A new edition of Mipcom kicks off this Monday in Cannes with a motto that showcases the current stage of an industry that’s in full search of its future.
*From Cannes, France
After a hectic and busy MipJunior, a new edition of Mipcom kicks off this Monday at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes under the motto “The Streaming Offensive”, a declaration on the intentions for the challenging times the TV industry is undergoing.
With the launch of Disney+ and Apple TV Plus is just a couple of weeks, together with HBO Max (WarnerMedia) and Peacock (NBCUniversal) in the near future, the industry is experiencing high expectations in regards to its future.
And Mipcom, as the biggest meeting place of the industry, will witness and shape the changes this year. This, we can already see this with the choice for 2019 Personality of the Year: Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer.
And as the streaming world is changing, so is the production universe, which is more and more present at the center of conversation and business deals during these kinds of markets.
As ttvnews learned, in fact, one of the main goals for Reed Midem (organizer of the Mip markets) in the near future will be to reposition Miptv as a production market rather than as a distribution market.
And for the Hispanic world, these changes translate into the production boom experienced in Latin America and Spain, as well as the growth of co-production alliances both within the region and with players from other countries.
In this edition of Mipcom, for example, several productions form Latin American and Spanish companies will hold the spotlight thanks to screenings like that for The Plague 2 (Movistar+), The Head (The Mediapro Studio), On Death Row (StudioCanal), Aruanas (Globo), Agua Seca (a coproduction between Spain and Portugal) and Dignity (coproduced between Chile and Germany).
Spanish productions also continue to be well sought after by international companiessuch as Fremantle (which recently announced its first Spanish production), Gaumont (which is working on the highly anticipated El Presidente), Beta Film (already specialized in the distribution of Spanish series) or Banijay (which has recently distributed Spanish series Hierro).
Several more announcements of this kind are expected in the next four days.
A Good Turnout for MipJunior
Although the event’s organizers didn’t reveal official figures this Sunday as usual – they will come during a press conference first thing on Monday – attendees interviewed by ttvnews during the market were satisfied with this new edition.
“It was a great market for us, we had many appointments, many meetings and we met with new networks. We had two intense days and everything was well organized. We were very happy,” said Dimitris Savvaidis of Ad Art, the pre-production studio for animated content in Greece.
“This MipJunior was as exciting as every market because we’re always met with challenges. Globalization, both in platforms, the use of digital tools and platforms, are taking us to an increasingly global world. And international trade problems also force us into a new dynamic,” said, on his end, Carlos Biern, president of Animation Production at Toonz Media Group.
And for Biern, the animation universe is now centered in talks of coproduction. “It’s the biggest bet”, he mentioned.
Carolina Alckmin, executive producer of Glaz Copa Studio, the largest animation studio in Latin America, agreed: “The industry’s interest is shifting more and more towards coproductions for several reasons: each party puts less money to make content, and at the same time, production quotas are also met,” she said.
