I.M.P.S.

September 23, 2009 World Screen
Willliam Auriol
CEO
 

What are some of your top properties for MIPCOM?

 

The Smurfs and the 272 episodes of their animated cartoon series The Smurfs.

Why will these programs appeal to buyers?
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The magical universe of the Smurfs is not limited to its geographical environment. The great quality of the scenarios is also one of the main reasons for their long-lasting notoriety and explains why so many people can identify with the Smurfs’ adventures. The Smurfs are vectors of respect, tolerance, wisdom, social life, dialogues, hope, optimism and faith in the future. They respond to our innate need for reassurance in a world of questionable values, to a need for humanitarian and down to earth principles. The global economic crisis that has hit us all over the past few months has fed this need for reassurance even more and has meant that people tend to rely on more fundamental values, rather than short-term hypes. The values that the Smurfs represent are also universal and timeless so they appeal to people from all over the world and to all generations. We are immensely proud of the performance of the cartoon series in terms of ratings, these are very high and justify the continued interest from broadcasting networks in our series. Children, teens and adults from Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America and the U.S. all love the little blue fellows!
 

What are some of the trends you’re currently seeing in this market?

 

Especially in times of crisis, the market share of classic series that represent a register of values similar to those inherent to the Smurfs seem to increase noticeably. Another trend we are seeing is the fragmentation of the audiovisual market due to the never ending emergence of new technologies which mean that an increasing number of platforms are available to us for the broadcasting of the series. This is of course an advantage but it also means that the management of rights is increasingly complex and that each year we have to adapt our business in order to keep up with these new developments. What we are also seeing is the massive arrival of new characters and series from all over the world, most of which have a relatively short life-cycle. In our experience, however, these series figure on a separate market to the one that we operate on, i.e. the classic series with a proven value.
 
What are your goals and expectations for MIPCOM?

To concretize the requests from channels and distributors who wish to broadcast the Smurfs on their territory, and consequently further expand our brand in territories which were not or not enough explored in the past, not only in the audiovisual field, but also in terms of licensing and publishing, but the latter of course at other trade fairs.