After a cancelled 2020 event and toned down 2021 edition, the Mipcom TV sales and co-production market is poised for a return to pre-pandemic attendance levels for its 38th edition, which runs October 17-20.
Delegates from 96 countries have so far confirmed their participation and more than 10,000 delegates are expected to attend – more than double the numbers of the 2021 edition.
“Everyone is thrilled to get back to a real supersized Mipcom in Cannes,” the event’s director Lucy Smith told Screen at a press conference held by organisers RX France in Paris today.
More than 300 exhibitors will be at Mipcom, with major studios and platforms taking stands both inside the Palais des Festivals and outside along the beachfront.
Distributors including Banijay, MGM, Warner Bros. Discovery, BBC Studios, Lionsgate, Paramount and Fremantle will return alongside 40 companies exhibiting for the first time.
Twenty-four pavilions from across the globe will also set up shop for the annual Riviera rendez-vous.
RX France is expecting around 3,000 buyers – a response Smith calls “overwhelming” and a sign the global content industry is ready to return to in-person meetings.
While still light on delegates from China, the Asian market will be back in town with a strong showing from Japan and Korea as will reps from Latin America.
Smith added: “More registrations are coming in every day. People have started making decisions later because of the uncertainty.” This means that attendance could be well above the projected 10,000 delegates currently expected.
Explaining why companies were looking to return to Mipcom, Smith said: “I think that MipTV gave a real boost to the market. The FOMO [fear of missing out] was kicking in and people saw that physical events were possible again. Immediately after MipTV, we started understanding that everybody wanted to come back and the need to have one moment in time when all of the industry gets together. You cannot replace that with zoom calls or anything else.”
2022 initiatives and sessions
New this year is co-production initiative the Seaview Producers Hub, a 1000-square-metre space devoted to networking, co-production partnerships and finding funding, with an emphasis on scripted content.
Scripted sessions will include a focus on opportunities in specific regions, including one on Ukraine. Highlights include case studies of notable titles such as German series Punishment from Constantin Films, a panel with Amazon Studios on its international commissioning strategy and a focus on the boom in Spanish-language content.
This year’s previously announced Media Masterminds sessions feature Banijay Group CEO Marco Bassetti, Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier, head of Amazon Studios Jennifer Salke and Fremantle Group CEO Jennifer Mullin and COO & CEO of Continental Europe Andrea Scrosati.
BBC Studios will be awarded the inaugural Studio of Distinction Award. BBC director-general Tim Davie and BBC Studios CEO Tom Fussell will both give keynote addresses to mark the occasion.
Market premieres
The market will kick off on Sunday October 16 with the premiere of western The English. Stars Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer and writer-director Hugo Blick will appear for the screening followed by a Q&A.
The six-part series airs in November on BBC Two and iPlayer in the UK and on Prime Video in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Drama Republic and Eight Rooks produced the show in association with All3Media which is distributing the series.
Conspiracy drama Elpis from Japan’s Kansai TV will also bow at the market, marking the first Asian World Premiere since 2019. The series stars Toko Miura, known for his role in Oscar-winning Drive My Car, who will attend the October 18 Cannes premiere and post-screening Q&A alongside producer Ayumi Sano.
Also on the Mipcom Cannes slate is the sixth edition of the Diversify TV Awards, which aims to draw spotlight diverse programming and representation. Netflix is notably sponsoring the awards for the first time.
“What is wonderful is that the platforms are coming with the studios,” Smith said of Paramount attending with Paramount+ and NBC with Peacock. Streamers including Amazon Prime and Netflix are also travelling to Mipcom. They will be joined by Meta which is taking a suite for the first time at the market.
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