There will be a French Touch to MIP- TV, next April 8, the Cannes entertainment market inside the second edition of CanneSeries which promises to be the longest and biggest week in television, as defined by Laurine Garaude, Reed MIDEM’s director of television.

A partnership that brings public and industry together and which follows the evolutions: “on the one side of consumers who are increasingly hungry for content and, on the other, producers to whom we want to give the maximum opportunity to shine internationally.”

The meeting point for this collaboration is, above all, the In Development section because, Garaude explains: “development at an earlier stage is just as important as content distribution which has been the core of MIPTV for the last 15 years: finding new ideas, discovering new talents… CanneSeries is part of this equation as long as it is doing this scout- ing with us, with In Development Drama which is going to be broadly extended and will take place in the Palais, on the main level, in a large dedicated area.”

376 submissions were received from 41 coun- tries for the In Development Drama Producers’ Pitch and the Writers’ Pitch: 16 producers and writers will have the possibility of pitching their projects in front of a high level professional audience, and In Development’s partner, La Fabrique des Formats, will offer financing for up to two series from the selection backed by a French producer or co-producer.

“This year we also launched In Development Kids and In Development Docs. In total we received over 800 projects covering all genres.”
In Development Kids will also be hosting the second edition of the Kids Live Action Pitchwhich includes Luca Milano, director of Rai Ragazzi, among the jurors.

Also back inside In Development will be theDrama Short Form Series Pitch dedicated to projects created for mobile consumption.
The six projects selected include the Italian “Twinky Doo’s Magic World”, a horror-action drama set inside the Magic World amusement park created by the Twinky Doo brand, a leader in the production of muffins, with the squirrel Twinky as the mascot.
This is presented by a Tuscan group, the Licaoni Digital Studio in Livorno.

In Development will also host a masterclass on “Taking non-English Drama to a new dimension”. Today this is a leading topic which concerns new series from non-English speaking countries that are drawing big audiences also as a result of maintaining the original language, a strong element of identity and authenticity.
“This is a big opportunity for series from all around the world that also tells us how much consumers have changed.” comments Garaude.

French series are certainly one example that will enjoy an important space at Miptv which is celebrating France as the country of honor: “We are very proud of our French companies and will be turning the spotlight on this industry which is growing in terms of co-productions and international business. We will have many keynotes by the heads of the main French networks and broadcasters (Delphine Ernotte Cunci, CEO of France Télévisions, Regine Hatchondo, Director-General ARTE France,Stéphane Courbit and Marco Bassetti, Chairman and CEO of Banijay Group, Gilles Pelisson, Chairman & CEO TF1 Group, Maxime Saada, Chairwoman &CEO CANAL+ Group), who will help us understand their strategies. There will be many panels dedicated to new talents, kids programs and drama. Eurodata will give us an insight about the situation in France.”

There will also be a rich selection of French formats and documentaries at MipFormat and at MipDoc which will also be hosting the world premiere of “FrenchLoving” by Audrey Valtille on the love-hate relationship between France and the rest of the world.

The customary opening party will also be permeated by the French Touch: held in the Carlton Hotel it will be preceded by an award ceremony to present the Medaille D’Honeur to Stephan Courbit of Banijay, Mosunmola “Mo” Abudu of EbonyLife Media (Nigeria), Ilene Chaiken, scriptwriter and creative producer of “The L World”, “Empire” and “The Handmaid’s Tale” (who will also be the pro- tagonist of an intervention) and Jane Millichipof Sky Vision.

There will be two world premieres at MIPTV that will also be part of CanneSeries: “Beecham House” presented by Freemantle and Bent It TV, and “Feed”, presented by All3Media and Studio Lambert.

There will be a widespread Italian presence at MIPTV and CanneSeries with actress Miriam Leone on the Festival’s international jury and the “Made in Italy” project on ‘70s Italian fashion selected for the MipDrama Buyers Summit, the section dedicated to the presentation of some of the most highly anticipated international series which are in the production phase (read news).

Magnitudo will also return to MIPTV inside the section dedicated to technology which, for the first time, will have a focus on 8K, where the company from Milan will present produc- tions on Leonardo and Canova.

Moreover, two Italian projects have been se- lected for the MipDoc pitches, this year divided into the two categories of “Science & Technology” (in which “Space Beyond”, presented by Beagle Media, is competing) and “Current Affairs & Investigation” (in which 42 Parallelo will be presenting “Genoa 11.36 am: The collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa”).

Two new Italian exhibitors will also be joining MIPTV: Turin’s Showlab and the Sardinian production company Lùgere Sardinian Landscapes.

And, from this year, MIPTV also becomes more ‘eco-friendly’ with the presentation of the documentary “The Swim”, the protagonist of which is Ben Laconte and his swim across the Pacific which was realized to turn the spotlight on ocean pollution. This initiative was carried out with the United Nations in support of their 17 sustainable development objectives.