Heavy, persistent rain in Cannes made everything slow down outside the Palais, and lots of “Relax at MIP” spaces (in lieu of stands) inside the venue compelled participants to decelerate there, as well. These two assessments perfectly illustrate the 54th annual edition of MIP-TV (as well as scattered strikes by French railroad and airline workers).
Even the newly introduced CanneSeries Festival did little to bring the expected charge that would jumpstart what is now called the “traditional” MIP market.
So it was Turkish companies and, to a certain extent, Chinese firms, to the rescue. However, while the Chinese might have gotten some much-needed visibility, the Turks got the sales. They’ve been quite successful with drama series in years past, and this year at MIP, they are touting a slew of animation productions that, considering Turkish marketing strength, will undoubtedly succeed.
There isn’t much to report on the conference side (with little of interest to buyers and/or sellers), but the rain didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for Izzet Pinto of Turkey’s Global Agency, who received one of the four MIP-TV Medals of Honor at a luncheon held on Wednesday, April 11, the market’s third day.
Unfortunately, the slow food service made many guests leave before the main course was served. It was so slow in fact that it made many participants wonder if the chicken was being flown in from as far away as Kentucky.
As for content sales, many buyers reported that it was business as usual, meaning that they went to MIP-TV to finalize previous deals, as well as to shop for new content, which, in turn, will be committed to or finalized after they get back from the L.A. Screenings in May (when they will know which slots the newly acquired U.S. series cannot fill).
A full report is available at www.VideoAgeDaily.com — the online PDF version of VideoAge‘s printed dailies at MIP-TV.
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