First, we’ll start with the good news: Despite cold temperatures in the mornings, the traditional rain has held off, and MIP-TV attendees have actually gotten some sun.
Now, the bad news: It seems the decision to start MIP on a Sunday — and Palm Sunday, no less — resulted in a slower first day out of the gate, with distributors remarking that things seemed a bit less busy that day. As one exhibitor remarked, “It was a Day One minus, but we later got a Day Two plus.”
One company that kept things busy on Sunday was indie FremantleMedia, which exhibited at their usual large outdoor tent. The company held a press breakfast and lunch on Sunday, showing off their new productions and new production partner, Morgan Spurlock.
Another indie — albeit a smaller one — had a strong presence at MIP. CABLEready celebrated its 20th anniversary with a party at the Palais de Festivals’ Les Marches.
Among the other parties at MIP were Monday’s Jersey Shore party, thrown by Viacom’s MTV and attended by stars Deena Nicole Cortese and Vinny Guadagnino, which celebrated TF1’s acquisition of the reality series; and a lovely eOne cocktail party celebrating its Femme Fatales, an anthology series exploring noir-style mysteries starring dangerous women.
At the more high-brow end of the event — the conferences — the Global Animation Marketplace Session opened with remarks from Amandine Cassi, of Eurodata, who talked about the explosion of children’s TV around the world, 60 percent of which is animated. But Cassi’s fellow panelists lamented the difficulties companies have when it comes to funding animated programming.
As was reported in the VideoAgeDaily, Canadian companies were well-represented at MIP this year, with 104 exhibiting companies, in addition to 88 more without a stand. Many Canadian independents choose MIP over the L.A. Screenings since it it more “in-tune” with their programming.
So what was the rumor mill spinning at this year’s MIP? A lot of talk has been dedicated to who will be chosen as Rick Feldman’s replacement as NATPE CEO. VideoAgeDaily reported that NATPE is looking at about 10 serious contenders. Interestingly, the person picked could be based outside the U.S.
Another big issue surrounding MIP-TV has been 3D TV. Nine conferences addressing the issue took place on Tuesday, and Wednesday marks a 3D TV producers’ bootcamp. Plus Jim Chabin, president of the Los Angeles-based International 3D Society delivered a keynote about the technological advances of 3D TV, as well as increased advertiser interest and a decrease in cost. Among the 3D news being made at MIP, A+E Networks announced that it has reached an agreement to license three new 3D titles — Titanic: 100 Years in 3D, History of the World in Two Hours and Invisible — to U.K. satcaster BSkyB.
And with the market wrapping up, talk turned to the L.A. Screenings, with the independent sellers getting ready to focus their attention mostly on the Latins.
For more detailed information on what’s happened straight from the MIP-TV floor, go to http://videoagedaily.com/.
April 4, 2012
South Africa’s M-Net pay-TV channel is deep in the content sales business, too. We caught up with Mike Dearham, head of Sales and Library at the self-described “multi-channel Pan-African Pay TV content provider,” to find out more.
VAI: What kind of programs does M-Net produce (drama, docs, children’s)?
MD: M-Net produces content across a wide range of genres. Our most popular genres include high-quality drama series, comedy, African documentaries, crime docu-dramas, entertainment and lifestyle shows. Further to this, and albeit on a smaller scale, we also commission programmes that target children and youth
VAI: Is the company open to co-productions?
MD: Our core focus as a business is to satisfy a growing Pan-African Pay TV demand for compelling and entertaining TV content, in this regard, M-Net’s strategic focus is to enhance its ability to effectively acquire, package, promote and broadcast quality TV content across all African based digital delivery systems.
Over the years we have partnered with African based production houses to create world class television content with a distinctly African flavour. In pursuit of the above, we have made significant contribution to the development of employment and training opportunities across the entire television production value chain – these include such disciplines as script development, set design, acting, editing, camera, sound, lighting and other technical skills etc.
VAI: Is M-Net negotiating with US companies (like Viacom for example) to have new channels on their DTT platform?
MD: In our quest to promote and distribute M-Net owned library content to a wider global audience, we are closely examining a number of distribution and delivery models.
VAI: Which countries are your main targets (or clients)?
MD: We are essentially a multi-channel Pan-African Pay TV content-provider, delivering top programming to our subscribers through a variety of platforms.
The M-Net Content Sales Department (a division of M-Net’s Group Content Services), has been established to promote the existence and availability of M-Net’s vast library of African content for worldwide licensing across all delivery platforms.
To this end, we will be attending MIP-TV 2012 to showcase M-Net commissioned content which will include such productions such as The Wild — an exciting half hour drama set in an exotic South African game lodge; Crimes Uncovered — a 13 hour docu-drama expose of some of the most horrific crimes ever committed in South Africa, Cooking With Siba –- a show which profiles a gorgeous African presenter who makes cooking local cuisine look both sexy and appetizing. Last but not least is our ‘jewel in the crown’ – in the form of awarding winning drama series – Jacob’s Cross – a fast-paced African drama series that boast one of the highest ratings in Africa and which has already built a huge international following.
March 29, 2012
On June 18 and 19, Paris’s Palais Brongniart building (site of the former stock exchange) will play host to UbiQ, the first international Digital Entertainment Showcase.
According to a release, the conference and exhibition will “spotlight the best of digital entertainment — content creation, business case studies and winning strategies to engage with audiences and maximize ROI across all digital platforms — Internet, mobile, IPTV, connected TV, tablets and social media.”
The first day’s conferences will focus on Social Media and Branded Entertainment. The second day’s on music and games.
Former Facebook marketing director Randi Zuckerberg — and founder of RtoZ Media — will present the keynote speech.
Among the companies that have already confirmed attendance are Disney Mobile US, Universal Music, Viacom International Media Networks, Samsung Electronics, Endemol, Orange, GloboTV, BBC Worldwide, Ubisoft, FremantleMedia, BitTorrent and Ogilvy.
We caught up with Gwénaël Flatres, CEO of UbiQ Events, and former head of Digital Business Development at MIPTV and MIPCOM (note UbiQ is not associated with Reed Midem) to find out more.
VAI: What was the impetus behind starting this event?
GF: In the digital business, it’s all about identifying the right partners with whom to reach consumers. We wanted to create a pragmatic, cost-effective market that included TV, music, apps and games.
“Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device (ATAWAD)” now fully defines consumer expectations as well as media and advertiser obligations and the digital entertainment market is maturing.
There are many existing events but no true one-stop shop in EMEA that gathers digital and interactive content creators and all content editors and platforms.
And finally, for the next five years, 65 percent of the media growth in the world will come from digital (according to PriceWaterhouseCoopers) and UbiQ is here to accompany the movement.
VAI: How many attendees are you expecting?
We already have more than 90 companies participating, 75 percent of which are from outside France – Germany, Turkey, Netherlands, Poland, Italy, U.K. (a lot of companies will come rom there because it’s the number one market in Europe).
VAI: What kinds of companies will be attending?
Everything. It’s exactly what we were hoping for — telecom operators, media agencies, TV producers, content providers, game studies and big consumer brands.
Your seeing digital companies and heads of Digital for companies that you don’t see at other markets.
VAI: What makes UBiQ different than other content conferences and exhibitions?
Our target is completely clear. We are bringing together companies from TV, music, games and social media to share experiences on how to capture, engage, monetize audiences and measure ROI in the different arena. The idea is not to think of them by different segments.
VAI: Will the location change in future editions?
No, and when you see the venue you will understand why. Also, Paris is center of Europe — it’s easy to get to from London, Amsterdam and Frankfurt. For new technology companies, it’s also nice because they can organize meetings with a lot of other clients based in Paris.
And price-wise it’s much better, because participants have a huge choice of hotels. We were really trying to make an event that is cost-efficient and pragmatic.
VAI: Will companies have stands?
Yes, like any other market. Participants are taking stands the first year. They might start to use suites and apartments over time.
March 23, 2012
On April 18, during the NAB show in Las Vegas, some of the telenovela industry’s most important players will take part in a conference entitled “TV Trends: New Telenovelas.”
The conference, which is part of NAB’s newly introduced Content Theater program, will focus on the fastest growing TV drama genre in the world. In addition to being produced in their native Latin America, telenovelas are now produced in countries such as Turkey, Jordan, South Korea, Romania and Spain.
Speakers include VideoAge‘s own Dom Serafini, Venevision International’s Cesar Diaz, Univision Communications’ Jessica Rodriguez, TV Globo’s Ricardo Scalamandre and TV Azteca’s Marcel Vinay H.
We spoke to Arthur Schweitzer, who’s spearheading the NAB’s Content Theater, for more on this particular conference.
It’s the first time the NAB has held a conference on telenovelas, and it’s part of their continued focus on independents’, plus, according to Schweitzer, the time is right to turn attention to telenovelas.
VideoAge International: Why focus on telenovelas now?
Arthur Schweitzer: Telenovela programming is an increasingly important area because it’s one of the areas of programming surging in the global marketplace. It doesn’t always get recognition, and people want to know what the telenoveleros are doing to keep it fresh.
VAI: Why do you think they’re so popular around the world?
AS: I think the reason is they have a great niche in the drama area. The quality has been excellent, too. They’re also not too high priced, like U.S. network dramas.
They do seem to grow audiences in diverse places like China and Dubai. It’s a strong global platform that they’re hitting now. But they’re also growing in this country.
VAI: How did you choose the panelists?
AS: We’ve been looking for leaders. There are a lot of good companies out there. TV Azteca was one of the earliest in the business. Venevision has been strong and TV Globo is one of the earliest, and continues to give a new look to telenovelas. TV Globo has gone into Bollywood and created a telenovela there, with the flavor of the Indian art form.
We were looking at companies that have the longevity, but are also coming up with new ways to keep the genre growing.
VAI: What do you expect to be a hot topic at this year’s conference?
AS: What is coming up next in terms of formats and devices. We are a digital media and technology event– that’s the larger part of our business. We’re going to see more dialogue between producers, distributors and digital people.
VAI: Are telenovelas well-suited for new platforms?
AS: Yes. In the beginning it was unrealized how large an audience they have. Now that it’s realized there’s a great audience it for telenovelas, and people are interested in making them available on all these platforms.
VAI: The conference is titled “TV Trends: New Telenovelas.” What’s new in telenovelas?
AS: It’s about the scope, the number of countries embracing them. Also, telenovelas have evolved and become more pop cultural, they’ve adapted thematic and socially.
March 16, 2012
The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) show, which will take place April 14-19 this year in its usual Las Vegas location, has managed to change with the times. Born as a TV station get-together, it later turned into a hardware trade show, and now it’s evolving into a content container — covering all aspects of the audiovisual sector.
The conference’s attendees have also diversified and now include a wider range of content creators. And this year’s theme “The Great Content Shift: Defining Your Evolution” was designed to echo this movement, showing that the show focuses on all sorts of media and content.
“There continues to be interesting shifts in how content is produced, delivered and consumed,” said Chris Brown, executive vice president, Conventions and Business Operations for NAB Show. “Our show has continued to evolve, and helped drive some of that change. Part of our job is to help stimulate that change,” he said.
“We’ve refocused our attention on the fact that it’s a multi-platform world and the consumer is not as focused on linear forms of content consumption, they’re interested in getting in anytime.”
Everything, according to Brown, is changing: that means “the types of content that’s produced, the form of that content and the types of partnerships needed to create that content.”
A look at the event’s conference schedule, includes producers, directors, studio executives, and many others on the content side. “We’ve sprinkled more and more of those folks in,” said Brown.
The Creative Masters Series, which will run from April 15-18, brings together key players in the motion picture, TV, advertising and online communities to “shine a light on the craftsmanship of content,” according to the Association. The sessions will cover everything from pre to post-production.
One session of particular interest to our readers — part of what the NAB show calls Content Theater series — is “TV Trends: What’s New in Telenovelas,” which will take place on April 18. Speakers include VideoAge’s Dom Serafini, Venevision’s Cesar Diaz, Univision’s Jessica Rodriguez, TV Globo’s Ricardo Scalamandre and Comarex’s Marcel Vinay.
While there’s no doubt Hollywood will be well represented, more and more Silicon Valley representatives are coming out too.
“Just to give you an example of the change – when we measure folks who come to NAB, just five or 10 years ago, the film segment represented about two-to-five percent of attendees. Now that number is almost at 15 percent. That’s becoming a significant piece of our total audience.”
A larger segment of attendees is one they call broadcast – which includes traditional TV, cable and satellite. That segment accounts for 18-20 percent of the total attendees.
But the biggest piece of the attendee pie (25-30 percent) is broadly defined as production and post-production (can overlap with film side). “These are folks in business of creating content – production houses, special effects houses, editing and much more. It’s more about the creative side of the business. These aren’t people in suits, they’re the guys in t-shirts and ponytails,” he said.
Brown expects attendance numbers to run ahead of last year’s (where there were 92,000 in attendance). “The floor should be up by seven-10 percent, just in terms of total floor space. We’re expecting the number of exhibitors to increase by 10 percent or more,” Brown said. “There are about 200 new companies coming to the show this year.”
“Because of the economy, 2009 wasn’t a very pleasant year,” he said. But since then, things have been steadily improving. “Getting the number up to 100,000 would be nice. In the past we’ve been there,” Brown said.
“We want good numbers and we want the right people – people who are actually buying goods and services from the people on the show floor. That will ultimately draw success.”
The Washington-D.C.-based NAB is committed to its Las Vegas location through 2015, but Brown expects it to stay where it is for the foreseeable future. “What makes Vegas a good fit is its proximity to the key centers of the industry — L.A., and Silicon Valley, too. And there aren’t many other cities that have as many hotel rooms available to hold that number of attendees. Then there’s the entertainment factor of course. There’s just an allure to that place,” he said.
Here are some show highlights:
General session
In a two-part session titled “Making Sense of the Great Content Shift,” (Wednesday, April 18) Marina Gorbis, executive director of the Institute for the Future, will outline the top five trends that will shape the future of the broadcast and telecommunications industries. The session will end with a Q&A.
Exhibit communities
Over 1,500 exhibitors will be broken up into “communities,” including “Distribution & Delivery,” “Outdoor/Mobile Media,” “Post-Production,” and more. There will be other special pavilions, too. The exhibition space will be open April 16-19
Conferences and events
In addition to the Creative Master Series (described above), a Disruptive Media Conference, The Technology Summit on Cinema and many more conferences will take place. The show also offers Post Production World, a training event for production and post-production professionals.
The Content Theater
The Theater will feature industry leaders who are transforming content creation and delivery. Among those leading Q&A sessions are Gerhard Zeiler of RTL (Monday, April 16) and Ted Sarandos of Netflix (Tuesday, April 17).
March 7, 2012
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