New television: Mipcom will be dedicating a white book to this year’s theme, realized together with Parrot Analytics (‘Who’s winning in the world of The New Television’) which will look at the topic of measuring audiences in the new landscape characterized by the proliferation of on-demand platforms and the increasingly vast power of the viewer.
The Cannes entertainment market will open on 15 October with the world premiere screening of The Same Sky (Ufa Fiction/Beta Film for ZDF) and will be preceded, as usual, by MIP Junior, the two days dedicated to the children’s productions market. Whilst the number of participants has risen compared to last year (“there will be around 14,000, approximately 5000 buyers and 2000 exhibiting companies, with almost 70 new entries, including the new Chile, Philippines, New Zealand and Russia pavilions,” Laurine Garaude, director of the television division of Reed Midem announces to Cinema & Video International), there is also an exorbitant growth in the number of screenings.
The Drama Screenings will include, also from Beta, Maximilian and Marie de Bourgogne, Jamestown, an exciting new series from the creators of “Downton Abbey”, Carnival Films, Ouro, the Canal+ series about a French geology student looking for gold in the Amazon rainforest, Freakish – Newen Distribution Awesomeness TV – the story of twenty high school students who survive – as mutants – an explosion that destroys their school, The Legendary Tycoon based on the story of the first magnate of Asian cinema, Sir Run Run Shaw – China Huace Film & TV Co – and the thriller from All3media International, The Missing, Series 2.
Plus, both presented by Global Screen: Fangar – Prisoners, about a woman with a dark secret serving time in Iceland’s only women’s prison; and Charité, a six-part series set in the world-renowned Charité Hospital in the Berlin of 1888.
The world premieres will also include The Halcyon (produced by Left Bank Pictures and commissioned by ITV from UK Sony Pictures Television), about a bustling and glamorous five-star hotel at the center of London society at the start of World War Two, and Mata Hari, the brand-new series about the infamous dancer, courtesan and First World War spy of the same name.
Plus the eagerly awaited Rocky Horror Picture Show, a reimagining of the cult classic which is celebrating 40 years of theatrical distribution, produced by Fox 21 Television Studios and The Jackal Group, and distributed by 20th Century Fox Television Distribution.
“Every year we talk about the influence of film and TV, the cross-over is certainly getting stronger all the time,” says Laurine Garaude, referring to the speech by Kiefer Sutherland who will also talk about the new conspiracy thriller Designated Survivor, that sees him in the dual role of protagonist and line producer. “In the drama screenings we also have two directors from the world of cinema: Oliver Hirschbiegel and Sönke Wortmann (“The Same Sky” and “Charité,”)”.
The huge upheavals in technology and on the media panorama are, in any case, accompanied by a proliferation of period dramas.
Bringing us decisively towards modernity and even beyond, and catapulting us into the near future are the two exclusive first-episode showings of the brand-new factual series, National Geographic’s MARS presented by FOX Networks Group Content Distribution, and Planet Earth II from BBC Worldwide.
The new features for this year include, the Diversity Summit: “over the last 2 years there had been informal networking events dedicated to diversity throughout the industry and finally we decided to make it an official part of the program. It is very important to recognize and discuss the inclusion of under-represented groups on TV and on the big screen, behind the camera and also in terms of the executives”, comments Garaude, “New Television is also about the choice of the audiences who want to recognize themselves through whatever group they belong to. They want to find programs that reflect the whole population”.
In this regard, the presence at Mipcom of Shonda Rhymes, the creator and writer of groundbreaking hit shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Scandal, Private Practice, and one of the most celebrated and influential producers in Hollywood, is significant.
“Shonda very rarely travels”, Garaude points out, “so it’s quite an honor to have her, she is really an icon of new television, representing all kinds of different people and society as she does in her planetary successful shows”.
Another important highlight of this edition of Mipcom is the presence of Japan, the country of honor.
“They are looking very much towards the international spectrum in terms of content production. An example is the premiere (by WOWOW) of Cold Case Japan, adapted from WB’s hit US series, with Philadelphia transposed to Yokohama. Another important premiere will be that of the legendary Asian fantasy series Moribito II: Guardian of the Spirit, presented by NHK.
Great importance will be given to the new technologies with the presentation of the most important trends in the field of virtual reality, screenings in 4k and 8k, and “the important keynote by Kazuo Hirai, President and CEO of the Sony Corporation, in the year the company celebrates its 70th anniversary”.
And looking to the East, Mip is also preparing for an important expansion into China, the Mip China Summit to be held in Hangzhou from 23 to 25 May 2017.
