The Week at MIPTV

April 12, 2012 World Screen
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NEW YORK: World Screen recaps the deals and trends that dominated the headlines in Cannes last week.

 

MIPTV wrapped last week with an official attendance number, according to organizers Reed MIDEM, of 11,000, including 4,000 buyers. The schedule change that saw MIPTV this year kicking off on Sunday rather than Monday led to a little bit of confusion, a few missed appointments and a relatively quiet first day. But by Monday and Tuesday, the market felt like it was in full swing again, with sellers busy pitching new shows and closing deals.
 
"It was a very productive MIPTV," said Laurine Garaude, the director of the television division at Reed MIDEM, at a briefing for reporters on the last day of MIPTV. "We saw a flurry of deals of all sorts…. Deals are coming through that are totally cross border. That has been accelerating over the last few years. We see this international fabric that begins at the concept of a deal through to distribution on all platforms."
 
While formats and docs were the focus of Reed MIDEM’s Friday and Saturday “accelerator events”—MIPFormats and MIPDoc—drama took center stage during MIPTV itself. The Drama CoProXchange strand of the conference schedule included a Media Mastermind keynote from AMC Networks’ president and CEO, Josh Sapan. In his address, which was followed by a Q&A with World Screen’s Anna Carugati—you can watch it here—Sapan talked about the importance of “iconic content” in preserving the health of the pay-TV business amid the challenges being presented by the Internet.
 
The Drama CoProXchange theme also included a panel with BBC Worldwide’s Ben Donald, ZDF Enterprises’ Susanne Mueller and Starz’s Carmi Zlotnik. The three executives discussed their drama commissioning plans for the upcoming year in a session moderated by Carugati.
 
World Screen’s group editorial director was also on hand to moderate the session featuring the stars of the new drama Copper. Tom Weston-Jones and Franka Potente joined Christina Wayne, the president of Cineflix Studios, to highlight the new period piece, which is slated to air on BBC America and is being represented worldwide by Cineflix and Beta Film.
 
Copper is a part of the wealth of drama series on the market today that are being funded by international partnerships and are designed to have global appeal. At MIPTV, ARTE France signed on to co-produce BBC Worldwide’s historical drama Spies of Warsaw. BBC Worldwide also landed its first presale on Ripper Street, which was acquired by Network Ten in Australia. ITV Studios Global Entertainment notched up several deals on a number of crime dramas as well as its Julian Fellowes Titanic co-pro. The other Titanic drama, De Angelis Group’s mini-series Titanic: Blood and Steel, represented by Tandem Communications, also sold to broadcasters in Europe and Asia.
 
FremantleMedia Enterprises has been ramping up its drama initiatives, global CEO David Ellender announced at a press breakfast at MIPTV. The company clinched new deals on the Paul Abbott series Hit & Miss—the product of a first-look deal with the acclaimed British producer—in Australia, New Zealand and Israel, and announced a pact with ex-Power chief Justin Bodle.
 
Noted TV movie and mini-series producer RHI Entertainment used MIPTV as the launching pad for its new branding as Sonar Entertainment. Sonar’s chairman, Gabriel de Alba, and newly installed CEO, Stewart Till, told World Screen of their plans to expand the company’s drama production prowess into the series space. At MIPTV, Sonar unveiled its first series, Quartermain, which is being produced with acclaimed British outfit Ecosse Films. Another company expanding its drama series catalogue is Echo Bridge Entertainment, which took on the rights to the Breakout Films and Sienna Films co-pro The Heretics.
 
It was also a brisk sales week for dramas from ALL3MEDIA International, which shored up new slots for Midsomer Murders and Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries. Global Screen had a good week with series like Alarm for Cobra 11 and Storm of Love. Content Television signed up Netflix, among others, for United. Shine International, which came to MIPTV with an expanded drama slate, sold the Nordic noir series Real Humans to SBS Australia.
 
On the comedy front, meanwhile, Lionsgate, announced a Scandinavian deal for Anger Management. The Charlie Sheen comedy for FX is headed to Viasat Broadcasting’s free-TV channels in Sweden, Norway and Denmark.
 
A new presence on the exhibition floor at MIPTV was independent studio Miramax, which announced at the market a movie deal with Sky Italia and the addition to its catalogue of the library of films produced by Samuel Goldwyn. 

 

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