Event Review: MIPTV

April 12-16, Cannes

As the global economy continues its slow and steady recovery, the overall sentiment at MIPTV this week was that things are getting better—but they’ll likely never go back to the market’s heyday.

As compared with the downbeat, rained-out MIPTV 2009—when year-on-year attendance was down a reported 14 percent—MIPTV 2010 was, according to organizers Reed MIDEM, able to maintain its base at 11,500 participants, including some 4,000 buyers. (Although, many report that the market appeared quieter, with far less foot traffic than in previous years.)

For Laurine Garaude, the director of MIPTV, "the mood is active and proactive," she said at a press conference in Cannes this morning. "In terms of the economy, we see a recovery. The industry is adapting to the changing environment."

That changing environment includes constrained budgets, resulting in a greater need for co-productions and other partnerships to get shows off the ground. That was a key theme at the Producers’ Forum, a two-day strand in the MIPTV conference track organized with World Screen. The Producers’ Forum included an international co-production superpanel, in which ITV Studios’ Lee Bartlett, E1’s John Morayniss, MGM’s Gary Marenzi, Myriad Entertainment’s Lisa Zeff and NHK Enterprises’ Yukihiko Amagi provided comprehensive insight into the rewards and challenges of international co-productions. Click here for a recap of this session, moderated by World Screen‘s Anna Carugati.

The Producers’ Forum also included sessions on key Asian territories that are keen to co-produce with the worldwide market: China, Japan and Malaysia. In the Malaysia session, which I moderated, local producers provided insight into the kinds of partnerships they are seeking, particularly in the animated-content space.

Another Asian territory that is pushing its co-production capabilities is Singapore, which was the country of focus this MIPTV. Singapore’s Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, Lui Tuck Yew, was on site in Cannes to discuss the strengths of market. In addition, the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) unveiled a new International Animation Fund that will provide up to $3.5 million per project, with the completed shows to be repped worldwide by FremantleMedia Enterprises.

Co-productions also took center stage in Starz chief Chris Albrecht’s Monday keynote. "If you want to monetize your show, you have to approach the program from a global perspective," Albrecht said in his speech, which was followed by a conversation with World Screen‘s Anna Carugati. "It’s impossible to make real money producing for your domestic market alone." Stressing the "central role of the global market," Albrecht said that producers and distributors "need international sales and overseas contributions to thrive." Click here for a recap of Albrecht’s presentation.

A host of co-productions were announced at MIPTV this week. On the drama front there was Pompeii, World Without End and The Medici, among others. NHK and Al Jazeera Children’s Channel are partnering on the kids’ series Discover Science; while DQ, Method Animation, Story Board Animation and France Télévisions are on board The New Adventures of Peter Pan. And in a first for the two companies since they began their partnership two decades ago, Televisa Internacional and CCTV are working together on a telenovela for the Chinese market based on the series Distilling Love.

At MIPDoc, meanwhile, the two-day factual market preceding MIPTV, producers and distributors were also keen to discuss international partnerships for raising the bar of doc projects. In her keynote on Sunday evening, Nutopia’s Jane Root used HISTORY’s ambitious America: The Story of Us as an example in an attempt to answer the question: "How big can and should documentary projects get?" Root, who was interviewed by World Screen‘s Anna Carugati, pointed to the efforts made over the course of production of the series to "make this really big." For example, in addition to reenactments and segments with historians, the series uses CGI to imagine what the past looks like, and sees famous citizens talking about what it means to be an American. So how big can documentaries get? As big as possible, Root says. "Make new hybrids," she urged attendees. "Never be afraid to make it big. The rest of TV culture needs us to do it." Go here to see a write-up of Root’s speech.

Also key throughout the week was the ever-growing need to be on as many platforms as possible—indeed, journalists covering MIPTV this year were tweeting and blogging throughout the week. If you missed any of World Screen Newsflash‘s MIPTV updates, you can see all of them here.

Meanwhile, as the week came to a close, the big story became the Icelandic volcano that was threatening to throw every one’s travel plans into disarray. The closure of British air space Wednesday was promptly followed by the shuttering of a slew of major European travel hubs. Some were lucky to get out on Thursday and Friday (including the World Screen team, which left Nice Friday morning), while many others have been left frantically searching for train, bus and car alternatives or are just waiting out in Cannes. A number of those stranded report that they’re not booked on a flight until at least Thursday or Friday of this week.