Lucy Smith Unveils New MIP LONDON Details

RX France’s Lucy Smith offered up new details about MIP LONDON, running from February 23 to 27, 2025, including the addition of a kids’ co-production summit alongside MIPDoc and MIPFormats, before sitting down for a Q&A with World Screen’s Mansha Daswani about the logistics of the new event, which takes place at the same time as the London TV Screenings.

“MIP LONDON is about more content, more deals, more networking,” Smith said in her opening presentation. “Let’s face it, London in February has become the biggest week in content in the first quarter. We believe that beyond the existing screenings, there’s so much more potential business that can be done during that week to help get a head start on 2025.”

The new event, unveiled earlier this year as RX decided to close the chapter on MIPTV, “has a clear intent,” Smith said: “To open up an international marketplace to everyone, providing more opportunities for sellers, buyers and producers to meet, do deals, form partnerships, create showcases and discover content across the whole week.”

The multi-genre international content and networking marketplace will be staged across the Savoy Hotel and the IET London, with “the single purpose of attracting more international content companies and encouraging more business during that week.”

MIP LONDON will serve as a central hub—near the raft of London TV Screenings events—Smith continued, delivering “meeting spaces that can be adapted, whether you’re a small company or global studio; state-of-the-art screening theaters; and dedicated lounges for buyers and delegates.”

Smith explained that when RX announced its decision to end MIPTV, the feedback from clients was clear: “There was still a need for a market at the beginning of the year, but the calendar had become too congested. In MIP LONDON, we think we’ve responded to both of those. In doing so, we’ve created an innovative, best-in-class market proposition.”

The London TV Screenings was founded by All3Media International, Banijay Entertainment, Fremantle and ITV Studios to tap into the wealth of buyers in town for BBC Studios’ Showcase. It has expanded its lineup of participating companies over the last four years, and the fifth edition in 2025 will feature 36 distributors hosting screening events. “Some of these will likely use the IET as a screening venue or will be involved in MIP LONDON in another way. Another venue on the map.”

Indeed, MIP LONDON and the London TV Screenings are not an either/or Smith said, a point she would return to in her Q&A with Daswani, World Screen’s editor-in-chief. “We’re setting it up to attract additional buyers to London, to lean into those areas that are currently underserved, such as unscripted, FAST and kids’, and to open up and create a marketplace beyond only buyers and sellers. Again—more people doing more business.”

Some 250 companies from 36 countries have confirmed their participation, Smith said. “It’s shaping up as a truly multi-genre and international MIP market.”

The two venues will “provide everything needed to meet, network or showcase. Both will host the marketplace and networking hub. The program and screening elements will be housed within the IET, and visitor and buyer lounges will be in both.”

The event will feature the first London editions of MIPDoc and MIPFormats, with Smith noting, “We believe unscripted has huge potential that week, and we’ll lean into this. The importance of MIPDoc and MIPFormats to their communities came through loud and clear after MIPTV ended.”

RX has assembled advisory boards to shape the agenda, which will see the return of FOX Entertainment Global as a partner on the MIPFormats Pitch and London editions of the MIPDoc Co-Production Summit and the MIPDoc Pitch.

“If you look beyond screenings and buyers, there is so much potential to broaden the offering,” Smith added. “For example, the combination of so many key players already in London, along with those coming in that week, make for an ideal opportunity to host a London edition of FAST&GLOBAL.”

The WIT’s Virginia Mouseler will present a London edition of Fresh TV, and Evan Shapiro will also be on hand “to do a deeper dive into the data.” There will also be spotlights on YouTube trends, collaboration, monetization models and more.

In response to positive conversations at MIPJunior, MIP LONDON will host a Kids European Co-Production Summit, with participation from several leading U.K. players, including BBC Children’s & Education and Sky.

“Overall, we’ve listened, and people want concrete takeaways. As it was put to me by one of our advisory board members, we are in the era of the ‘co’s: co-exclusivity, co-branding, collaboration and collectives. To help this, we’ll bring a central database to the week as we do [at MIPCOM]. And in a week of screenings, we’ll provide online and on-site screening libraries.”

The event kicks off with an opening party on February 23 at the IET.

“The market has been telling us that they want to be part of that big week of content in London in February, and we believe that beyond the screenings, there is much more potential business that can be done for the benefit of all. As with any MIP market, we know how to create and stage a world-class marketplace.”

Smith was joined on stage by Daswani of World Screen to talk more about the logistics of the event and why RX felt the need to reinvent its annual spring content market. “We’d been seeing at MIPTV for several years a declining number of companies feeling that it was important enough in the calendar for them. The choice was becoming MIPTV or the London TV Screenings. At the last MIPTV, there were 3,500 delegates. We all know that is not sufficient for a MIP market of this caliber, and we felt it was time to make a rapid change. Change is evolving. We felt that bringing a new and additional event would create a central hub around such a busy moment in the calendar. It was based on what we heard from buyers [about] needing some kind of centralized organization to make it easier to navigate.”

Smith was asked about concerns that with the hectic London TV Screenings schedule, buyers may not have sufficient time to also see the distributors at MIP LONDON. “Our goal is to create an additional new international marketplace. There were 750 buyers at the London TV Screenings last February. There were 1,200 buyers at MIPTV in April. There are 3,200-plus buyers here at MIPCOM. We will be reaching out to all of our buying community, and we’re getting a great response. The London TV Screenings are multi-genre. There are moments where buyers might be going to scripted or unscripted screenings. Not all buyers can go to everything. Not all are invited to everything. So, for buyers, instead of having meetings in a London coffee shop, they can come to a central hub. We’re inviting all of those buyers to join us in London.”

Smith also stressed that MIP LONDON is not being positioned as a competitor to the London TV Screenings. “The first people I spoke to personally a year ago were the founding partners. We consulted them ahead of announcing our plans. They understand why we are doing this. The arrival of a lot of companies around the events in London was already happening. We are being respectful of what they’ve planned. They’ve grown a great event. We’ll be doing intelligent scheduling to make sure we are scheduling content and screenings so that they are not fully in competition with other major events.”

The conversation then moved to the issue of cost. Smith stressed that the expenses are not comparable to the Cannes setup. “We have plug-and-play solutions for anyone who wants to come. We want buyers to feel welcome. For anyone who wants to register today, it’s £450. That gives access to the venue, the programming, the companies having meeting spaces there. You can spend a week in London cafes and spend as much. It’s not an expensive proposition. For companies who want to have a space for meetings, a meeting table with branding and registrations is £3,500. I think it’s accessible. It’s the first year. We understand that change is always challenging. We have companies who also want more private spaces, and that’s possible.”

She added, “We didn’t move MIPTV to London. This is a new conference, networking and screening event and international content marketplace. We’re bringing more business, more companies, more opportunities. We believe the value is clearly there.”

Smith continued, “We know the business is difficult. Executives will tell you they need to meet more often because they have to find new ways to work together. We do think that with everything we’re providing, there’s a lot of opportunity there.”