different mental conditions and I think it is a product that many viewers will feel identified with the love story.”

Towards the end of the day, it was the turn of Safe Harbor, a major bet by Eccho Rights, -which has been a major player at Mipcom 2024 thanks to its big stand and its recent distribution announcement for the Turkish remake of Queen of Tears, by CJ ENM- with a top-notch cast, with some actors, such as Alfie Allen and Colm Meaney, present during the screening of the first episode, held in Auditorium A.

There was also time for Electric Entertainment to present the latest in its The Librarians franchise, the title The Librarians: Next Chapter. “This is really our most outstanding title here at Mipcom,” said Breanna Perez, International Sales Assistant at Electric Entertainment. “We’re excited that the series hasn’t come out yet, but they’ve already confirmed a second season for us.”

THE DEMAND FOR LOCALIZATION

As has been the case for over a decade, Turkish companies dressed up for Mipcom Cannes, from the announcement of the new Global Agency format to the presentation, with talent included, by Calinos Entertainment.

Global Agency took centre stage the day before the start of the event, with the presentation of Celebrity Dreams, its new format, which it revealed exclusively to its main buyers and media in St Tropez.

Calinos held two activities on this first day, a lunch and a cocktail, which were attended by Murat Yildirim and Ebru Sahin, protagonists of its new title, Hidden Garden, as well as the director and screenwriter of the new drama. “The title is generating a lot of expectation, and Israel already bought it after just seeing the first trailer”, said Firat Gulgen, founder and CEO of Calinos Entertainment.

Inter Medya, meanwhile, is presenting two titles from the renowned production company TIMS&B: Valley of Hearts and Loveberry. “We will present these two new dramas tomorrow Tuesday. The producers will be there and everyone is invited,” said Beatriz Cea Okan, VP and director of Sales and Acquisitions at Inter Medya.

Kanal D International also brought two new releases for Mipcom: The Family Burden and My Mother’s Tale. “We are very excited about My Mother’s Tale. It is a strong story, produced by ourselves. We are waiting for it with great anticipation and here we are giving a little glimpse,” said Sibel Levendoglu, Sales Manager, Latam & US, Iberia and Africa at Kanal D International.

Another Turkish company that is doing well is Atlas Media, which is enjoying a great moment thanks to Love for Rent and hopes to continue the trend with its new productions: “We focus on co-production, especially with the Middle East and last year we successfully produced three digital series. We want to expand this cooperation with Latin American countries, because as my partner mentioned, Latin America is a very important market for us,” said Inanc Vardar, Managing Partner of Atlas Media.

So much content puts a lot of weight on the quality of the dubbing and that is why companies like The Kitchen have expanded around the world: “We are working with teams around the world, to ensure how important it is to offer that dedicated customer service available 24 hours a day,” said Julie Beneteau, Director of International Sales at The Kitchen.

Along the same lines, Tomás Silva, CEO of Dinter, commented on how they are currently taking advantage of some elements of dubbing with artificial intelligence, so that translations are much faster: “We created a hybrid dubbing, where you mix some voices with live actors and others with AI, not everything with artificial intelligence, but we do believe that the trend is to create hybrid dubbing products.”

Regarding content announcements, Globo was a major protagonist on this first day, with two international alliances. On the one hand, the Brazilian giant announced the start of a multi-year alliance with Beta Film, which will begin with the co-production of the Discipline series. And on the other, it announced the acquisition of the My Mum, Your Dad format, from ITV Studios, for Globoplay.

And from Spain, Parrot Analytics and ICEX presented a study on the value of Spanish content; while Banijay Iberia announced the launch of Banijay Iberia Sports, a new division led by Gonzalo Miró.

The day ended with a large number of cocktails, including those provided by Madd Entertainment, Cineflix, Calinos, Movistar+ and Globo. ORF-Enterprise, for its part, held its party at the Five Seas Hotel and the opening party, with an Iberian touch, given Spain’s status as the Country of Honor of the event.