Water Cooler

By Leah Hochbaum

This year's 10th annual MipDoc offers up a jam-packed conference program, consisting of everything from workshops on How to Pitch, All You Need to Know About Co-Production in China and Net Docs: the Web as a New Distribution Tool. In addition, the doc market will feature a meet and greet with the Trailblazers (eight visionary documentary filmmakers), as well as the third edition of the MipDoc Co-Production Challenge. But while the days will be filled with conferences, the question remains: will anyone have time to attend?

“I wish I had time,” said Gary Lico, president and CEO of CABLEready “I like the Trailblazers event, so I'll try to go to that, but MipDoc is no different from any other convention we go to. We're so busy with meetings that there's just no extra time.”

The indie producer and distributor is coming to MipDoc with a number of series, including Human Edge, which explores cutting-edge topics in medicine and technology, Micro Killers, about the increasingly lethal nature of emerging viruses, The Secret Bible, which investigates topics that originated in the good book, as well as more episodes of the wildly successful Forensic Files.

“MipDoc is very focused,” said Lico. “We think [the market] is a good thing.” In fact, CABLEready thinks it's such a good thing that the company is sponsoring the pre-market's closing night party, which will be held at the Majestic, and will jointly celebrate MipDoc's 10th anniversary and CABLEready's 15th. “The screening aspect of MipDoc just makes it great,” said Lico.

Another company that thinks the world of MipDoc is Alfred Haber Distribution, which was recently appointed the exclusive international distributor for Authentic Entertainment's Miracle Quest, an investigative series that explores true-life miracles around the world, and will bring the show to MipDoc. The first three episodes take a look at Italy, France and the U.S., and explore such miraculous phenomena as stigmata, Marian apparitions and more.

“We've been doing MipDoc for the last few years,” said Robert Kennedy, executive vice president, Sales, for Alfred Haber. “What's great about [the market] is that it introduces you to a new set of acquisition executives. It's opened us up to a lot of new players”

Kennedy was quick to point out that his firm is generally known for its entertainment shows, including the Grammy Awards, but that MipDoc has allowed Haber to branch out and become a force to be reckoned with in the documentary realm. “Now we're funneling things specifically for MipDoc,” said a proud Kennedy. “It's not exactly our niche, but if we find a project we make it work.”

He feels that Miracle Quest is one such project, and that it's sure to be a success. “Miracles are big news and big business with 69 percent of Americans saying they believe in them,” said Kennedy.

Michael Katz, vice president of Programming and Production for AETN, doesn't necessarily believe in miracles, but he does believe that his company has perfected a certain type of docu-reality series that makes AETN programming perfect for MipDoc. “We've gotten very good at building real-life series that are almost like serialized dramas, but are unscripted,” said Katz. AETN is bringing one such series, Sons of Hollywood, to MipDoc. The show follows Randy Spelling, son of the late, great Aaron Spelling, Sean Stewart, son of music icon Rod Stewart, and their friend, talent agent Dave Weintraub, as they move out of their parents' houses and try to live life on their own. In addition, AETN will also bring a number of one-off docs for buyers to salivate over.

But while execs will make time to see programs that may one day make it into their channels' schedules, many just won't be able to parcel out an hour or two to watch a panel of experts discuss the Art and Business of Docudrama. There simply isn't enough time between meetings.

Posted by watercooler at 03:52 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Leah Hochbaum

For the last few years, MIP-TV has offered up a Mobile Village in Cannes, a place where TV companies can watch demonstrations and get explanations on the latest in mobile content — and this year is no different. New strides are being made in the mobile realm each day, and the Village is one of the few places industry insiders can gather to discuss the advances. VideoAge checked in with a few companies to find out how and why mobile’s become such an integral part of the industry, and what they’re doing to see that viewers’ mobile needs are met.

Florida-based Venevision International, a member of the Cisneros Group of Companies, and one of the largest exclusive Spanish-language film distributors and independent TV producers in the U.S., has formed Venemobile, a new business unit focused on providing Spanish-language wireless content to cell phones in the U.S. Hispanic market.

“As a major diversified entertainment company, Venevision International could hardly afford not to participate in this market, which is a natural extension of our basic content production and distribution business,” said Luis Villanueva, president of Venevision International.

The new division will offer film clips, photos, ring tones and other products for the wireless telephone market, and will be headed by Daniel Rodriguez, a Cisneros veteran who’s been with Venevision for two years.

Another company wetting its feet in the wireless world is NBC Universal, which recently partnered with MobiTV, an Emeryville, California-based company specializing in mobile and broadband television and music services, to make some of NBC Uni’s most popular series available over U.S. wireless networks for the first time. Shows including Heroes, Friday Night Lights, The Office, Monk, sci-fi phenom Battlestar Galactica, and telenovela Pasion de Gavilanes, which have been culled from NBC, Bravo, Sci Fi Channel, USA Network, Telemundo and mun2, will be available to subscribers on five new ad-supported channels, which will debut on MobiTV later this year. Consumers will be able to access full episodes of shows starting at $1.99 for a 24-hour viewing period.

“This is an extraordinary partnership with MobiTV and we’re excited to be the first major network to offer our viewers wireless access to their favorite primetime shows on demand,” said Jean-Briac Perrette, vice president, NBC Universal Digital Distribution. “This groundbreaking deal with MobiTV will create another platform for NBCU’s partner advertisers to reach their audience.”

Jeff Bartee, vice president of Content and Programming for MobiTV, concurred, adding, “This deal represents a significant milestone in the history of television and a key advancement in the mobile television category.”

Cologne and Barcelona-based ohm:tv also recognizes the growing importance of mobile. Its Barcelona mobile division has extended its portfolio of mobile TV channels, launching GIRLZ (the first mobile channel dedicated to teen girls) and THE LINE (a new music channel offering live concerts and backstage footage), both of which are produced by mango tv mobile. These two new additions bring ohm:tv’s mobile channel roster up to six, and includes Crime Scene TV, and SHORTZ, a short movie channel.

“The success of our established channels has encouraged us to expand our portfolio,” said Hans Spielthenner, managing director of ohm:tv. “The fact that all our channels are produced especially for mobile phones makes them very attractive to our clients since all content rights are specifically cleared for mobile phones — a crucial advantage compared to other products on the market.”

Mobile TV has quickly taken hold of the television industry, so companies that haven’t yet delved in would be wise to visit the MIP Mobile Village. It might very well change the way they do business.

Posted by watercooler at 03:35 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Leah Hochbaum

With MIP-TV fast approaching, VideoAge caught up with some European firms to find out what they’re doing to make some waves at the market.

“What we’re offering is entertainment with an intellectual bent,” said Heather Stevenson, president of Copenhagen-based international distributor Zodiak Television World.

At MIP-TV, the company, which specializes in the international exploitation of format programming created by its Zodiak Television Group, will be launching a variety of formats. Pin Code is a game show in which money is deposited into a player’s bank account and it’s up to the contestant to figure out the code in order to have access to the cash. Codex, a quiz show set in the British Museum, was recently commissioned for a second season on U.K. terrestrial broadcaster C4. Tribal Wives is a show in which six ordinary women are given the opportunity to get out of the rat race for a while and live among primitive tribes.

Stevenson sees Tribal Wives in particular as having a broad reach, particularly in countries where women and men are on equal footing. “Women are disgruntled with their lives all over the world,” she said, before adding that in certain patriarchal societies having women live tribal existences “wouldn’t be much of a stretch.”

Stevenson also has high hopes for Play It Again, a factual entertainment series in which celebrities reveal their relationships with music by learning to play an instrument. The show is set to air on the U.K.’s BBC in spring 2007. “Music is just so universal,” she said. “It’s global in its potential.”

France’s TF1 is also focusing on formats, having just signed on for Canada-based Distraction’s reality format, The Big Experiment, a show in which regular people get to live someone else’s life for a while. Episodes focus on what it would be like for a thin person to be fat for a while or what it would mean for a white person to be black. Originally produced by Rogue Productions for TV One in New Zealand, the series has also been sold to Belgium.

“Primetime entertainment formats are the backbone of our catalog,” said Distraction CEO Michel Rodrigue. “Whilst we continue to work hard to source the hottest new formats for our clients, Big Experiment is a classic example of a strong, well-constructed entertainment show. I very much look forward to seeing the French interpretation of the show.”

TF1’s fellow France-based firm TV France International is also keeping busy, but in a decidedly different way. The TV France International Tokyo Showcase and the Unifrance film marketplace joined forces during the Tokyo French Film Festival, being held March 13-16 in Japan. According to TV France’s Xavier Chevreau, a total of 46 French companies are participating, including 10 Francs, Pathé Distribution, Millimages, Les Films du Losange, Europe Images International and Gemini Films.

Japan is the largest market for French programs in Asia, which is itself a leading market for high-tech tools such as mobile-telephony and broadband Internet connections. At this year’s market, special attention is being placed on the use of these technologies for French content.

While France focuses on technology, Italy is honing in on co-productions. RAI Trade is bringing a remake of Tolstoy classic War and Peace to MIP. Shot in English, the miniseries is a co-production between Italian, French, German, Russian, Polish and Spanish companies. According to RAI’s head of TV Sales, Sesto Cifola, “This is one of the greatest international co-productions in which RAI has ever been involved.”

Posted by watercooler at 10:28 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

By Leah Hochbaum

Even when comedians speak your own language, sometimes you just don’t get the joke. Some even say that a common language divides the U.S. and the U.K. And even in the Spanish-speaking world, the sheer multitude of pronunciations for a given word could render the same word funny in one country and downright offensive in another. When sitcoms are imported from countries with completely different languages, grasping the humor is that much harder. Local sensibilities and culture clashes can render much of the hilarity lost in translation — which makes selling comedies across borders a risky proposition. So territories across the world are increasingly picking up formats of successful comedies from other countries and tailor-making them for local audiences.

“It’s really another use of the assets we have — the scripts,” said Herb Lazarus, president, International for Carsey-Werner International The company sold the format for alien-centric sitcom 3rd Rock From the Sun to Turkey, as well as the format for Grace Under Fire to Russia and Poland, and is currently in talks to do a Spanish version of That ’70s Show in Chile. “We’re using our scripts from the original series,” said Lazarus. “Certain things must be localized, but we’re using the original scripts as the basis.” He adds that the appeal of using local talent is high on broadcasters’ wish lists because viewers are more inclined to tune in to see recognizable faces.

Yet while local talent is key, sometimes it’s more about what jokes viewers will or will not get. Shane Murphy, head of Acquisitions and Development for FremantleMedia Enterprises said his company has acquired a number of sketch comedy shows, and while he believes the genre is specific to the region in which it originates, he also feels that it tends to travel best. “Sketch shows are more likely to travel widely — especially if there’s no linguistic barrier for them to cross,” said Murphy. FremantleMedia’s Comedy Inc., for example, is an Australian sketch comedy show that Murphy expects to do well in other English-speaking locales. Regardless, the company is offering two versions of the series: the full Australian original and an international version that’s been stripped of its Aussie-centric bits to make it travel better.

Other shows worry less about the language barrier and more about how well certain themes will play out in different territories. Little Mosque on the Prairie, a comedy about Muslims in Canada, premiered on the country’s CBC network in January, quickly becoming the channel’s highest-rated series in a decade. While not Canada-focused exactly, the show definitely had a Canadian feel during its first season, according to executive producer Mary Darling. She and her fellow producers are working to change that, consciously opting not to place a Canadian flag in a scene’s background, for example, so that the show will play better to foreign audiences. The program’s producers are currently in negotiation with a number of key territories that seem interested in picking up the series, said Darling. But while Canadians have welcomed Little Mosque with open arms, it remains to be seen if it will play equally as well elsewhere.

“There are situations were the Muslim community is quite different,” said Darling, before adding that in those areas she’s looking to sell a format instead of the original series.

No matter where the powers that be at Little Mosque, Fremantle or Carsey-Werner manage to sell their sitcoms, what ultimately matters isn’t just where the comedy is funny, but whether it is.

“Good programs will always do well,” said Carsey-Werner’s Lazarus.

Posted by watercooler at 10:04 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)