Event Preview: MIP Cancun

Lucy Smith, the director of the entertainment division at RX France, discusses highlights of the upcoming MIP Cancun.

Participants are gathering at the Moon Palace in Cancun, Mexico, for the ninth edition of MIP Cancun. The organizer, RX France, is expecting more than 800 delegates, including buyers, distributors and producers from over 40 countries.

This year’s attendance should be a substantial increase over 2021, when 450 delegates attended, as Covid concerns and travel restrictions still prevailed.

Since the inception of MIP Cancun, as Smith explains, “our priority has always been driving international and regional business opportunities across the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic TV industry. As the number one TV content market in Latin America, our top goal is to expose this massive creative community to the potential of global distribution and co-production partnerships.

“In that perspective,” continues Smith, “MIP Cancun was developed to be the must-attend meeting point for everyone worldwide doing business in the region and was established based on an unwavering belief in the creative talent inherent in the Latin American and U.S. Hispanic community and the commercial potential for the industry to not only grow but to explode.”

MIP Cancun offers distributors, buyers and producers a unique layout to conduct business and make connections. “[It provides] the chance to meet the distribution and co-production business partners you need, face-to-face in an intimate curated environment over three days,” explains Smith. “MIP Cancun has a distinctive formula: our signature one-to-one matchmaking, which guarantees up to 25 pre-scheduled meetings. Thanks to our AI digital platform, we help our participants in the curation of their meetings. The matchmaking has been sold out for a few weeks, but registrations to the conference and networking market have been coming in daily.

“We also attract a loyal client base of key companies, decision-makers and creatives with the promise of a productive distribution and co-production market,” continues Smith, “alongside a comprehensive three-and-a-half-day conference and events program boasting over 30 sessions, including keynotes, showcases, screenings. Plus, large networking areas and an exhibit hall for national pavilions and service providers are all on-site, and that’s before you get to the hugely popular MIP Cancun evening networking events.”

This year, RX France is building on MIP Cancun’s most popular and successful features while keeping an eye on the changing media landscape. “The increased investment into Latin America by global streaming platforms in recent years is reflected with key execs from the sector taking center stage on the opening day of keynotes,” notes Smith. These include The Walt Disney Company Latin America’s Mariana Pérez and Leonardo Aranguibel, Warner Bros. Discovery Latin America’s Marcelo Tamburri and Telemundo Global Studios’ Karen Barroeta.

The established MIP Cancun Talks and In Conversation With strands will also take place this year. “They will showcase more key industry players on a range of pertinent topics, such as audience and economic trends, opportunities in specific territories and cross-border alliances,” explains Smith. “Crucially, there is also a dedicated session assessing the progress and current commitment to diversity and inclusion across the region. Plus, The Wit will be presenting a double bill of Spanish-language Fresh TV covering both fiction and non-scripted.”

There will also be popular showcases and screenings, including A+E Media Networks, Inter Medya and Telemundo Streaming Studios, as well as Underground Producciones.

“And, of course,” adds Smith, “there’s the always-packed MIP Cancun parties. We’re delighted to be hosting the pre-opening party with Sony Pictures Television and the opening night with The Mediapro Studio.”

Underpinning MIP Cancun’s business and networking opportunities, along with some welcomed downtime and socializing, as Smith explains, is RX France’s commitment to serving the Latin American media sector.

“Our priority going into our next decade is to continue to evolve and grow MIP Cancun to serve this exceptional community and to continue to be a catalyst in the region’s continued growth story.”