Lucy Smith Talks MIPCOM CANNES Highlights

Lucy Smith, entertainment division director at RX France, talks World Screen Weekly through some of the highlights of MIPCOM CANNES, which marks its 40th edition from October 21 to 24, and offers an update on the inaugural MIP LONDON.

WS: What can you tell us about how attendance is shaping up?
SMITH: It’s robust. Everyone who you expect to be there will be there, and as we stand, registrations are up for buyers, producers and distributors as of this time last year. We’ll again be truly global with over 100 companies coming to Cannes and a notable uptake in some regions such as LatAm and Asia.

But numbers aside, what’s coming through clearly and definitively is that people are waiting for this—the big annual global gathering that MIPCOM CANNES provides has never been more needed. Be assured we take that responsibility incredibly seriously and will deliver on it.

It’s the 40th edition of MIPCOM, originally billed in 1984 as Vidcom, the “the world’s marketplace” for the industry and “the single annual event that no one significantly involved in the business can afford to miss.” That promise remains true in 2024.

WS: What are the key themes driving the MIPCOM CANNES conference schedule this year?
SMITH: Simple: MIPCOM CANNES is a catalyst. A week-long concentration of activity and dealmaking delivering that much-needed boost for businesses and the industry collectively.

To help that, everything we plan is geared to making it as easy as possible to find those new partnerships—from early development to those long-tail distribution deals and by giving everyone the tools and masterclasses to adapt to the new reality, to help harness new technologies and new audience behavior.

This runs throughout the program, be that hearing firsthand from global CEOs who are shaping and driving global strategy, adapting their businesses and balancing their portfolios or from pioneers in that space where content meets tech around FAST, AI or connected TV.

As themes, expect sales and third-party licensing to still be front and center as companies, producers and rights owners look to increase revenue streams for their content. A few years back, it was being suggested that distribution would become marginalized. It’s never been so resurgent. As is the continued and relentless rise in demand for international, non-English-language content globally. Audience appetites have never been so broad. Global really is the new local.

WS: Tell us about the highlights of the keynote lineup.
SMITH: We’ve confirmed a Cannes-worthy power lineup. You’ll hear from a string of C-suite decision-makers who define and drive strategy. Tony Vinciquerra, Sony Picture Entertainment’s chair and CEO, will be making his first appearance on the MIPCOM stage. Arguably one of the most nimble and consequential TV execs of our time, his big-bet decision to remain apart from the streaming business has allowed Sony to become the world’s largest independent studio with the freedom to produce and sell award-winning content to any channel or platform worldwide.

Paramount’s chief content licensing officer, Dan Cohen, is a respected MIPCOM veteran with one of the biggest licensing portfolios in entertainment. Paramount’s breadth of brands and distribution platforms, coupled with its own commitment to third-party licensing, is second to none, and his session promises to be a masterclass informed by decades of experience on the international stage.

The kids’ business is so often where those future-facing strategies originate, and at MIPJUNIOR, Andy Yeatman is giving his first keynote since moving to drive the expansion of the Miraculous franchise globally. Again, it’s about hearing directly from those who have successfully adapted to changing behaviors and harnessed the opportunities of this era—as he has through his time at Netflix and Moonbug.

As well as company leaders, it’s important to hear from those that dig deeper into data and challenge the narrative and convention. Evan Shapiro is back in Cannes with new research, a new map and giving a scene setter on Monday morning on “How to Thrive in the Media’s User-Centric Era,” as well as hosting a new series, his Global Streamer Talks, where he’s in discussion with leaders from companies such as Roku, Pluto TV and Rakuten TV.

It’s important to also look at the wider potency and impact of television. We have a very timely and enlightening session that explores the critical role of The Apprentice in the rise of Donald Trump. New York Times best-selling author Ramin Setoodeh has had more access to the former president than any other journalist since he left office for his recently released book Apprentice in Wonderland: How Donald Trump and Mark Burnett Took America Through the Looking Glass, the definitive behind-the-scenes story of the NBC series that arguably changed the course of U.S. history. Ramin will be on stage two weeks to the day the U.S. goes to the polls.

These, of course, are just a few examples I’m delighted to share today, but check out the website for the many bookings across the week.

WS: What’s driving the continued popularity of the Producers Hub?
SMITH: Access and community. If you’re not an exhibitor or buyer, it can be intimidating to come to Cannes and find your peers. We’ve designed our Producers Hub on the beach as an inviting international gathering point to welcome top producers and commissioners, built around a fabulous lounge and event space with a focus on face-to-face connections, networking and inspiring creative talks.

The business of co-production has been part of MIPCOM in different ways across the last four decades. The shift is how it’s become a necessity in getting shows greenlit. But there’s also impetus creatively. What’s evident since establishing the hub two markets ago is an increased appetite for international collaboration in the storytelling. As with everything we do, the Producers Hub on the beach is geared to make it easy to find those partners.

WS: How are you celebrating Spain as the Country of Honour?
SMITH: By going grande! Spain’s creative and cultural contribution to international TV is deep-rooted and far-reaching, and in recent years, they have shown the way for how a country can grow their sector’s reach and revenues on the global stage. And it’s that global stage that Cannes and the Country of Honour program provides.

We’re grateful to our partners at ICEX who are helping us celebrate Spanish creativity and culture as a backdrop for Spanish producers, distributors and creatives to present opportunities for partnerships. You’ll see this throughout the week—the Opening Night party, a major World Premiere Screening and panels and presentations that detail the opportunities and incentives around co-production or location shooting. So, the message is: Celebrate and collaborate!

WS: What are the plans for the Global FAST & AVOD Summit and MIP Innovation Lab?
SMITH: We’re putting innovation at the center of the market show floor and expanding it. Our new MIP Innovation Lab in the Palais exhibition hall will host summits on FAST, AI, connected TV and Streamer Talks but also operate as a dedicated exhibition area to meet with leading players in the space.

Again, it’s geared to give everyone those tools and masterclasses to adapt to areas where tech meets content and see the potential within. Just as with the Producers Hub, everything is set up to make it easy to find new partners. In all, over 35 major companies are confirmed to speak, host roundtables or exhibit across the week.

It will run continuously from Monday morning in a purpose-built space in Palais-1, and not just as a conference track but as a fully working business zone with companies including Amagi, Dubformer and FastHub exhibiting and demonstrating new tech, tools and solutions.

In the case of Global FAST & AVOD, now evolved to incorporate AVOD also, we’ve again partnered with the sector to stage it—with Xumo as presenting partner, OKAST.TV and Vevo on the conference, Blue Lucy and Gracenote on the roundtables—and have a lineup that’s a who’s who of key players in the space, the likes of BBC Studios, Banijay Rights, Fremantle, Little Dot Studios and many more.

It’s the same with the returning Connected TV Summit, which will again focus on that intersection of advertising and streaming. We’ve partnered with Samsung TV Plus to present, and with Wurl on the conference, which will again be hosted by Alan Wolk of TVREV and feature players from All3Media International, NEW ID and VIZIO among those speaking.

And as I mentioned, that’s where Evan Shapiro will stage his Global Streamer Talks, a series of interviews with leaders from streaming and digital platforms such as Roku, Pluto TV and Rakuten TV, or those heading the B2C drive for broadcasters such as TF1, on how they are tackling market challenges, navigating innovative strategies and forming effective collaborations.

The Applied AI Summit picks up from the fundamentals of AI covered last year to how the new technologies are being adopted. Part conference, expert-led conversations and showcases, we’ve built it as an invaluable one-day immersion with a lineup of leaders in the space—Google, Largo.ai, Adventr, Papercup or Calliope Networks to name but a few—who span every aspect of AI, including where we go next.

WS: What can you share about the MIPJUNIOR lineup? And how is attendance looking there, given some of the unique challenges this sector is contending with?
SMITH: MIPJUNIOR will focus on transformation. Historically, the kids’ sector is resilient and has an enduring ability to innovate and transform, but no one should underestimate the scale of the challenges it faces.

From our side, we are putting everything into a program geared to not only discover content but help businesses adapt strategies, find new solutions, new partners and new revenue streams—with a focus on IP and driven by a lineup that includes the BBC, Globo, Hasbro, Ubisoft Film & Television, Mediawan, Mattel, France Télévisions, Rai Kids, Youku-Alibaba, Warner Bros. Discovery, WIldBrain and M6, among many others.

WS: What’s the latest update on MIP LONDON?
SMITH: It’s really taking shape now. Since going out and taking people through our plans, 100 companies have confirmed their presence from 35 countries.

The program is also coming together, with elements that the industry and genre communities have said they need, including MIPFORMATS and MIPDOC staging their first London editions. For us, it’s all about bringing more business to London in what has become the must-attend content week in February for the global industry, about providing additional opportunities to meet, showcase or discover content.

It doesn’t matter if you are already staging an event, are looking at visiting for the first time or simply want somewhere central to see more people when there—we’re set up to help that and there are opportunities to get involved. That’s what we’re working to, and the momentum is really encouraging. More to come soon!

WS: Are there other market highlights you’d like to share about MIPCOM CANNES or MIP CANCUN?
SMITH: MIP CANCUN enters its 11th year stronger than ever, and similarly to MIPCOM CANNES, we’ve extended the FAST and co-production elements and are staging keynotes from those shaping and driving relevant strategies. Pilar Blasco, CEO of Banijay Iberia, and Prime Video’s director of Latin America, Paulo Koelle, are two such leaders who are confirmed to speak.

I have to say, I believe the World Premieres this year are unmissable; be that a new all-girl animated take of The Three Musketeers from Mediawan at MIPJUNIOR on Saturday; Watson, the new medical drama inspired by Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes mysteries from Paramount on Sunday evening; or Rise of the Raven from Beta Film, a true European epic in every way, on Tuesday. And we have another very special Premiere, details of which we’ll be able to share shortly for the Monday night and tied to the Country of Honour. Watch this space!

So, there’s a lot. But if I were to highlight two things that mean a lot to me: This will be our 13th year of staging the Women in Global Entertainment Power Lunch with our co-founder A+E Media Group. MIPCOM has always brought together female entertainment executives from more than 100 countries—but there was no real platform to meet, network and learn from each other. From that first informal gathering, its now a major part of every market, acting as a convener, check on progress (note, there’s still a long way to go) and a constant source of inspiration. We’ve also heard from an extraordinary range of speakers and this year will be welcoming to Cannes the amazingly talented and prolific actor, producer and author Garcelle Beauvais as our guest.

That initial lunch over a decade ago proved to be springboard to a fuller diversity and inclusion across the week, the flagship for which is Diversify TV Awards, which will again be in a prime spot of 12 to 1 p.m. on the Tuesday in the Grand Auditorium. It’s the eighth year and the goal is the same: to use the privileged platform we have when the world of entertainment comes together in Cannes to recognize the positive and demonstrate what is possible. MIPCOM schedules are busy, I know, but if you are coming to Cannes, try to find the time and I guarantee you will be inspired by both the achievements and the progressive impact TV can have.