The Week at MIPTV

More than 5,000 attendees were on site for the first in-person MIPTV since 2019, with overall sentiment largely positive about the reformatted event’s return to Cannes. Last week’s market allowed RX France “to actually deliver on the promise of a transformed MIPTV, which is what we had planned to do in 2019,” Lucy Smith, director of MIPTV and MIPCOM, told reporters as the three-day streamlined event came to a close. “We have now resized, rescaled and changed MIPTV. What we’re hearing has been hugely encouraging.”

Indeed, with more than 150 companies opting to have a booth or other kind of presence on the show floor (and many others taking meetings at the beautifully designed Lerins Lounge), the market did feel like the closest thing to a normal trade-show event in years.

“It’s super important to meet people again,” said Tim Gerhartz, the president and managing director of Red Arrow Studios International, on why the company opted to have a physical presence with a stand in Cannes. “Digitization is great. It was a learning curve for all of us during the pandemic. The flexibility now is great; you don’t have to wait till the markets to do a pitch. Everyone is benefiting from that. At the end of the day, knowing where doors are opening, where doors are closing, where budgets become available, that’s something we hear about when you meet people. All that digitization is great, but it’s a people business.”

Hud Woodle, executive VP of international sales and operations at GRB Studios, agreed. “Being on the floor is important,” said Woodle on why the U.S.-based company opted to take a stand. “We know the people to sell to for our traditional sales business, but looking for acquisitions, I think there’s a better opportunity to meet with producers walking through the Palais. If you’re not at a branded spot, if you’re at a café, the producer won’t know who you are.”

Paul Heaney, CEO of BossaNova, expressed a similar sentiment. Heaney set up the company mid-pandemic and chose to take a prominent stand on the show floor—one that was right by ZDF Studios’ expanded booth. “When you’re starting up a company, you need to get coverage. It’s a bit like marketing a new TV show. You’ve got to get eyeballs. This is eyeballs. We’ve got people looking at us. It gives us credibility and integrity as well.”

A number of kids’ companies also opted to have a presence with a booth, including Cyber Group Studios. The company’s executive VP, Raphaëlle Mathieu, observed: “We’re a French company with international appeal. We need to see our clients, and MIPTV is a good moment to do it. It’s more interesting for us this year. More animation people came. We decided to keep the booth. We’re growing. It is important that everyone gets together and we show the diversity of what we produce and create new opportunities.”

Beyond being a busy sales market with a raft of new show launches, the three-day event featured several high-profile keynotes, among them Candle Media’s Kevin Mayer and HBO Max’s Johannes Larcher. Speaking just a few days before the closing of the Discovery-WarnerMedia transaction, Larcher highlighted the growth of the streamer in his presentation before sitting down for a keynote interview with World Screen’s Anna Carugati. Currently in 61 countries, HBO Max aims to be in 190 countries by 2026, Larcher said. “We’re going as fast as we can. We’re doing it in a phased manner that is responsible and capital efficient. We will get there. It’s not about being number one or beating anyone; it’s about creating a service that serves our customers and can do so for the long term—and profitably.” You can watch Larcher’s entire session here.

MIPCOM, which Smith billed as the “mother of all entertainment content markets,” will be back October 17 to 20, with MIPJunior returning to the JW Marriott October 15 to 16. “The vast majority of major exhibitors at MIPCOM 2019 have confirmed they will be back, and back in full force,” Smith said, with MIP Cancun again taking place in person in November.

Catch up on all the stories from MIPTV on WorldScreen.com.