Mipcom 2014, on its 30th Anniversary with Mexican flavor

Regarding MIPCOM, which starts tomorrow, the expectations are high. Reed Midem anticipates 13,500 participants and close to 4,700 buyers on its 30th anniversary. ‘This is a very special edition for us and we expect to have the biggest MIPCOM ever, with presence of executives from over 100 countries’, explains Laurine Garaude, director of TV Division, Reed Midem.

Under the topic The Global Quest For Original Content, the executive underlines the mastermind keynotes —Steve Mosko, Sony; James Murdoch, Fox; David Stapf & Armando Nuñez, CBS—, many matchmaking events and The Personality of the Year Simon Cowell (X Factor, Got Talent). Also, the presence of Hollywood stars as Cuba Gooding Jr. for the World Premier Screenings of Canadian The Book of Negroes, and Donald Sutherland, co-producer & star voice of the new animated movie Pirate’s Passage (Tandem), among others.

Garaude also highlights the Women Entertainment Global Power Lunch (Monday, 12.30pm, Majestic Hotel), sponsored by Lifetime, and The Global Channel Distribution Day in partnership with the Association of International Broadcasting (AIB).

Mexico is the “Country of Honour” this year, and Reed Midem has settled several key panels during the week with top protagonists of the Mexican market, as well as networking events and presentations. All of these are held with the support of Mexican public entity ProMexico, which is bringing 105 companies, most of which have never attended an international tradeshow.

Mexico is the largest producer of Spanish-language content in the world, which is watched by more than 1 billion people in more than 100 countries; it produces over 100,000 hours of TV every year and it is ranked 13th worldwide in the entertainment and advertising industries, according to Pricewaterhouse Coopers. It is estimated that the Mexican entertainment and advertising industries will record a market value over USD 27 billion this year, a 9.5% increase compared to 2013.

While MIPJunior is finishing today and MIPCOM is taking shape, many important news and deals have been announced, showing market trends: no boundaries for content, if the story is universal; co-productions & co-development as key factors; emerging territories as a priority for growth; new players in the market; etc. Let’s see some of them…

Talpa (Netherlands) has opened offices in Middle East to produce Arab-speaking versions of its formats. Co-productions: All3media (UK)’s Red Rock is the new hybrid of drama and soap, co-produced by Element Pictures (Ireland) and Company Pictures (UK); Beta Films announced Babylon Berlin, with X-Film, ARD, and Sky Germany on board. The comedy Buy This! is a new scripted format from FremantleMedia, which has teamed up with the advertising agency TBWA for the development.

Comarex (Mexico) international arm of Mexican broadcaster Azteca, is launching on Tuesday the Malaysian version of A love to remember, an Azteca telenovela format co-produced with Global Station for Malaysian satellite broadcaster Astro, and it is also announcing on Monday a deal with BluePrint (Mexico) & HUB Media (Singapore). The Mexican public broadcaster TV UNAM is signing a Memorandum of Understanding with Austrian public broadcaster ORF for co-production of an historical drama-documentary Maximilian- Dreams of Power, to be shot in Mexico, Vienna and Trieste, Italy.

Netflix has been launched in France in September, worrying local Pay TV operators; in Poland, the SVOD player is planning to start operations in the very near future. UK’s mobile operator EE has announced its plans to launch a TV service. In the same country, Viacom, which has acquired Channel 5 last May for £450 million, is launching its Spike brand; both stations will synergize on programming strategies. Content business rows fast this week…

Nicolas Smirnoff, Fabricio Ferrara & Rodrigo Cantisano