Mipcom 2016: Local is the new Global

Laurine Garaude, head of TV division at Reed Midem: ‘This has been an excellent Mipcom. Through the central theme of New Television, we have showcased technical innovation, discussed how to reach out to younger audiences who consume entertainment when, where and how they want, and have brought together the traditional TV leaders with newer online companies. It was a good combination of deal-making, celebration, knowledge exchange and keynotes from major industry leaders’.

MIPJunior at the weekend has had a record of 1,600 participants, with more than 630 buyers (+10%), 1,200 programmes screened and 260 new development projects. The World Premiere TV Screenings featured “Splash and Bubbles” (Jim Henson Company) and “Grizzy and the Lemmings” from Studio Hari. Norway and Finland in animation, India and of course Japan in co-productions, China as a market of opportunities, were some of the highlight territories during the two days. In Japan, animation accounts for 62% of the country’s television exports.

The main Mipcom event received delegations from 108 countries, and attendance was almost 14,000 people with 4,900 buyers, including 1,500 from digital and SVOD. There were 2,000 exhibiting companies with new national pavilions from Chile, New Zealand, Morocco, the Philippines, Russia and Japan. Outside the Palais des Festivals, ITV Studios (UK) attracted a lot of attention with a highly innovative two-level booth, made of massive containers.

Dramas are at their hottest hour. Following the successful MIPDrama screenings held last MIPTV, this time a record number of major dramas were launched at the World Premiere TV Screenings and International Drama Screenings: ‘Mata Hari’ (StarMedia/Red Arrow), ‘The Halcyon’ (Sony), ‘The Same Sky’ (Beta Film), ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Let’s do the Time Warp Again’ (20th Century Fox) and ‘The Catch, Season 2’ (Disney). Garaude: ‘Due to drama success, we have plans to expand the 2017 MIPDrama Screenings next April, we want to bring high-end drama festival elements to our future events’.
Japan, being ‘Country of Honour’, brought 500 Japanese executives from 104 companies. Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, sent a special video message to the international TV community. On the conference front, Sony Corporation President and CEO Kazuo Hirai, provided a keynote about the latest developments of HD, 4K, 8K and Virtual Reality taking place in Japan. And, Japanese star Kento Hayashi flew in for a special screening of ‘Moribito 2: Guardian of the Spirit’.

Mipcom 2016 ‘Personality of the Year’ was Shonda Rhimes, stressed in her various roles as Creator, Writer, Showrunner or Executive Producer, in top TV series as ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ ‘Scandal,’ ‘How to Get Away With Murder’ and ‘The Catch’. At the ceremony, there were live and moving tributes to her from Mireille Enos (‘The Catch’), Tony Goldwyn from ‘Scandal’ and fellow ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Executive Producer Betsy Beers.

Prensario conclusions? The digital race is evolving faster than ever before: the digital titans take more business, developing own and local production, while traditional broadcasters go digital launching their own OTTs and producing original product just for them. The newest drivers are present but still progress slowly for short content, eSports, Virtual Reality/Augmented Reality. For the majority of the big TV companies, in-house production (both entertainment and fiction) and international co-production twists, are the big thing. The challenges are to reduce costs and capture new markets. 

Buyers claim for fresh products, especially in entertainment, while many grow in drama. Concerning entertainment, shiny floor shows, where the floor is a giant led screen that interacts with the participants, are new tip at this market. And physical game shows, mainly from Japan are back. In fiction, there is a global move from big players overcrossing regions to capture opportunities: Europeans produce in America for the U.S. market, Hollywood majors take Turkish product, Asian governments provide strong production hubs, Latin Americans export co-creation and co-development services. ‘Local is the new Global’, it was highlighted during the market.

Nicolas Smirnoff, Fabricio Ferrara and Rodrigo Cantisano