Event Preview: MIPCOM

NEW YORK: Laurine Garaude, the director of the television division at Reed MIDEM, tells World Screen about the panels, keynotes, screenings and more slated for what is expected to be a very busy MIPCOM, with almost 100 new exhibiting companies taking part.

"The exhibition is sold out," says Garaude on next month’s event, noting the wave of new companies exhibiting this year, including Miramax. Reflecting the tremendous growth in emerging markets, there are also lots of new country pavilions, including Turkey, India and China. Plus, there’s the returning Asian Content Exchange, allowing attendees to network with Asian producers and buyers. Another emerging market, Russia, is the country of focus. The various events being staged as part of the Russia spotlight present "a very large forum for learning and exchange," Garaude explains. There will be networking sessions, a Fresh TV presentation on Russian content and a dedicated area, the Russia House.

Garaude also highlights the three strands in the conference schedule: The Art of Television, looking at the creative process; Rebooting the TV Experience, on next-generation technology; and Money Matters, looking at financing models.

Meanwhile, buyers take center stage on Wednesday afternoon with the Acquisition Super Panel: What Do Buyers Want? The session will bring together Sky’s Sarah Wright, CTV’s Mike Cosentino, Channel 5’s Jeff Ford and Televisa’s Carlos Sandoval to talk about their buying strategies in conversation with Anna Carugati, group editorial director of World Screen. At the session, the four programming executives will receive the World Screen Content Trendsetter Award in partnership with MIPCOM.

The Acquisition Super Panel immediately follows one of MIPCOM’s high-profile keynotes: Anne Sweeney. The president of Disney/ABC Television Group and co-chairman of Disney Media Networks will speak to attendees at the Grand Auditorium before sitting down for a Q&A with Carugati. Later that night, Sweeney will be presented with the MIPCOM Personality of the Year award; the first time a woman is receiving the honor. As part of the Media Mastermind Inspiration Keynotes series, meanwhile, are presentations by Mike Lang, CEO of indie studio Miramax, who will be joined on stage by his special guest Ted Sarandos, Chief Content Officer at Netflix, Robert Bakish, president and CEO of Viacom International Media Networks, and Konstantin Ernst, from Channel One Russia, on Monday; and Kevin Reilly, president of entertainment at FOX Broadcasting, on Tuesday,

Bringing some star power to MIPCOM will be several cast members of the new ABC show Missing, including Ashley Judd, Chris Curtis and Adriano Giannini. The first episode will be shown as part of MIPCOM’s World Premiere Screenings. Rounding out this market’s highlights is a Spotlight on 3D TV, first started at MIPTV, in partnership with Sony.