Market Nostalgia, Mip London Scepticism, Premium Telenovelas and Event Non-Fiction: 10 Takeawa

August 2024 · 11 minute read

“How do we learn how much we love what we have? We can learn that by saying we’re going to lose it,” said Thomas Vinterberg, director of “Families Like Ours,” one of the scripted standouts at MipTV. He was talking about Denmark, evacuated in the series. But the same could be said of delegates at this MipTV. 

As the final edition ever rounded its final straits on Wednesday, there was a rush of nostalgia, building in prior days, for an event which had become a fixture in many executives lives down the decades, and had served a business purpose.

“MipTV has always been a very important market for us in the last 25 years. We’ve launched there the new spring series. It is sad that they are moving to London,” lamented Helene Auro at Denmark’s REinvent. 

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“It’s a pity that MipTV ends. It has a long history,” echoed Andrew Ji-Yong Kim at Korea’s AK Entertainment. 

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This and other takeaways on a calm and eerily emptied last MipTV, which nonetheless spoke volumes about some directions the international TV business is taking:   

MipTV is Dead, Long Live MipTV

Attendance may have dropped by 40% and the weather was certainly a washout. Yet, despite a noticeably smaller market – the word used repeatedly by attendees was “dead” – the last ever MipTV Cannes was not a damp squib. “It’s been very quiet. It’s not surprising, being the last one, but we’ve done good business,” one producer told Variety. “It was worth us coming.” Other attendees also said the smaller market had enabled smaller players to stand out; more deals and fruitful meetings got done. “I have over 20 meetings in two-and-a-half days, most of which are substantive, and some that are with senior level execs who at a busier MIP you wouldn’t have been able to grab time with. I quite enjoy smaller contracted markets as the quality of the meetings tends to be higher,” said David Davoli, Anonymous Content president, international. 

Mip London

Drilled down on at Tuesday’s MipTV by Lucy Smith, RX France’s director of the MipTV and Mipcom TV markets, plans for a Mip London running parallel to the London TV Screenings have met with widespread scepticism. “London TV Screenings is a showcase where buyers come for five days, and see everything in cinemas, promos, episodes etc. How can buyers also meet up with smaller international sales agents?” asked Auro. “We considered going to London Screenings but spoke to several buyers and they said they have no time for us,” echoed DR Sales’ Freja Johanne Nørgaard Sørensen. General consensus heard at MipTV is that London is too big; in Cannes everything is in walking distance and/or located in the Palais as a central hub, generating more chances of running into people organically.

Buzz Titles

Despite less buyers, business will have got done at MipTV, much with sellers updating buyers on known properties. Of OOC big swings, “Fallout” had its fans. “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” was a home run with the Cannes crowd, receiving a three-minute standing ovation. In Canneseries competition, “The Zweiflers” drew laughs which showrunner David Hadda and crew members weren’t expecting, as well as large applause. It went on to win Best Series, the festival’s top prize. Sold by About Premium Content and a buzz title coming into the market, Finnish mystery drama “Icebreaker” won the Coup de Coeur award at MipDrama, the industry centerpiece at MipTV. Of big titles on the open market, shows drawing heat, though all sold in major territories, were Studiocanal’s “Paris Has Fallen,” a propulsive, intense action thriller, and “Families Like Ours,” an epic family and romantic drama and Fremantle’s train set action thriller “Nightsleeper and “The Responder” Season 2,” raising the stakes and intensity compared to its initial season, which sold to 195 countries.

Canneseries Lures the Stars

Cannes lures the stars. That seems obvious. But it’s true now not only of its film festival but also Canneseries whose red carpet this year had a glam quotient that no other TV festival can rival, from Ella Purnell and Kyle Maclachlan to Daniel Brühl and Michael Douglas, representing three big series: “Fallout,” “Becoming Karl Lagerfeld” and “Franklin.” That reflects Cannes’ mystique. Cannes is Cannes. “It will be such an honor to be able to see it on the big screen in the prestigious Palais,” Brühl told Variety. It has first class hotels. And a TV festival of repute.  

So What Ways Are Scripted Series Trending?

Make us Laugh: Predictably, considering today’s troubles times and need for escapism, comedies are booming in  the scripted space, according to research body The Wit’s presentation at MipTV, weighing in at 18% of new scripted shows, versus 16.1% in 2023. Within comedy, diversity-focused stories abound, such as the Belgian zombie sci-fi “Trizombie” or New-Zealand’s “Miles from Home.” Stories based on true events are also trending, representing 8.6% of new shows, while enduring safe bets are book to screen adaptations.

Docs: The Best and Worst of Times

Delivering a MipDoc keynote April 7, Dawn Porter sketched the challenging times for documentary production and ways forward. One is promotion. “You have to do more work to promote your work, your company and your capabilities to the buyers. It means you have to be more proactive,” she told Variety. Another, seeing results, is event programming. Voiced by Tom Hanks and previewed at MipTV, “The Americas,” from NBCUniversal and the BBC, was received well. It sees NBCU tapping into the BBC’s rich tradition of natural history event series for the most expensive unscripted project in NBCU’s history. 

“Prestige Reality”

Much of the excitement at this year’s final MipTV, however, came from non-fiction. The Mediapro Studio delivered its first presentation of a full formats slate. NBCUniversal and the BBC talked up “Destination X,” their follow-up to “The Traitors.” “I keep calling this ‘prestige reality’ in the hope that it catches on,” said Syeda Irtizaali, BBC editor of unscripted. “We’re entering a golden age of unscripted. Shows which comes with huge ambition, huge distinction and huge scale. Those are only possible through partnerships,” she added. 

Premium Telenovelas

The drive to premium in traditionally lower-cost programming can be seen elsewhere. At MipTV, Atresmedia talked up “Dreams of Freedom,” the biggest fiction premiere on free-to-air Spanish television in the past two years, racking up a 14.1% market share and 2.0 million viewers. “At the production level we’ve made a great leap in quality and that’s reflected in all the visual elements of the series; a fundamental factor that the audience is valuing very positively. ‘Dreams of Freedom’ is being perceived as a different sort of soap opera,” enthused Atresmedia’s Montse García.  

Thinking Outside the Box

Business is still contracted. “Much less content is being commissioned across the world,” said Davoli. So some MipTV panelists discussed alternative financing sources. Elly Vervloet of Flemish public broadcaster VRT spoke about how eight European public broadcasters had come together to co-produce projects in a group called New8. SquareOne’s Al Munteanu explained how the company had proposed “a barter deal with a free TV broadcaster.” He explained this meant “giving them a television show, and in return being paid with airtime and bringing the advertiser to the table.” ITV Studios’ Cecilie Olsen spoke about how producers could turn shows into brands and then develop a revenue stream from merchandising. 

The Deals & Announcements 

30 or so Variety news exclusives at MipTV:

*Studiocanal made a full market launch of “Families Like Ours,” the first series by Thomas Vinterberg, already generating sales buzz and one of the big titles at MipTV.

*CAA has signed for representation French formats producer Dreamspark for representation, described as the CAA has signed French formats producer Dreamspark, described as the first production company to integrate AI and data analytics into its core operations. It is also behind formats such as “The Power,” launched April 1 on French network W9.  

*In a second operation, CAA has come on board to advise on the worldwide sales of “Pleasant Outcast,” the post-apocalyptic Korean thriller series that premiered at Canneseries.

*Featuring Jesse Williams as the lead, Prime Video Italy’s high-end ‘Costiera’ series has revealed a full international cast. Series is co-produced by Amazon Studios and Luca Bernabei for Lux Vide, owned by Fremantle, which handles distribution.

*Newen Studios’ Anagram is broadening its Scandi footprint with acquisition of ‘Money Shot’ Finnish shingle Just Republic.

*France’s Canal+ has acquired Rafael Cobos’ 2023 Canneseries short form winner ‘The Left-Handed Son’ from Movistar Plus+.

*Beta Film has announced that “Skam,” the groundbreaking format from Norway’s NRK, is getting a new adaptation: “Sram,” produced by CGM Films for HRT in Croatia. Beta Film handles international distribution and format rights.

*Federation Studios has boarded Cape Town-set “The Morning After” with rising British star Amara Okereke.

*Banijay is taking school reunion dating show ‘Alumni Lovers’ to France and the Netherlands.

*Talpa quiz show ‘The Floor,” named at MipFormats as the on-the-rise ‘Format to Watch’ by analysis firm K7, has added Portugal and Israel to major territory sales such as Germany France, Italy and Spain. 

*”Free at Last,” about South Africa’s apartheid, has been boarded by Germany’s ZDF and European broadcaster Arte.

*AMC Networks Southern Europe has bought Finnish disaster drama ‘Seconds,’ as Season 2 is confirmed.

*Scandinavian powerhouse REinvent added “L/over,” starring Krista Kosonen, and “Hybris” to its MipTV Slate, led by Canneseries’ ‘Dark Horse,’ and ‘Painkiller.’ 

*Shervin Alenabi and Eric Dane (in a small role) have joined the star-studded cast of thriller “Kabul” as Mediawan Rights boards sales.

*PBS has boarded ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ as All3Media International signs a new deal for Lion Television project. 

*Tom Winchester’s Pure Fiction Television has secures rights to Dolores Redondo’s best-selling Baztan series of novels.

*Primitives has taken international distribution rights to Canneseries wacky Norwegian post-Apocalypse comedy “Dumbsday.”

*Sara Soulié, Alistair Rammer are set for Keshet International-Elisa Viihde sci-fi thriller ‘Valhalla Project,’ pitched at MipDrama.

*Swedish psycho thriller “End of Summer,” from former police officer Anders de la Motte, has been snapped up by Canal+ Group’s channel Polar + for France and all its territories. Sale was handled by Viaplay Content Distribution. 

*Global Screen revealed at MipTV further international sales on spy thriller “Davos 1917.”

*‘Tepui – Into the House of Gods,” exploring the mountains of Venezuela, was launched at MipTV by ZDF Studios.

*DCD Rights has seen a flurry of pre-sales on remastered Bowie, Hendrix, Chicago and Elvis titles.

*3CAT brought to market “Aitana,” a doc film-miniseries, as it leverages Catalonia’s deep doc tradition and big sports IPs such as Johann Cruyff, the subject of “The Signing.”

*French wildlife format ‘Thalassa’ will have a reboot with Diego Buñuel-hosted ‘Deep Blue Horizons;’ France TV Distribution boarding sales.

*’Stan Lee’s “Lucky Man” showrunner Neil Biswas and “The Arbor” star Manjinder Virk are launching Riverbird Films, revealing its first slate.

*Onza Distribution has snapped up a troika of sports docs from Wakai and Prime Video Spain: “Marc Márquez: All In,” “Simeone: Living Match by Match” and the announced “FC Barcelona: A New Era.” 

*Alyssa Milano-produced docuseries ‘Balance: A Perimenopause Journey’ was acquired by Espresso Media. 

*Bavaria Fiction unveiled label Icon Docs; projects include ‘Hitler in Hollywood,’ ‘The Park – New York’s Revolutionary Heart.’ 

*PBS Intl. bowed Season 2 of ‘Baby Animals: Top 10’ at MipTV, alongside a kid-friendly version, while delivering a squad of sports-themed documentaries to MipTV ahead of the Paris Olympics.

*Yle Sales swooped on ‘Linda’s Room,’ a Finnish drama thriller about sexual abuse, ahead of MipTV.

*BeIN Media Group has pounced on MENA region rights to live-action kids series “Saïd and Anna,” from Incredible Film.

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