Cannes – MIPTV 2015 saw 11,000 delegates from over 100 countries. MIPFormats combined with MIPDoc, drew a record 1,800 delegates with representatives from U.S., the UK, China, Turkey and the Nordic territories. Drama at MIPTV, was a major conference strand in Cannes included a closed-door international co-production summit that was attended by more than 80 senior-level decision-makers.
Screenings at MIPTV demonstrated both the cinematic transformation that television drama has gone through in recent years, and the borderless approach to production and finance. MIPTV’s World Premiere TV Screening, Texas Rising from ITV Studios America, was shot in cinemascope and 6K and was directed by Oscar-nominated film Director Roland Joffé; Versailles, France’s biggest-ever TV series costing $30 million, is a 10-hour English-language Franco-Canadian co-production sold by Zodiak Rights.
The Millennial Shift theme demonstrated how millennials are a driving force behind change and development in the entertainment industry – by the way they are producing, watching and interacting with content across all platforms. National Geographic Channels’ president, original programming and production Tim Pastore said that the millennial shift was influencing creativity, “In a world where 50% of 18 – 32 year olds are browsing the internet while viewing television, creating brand addiction is a necessity.”
At MIP Digital Fronts, delegates were dazzled by some of the hottest new global online formats and talent from the world’s most acclaimed digital studios and platforms. There were the likes of Maker Studios, Machinima, Vox Media, YouTube, Dailymotion, Vice, AwesomenessTV, Rooster Teeth, Collective Digital Studio, Screen Australia, Slashtag TV, New Form Digital, Zoomin.TV, Dim Sum Entertainment and WebTVAsia. There was an amazing free-flow of talent and ideas between traditional and online; one outcome from the event saw Maker Studios strike a deal that will see the studios’ programming launch on France’s Canal+ Group’s streaming services.
A keynote referred to formats in the digital sphere – Zodiak Media’s Marc- Antoine d’Halluin told delegates that in the production process, “There is not one show that we produce today where we do not think, together with the broadcaster that commissioned the show, what will be the impact in the digital space.” He added, “China is not about catch-up anymore, they are leading the charge.” In his keynote address at MIPFormats, Yang Weidong SVP and President of Tudou.com Youkou Tudou, insisted that ‘new’ and ‘traditional’ media entities would live side-by-side. “I don’t believe new media will replace the television stations…they will coexist,” he commented.
Among the big format news announced was that FremantleMedia is partnering with Shanghai Media Group, BesTV and China Media Capital, in a joint venture to create and develop formats for the Chinese markets, with FremantleMedia International selling outside China. FremantleMedia CEO, Cecile Frot-Coutaz said, “This new relationship with BesTV, Shanghai Media Group and China Media Capital allows us to build on our existing presence in China and strengthen our ties in this territory.”
Other leading personalities who attended MIPTV included keynote speakers Steven Levitan, Modern Family co-creator and Executive Producer; Jeremy Darroch, Group CEO of Sky plc; Ze Frank and Michael Shamberg of Buzzfeed Motion Pictures; Karin Timpone and David Beebe of Marriott International and Yannick Bolloré, Chairman & CEO of Havas.
Warner Bros. International Television Production launched 500 Questions, a new game show from Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, produced by United Artists Media Group in association with Warner Horizon Television for US network ABC. Burnett, Darnell and host, CNN’s Richard Quest, presented the new show in Cannes.
The MIPFormats International Pitch 2015 was won by Dolinsekfilms from Austria for 1001 Rooms, in which a candidate is abandoned at the centre of an array consisting of 1001 Rooms. His mission is to fight his way out of the cluster to reach the edge and the best rewards. Copresented by CEO Michael Dolinsek and producer David Visnjic, the tasks in 1001 Rooms are given by the faceless Matrix Master, who loves riddles, and dishes out both physical and mental challenges. Dolinsekfilm won a €5,000 cash prize, plus a value package of €15,000 for development of the pitched idea from MIPFormats International Pitch exclusive global partner all3media International. Four other projects were pitched to a jury of experts.
Singapore’s Hub Media announced the launch of Abbie Rose & the Magic Suitcase’s pilot at MIPTV.
The exciting children’s animation is based on the best-selling children’s books written by Neil Humphreys and illustrated by award-winning artist, Cheng Puay Koon. A joint production between Hub Media Group and Silver Media Group, the 3D-animation is scripted by Neil Humphreys himself and is slated for completion in 2016. Hub Media and Piamonte Group TV (Spain) also announced a partnership for distribution of content on a non-exclusive basis. As part of the partnership, Piamonte will be representing Hub Media’s kids and factual content in Africa, Europe and the Americas. Titles from the catalogue include historical content such as The Early Christians, Century Reforms and Values on Cinema.
“There is a demand for quality content everywhere and this partnership proves that quality content can travel in spite of language and geographical barriers. We’re excited to bring our local content to non-Asian markets and we look forward to introducing Spanish content to our Asian counterparts,” said Abdul Rashid Budin, VP of Hub Media Group. Pablo Marcet-Bonel, CEO of Piamonte Group TV said, “With this agreement, our two companies share strategy and priority organisation, which puts us on the road to becoming a world leader in the supply of quality television. Our union also strengthens the ability to reach more customers accurately, and helps us to reach out easily to more continents.”
In addition, award-winning animation studio Omens Studios announced the availability of Counting with Paula, a 60 x 11’ CG animated series created and produced in HD1080 for 3 to 6 year olds, on Kidoodle.TV®, a leading online streaming video service for children ages 12 and under, owned by A Parent Media Co. Inc. A Parent Media Co. Inc. is a leading company in the Over-The-Top content space in North America.
Other key announcements by Omens Studios includes the signing of Monster Entertainment Ltd as the worldwide distributor of Counting with Paula, the availability of the series on Amazon Prime in the United States in partnership with Janson Media, as well as the availability of the series in Russian on the TV Detkam Channel, a leading Russian YouTube channel operated by Project First LLC. Chi Sim Tang, Founder and Executive Producer at Omens Studios said, “We are excited to partner with Jesse and his talented team for Counting with Paula in North America for distribution on OTT platforms. The placement on Amazon is a significant milestone for the partnership and we look forward to more to come.”
Malaysia’s latest sensation – WebTVAsia made its debut at Cannes, signing a multi-year partnership deal with global video platform Dailymotion to collaborate a 100-channel roll-out as well as exclusive co-production for the Asian market. The Asian digital powerhouse has already secured 650 million views and 2.5 million subscribers within a span of one year, according to CEO Fred Chong.
Prodigee Media’s digital media brand WebTVAsia was founded in late 2013 as a YouTube Certified Multi Channel Network (MCN) to produce, manage, market and monetise the most wanted Asian video content. As a leader in Asian digital entertainment, WebTVAsia’s over 160 channels are serving loyal audiences in key territories in China, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.
Chong said, “Our network content partners are the leading media and entertainment brands in Asia: Youku Tudou’s Little Apple, Tencent’s U17 & TFBOYS (China), T-ARA (Korea), FH Production & Dayo Wong (Hong Kong), Lollipop-F (Taiwan), Phranakorn Film, Heeha TV & Buffet Channel (Thailand), and NameWee & Joyce Chu (Malaysia). We are primarily focusing on premium Asian content. So you know these contents are produced by the best producers / creators in Asia.”
Sighting a case study of their specialty to enhances, monetises and amplifies a product from a partner, Desmond Ngai, VP, Strategy and Partnership shared about a song titled, Little Apple by Chopstick Brothers. This is the theme song from the winner of a short film competition commissioned by Youku. The film was an immense success in China and generated 200 million RMB in the box office. But the song became a bigger success in China with 200 million views. Youku wanted more from outside China and engaged WebTVAsia.
“Instead of using the original song, we created a Thai, Korean, Malaysian and a Taiwanese version of the hit song with respective renowned directors. For example, we engaged the Gangnam Style music director in Seoul with a Korean superstar named T-ARA. Our four versions of the hit soon became viral videos on Youtube will 200 million views and generated 20 thousand videos. Then, there was also the fan-made parody version going around.
“We want our footprint in every ASEAN country and making it no. 1 there. We also produce our own content with studios in Beijing, Bangkok and Malaysia, shooting in black magic’s 4K. The main genres of our focus are lifestyle, music, cartoon and entertainment. We are mainly an ad funded site with a revenue of U.S. 1 million over the last one year,” added Desmond. WebTVAsia is expected to make more successful showdowns in the coming months.
