This year’s MIPCOM Cannes is hosting a glut of companies hawking AI and related products, including dubbing, as well as a plethora of Social Media-focused companies like V Channels, Viral Media, and VA Media. Another sector that is making lots of noise here in Cannes is represented by European AVoD and FAST channels.
Still, traditional players are also in abundance, with all the major U.S. studios exhibiting at the market and being highlighted as keynote speakers (such as Warner Bros. Discovery’ Gerhard Zeiler yesterday), and Paramount’s Bob Bakish being celebrated as the market’s Personality of the Year today.
There’s even unity between the new and the old, perfectly epitomized by the Beverly Hills, California-based V Channels’ Niccoló Messina. His senior adviser is veteran studio executive Michael J. Solomon, a former president of Warner Bros. Distribution. While Messina’s V Channels is busy producing 100 feature films and 100 documentaries a year, Solomon, he said, “is helping us building the international sales.”
Today, a Media Mastermind keynote speech was delivered by Laura Fernández Espeso, CEO of the Barcelona, Spain-based The MediaPro Studio, which is controlled by Chinese equity firm Orient Hontai Capital. China is also this year’s MIPCOM Country of Honor, which is appreciated by Hollywood (as China is the world’s number two box-office market), but not so much by Washington D.C. politicians.
Today, MIPCOM also announced the 2023 winners for the Diversify TV Awards, during a ceremony hosted by international journalist and anchor Femi Oke. Deborah Williams OBE, CEO of Creative Diversity Network, received The Behind The Scenes Impact award; the other winners are:
BBC Studios’ Inside our Autistic Minds for Representation of Disability – Non-Scripted
Amuz/ComediHa!’s About Antoine for Representation of Disability – Scripted
Buendia Estudios’ Nights in Tefía for Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Scripted
Dutch CORE’s Lotus Sports Club for Representation of LGBTQIA+ – Non-Scripted
Fremantle/Rezolution’s Little Bird for Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Scripted
Southern Pictures’ The Swap for Representation of Race and Ethnicity – Non-Scripted
Doc Hearts’ Reu and Harper’s Wonder World for Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Pre-School
Sinking Ship/BBC Studios’ Phoenix Rise for Representation of Diversity in Kids Programming – Older Children
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