Lucy Smith Outlines Plans for In-Person MIPTV

2019 was the last time MIPTV took place as an in-person market and conference. The Covid-19 pandemic forced the company that organizes MIPTV and MIPCOM, now renamed RX France, to switch to a virtual event. MIPCOM was an in-person market last October. Smith, RX France’s entertainment division director and director of MIPCOM and MIPTV, talks to World Screen Newsflash about the lessons learned last fall that she and her team are applying to MIPTV. The focus is on bringing back the international television community, providing participants safe and efficient venues to reconnect, interact, learn new trends and conduct business face-to-face.

WS: It’s been three years since the last in-person MIPTV. MIPTV has been reformatted to three days. Tell us about some of the events taking place.
SMITH: The MIPTV spring international TV market is back. We will be delivering on the promise of a transformed MIPTV—a three-day, business-efficient market. MIPTV offers a truly unique opportunity to meet executives from around the world in one place at one time to hear what is really going on in this fast-evolving industry. And it couldn’t be timelier as a meeting point for our global industry.

In terms of events, MIPDrama will kick off MIPTV on Sunday. We’ve had a record-breaking year with nearly 50 submissions for the international screenings of new productions from around the world. MIPDoc and MIPFormats were previously held on the weekend before MIPTV, but this year, we’re bringing them into the show. They both have focused sessions, meeting areas and pitching competitions. We are delighted that FOX Alternative Entertainment, which has a $100-million investment fund to look for new formats, is sponsoring the MIPFormats pitch. And MIPDoc will also present showcases and sessions unveiling market trends, as well as its annual co-production summit.

The Change for Good initiative remains important at MIPTV, and we have already scheduled Mentoring & Networking for Women and Diversity & Inclusion Mentoring sessions. The MIP SDG award, which we launched three years ago in association with the United Nations, will be announced soon, along with a new Innovation Award being introduced for 2022.

MIPTV will schedule its usual high-level conference program, featuring [The WIT’s] Virginia Mouseler’s sell-out Fresh TV sessions, showcasing the newest trends in fiction and format programming.

We have an exceptional lineup of keynotes. Candle Media’s Kevin Mayer and Moonbug Entertainment’s René Rechtman will be the Opening Media Mastermind Keynote. We’re pleased to welcome Wayne Garvie, the president of Sony Pictures Television International Production, and Jane Tranter of Bad Wolf. It’s the first chance for Sony Pictures Television to present Bad Wolf since the acquisition late last year. They will talk about their ambitions to present the most outstanding U.K. drama programs to the world.

Cécile Frot-Coutaz, CEO of Sky Studios, will also be a keynote. And we’re very excited to have the creators of the hottest show from last year, Squid Game. They will be coming to MIPTV and Canneseries.

Canneseries season five will take place alongside MIPTV, featuring the amazing Pink Carpet that has become so well-known now. The Official Selection will be announced on March 8.

But MIPTV is also about looking to the future. We will also be collocating the Esports BAR alongside MIPTV. We have conference tracks focusing on the metaverse, blockchain, NFTs, all important areas for the TV industry right now. We will have a session looking at what the industry needs to understand about NFTs, and we’ll hear from Scott Greenberg, CEO of Blockchain Creative Labs (FOX), who is a real expert on the subject. With the metaverse, it’s very much about where the TV industry fits into this vision of the future. There is a great presentation by Dubit about making youth TV brands “metaverse-ready.”

WS: I know you have more than 100 confirmed exhibitors and counting. What are you hearing from clients? What do they need and want from MIPTV?
SMITH: We are, as of today, north of 120 exhibitors. What we’re hearing from clients is that they haven’t been to a market in so long, haven’t been able to get together as a community. As an industry, they desperately need that.

Many people have been asking whether the Americans are coming back. Yes, they are, and that’s giving a big boost to the market. Paramount (formerly known as ViacomCBS) Global Distribution Group is coming, and it’s the first time since the big merger. Warner Bros. will be attending with their formats group and their stand on the beach. Lionsgate is back. I mentioned FOX Alternative Entertainment, and Allison Wallach, the [executive VP] and head of FOX Alternative Entertainment, will be leading that.

More than 50 countries will be represented at MIPTV. The big pavilions are back. Canada, with Telefilm and SODEC, as well as pavilions from France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Belgium, and of course, Creative Europe MEDIA. Latin America is represented again by Globo and TelevisaUnivision, and we’re working with INCAA on bringing a delegation from Argentina. And, of course, many others from around the world, such as Cineflix Rights, Red Arrow Studios International, Abacus Media Rights, ZDF Studios, Beyond Rights, Beta Film, Mediawan, Federation Entertainment, France Télévisions, M6 Group, Global Agency and Canal+ Group. We’ll update our website regularly with more information.

WS: For people who may still be unsure of being at events or in spaces with many people, what are some of the Covid safety protocols you have in place?
SMITH: We tested all our safety measures at MIPCOM. We follow French laws and regulations about what an event needs to do. Today, the Covid vaccination pass will be required to enter the Palais des Festivals, and all participants will be asked to wear masks as at MIPCOM. We keep the website updated with information.

We are no longer using -1, the lower level of the Palais. We have chosen to use the upper levels of the Palais, Levels 3, 4 and 5, as well as the Riviera 7 and Riviera 8. We’ve created a lovely event space in Riviera 8, a networking lounge, and an events area for Mentoring & Networking for Women and Diversity & Inclusion Mentoring. The opening night cocktail will also be held there.

The idea is to have airy spaces you can open up. We saw from our experience at MIPCOM that is what people needed and enjoyed. Plus, there are beautiful views of the sea and Cannes!

WS: You mentioned the Esports BAR. That is an event also organized by your parent company, but there is cooperation this year with MIPTV.
SMITH: Esports BAR was launched by RX France within the entertainment division five years ago. There were editions that took place either in Miami or in Cannes. The pandemic, obviously, changed the schedule. We had a small version of it at MIPCOM, but we are making it a big focus this year in April.

The Esports BAR—and the BAR is not a bar! It stands for the Business Arena—brings together games, publishers, brands, teams, leagues and now media for curated high-level meetings. It is the leading B2B esports gathering in Europe. There are also more and more synergies between the TV industry and esports and huge opportunities for esports TV rights deals. Some of the gaming giants like Riot Games will attend Esports BAR, and others already signed up include Pepsi, Google, Mediapro, Ubisoft, ESL, Le Coq Sportif and more.

At MIPTV, the Esports BAR will take place in the Palais in its own dedicated areas. There will be a VIP arena for the one-to-one meetings, auditoriums for the conferences and a dedicated networking lounge. Both Esports and MIPTV participants can access both events. There will be some sessions targeting both the TV and esports industries.

So, it’s very much an added benefit for both industries, on top of everything that they’d usually expect.

WS: What were some of the lessons learned from MIPCOM that are helping you organize MIPTV?
SMITH: We saw the importance of getting back to seeing each other face-to-face. We saw the joy of people coming together. I heard one of our speakers in a formats session say, I’ve learned more in my first couple of hours here at MIPCOM than I have in the last six months on Zoom. On Zoom calls, we talk to people we know, not so much the people we don’t know.

WS: On Zoom, you can’t have the chance encounter.
SMITH: You cannot, and that wonderful word serendipity is exactly what it’s all about. So many people regretted not being able to come to MIPCOM because either they were a little unsure, a little nervous, or they couldn’t. And there was a real fear of missing out. Come to MIPTV, and you connect and do business in person. It will be safe.