Mipcom Begins With Sunny Skies in Cannes but Clouds Still Hang Over the Content Biz
Another year, another crossroads for the content business. As buyers and sellers gather in Cannes this week for Mipcom, change is in the air yet again on both sides of the Atlantic.
In the U.S., the largest media conglomerates are all in rebuilding mode, even the mighty Disney. The Europe and the U.K., on the other hand, the sense of opportunity is palpable as the largest streamers (think Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Max) fight to compete on a global scale that has opened up doors for non-English language content.
The conference will kick off with Gerhard Zeiler, Warner Bros. Discovery’s president of international, who will unveil roll out plans for its standalone service, Max, across Europe, including in France where local originals have been commissioned. WBD made headlines in the run up to Mipcom due to an exodus of top-ranking executives that has made way to a new leadership structure for global markets.
French banners, such as Canal+, Mediawan, Banijay, Newen and Satisfaction, are also having a large presence at Mipcom. Canal+’s Maxime Saada and Satisfaction’s Arthur Essebag are receiving the Variety Vanguard Award and the International Formats Business Gold Award, respectively, while Mediawan, Plan B’s new owner, opened the market with the premiere screening of its “Zorro” series reboot which has already pre-sold in major markets. Banijay, meanwhile, is hosting a keynote with Cris Abrego, chairman of the Americas, and Eva Longoria.
Banijay and Mediawan are believed to be among the several companies circling All3Media, the outfit behind “Traitors.” Mike Fries, the boss of All3Media co-owner Liberty Global, confirmed during the Royal Television Society conference in Cambridge in September, that the sales process had started and that several companies have expressed interest, including ITV (which previously pulled out of exclusive talks) despite its $1.3 billion valuation and the amount of its debt.
From the U.S., Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast’s NBCUniversal and others have all tip-toed back into the traditional arena of licensing movies and TV shows in markets outside the U.S. At a time when the market leaders are struggling to shoulder losses from building up streaming platforms, the majors have realized the hard way that keeping content exclusively on in-house channels creates enormous inventory costs. Nor can they afford to turn away the high-margin profits that come from selling packages of movies and TV shows to big TV and streaming players in Europe, Latin America and Asia. Mipcom-goers will watch to see how much business is announced.
Moreover, Disney, WB Discovery and Paramount Global in recent years had started to invest in local-language original content production to feed their borderless streaming platforms. Netflix’s success with “Squid Game” and “La Casa de Papel” encouraged the majors to look beyond borders. But as fiscal discipline has set in, Disney and WB Discovery in particular have tapped the breaks in this area. Netflix remains a big exception. The streamer is counting on its global pipeline of content and talent to help keep the service distinctive.
People on the Croisette will also be talking about Israel whose film and TV industry has been shuttered in the wake of a terror attack perpetrated by Hamas on Oct. 7. As the country grapples with a death toll surpassing 1,200 people on the Israeli side and a full-blown conflict in Gaza, most major Israeli companies will be skipping the market. A few banners which have European divisions, such as Keshet International and Dori Media, are nevertheless expected to attend. On Sunday evening, Essebag dedicated his award to Reshet and Keshet, and paid homage to the Israeli victims while on stage. The outbreak of the Israel-Hamas conflict has also prompted Fremantle to pull out its Sean Penn-produced satirical series “C*A*U*G*H*T’ from the market.
Mipcom will also host its first summit on Artificial Intelligence called “Unlocking AI” to address ethical concerns with the participation of executives from top international banners such as Newen, as well as content creators.
Hollywood strikes: The long work stoppages by writers and actors has thrown production schedules into disarray. The Writers Guild of America went out on strike May 2 and went back to work Sept. 27. But the high hurdle to getting cameras rolling again is SAG-AFTRA, which has been out since July 14. Just as entertainment industry insiders were cautiously optimistic about production rebounding in October and November, SAG-AFTRA leaders and management negotiators had another public blow-up last week. Negotiations were suspended, with no timetable for resuming talks. The only thing certain is that SAG-AFTRA’s strike is not ending any time soon.
Mipcom attendees will surely talk about the impact of Hollywood’s historic dual-strike in the short term — tracking the changes to previously announced releases schedules — as well as the long term. The five-month duration of the WGA strike has fueled speculation that the studios will become more selective with scripted greenlights and offset with lower-cost unscripted and documentary series.
Overall, it’s expected to be a busy Mipcom with 11,000 attendees from 100 countries expected to turn up, alongside 300 exhibitors, 20% of which will attend for the first time.
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