MIPTV 2010 – CANNES. Reed Midem has announced the attendance of 11,500 delegates, including some 4,000 buyers (5% up on 2009) from 107 countries conducting business at MIPTV 2010.
International partnerships, co-productions including ambitious ‘event’ mini-series and the vibrant format sector were abound, said the organisation. Alliances ranged from traditional co-productions to content providers teaming up with social media players as the cross-media business thrived in Cannes.
“It’s clear that there is an appetite for international partnerships across the board,” said MIPTV director Laurine Garaude in a statement. “With broadcasters still feeling the effects of the dip in advertising revenues, there is a need to spread financing across several partners. It’s been particularly noticeable that Asian countries are increasing their co-production profile, which is why this year’s MIPTV conference programme has provided dedicated sessions to co-production opportunities in Japan, China, Malaysia and Singapore.”
With MIPTV 2010 hosting the International Digital Emmy Awards, the Content 360 festival and the Digital VIP Summit and Think Tank, plenty of attention was focused on the way content providers are factoring in internet, mobile apps advertising partners, brands and social networks as they go about their creative business and devise ground-breaking deals.
French media group Lagardere Active signed a strategic partnership with YouTube (see Broadband TV News passim). Hot on the heals of the Lagardere deal with YouTube, Zodiak Entertainment subsidiary Marathon Media, which produces TV animation hit “Totally Spies,” and games creator and publisher, OUAT Entertainment, announced that they are launching “Totally Spies! Fashion Agents!” as the first game to be adapted from a television series and destined for social networking site Facebook.
And in another new development, Zodiak is advancing with apps for iPhone and Facebook based on its upcoming The Age Guessing Game. While apps are increasingly common for existing brands, Zodiak has decided to generate a cross-platform entertainment package for a new concept.
The apps are being developed by Zodiak subsidiaries Neo Network, Mast Media and Grand Zentral. According to Mast Media MD Mark Baker, apps may soon change the way programming is commissioned. Baker told journalists at MIPTV that where the commissioning process has traditionally begun with television, the trend may be towards first producing online product which develops such a following that it encourages television commissions.
“The speed and breadth of developments in entertainment is breath-taking,” said Laurine Garaude. “Story-telling is the heart of entertainment, but the coming together of television, brands, advertising, Internet, social media and mobile applications is encouraging new forms of creativity, new forms of deal-making and new partnerships which have clearly been evident at MIPTV 2010.”
