This Fall, like migrant birds TV executives will again travel the globe in search of programming to sell and to buy. VideoAge took a look at the season’s lineup of markets, conferences and film festivals, to find out what’s going on where, and who will be there.
Autumn festivities kick off in early September with the Venice Film Festival. The fest, put on by prestigious arts organization La Biennale di Venezia, will be held September 1-11 in Italy’s city of canals. Screenings for the 67-year-old event will take place at the Palazzo del Cinema and the PalaBiennale. In addition to the usual film competition, this year’s edition will also feature a retrospective on Italian comedy, as well as screenings from directors Darren Aronofsky, Andrew Lau and Robert Rodriguez.
DISCOP Africa 2 also launches on September 1, lasting through September 3 in Nairobi, Kenya. Riding on the success of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, organizers hope that DISCOP will provide a follow-up event to help African TV stations, pay-TV platforms and audiovisual content producers take advantage of the continent’s evolving industry.
Also overlapping with Venice, but fortunately not closely related, is Jornadas, the Buenos Aires event put on by ATVC (Argentina Cable Association). Jornadas is set to take place September 8-10 at the Buenos Aires Hilton, and also runs concurrent to the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), which kicks off September 9 and concludes September 19. TIFF 2010 boasts screenings of 300 films from more than 60 countries over the course of its 11 days. Highlights of the fest’s 35th edition include the “Canada First!” series, which will showcase Canadian filmmaking talent; the “Midnight Madness” series, comprised of horror films; and the “Contemporary World Cinema” series, made up of movies from around the world. Galas and red carpet events will also abound.
From Toronto back to Europe for Le Rendez-Vous, the traditional French TV Screenings, held Sept. 6-10 in Biarritz. Organized by TV France International it will boast 60 distribution companies from around the world and about 200 buyers.
Towards the end of September (specifically, Sept. 19-24) we have PrixItalia, which is organized by RAI, the Italian state broadcaster. Even though it’s not really a market, business will nevertheless be conducted throughout the host city of Turin. Right on PrixItalia’s heals is EuroSummit, put on by CTAM Europe (Cable and Telecommunications Association for Marketing). Like Spring’s DISCOP East, this year’s EuroSummit is set to take place in Budapest, Hungary September 23-24.
The season’s big event, for many on the industry’s business side, is MIPCOM, which will take place this year October 5-10 in Cannes, France. Directly preceding the event is MIPJunior, a mini-market geared towards children’s television that serves as MIPCOM’s opening act October 2-3. This year, Michael Poryes, creator of Disney’s Hannah Montana, will enlighten crowds on the secrets behind the success of the series. Additionally a special competition will challenge producers to be judged by a panel made up of the toughest critics yet: kids.
After MIPJunior winds down, the main event will begin. This year’s MIPCOM will take Australia as its theme country, and feature all the usual keynotes, parties, networking events and good old fashioned buying and selling that make it one of the year’s most important markets. This year, organizers expect 1,200 participants from 102 countries, and are looking forward to a speech by Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer, among other speakers.
SportelMonaco is up next, opening its doors October 11-14 in the tiny seaside country. Organized by Monaco Mediax, the conference will once again spotlight sports television and the sports content industry. The 2010 market will, as usual, offer a variety of symposia, conferences, special press events and round table discussions. Last year’s SportelMonaco played host to 2,247 participants from 938 companies and 68 countries, and organizers expect a similarly strong showing this year.
We’ll continue our European stay with the fifth annual Roma Cinema Fest, which will extend from October 28-November 5. Once again, the fest will focus on combining the business side of things with the art side. Its loaded schedule includes film screenings, a retrospective and panels, in addition to, “Business Street,” its dedicated industry market.
Finally, the American Film Market in Santa Monica, California will wrap up fall’s whirlwind. The market lasts November 3-10, during which time industry professionals from around the globe will converge on The Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel to wheel and deal. The 29-year-old market will offer around 900 screenings to its expected 8,000 attendees.
