The question everyone seems to be asking is: “Will the content buyers go to MIP-TV?” Some sellers seem to have pre-determined that many buyers’ simply won’t go. But it is VideoAge‘s contention that a good number of buyers will indeed attend MIP-TV and that they will actually be pleased about the content available from indie exhibitors.
However, since this MIP-TV is turning out to be a buyers’ market — in the sense that buyers will be making or breaking this totally overhauled edition of MIP-TV — VideoAge reached out to buyers from six different countries to answer a few questions.
VideoAge: Did MIP-TV organizers invite you and offer free accommodations?
“Yes I was invited and offered free accommodations,” said an English-language buyer who’d prefer to remain anonymous.
“No! Never Ever! Not in the previous 14 years,” retorted Adham Nasrallah, Content Manager at Safe Media in Beirut, Lebanon.
A buyer from Spain said that he didn’t receive free accommodations, either.
VideoAge: If MIP-TV offered free accommodations, will you be sending junior people to get some hands-on experience?
“No new or junior people were offered free accommodations,” said the anonymous English-language source. “Just me and my deputy.”
“We are sending the usual senior team in charge of ‘Superindies,’ E.U. Studios, and Indies. The team in charge of U.S. majors won’t attend,” said an Italian buyer who gets free accommodations.
“Yes, we get free accommodations, and no we’ll not be sending junior executives,” reported a buyer from Scandinavia.
Added the buyer from Spain: “No, only one person from [our network] procurement team goes.”
VideoAge: Will the fact that the exhibitors’ stands are different and have been relocated affect you?
“It makes it more difficult to plan meetings as we don’t know where people are,” said the English-language buyer. “I usually plan my appointments geographically. But there is less exhibition space so the distances will be smaller between stands.”
“No,” answered Safe Media’s Nasrallah.
“It could be a little confusing at the beginning,” explained the Italian buyer. “But this doesn’t seem to be the biggest issue from a buyer perspective. MIP-TV’s future is more about who’s going to be there.”
“No,” was the simple answer from the Scandinavian buyer.
The buyer from Spain offered a more elaborate answer: “That they are physically different does not affect me, but the location is important because as a buyer you don’t want to waste time in finding the new locations. At a market like MIP-TV, not wasting time looking for meeting stands is essential.”
VideoAge: Will the absence of the major studios give you more time to see the indies?
“Yes, and this has been the case for a while for MIP-TV. It also gives me the opportunity to discuss co-productions and to have some longer meetings,” said the English-language buyer.
For Nasrallah, the answer is “no.”
“We have dedicated teams so we are giving more time to indies as we always did in the past,” added the Italian buyer.
Said the Scandinavian: “Yes, but I am disappointed that the big ones won’t be there.”
Marcus Ammon of Sky Germany has not been invited with free accommodations, and he’s not attending MIP-TV. However, if he were going, he said that he’d spend more time with the indies.
For the Spaniard, “It’s not a matter of having more time. We are looking for specific products that small independents do not offer.”
VideoAge: Do you like that the market starts in March?
“The week suits me,” commented the anonymous English-language buyer.
“Not at all,” said Nasrallah.
“It could reduce competition with the L.A. Screenings, but it might increase the overlap with the growing London Screenings event,” said the Italian buyer.
“The date is indifferent to me,” added the buyer from Spain.
“It really doesn’t matter,” concluded the Scandinavian.
Pictured above are the three key managers of MIP-TV, from l. to r.: Laurine Garaude, Lucy Smith, and Jerome Delhaye
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