MIPCOM 2022 NEWS 1

DIRECTOR OF PUBLICATIONS

Michel Filzi MANAGEMENT TEAM

Entertainment Division DirectorMIPTV & MIPCOM Director: Lucy Smith; TV Division Sales Director: Geraud de Lacombe; SVP Sales & Business Development: Robert Marking; Director UK Sales: Vanessa Van Santen Smith; Marketing Director: Debora Atala; Conference Director: Tania Dugaro EDITORIAL

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MIPJUNIOR

MIPJunior Keynote; Project Pitch; sessions including Disney, ABC, WildBrain, Indian animation and VFX; the MIPJunior World Premiere TV Screening; and more

MIPCOM print products are

on paper from sustainably managed sources using printing

The Seaview Producers Hub; Special Screening: The English; looking ahead to Media Mastermind Keynotes; Canada at MIPCOM CANNES; Gordon Ramsay; and more

The CNC, France’s National Centre for Cinema and the Moving Image, comes under the spot light at MIPCOM CANNES today, as a their director of digital, Vincent Florant, presents a session on the fresh funding opportunities for the creative industries in France. Their talks are part of France 2030, an initiative to kick-start the country post-COVID, which was launched by president Emmanuel Macron in 2020. The in vestment plan, which will inject €100bn into the country in total, has allotted an unprecedented €350m of funding to double France’s physical and digital production capacities, as well as the number of trained people in the industry. Macron said: “We are turning risk and crisis into opportunity, by mainly investing in the most promising fields, which will drive the economy and create the jobs of the future.”

On Monday at the Seaview Producers Hub, Vincent Florant, director of digital at CNC, will lead a session at 14.00 to examine what this will mean in practice. Florant is expected to ask how France — experiencing its hi ghest-ever demand for feature-film and TV production — should best prepare for this extraordinary oppor tunity.

The

‘One team, one slate, one budget’

“THIS is a new chapter in the history of BBC Kids, which unites our production capabilities with our commercial exper tise. We’re now one team, one slate and one budget,” she told MIPJunior delegates. “We have the capacity, creativity and capability to do more — and we want to do it with ta lented partners.”

Persson used her session to talk about new projects on the BBC slate. These included Phoenix Rise, a Sinking Ship production that had its worldwide premiere at MIPJunior on Saturday. “We’re also working on a pro ject with Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame.

It’s his first original TV idea. There’s also a production in the works based on Little Bad man, a book character created by Humza Arshad and Henry White; and Supertato, an animated comedy for kids aged seven-plus, which is co-produced with Chinese strea ming platform Tencent Video.”

Persson said the new division is open to working with any talent but is currently “leaning in” to certain priorities. “We are looking to expand animation. We have a great indie slate but want to do more inhouse. We also want to do more on the scrip ted side and are trying to find the next great format for children. Outside these main pil lars, we are keen to make new connections. Even if the current idea is not right, the next one might be.”

Of trends in the kids market, Persson said: “A key issue for all of us is discovery. In such a competitive landscape, how are viewers finding original ideas and stories?” She also stressed the importance of creating content that connects with kids wherever they are: “There can’t be any blocks that stop kids reaching characters and content where they want to. And we need to think about content the way they do — for example short form to them can be under one mi nute on TikTok, whereas we tend to think of it as seven-to-10 minutes.”

Persson grew up in Sweden watching BBC shows like Paddington and The Magic Roundabout — and now she is in charge of global franchises including Blue Peter, Bluey, Hey Duggee and JoJo & Gran Gran. Having joined from WarnerMedia last year, she said her new task is “a big responsibi lity” but she is excited by the challenge:

“The BBC is probably the most well-known broadcaster in the world; so it’s not lost on me how fortunate I am to be representing the kids’ production and commercial divi sion both on a local and global level in this new chapter.”

CECILIA Persson, managing director, BBC Studios Kids & Family, used her MIPJUNIOR keynote to tell delegates that the newly-expanded division is open for business. Andy Fry reports

“Even if the current idea is not right, the next one might be”

MIPJunior World Premiere TV Screening: Phoenix Rise

THE MIPJunior World Premiere TV Screening showcased highlights from Sinking Ship Entertainment’s Phoenix Rise, a BBC-commissioned drama about second chances for mar ginalised schoolkids. In a panel after the showing, Carla de Jong, head of production at Sinking Ship Entertainment, moderated a discussion about why this compelling drama “about a specific group of characters encapsulates themes with the power to resonate with children all over the world”. Phoenix Rise tells the story of a group of young people who have temporarily lost their way. Set in a school in the West Midlands in the UK, it follows a diverse group of teens who are taking their first tentative steps back into mainstream education after being excluded from school.

Joining in the conversation with de Jong were writers Per rie Balthazar (left) and Matt Evans, as well as Sarah Muller, head of commissioning & acquisitions at BBC – UK, plus Katherine Beacon, senior development producer BBC Stu dios Kids & Family.

Clodfelter: problem-solver at the heart of the Disney brand

RICK CLODFELTER, executive director, content acquisitions and partnerships at Disney Branded Television offered a fascinating insight into his role during a MIPJunior interview session.

He explained how he operates and how he loves to solve pro blems for his colleagues at Disney Junior, Disney XD and Disney Te levision Animation.

Introduced by Deirdre Brennan, chief operating officer of Wild Brain, as ‘the original algorithm’, Clodfelter described how he en gages with multiple projects on a number of levels across the Disney empire: “Disney Branded Televi sion is part of Disney General En tertainment (DGE), and DGE is the company’s content engine. Then

there’s also Disney Media Enter tainment Distribution which runs our streaming and overseas ser vices, and my work for all of these business segments.”

Clodfelter admits to being oppor tunistic in his search for content that complements in-house pro gramming running on the com pany’s channels: “We track op portunities over relatively long periods that we think are promi sing or that might solve problems that our channels have in terms of not having enough programming in certain areas,” he said. “When I’m being pitched, I always ask myself how a show might fit our channel brands, whether it shares our core values, and whether it has that magical element that typifies

Disney. And I don’t mean wizards and princesses and wands, I mean emotional impact and great story telling that has something magical about it and that creates connec tions with the audience. One of my colleagues summed it up as being like that feeling when you walk into a Disney theme park, which I think is a good description.” With so much content around, Clodfelter has plenty of choice: “But what we’re doing really boils down to the fact that acquisition can be a useful tool for solving the programming needs and problems of our channels, and I love solving problems and finding program ming that supports and comple ments what’s coming through the Disney pipeline.”

Disney Branded Television’s Rick Clodfelter

Kindness is key for new ABC Australia pre-school project

AUSTRALIAN broadcaster ABC is hoping to follow the global success of Bluey with its latest pre-school commission, Beep And Mort.

Adapted by Windmill Pictures from its own theatrical production, the mixed-media series was intro duced to MIPJunior delegates at a lunchtime Screen & Snack session. The show stars curious robot Beep, who lands in a town called Mol lyvale and strikes up a friendship with a cuddly creature named Mort.

The series began airing on the ABC Kids in Australia earlier in October.

ABC has high hopes that it will go down as well with global audiences as Bluey, which it co-commis sioned with the BBC in 2017.

“We have had some initial conver sations with buyers and everyone is just so excited,” said Jessica Ellis,

head of ABC Commercial, which is distributing the show globally.

“Australian content is really having a fantastic moment in the sun and that’s in part due to the fantastic production community we have in Australia,” added Libbie Doherty, head of ABC children’s content. Doherty praised the role Screen Australia has played in supporting those producers, while noting that homegrown shows have helped to make ABC Kids “the only linear channel in Australia that’s actually growing”.

Windmill Pictures producer Kaye Weeks said that she hoped the va lues of Beep And Mort would strike a chord with young viewers. “It’s very kind content,” she said. “We really wanted to put something out into the world at this time that’s about kindness.”

A world of connections in Cannes

MIPJUNIOR delegates flocked to the Majestic on Saturday for the MIPJunior Networking Lunch, sponsored by ABC, Beta Kids & Family, NBCUniversal, The Mediapro Studio, Seabelievers, Sinking Ship Entertainment and BBC Studios

ABC’s Libbie Doherty: “a fantastic moment in the sun”

ABC Commercial’s Jessica Ellis: “so excited”

Windmill Pictures’ Kaye Weeks: “It’s very kind content”

Factual long-form storytelling with

Big Bad Boo’s perfect pitch impresses MIPJunior jurors

ONE OF the highlights of MIPJunior is the Project Pitch, a unique pitching competition that identifies new Kids & Tweens/ Teens TV projects with the greatest potential for commissio ning and roll-out across platforms.

On Saturday afternoon, five high-calibre projects aimed at under-11s were pitched to a jury of leading kids executives and a packed room of attentive dele gates. After careful deliberation, the winning project was named as Big Bad Boo’s Ava Undercover (52 x 11 mins), an animation series ai med at four- to six-year-olds. The pitch was made by Big Bad Boo founder Shabnam Rezaei who ex plained how six-year-old Ava and her friends undertake an investi gation in every episode — such as where the missing apple from her

lunchbox has gone. “Ava is a very sharp and active young sleuth but she can get distracted, so she calls on her diverse group of friends to help solve the latest case. The show

has been designed so it is possible to add interactive elements such as gaming and AR.”

The three jurors for the under-11 pitch were Brenda Bisner, chief

content officer for Kidoodle.TV; Julien Borde, managing direc tor of Mediawan Kids & Family; and Christopher Keenan, senior vice-president/executive produ cer, Mattel Inc. Summing up in Ava’s favour, Bisner said: “It was well thought-out. There’s not a detail — down to the hair colour — that wasn’t thought about. We appreciated the fact it addressed such a lot of topics.”

Ava Undercover was up against four other kids projects, which also drew praise from the jurors. These included fast-paced animation Bad Bunny, also from Big Bad Boo; cute pre-school series Camem & Bert’s Food Truck from South Korea’s Mesa; values-driven food animation Chefclub Adventures from France’s Somewhere Animation; and stylish feature Still Life At The Penguin Cafe from Netherlands-based 3 Mi nutes West. Some 123 submissions from 35 countries were entered for the Pitch — before it was whittled down to the five finalists.

Tale of troubled teen is ‘special’ winner for Ukraine’s Starlight

THE WINNER of the MIPJunior

2022 Project Pitch for Tweens/ Teens TV projects is Really?, a live-action series pitched by Ukrai nian showrunner Ievgen Tunik of Starlight Media. The story of a suici dal girl who finds a reason to live in the midst of the Ukrainian War, the 6 x 50 mins series beat competition from a diverse array of finalists from the UK, Canada and South Africa.

The story centres on a girl from a troubled family background who is determined to kill herself on her 16th birthday. However, her plan is disrupted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Relocated to the Nether lands, she learns to value herself.

The project was selected by a jury comprising Netflix director, kids & family acquisitions & co-produc

tions Amy Takahara; BBC head of commissioning and acquisitions 7+ Sarah Muller; France Televisions de puty director/head of acquisitions, children’s & youth, Claire Heinrich; and Nile CEO Brandon Relph. Sum ming up on the jury’s behalf, Ta kahara called Really? “a very special show that had a clear point of view and a lot of emotion and heart.”

One touching aspect of the show was the development process. Tunik explained how he set up a creative workshop for teens in western Ukraine and the idea flowed out of their discussions. “It was fascinating to see kids come up with ideas that were better than professionals,” he said.

In total, 63 projects from 26 coun tries competed and five made it to

the final. Tope Babalola of Cana dian producer Little Engine Mo ving Pictures pitched Benjamin Ojo: Junior High Private Eye, a live-action series about a student

who forms a detective agency. Also from Little Engine, Maria Kennedy pitched sci-fi themed live-action series Starseeker. The UK fina list was Blisstopia’s The Boy Who Cried Mibot, a futuristic animation series created by Gareth Strachan and Michael Kallner. South Africa’s contender was Cabblow Studios’ Rorisang And The Gurlz.

Christopher Keenan (left), Shabnam Rezaei, Brenda Bisner and Julien Borde

BBC’s Sarah Muller (left), Nile CEO Brandon Relph, Netflix’s Amy Takahara, France Televisions’ Claire Heinrich, Starlight Media’s Ievgen Tunik, RX’s Robert Marking and session moderator Sallyann Keizer of Sixth Sense Media

WildBrain views YouTube as a streamer for its 360 strategy

FROM the enduring appeal of Teletubbies, to the endless pos sibilities of new shows like preschool series Boy & Dragon, Ca nada’s WildBrain is getting the most out of imaginative content across a range of platforms, au

diences heard at MIPJunior. Josh Scherba, president of Wild Brain, Matt Rennie, vice-president of content & operations and Nico Lockhart, director of production at WildBrain Spark, took to the stage to share a WildBrain IP case stu

dy, revealing the secrets of driving viewing figures through its “au dience-led content creation”. Hosted by Dubit’s senior vice-pre sident Adam Woodgate, the panel explored WildBrain’s 360 approach to monetising kids’ brands globally in the digital world. The speakers revealed how Caillou, Strawberry Shortcake, Boy & Dragon and emojitown have evolved through development, production and dis tribution led by a unique unders tanding of audience, platforms and partners.

Rennie said: “We’re about high quality, high-volume, efficient production, treating YouTube as a streamer with an engaged and scaled audience.” Lockhart charted successes such as the rebooted Caillou, which

follows a four-year-old boy as he discovers the world through ima ginative play, as well as emoji town, for which WildBrain offers third-party service brand sup port. The latter show notched up one billion YouTube views in just 12 months, he said.

Discussing WildBrain’s first ori ginal IP, Boy & Dragon, Lockhart described how this show “delive red on its editorial promise” by offering “character-led drama… beyond the slapstick and physical comedy”. He reported that au diences tended to watch an ave rage of four episodes on YouTube.

As owner of the global hit Teletub bies, WildBrain has also been ex ploring how to revisit an enduring icon with not one but two projects.

“Just as Netflix started showing an interest in reviving the show, we were already working on Teletub bies, Let’s Go!, a new CG-animated spin-off for the official Teletubbies YouTube channel,” Scherba said.

Panel advises on building best funding models

THE LETS’ Talk About Finan cing. How To Find The Missing Pieces To Finance Your Content seminar featured a stellar lineup including Judith Chan of Coutts Bank, who went into some detail about the best ways to finance shows. “Over the last two years we’ve provided fun ding for a considerable number of audio-visual projects, and my advice to content creators would be to take a good look at using debt funding as it’s the best and cheapest way to get your content made,” Chan said, adding: “Alongside the way you struc ture your financing, you also need to think about whether you give up some of your IP rights, or if you’re going to go the full independent route and hang on to them in their entirety. Ano ther area to consider is whether

or not you can repurpose your content for gaming.”

Genevieve Dexter, CEO of Se rious Kids, pointed out one of the fundamental truths of the kids’ TV market: “It’s always been, and will always be cycli cal. Government-backed funds come and go, the market swings between favouring producers and distributors according to broader global trends, and finan cial packages change constantly so there’s no fixed model.

“What we’re seeing currently is that equity funding is popular, but for me the most important thing for anyone looking to get their content made, is that they should make sure their cashflow is sorted as early as possible. One thing to consider is crea ting a separate company to make your show, and of course, ente

ring into a co-production means you’re part of a team, which when you’re pitching takes some of the pressure off.”

Adam Woodgate of Dubit (left), Matt Rennie and Nico Lockhart of WildBrain Spark, and John Scherba of WildBrain

Coutts Bank’s Judith Chan

Serious Kids’ Genevieve Dexter

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH M6/GULLI

YESTERDAY’s MIPJunior 30 Mi nutes With… threw the spotlight on French kid-focused channel M6/Gulli.

“We run eight channels in 85 countries, broadcasting in four languages to a total of 60 million subscribers,” said Elodie Antunes, children’s acquisition officer at Group M6. “Gulli is the number one free-to-air kids’ channel in France, plus it is available in a further 25 million homes in 11 countries.”

The channels that are broadcast in France have to obey the 40% local-content quota. “This of course means that we are very involved with the commissioning of series, as well as having multi ple production and co-produc tion deals running throughout the year,” said Maud Branly, children’s acquisitions director and director of international children’s channels at M6/Gulli. When Gulli Africa was launched in 2015, it was the first truly pan-African channel. “Back then, finding shows with black cha racters was nearly impossible,” Branly added. “But I’m glad to say that things have improved dramatically, partly because we are now starting to see shows that are produced in Africa.”

India’s vibrant creative industry prepares to take on the world

THE PANDEMIC delivered a ma jor boost to India’s audiovisual sec tor, Sunil Talati, chairman of the Services Export Promotion Coun cil (SEPC) told the audience at the MIPJunior seminar, Creative India: Forging A Global Destiny, which focused on Indian powerhouses, IP, animation and VFX. Talati announced that the Indian government has undertaken to sup port the export of the country’s film, TV and VFX industries. “Now that India is a country where 50% of the population is under 35 and 65% is under 25, clearly the local demand for original programming is huge,” he said. “But we are also looking at a sector that is increasingly universal in its output and that displays great export potential.”

Senthil Rajan, joint secretary at the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said that the aim of his ministry is to increase exports of au diovisual products, including games, to $100m by 2030. “We have also put in place an incentive scheme to en courage foreign producers to shoot in India, offering up to $300,000,” he added. “We now have multiple co-production agreements in place with the UK, Brazil, Russia, Spain and many other countries.”

Viacom 18 Media’s executive vice-president, Anu Sikka, revealed that Nickelodeon India attracts an astonishing 50 million viewers. “It’s an impressive figure,” she said. “But keeping ahead of trends is hugely challenging and it isn’t going to get any easier.”

Viacom 18 Media’s Anu Sikka: “Keeping ahead of trends is hugely challenging”

Likes liked no more by modern kids

CHILDREN are moving away from the idea of social media as a place where validation comes from how many friends or likes they have. That’s according to Peter Robin son, chief strategy officer at research firm KidsKnowBest, speaking in MIPJunior’s New Kids On The Block session. “Historically, social media was mainly a place to get validation,” he said. “You collected friends in al most the same way you collected a set of Pokemon cards. It has, with the help of games and new social platforms, become much more about sharing interests, and niche interests, within a network of likeminded individuals.” Robinson also said that children are gravitating towards online influen cers, who they see as more interested in social values and environmental activism than personal fortunes and obnoxious stunts. He cited the exa mple of Jimmy ‘MrBeast’ Donaldson, who has used his 106 million-strong YouTube following to drive a Team

Trees campaign that has planted 24 million trees “MrBeast is seen as a leader on values with a socially res ponsible purpose,” he added. “Fans are truly invested in being collabora tors in his network.”

Robinson also warned brands about

a potential backlash to their efforts to reach children with campaigns and content on popular platforms like Roblox. “Children we talk to are starting to feel disenfranchised by all the branded and commer cial content on Roblox,” he said. “One child recently discussed with us how ‘adults have made a bit of a mess of the real world and now they’re coming into Roblox and ma king a bit of a mess of Roblox’.”

Gulli’s Maud Branly

KidsKnowBest’s Peter Robinson: “more about sharing interests”

“Adults have made a bit of a mess of the real world”

A brand new heroic adventure, Talking Tom Suddenly Super (52 x 11’) sees Talking Tom and his friends get epic superpowers!

It won’t be an easy journey but, together, they’ll become the best (and only) superheroes that Peak City has ever seen!

P-words pave a path to co-pro perfection

THERE are a lot of secrets to making a co-production work — most of them beginning with P, according to the panelists at Sa turday’s MIPJunior session, Let’s Talk About Co-production, mo derated by The Creative Garden’s Sarah Baynes.

But while passion, pitch, presen tation, partnership, perseverance and purpose are all vital, most important is to “remember your broadcaster is not a divorce coun sellor”, indie producer Billy Mac queen said. “Make sure the che mistry with your co-production partners is sound. You need to be rock solid and aligned creatively.”

Another P word — persistence — is also vital, added the co-foun der of prolific UK children’s in die Darrall Macqueen. “Getting your foot through the door of that first meeting can be very hard. Big broadcasters get between 600 and 800 emails a day, so you need to be persistent.”

For Dominic Gardiner, CEO of Jetpack Distribution, it’s all about passion — and never losing sight of it. “Stay true to your original vi sion,” he said. “There are a lot of people out there and what’s per fect for one network may not be for the next. So don’t take rejec tion personally. Keep going, stick with your original content and don’t develop on the hoof.”

But all the speakers were upbeat about the status of co-produc tions in a market beset by rising production costs and downward pressure on budgets. “Co-pro ductions are way higher up the food chain than before,” said Cyma Zarghami, founder of fe male-owned and operated Mimo Studios in New York. “The shift

from linear to streaming has created a quantity imperative, so there are now many more oppor tunities for great people to come together with great projects and that’s very exciting.”

Meanwhile, seize the opportunity to make as many contacts as pos sible at MIPJunior, Gardiner ur ged — particularly if this is “your first rodeo in Cannes”. He added: “It takes a long time to understand the market and it’s very dynamic these days. So take this oppor tunity to develop relationships and build connections with other creative, passionate people.”

Glance takes look at global kids trends

GLANCE, the worldwide content and audience insights specialist, kicked off MIPJunior with a gal lop through some recent hits for kids across the globe. The “bingewatching session”, presented by Avril Blondelot, head of content insight at Glance – Mediame trie, offered insights into some of the industry’s key trends, while asking “what makes kids so diffe rent from adults?”

In just 30 minutes, Blondelot pre sented 23 series from 15 countries that showcased everything from winning formats for kids, through relatable science, nature hits, fan tasy and adventure, successful role models and more.

But she started the session with a dive into the past — examining how characters like The Smurfs are still captivating audiences and why Netflix is about to reboot Teletubbies. “The Smurfs has kept its ‘young’ appeal thanks to reboots,” she said. “It’s part of a trend right now to revive old clas sics.” Another facet of the trend

is spin-offs, such as Batwheels and Scooby Doo And The Myste ry Pups, both new incarnations of iconic IPs from Warner Bros. Animation, this time directed at a pre-school audience. The rest of the session celebrated the diversity and imagination of today’s kids’ television. CB BC’s Britain’s Best Young Artists reworks the classic adult format with energy and verve; in one epi sode, kids are instructed to sketch a coastline from a bouncing spee dboat. Other IPs connect child ren with older generations, such as Tiger Aspect Kids & Family’s 13-episode Corpse Talk, billed as “an animated chat show for the dead famous”.

Blondelot noted that role models for kids were in a key evolutio nary phase, celebrating everyone from the socially awkward to the visually impaired. This latter example, Maddie & Triggs (30 x 7 mins) from Ireland’s Turnip & Duck, is a thoughtful look at a young girl’s incredible hearing.

Glance’s Avril Blondelot

Billy Macqueen

Dominic Gardiner

Cyma Zarghami

The English

After a special red carpet event on the steps of the Grand Palais, MIPCOM CANNES delegates were treated to a world premiere of The English, an epic new series from writer and director Hugo Blick. A Q&A session followed with Blick alongside series stars Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer. Also present was Greg Brenman, co-CEO of Drama Republic, the production company behind The English. The series will debut on Amazon Prime Video in the US and BBC2 in the UK, with All3Media International handling global distribution

Hugo Blick: “Like most Westerns, The English is a story about revenge, but underneath it is an epic love story about two people surviving and finding an ability to flourish.”

Emily Blunt: “I was completely kidnapped by this project. From the first line of the script, I couldn’t stop reading. It was heart-stopping, gripping and startlingly beautiful. It was thrilling for me to play a character with a secret, who enacts her revenge and is then able to reclaim a sense of identity.”

Chaske Spencer: “The issue of representation was important for me as a native American. I was honoured to be part of the story and found it interesting to learn about the psychology of Pawnee Scouts like Eli. A lot of work was done in pre-production to help me get into character, but it was when I put on the wardrobe and hair I became Eli.”

MGM’s Rola Bauer shares tips for creating drama that travels

FORMER Studiocanal executive

Rola Bauer joined MGM as its pre sident of international television productions in June 2020.

Two years, one global pandemic and one $8.5bn Amazon acquisi tion later, Bauer is in Cannes to de liver a Media Mastermind Keynote later today.

Her appearance comes at a busy time for MGM’s TV produc tion business. “We are current ly in prep, production, post and launch on nine series, with many more in development,” Bauer told MIPCOM CANNES Daily News. “We are developing, producing and co-producing for streamers and network partners alike, so it’s business as usual.”

The focus of Bauer’s keynote will be on building a drama slate that travels and co-productions — one

of the key themes at this year’s market — are playing a key role in the studio’s approach. “Our strate gy at MGM International TV is to do both co-production originals

nals],” she added.

Besides her keynote, Bauer is meeting network partners and producers in Cannes, as well as attending today’s Women In Glo bal Entertainment Power Lunch.

“I believe we have a responsibi lity and a role in creating connec tions within our industry and through our stories,” she said.

and streamer originals. In the last two years, we have been able to get seven series completed, and the ra tio has been circa 50:50 [between MGM originals and streamer origi

“We aim to challenge issues of gender equality, diversity and so cio-economic systems.” COVID-19 may have disrupted those connections, but Bauer also believes that the pandemic rein forced the value of television to society. “We know that the arts are essential to our humanity. The pandemic reminded us that not only does art provide us with an uplifting distraction, it also boosts our economies.”

Where business meets storytelling

ANOTHER Media Mastermind Keynote this afternoon sees Erin Underhill, president of Univer sal Television, in conversation with Megan Amram, showrun ner of Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin and The Good Place. Mo derated by Manori Ravindran,

and the storytelling”, according to Underhill.

“There are interesting conver sations happening right now around the success of IP,” she said. “I’ll be talking about buil ding a library business at Uni versal, and how we balance the approach between IP and origi nal ideas.”

executive editor of international and senior writer, Variety, the discussion will focus on both “the studio side of the business,

She added: “We welcome sto rytellers of all kinds in terms of their ideas. We want to tell au thentic stories whether IP-based, or original ideas from the writer’s heart and soul. From experience, I know that they’re the kinds of stories that produce the best shows, the ones that really reso nate with the audience.”

The keynote will include a clip

from Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin, a television series spinoff of the film series Pitch Per fect, which is slated for broadcast in November on the Peakcock platform. The series is set seve ral years after the events of the films, and sees Adam DeVine re turn as Bumper Allen, who moves to Germany to revive his music career when one of his songs be comes big in Berlin. Audiences at MIPCOM CANNES will also be able to glimpse a sneak preview of David E Kelley’s The Calling, a new investigative drama on Pea cock debuting in November. Amram added: “I am so over joyed to be in Cannes this year to talk about my new show Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin and

to present a sneak peek of the first season. As a child, I always dreamed of someday participa ting in a keynote at MIPCOM CANNES, and finally my dream is coming true!”

Universal Television’s Erin Underhill: “We welcome storytellers of all kinds”

“We aim to challenge issues of gender equality, diversity and socio-economic systems”

MGM’s Rola Bauer: “business as usual”

‘‘We want to tell authentic stories whether IP-based or original ideas’’

The Seaview Producers Hub is open for business

THE SEAVIEW Producers Hub, the home of the new Co-Production Market, is a 1,000 sq m networking lounge and event space that has been introduced at MIPCOM CANNES to reflect the growing global importance of early-stage development, and the power of co-production. The initiative is supported by Audio visual From Spain, which promotes Spanish companies in the movies and TV content markets; Japanese broad caster Nippon TV; and with the Nige rian Broadcasting Commission, which this year is celebrating the 30th anni versary of broadcasting deregulation in Nigeria.

Events at this market-within-a-mar ket focus on all aspects of the bu siness of international co-production. Sessions taking place over three days feature executives from around the world, and kick off with An Analysis Of TV Co-Productions’ Evolution Through The Pandemic. This is fol

lowed by The Changing Face Of In ternational Drama Co-Productions And Local Language Content. On that panel is ITV Studios managing direc tor Lisa Perrin: “Co-pro models have always been a product of the partners involved and the needs of the show — but they are constantly changing,” she told MIPCOM CANNES Daily News in advance of the session. ‘The changes we see most at the moment are in timings and scale. Platforms want to move upstream on shows they know will work for them.”

Also on Monday is Boys Love Dra ma – A New Drama Sensation, Made In Korea And Trending Throughout Asia, in which people involved in the creation and distribution of films in this popular genre will explain its de rivation and its appeal. South Africa and Nigeria’s diverse co-production content offered to global streaming platforms will be discussed in the Spotlight On Afri

can Drama – Highlighting Talents And Co-production Opportunities on Tuesday. And MIPCOM CANNES delegates have a unique opportunity to learn about the inner workings of content studio Banijay on Tuesday afternoon, in a fireside chat with head of scripted Lars Blomgren and a panel of leading producers from within the

With Karen Wilson from Kudos, Alex de la Iglesia and Carolina Bang from Pokeepsie, and Max Malka from En demol Shine Finland joining the Pro ducers Hub panel, we’ll reveal how we all contribute to an environment where creatives and talent can thrive independently.”

Banijay family. “At Banijay, we are pro ducers at heart. At MIPCOM, we’re keen to showcase the strength and breadth of our producer community.

Leading European studio executives will explore innovative approaches to content deal-making and funding du ring Wednesday’s Creative Deal-Ma king, and highlight the role of distri bution companies as co-production partners. “The ways a project can be financed are becoming broader, from windowing in its local market to presales in other countries,” About Pre mium Content’s co-CEO Emmanuelle Guilbart told the MIPCOM CANNES Daily News before her appearance on the panel. “There are new tax credits, new models of work, particularly in animation, new forms of deals with writers and talent.”

“The ways a project can be financed are becoming broader” Emmanuelle Guilbart

Canada’s creatives find strength in diversity

TELEFILM Canada has brought its biggest ever delegation to MIPCOM CANNES, necessitating a move to a premium location in Riviera 8.

“We have 91 companies down here and 165 Canadian participants in to tal,” said Kate Maurice, advisor, event planning and programming for the state agency. “On top of that, there’s an incredibly strong focus on diver sity, inclusion and sustainability.” In partnership with the Canada Me dia Fund, Telefilm Canada is again one of the sponsors of the MIPCOM CANNES Diversify TV Awards.

“One of our main priorities is to in crease content from the diverse and under-represented,” Maurice added. Appropriately, a key Canadian pre view at this year’s market is Bones Of Crows, an example of “powerful indigenous storytelling” produced, written and directed by Marie Cle

ments of Ayasew Ooskana Pictures. The desire to give a platform to the few is repeated across many of the participating companies. AJ Trauth, vice-president of kids at marbleme dia, described how his company’s show, All-Round Champion, which sees young, elite athletes exit their comfort zone to learn a new sport from their peers, was focusing whol ly on para athletes in season five.

“This really fits with our origins, so it feels like we’re in exactly the right place,” Trauth said.

Meanwhile, Nathalie Bourdon, di rector of distribution and market development at the National Film Board of Canada, said she was “ex ceptionally proud” of their focus on diversity and indigenous content. Stand-out documentaries include To Kill A Tiger, which follows the search for justice after a young girl is

raped in an Indian village, and Ever Deadly, which tells the story of Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq.

For Nicolas Boucher, executive producer and general director of DBcom Media, being able to “make what others don’t” is a big part of the Montreal-based producer’s USP. “Our shows are seen in 65 countries and we’ve created a system to pool the resources of multiple broadcas ters to ensure unique shows,” he said, citing DBcom’s Origin Trilogy.

Christina Fon, vice-president and executive producer of Rezolution Pictures, said she was proud to tell a story that reflected her own roots.

Beth Stevenson, founder of Brain Power Studio, said that the lead cha racters of her company’s primetime output are “incredibly diverse”. She referenced Santa’s Got Style, a romcom in which the hero has to pose incognito as a sexy Santa to win the heart of the woman he loves.

“Our latest show is Little Bird, which explores themes of resilience in the face of trauma and loss with an extraordinary Indigenous cast and creative team,” she said. Fre mantle is handling international distribution for the series, while APTN and Crave are Canadian network partners.

“One of our main priorities is to increase content from the diverse and under-represented”

Kate Maurice

Marblemedia’s AJ Trauth (left), Brain Power Studio’s Beth Stevenson, Rezolution Pictures’ Christina Fon, DBcom Media’s Nicolas Boucher, National Film Board of Canada’s Nathalie Bourdon and Telefilm Canada’s Kate Maurice

Partners cementing US success with two new series of The Wall

PIXCOM and Beta Film have confirmed the sale of seasons two and three of the acclaimed drama series The Wall to PBS in the US. The Pixcom-produced Quebec series will be part of the Walter’s Choice franchise available to stream on PBS Passport. Accor ding to Nicola Merola, president and executive producer at Pix com: “With seasons two and three

of The Wall, we take viewers to beautiful new locations inclu ding the iconic Hotel Chateau Frontenac and Quebec’s stun ning Eastern Township. We’re thrilled that PBS will continue this journey for the US audience. Walter’s Choice features some of the best in international televi sion and we’re proud to see The Wall included in this esteemed collection of programming. Beta Film is a solid global distribution partner, pairing Pixcom produc tions with the best platforms to showcase our content.”

Oliver Bachert, chief distribution officer of Beta Film added: “The Wall is a thrilling crime series with a powerful plot and great production values, shot in beauti ful landscapes in Quebec. The se ries combines all the ingredients needed to thrive internationally and we are looking forward to continuing our great co-opera tion with Pixcom.”

Sky in pre-launch deal with Cineflix

CINEFLIX Rights has pre-sold He lium’s new Australian crime drama

Last King Of The Cross to Sky (10 x 60 mins) on the eve of the show’s of ficial launch at MIPCOM CANNES. The series will air exclusively in all Sky territories in Italy, UK, Ireland and Germany.

Inspired by John Ibrahim’s best-sel ling autobiography charting his rise from an uneducated and pover ty-stricken immigrant to Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul, Last King Of The Cross is also a por trait of two brothers who lose each other in their ascent to power. Set in the decadant location of Sydney’s Kings Cross during the 1980s and

90s, the series stars Tim Roth, Lin coln Younes, Claude Jabbour, Callan Mulvey, Tess Haubrich, Maria Tran and Matt Nable.

James Durie, head of scripted, Cine flix Rights said: “Sky Atlantic will make the perfect home for the se ries. It’s a rags to riches crime story that is salacious and gripping, with an emotional family story at its heart and a strong ensemble cast. This se ries really has standout appeal to in ternational buyers.”

Last King Of The Cross is a Helium Pictures production for Paramount+ Australia with London-based Cine flix Rights as the exclusive interna tional distributor.

A+E formats set of on global trek

A+E NETWORKS Global Content

Sales has announced a series of deals from its growing formats division at MIPCOM CANNES.

Broadcasters and producers from the UK, Australia, and EMEA have

commissioned new or returning seasons of A+E formats including The Rap Game, Alone, Forged In Fire and Top Dog.

“A+E Networks’ catalogue boasts compelling, universally reso

nant formats that tap into the zeitgeist,” said A+E Networks’ se nior vice-president of sales, Ame ricas and formats Ellen Lovejoy.

“These latest commissions prove that A+E’s slate sets us apart from what’s currently out there, and we’re looking forward to introdu cing them to our partners.”

Following years of critical and ra tings success in the US and UK, A+E Networks is partnering with RaiPlay and production com pany Yam112003 to bring the first non-English language version of The Rap Game to Italy early in 2023. Survival series Alone, meanwhile, has been picked up by

Channel 4 for a brand-new itera tion of the format, to be made by one of the UK’s leading produc tion companies, The Garden.

Additional deals for A+E Networks formats include a fifth season of Forged In Fire in Latin America and two seasons of Top Dog on RTL in Germany. The lat ter is a heartwarming competi tion format that features extraor dinary dogs and their owners competing nose-to-nose on a su persized canine obstacle course. The second season of Top Dog regularly ranked as the number one show in its time slot across all German television while a ce lebrity special drew in 1.98 mil lion viewers.

Beta Film’s Oliver Bachert (left) with Nicola Merola of Pixcom

Last King Of The Cross (Cineflix Rights)

TALESMITH

LION DOC WITH ZEE

ZEE ENTERTAINMENT and Tales

mith’s India-UK co-production partnership has already yielded globe-spanning documentary The Life Of Earth.

Now they are teaming up again with a project focusing on one of the planet’s most magnificent animals: the lion.

Zee’s co-production and development arm Zee Plus has worked with British production company Talesmith on The Lion’s Last Roar, a documentary series currently in production.

Sparked by the 96% decline in the lion population in the last 50 years, it will tell the tale of conservationists’ efforts to halt that trend, including their battle against one of its prime causes: trophy hunting.

Its two 60-minute episodes have been filmed in 4K, including footage from the Gir Forest in India, the only country outside Africa where lions can be seen in their natural habitat.

“Lions are symbolic of our on going struggle with conserving nature and the crisis that huma nity has created,” said Talesmith’s founder and executive producer Martin Williams.

Zee Plus chief business officer Sunita Uchil praised Talesmith for bringing “an extraordinary expertise into this sensitive and pertinent subject”.

Distributed internationally by TVF, the series will be available in March next year.

Off the Fence mines a rich seam of fresh Korean documentaries

ZDF STUDIOS subsidiary Off the Fence (OTF) is hoping to bring the next wave of Korean factual hits to international attention, after forging a partnership with local industry asso ciation RAPA.

The deal will see Off the Fence mining RAPA’s catalogue of factual program ming to find documentaries that can be reversioned, repackaged or developed for international sales.

Off the Fence will also be tapping RA PA’s network to pitch itself to Korean filmmakers as a co-production partner.

“This pact gives OTF access to an untapped world of storytelling,” said Off the Fence chief executive Bo Stehmeier, who suggested that the po pularity of Korean “border-breaking dramas and weird but wonderful for mats” has also unlocked a global path for the country’s factual sector.

“The mighty Hallyu, or Korean Wave, isn’t just about entertainment. In re cent years, the country’s independent production community has been in tensifying its focus on factual program ming, and the results are stunning,” Stehmeier said.

Those views were mirrored by RAPA’s next-generation media promotion di vision director Ki Hoon Gwak.

“We’ll give our full support to ensure that diverse Korean content breaks into the global market through colla boration with OTF,” he said.

Uplifting tales from Future and TVF

FUTURE Studios, the factual content production division of Fu ture Publishing, has teamed up with distributor TVF International (TVFI) on a new series called Un believable Me. The 10 x 45 mins se ries has been picked up by Warner Bros. Discovery for its linear chan nels and discovery+ in the UK, Ger many, Benelux, Italy, Latin America and Poland. Remaining rights will be available to buyers at MIPCOM CANNES.

Unbelievable Me features stories of inspirational people overcoming severe illnesses and medical condi tions. Contributors include: teena ger Tilly Lockey who was diagnosed with meningococcal septicaemia and uses bionic arms; Lalit Patida, a boy from India with hypertrichosis or ‘werewolf syndrome’; and Kanya Sesser, a skate star who was born without legs. Executive producer is Future Studios director of pro

grammes, Peter Wyles, who oversaw the deal with TVFI.

Future Studios’ core business is creating short-form content for di gital platforms. Increasingly, howe ver, it is blowing up real-life stories featured on its digital channels into long-form content commissions. Unbelievable Me is an example of this and follows similar projects including Two Sisters, One Body (Channel 4), Ridiculous Rides for

A&E, Amazing On The Inside for Netflix and Extreme Love for WE tv. Explaining the decision to order the show, Andreas Lemos, director, international content at Warner Bros. Discovery said: “Its uplifting, positive tone sits perfectly with our pipeline of commissioned medical content, and it was great to be able to calibrate the stories to the requi rements of our markets, creating a truly international piece.”

Skate star Kanya Sesser

Photo: Trent Wittenbach

Celebrating the deal: OTF’s Bo Stehmeier, RAPA’s Jaehoon Lim and OTF’s Isobel Kinnear

All3Media challenges buyers to ‘dare to choose the unknown’

ALL3MEDIA International is holding pitches exclusively at MIPCOM CANNES for a grip ping psychological reality show in which teams take part in a compe titive social experiment for large cash sums.

The show, Unknown, is the conception of IDTV’s Marc Pos and Jasper Hoogendoorn, who are in Cannes to showcase the concept to the markets. The first pitches for Unknown will take place from today, held at a secret booth within the All3Media Inter national stand.

With a huge cash prize at stake, teams find themselves dropped in an unknown location with only a briefcase of cash in their pos session. The challenge, which is filled with mystery and decisions over whether to take the ‘known’

or ‘unknown’ path, is to be the first to deliver the briefcase to a shadowy and enigmatic Game Master figure.

that most people ask themselves, especially after Coronavirus,” he said. “It’s even more relevant now.

Most people choose the known path of life. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t work out. But it’s always good for your personal growth.”

He added: “This is a psychological reality show. We ask people if they dare to choose the unknown.”

• In other news, All3Media Inter national has secured pre-sales for Drama Republic’s new four-part period drama series The Confes sions Of Franny Langton.

Pos said the concept reflects the social anxieties and uncertainty of the post-COVID era, reflecting the unnerving psychological state of emerging from lockdowns.

“There are some questions in life

The series, based on a novel by Sara Collins, will premiere on ITVX in the UK this November, as one of the new platform’s launch titles. The pre-sales are with Tele kom/Magenta TV in Germany and Dutch public broadcaster NPO.

Crime pays for FilmRise

NEW YORK-based FilmRise, the content creator and streaming-plat form operator, is in Cannes to launch the international sales of a major true-crime co-production called The Interrogation Room. Made with UK-based Zig Zag Pro ductions, The Interrogation Room is a hard-hitting true-crime series hosted by Hollywood star Vivica A Fox and scheduled to air in 2023. The series, which goes behind the scenes to uncover how detectives elicit the truth from suspects during interrogations, is seeking buyers among broadcasters and streaming services at MIPCOM CANNES.

“With the star power of host Vivica A Fox, we know The Interrogation Room will serve multiple audience verticals and be a must-watch for fans

of true crime,” said Max Einhorn, FilmRise’s senior vice-president of acquisitions and co-productions.

“Very few true-crime series have looked into the lens to see inside the detective’s interrogation room, when the truth usually comes to light. And it’s not common for an A-list talent to be involved in the genre, which brings new commer cial potential.”

Melissa Wohl, FilmRise’s senior vice-president and head of sales, added: “Very rarely do we see what happens after a crime is committed.”

Matt Graff, Zig Zag’s managing di rector, said: “In this case, you don’t know whether or not the person is guilty. But you can make up your own mind by looking at their body language and psychology.”

“Most people choose the known path of life. Sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t”

IDTV’s Marc Pos: “competitive social experiment”

Zig Zag Productions’ Matt Graff (left) with FilmRise’s Melissa Wohl and Max Einhorn

SUNNY BUNNIES ON THE UP DOWN UNDER

LONDON-based Media IM Incorporated has signed broad cast and apparel deals in Austra lia for its pre-school animation series Sunny Bunnies.

Nine Network’s free-to-air digital channel 9Go! has agreed terms for Sunny Bunnies to be featured in its children’s block 9GoKids!

In addition, Media IM has inked a two-year deal with fashion apparel company Hotsprings for the rights to Sunny Bun nies-branded outerwear in Australia and New Zealand. Meanwhile, under a deal with toy and gift company Jasnor, the Sunny Bunnies range of plush toys will be available to coincide with the apparel launch.

Disney+ head of the queue for A Word spin-off Ralph & Katie

CONTENT producer and distribu tor Keshet International (KI) has completed its first sale for comedy drama Ralph & Katie, which debuted on BBC One in the UK this October.

KI has sold the new 6 x 30 mins series to Disney+ as part of a wider deal that also includes all three sea sons of The A Word, the BBC One drama about living with autism that inspired Ralph & Katie. The spinoff series, which stars Leon Har rop and Sarah Gordy — two actors with Down’s syndrome — follows newlyweds Ralph and Katie as they embark on their first year of married life. Disney+ has licensed multi ple rights for both titles across Europe (excluding the UK), the Middle East and Africa.

The A Word is available on Dis ney+ across the Nordics and Bel gium, with staggered launches slated for Portugal, Italy, Spain and France from November, and Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the New Year. Ralph & Katie will debut in early 2023. Keren Shahar, KI’s chief operating officer and president of distribu tion, said it had been “incredibly satisfying” to be part of the team that had helped Keren Margalit’s Israeli family drama Yellow Peppers to develop into a returning prime time BBC One drama that has now sold in more than 80 territories and spawned its own spin-off series. “We are so thrilled that buyers are as cap tivated with Leon and Sarah’s per

formances as we are,” she added. Ralph & Katie is co-produced by ITV Studios and Keshet UK in associa tion with Tiger Aspect for BBC One.

GRB secures global roll-out for shows

FRENCH animation, produc tion and distribution company Dandelooo has sold Billy The Cowboy Hamster to UK free-toair channel Tiny Pop, where it will premiere in May 2023. Targeted at four- to seven-year-olds, Billy the Cowboy Hamster is based on the books by Dutch author and illustrator Catharina Valckx.

GRB STUDIOS has closed a swathe of sales across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Three of its romance movies,

Downsized, For The Love Of Ruth and The Summoning, have been licensed by Canal+ in a string of pan-African deals.

Two shows featuring globetrotting celebrities have been sold to OSN for the MENA region. The first, Down To Earth With Zac Efron, follows the former High School Musical star on what GRB describes as a “travelogue, food odyssey and eco-warrior” jour ney across the world. Lens Of Culture, meanwhile, follows influencer Tai Beauchamp and photographer Elton Anderson as they explore the inter section between food, design, travel, photography and fashion.

In other sales, Nippon TV in Japan has picked up GBB’s sequel series When Fish Attack II, which looks beyond the most familiar ocean predators, sharks, to analyse attacks by other kinds of fish. Discovery UK has picked up the third series of pa ranormal investigation show Death Walker Featuring Nick Groff, while Multicanal Iberia has licensed li festyle show Auction Kings for AMC in Spain and Portugal.

HAMSTER IS A BIG HIT WITH TINY POP

Keshet International’s Ralph & Katie: sold to Disney+

Down To Earth With Zac Efron: headed for MENA

Sunny Bunnies (Media IM Incorporated)

Billy The Cowboy Hamster (Dandeloo)

Nippon TV and Sera Film join forces to deliver baby-shower competition format

JAPAN’s Nippon TV and Turkey’s Sera Film have announced their first project under a co-development partnership signed in April.

The international unscripted format called Baby Shower “combines a hi larious studio game-show element with family stories,” according to Sayako Aoki, sales and licensing, in ternational business development, Nippon TV. “It’s highly scalable and can be adapted to 30-minute or twohour formats,” she added.

In Baby Shower, regular baby-shower parties are taken to a new level as two groups of expectant parents, family and friends join forces to tackle ga mes to win prizes of baby items.

Said Idil Belli, managing director of Sera Film: “Co-developing Baby Shower together with Nippon TV was both an exciting and fulfilling

experience for us. We firmly believe that the format has universal appeal.”

Set in a playhouse-themed studio with gigantic baby items, examples of games include catching balls in giant-size swinging baby cradles, or running through obstacle courses while wearing oversized milk bottle costumes. Expectant mums and dads lead the team through these rounds, until the final game, called Game of Love, focusing on the parents-to-be.

“The final game is about love itself as that’s the most important gift to raise a child,” said Belli.

Aoki added: “Baby showers aren’t that common in Japan or Turkey, but when we adapted the format, we realised that the concept behind it is highly relatable — it’s ultima tely about welcoming the new addi tion to the family.”

Yoshimoto Kogyo makes Cannes after 110 years

YOSHIMOTO Kogyo, Japan’s biggest entertainment group is celebrating its 110th anniver sary by exhibiting at MIPCOM CANNES for the first time. Foun ded as a theatre in 1912, it has since become a talent agency and producer, mainly of unscripted comedy content, making about 6,000 hours a year.

“We are the biggest talent agen cy in the whole of Asia,” said sales executive and producer Sakura Wang, pointing to stars like Naomi Watanabe and TikTok joker Wes-P on their roster. “We’re looking for production and co-production partners,” she added, “and we’d also like to showcase our talent in other countries too.”

Yoshimoto Kogyo’s biggest title is LOL: Last One Laughing, which has been adapted in more than 15

countries and is available on Ama zon Prime Video. In it, 10 come dians are placed in a room; each is eliminated when they laugh until

there is only one left. The Aus tralian version is hosted by Rebel Wilson and the Mexican version by Eugenio Derbez.

The company is also famous for Manzai comedy, a distinct ly Japanese take on the stand-up double act. “We do really bom bastic, physical comedy, but at the same time it is all about wordplay, so we work with everything from smart to slapstick,” said Peter Shi reman of Yoshimoto’s future bu siness planning division.

A key title for this market is You Laugh You Lose, which was created by Hitoshi Matsumoto, the Manzai comedian also behind LOL. It has run as a New Year spe cial in Japan for 33 years, and fea tures celebrities and those who’ve made the news that year compe ting, again, to be the last to laugh. The trio also highlighted Yo shimoto Comedy Squad, a You Tube platform where internatio nal audiences can get a taste of Yoshimoto’s comedians.

Sayoka Aoki of Nippon TV and Idil Belli of Sera Films

Yoshimoto’s Matthew Ireton (left), Sakura Wang and Peter Shireman

FREMANTLE’S NEW-LOOK PASSWORD TO ENTER SPAIN

REVIVED word-guessing game show Password has been a hit in the US for NBC. Now, Atres media Television has acquired the rights to the format for Spain.

Fremantle Spain will produce the new version, while its parent company is making the format a priority at MIPCOM CANNES this week.

“We’ve seen how well our starstudded and modern revival of Password has resonated in the US, so we cannot wait to see how the Spanish adaptation will perform,” said Rob Clark, director of global entertain ment at Fremantle.

In the US, Password’s latest incarnation is hosted by Keke Palmer and stars late-night stalwart Jimmy Fallon. The new series launched in the summer, attracting guests that included Jon Hamm, Chelsea Handler and Heidi Klum.

The original version of Password aired on CBS and ABC in the 1960s and 1970s, with later revivals as Password Plus in 1979, Super Password in 1974 and Million Dollar Password in 2008.

“We are confident that, as has happened before, this fantastic game show will generate ico nic moments that will become part of our television history,” said Nathalie Garcia, CEO of Fremantle Spain.

Rainmaker and Take Two kick off partnership in Dirty Snow

RAINMAKER

Content is looking to Finland as its next source of shows through a strategic al liance and first-look deal with in dependent production company Take Two Studios.

Their first joint project is Dirty Snow, a premium drama series ins pired by a drugs scandal at the 2001 Nordic World Ski Championships, which took place in Finland. Rain maker will also be taking an adviso ry role on programming and strate gy for Take Two, which recently brought in one of Finland’s biggest production companies, Intervisio, as a minority shareholder. The first series of Dirty Snow is due to air in Finland on Nelonen/Ruutu in the autumn of 2023.

“Finland is increasingly seen as a creative powerhouse and our partnership with Take Two gives

us an all-access pass to one of the country’s most exciting production companies,” said Greg Phillips, coCEO of Rainmaker. “Dirty Snow is a brilliant project with which to kick off our collaboration. It’s not only a gripping story, but it’s a story with a strong and timely message for our post-truth world: cheating isn’t win

ning, it’s humiliation and disgrace.” Take Two chairman and creative director Eero Hietala said that the deal will fuel his company’s global ambitions. “We’re still living a gol den age of streaming content, but success requires being increasingly agile and choosing the right interna tional strategy,” he said.

Perfect timing for soccer drama

ZDF STUDIOS and Fuji TV are hoping the upcoming men’s football World Cup will provide a boost for their drama series The Window.

Inspired by a Cannes conversation several years ago about potential co-productions, the show explores

the question of whether money, as the main engine behind interna tional football, is a corrupting in fluence on the sport.

Japanese commercial broadcaster

Fuji TV has yet to announce a re lease date for the series in its ho meland, but Yuri Akimoto, produ

cer, team leader of global business, said the start of the World Cup in mid-November was the goal. Fuji TV is also keen to sell the series to platforms across Asia. The show features actors from both Europe and Asia, with storylines designed to appeal to global audiences. Its production was delayed by the CO VID-19 pandemic, but ZDF Studios is looking forward to capitalising on the upcoming tournament for its release.

“We’re going to make a big push this fall in line with the World Cup,” said Robert Franke, vice-pre sident of ZDF Studios. “We’re in talks with major players in big ter ritories.”

Franke added that The Window, which is based on real events, would “lift the veil on the world of soccer and make it more human, more understandable”.

Password (Fremantle)

Strategic partners: Eero Hietala (left) and Lasse Koskinen of Take Two, with Rainmaker’s Vicky Ryan and Greg Phillips

The Window (ZDF Studios/Fuji TV)

Market Screenings & Content Showcases

A selection of Market Screenings and Content Showcases will be presented to delegates, buyers and the international press, during MIPCOM CANNES, offering an exclusive look at the mostanticipated series and programmes across all genres from around the world. Here we highlight some of what’s on show…

BETA (Germany) International Premiere: Rapa

ELECTRIC ENTERTAINMENT (US) The Ark - Everyone Wanted To Be On This Ship

RAPA is a reverse whodunnit from the makers of Hierro, 2021’s most watched show on Movistar Plus+. Starring Javier Camara (The Young Pope, Narcos) and Monica Lopez (Hierro, Antidisturbios), the series follows Tomas, who finds his hometown’s mayor murdered. Tomas and Maite, the policeman in charge of the investigation, become unlikely allies and obsessed with solving the case. Produced by Movistar Plus+ in collaboration with Portocabo.

ITV STUDIOS

FROM an acclaimed production team, this natural history series reveals our planet’s most dramatic stories. With an innovative, interlinked story arc that marks a first in natural-history programming, this series — presented by Bri tish actor, producer, comedian and writer Stephen Fry — reveals the incre dible ways in which all life is impacted by our journey around the sun.

100 YEARS into the future, planetary colonisation missions have begun as a necessity to help the survival of the human race. The first of these missions on a spacecraft known as Ark One, encounters a catastrophic event causing massive destruction and loss of life. With more than a year left to go before reaching their target planet, a lack of supplies and loss of leadership, the re maining crew must become the best versions of themselves to survive.

ZDF STUDIOS (Germany)

THIS series is an opportunity to see Africa‘s wildlife, people and places from a totally new perspective. Each episode takes viewers on a spectacular aerial adventure across a different African country, the cameras moving high above natural wonders offering a bird’s-eye view of the intimate world of Africa‘s wildest species, its landscapes and its people.

THE

STUDIOCANAL

Night Logan

THIS is the first TV series written and directed by Canadian filmmaker and actor Xavier Dolan, delivering his distinct visual and directing style in a thril ler combining humour, horror, drama and suspense. The five-parter follows Mimi, her brother and their close friend Logan. The boys’ friendship is torn apart when Logan rapes Mimi. Three decades later, Mimi travels home on her mother’s death, only to see secrets buried deep in the past resurface.

MEDIAWAN RIGHTS

THE GOLDEN HOUR

THE FIRST hour after a terrorist attack is crucial, when panic is overwhel ming and the danger of a second attack is the greatest. This forms the base of this new thriller series set in the Netherlands. Mardik, a detective of Afghan origin, is distrusted by an employee at the intelligence agency after she disco vers something about his past. Then Mardik receives a disturbing text

TELEFILM CANADA Bones Of Crows

BONES

A PREVIEW of ground-breaking Canadian series Bones Of Crows, an epic spanning multiple generations of resilient Cree women affected by Canada’s residential school system. From inception to production to sales, hear from the team behind the largest scale Indigenous-led production in Canada. The session looks at the market potential for new Indigenous stories and how au diences worldwide can connect with stories about the impact of colonisation.

ABS-CBN (Philippines) Cattleya Killer

CATTLEYA KILLER

ABS-CBN’s Cattleya Killer is an adaptation of the 1996 movie Sa Aking Mga Kamay, about a serial killer who preys on unfaithful wives, killing them and leaving behind a cattleya flower. Star Arjo Atayde is in Cannes for the scree ning, along with co-star and producer, his sister Ria Atayde and ABS-CBN’s head of international production and executive producer Ruel S Bayani.

AUDIOVISUAL PRODUCERS FINLAND

FOCUS ON FINLAND

EXTRAORDINARY Attorney Woo is about a young lawyer with Asperger’s syndrome. She has a high IQ, an impressive memory and a creative thought process, but she struggles with everyday interactions. Presenting the scree ning are Sang Baek Lee, founder, CEO and producer of production company Astory; director In Sik Yoo; and Astory president Nikki Semin Han.

FOCUS On Finland presents seven upcoming drama and animation series projects in development, all seeking international partners. Focus On Fin land promotes the international awareness of Finnish content. The partners involved in the Showcase are: Audiovisual Producers Finland (APFI ); YLE; the Finnish Film Foundation; Elisa Viihde; and Film in Finland.

Gordon Ramsay: next-stop scripted?

Celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay is at MIPCOM CANNES this week to update industry partners on developments at Studio Ramsay Global, his joint venture with Fox Entertainment. He spoke to Andy Fry ahead of his visit

CREATED in 2021, Studio Ramsay Global (SRG) hit the ground running with Next Level Chef, a supersized studio show that debuted on Fox US and is now being prepped for ITV in the UK. Season two of the US ver sion will premier in the prestigious post-Super Bowl slot next February. Also in the works is an Australian version of Future Food Stars, a show that debuted on the BBC in the UK this year. The Australian version is heading for commercial broadcaster Nine Network.

Speaking to the MIPCOM CANNES Daily News, Ramsay said the partnership with Fox is “a perfect fit for several reasons. One is that I go back such a long way with Fox, which first aired Hell’s Kitchen in 2005. Another is that they share our ambition to create new shows and develop talent for the interna tional market. And they are such a juggernaut — with everything from pro duction and distribution capabilities to streaming platform Tubi. Already this year, we’ve launched a dedicated Gordon Ramsay FAST channel on Tubi.” Ramsay likes to stay hands-on with new versions of his flagship shows — and will be jetting out to Australia in the new year to shoot the first season of Nine Network’s Future Food Stars, a show in which Ramsay invests his own money in food businesses. “I like to push the boundaries of our for mats — so there will be some new innovations,” he said. “There will be more emphasis on backing new ideas as opposed to more established businesses.”

One of the key challenges for Ramsay is juggling his commitment to long-run ning existing formats like Hell’s Kitchen with SRG’s ambition to create new shows. “But we have a great R&D team,” he said, “They are always on the search for new ideas of potential spin-offs.” New areas that Ramsay has expanded into include adventure-themed food programming, with Disney+/National Geogra phic show Uncharted taking him to remote parts of the world to discover culi nary specialities. “We’re also exploring scripted possibilities,” he added.

Ramsay sees SRG as a great way to nurture talent: “One advantage of working with Fox is that we have a huge presence across social and di gital media between us. There’s an opportunity to take new faces from short-form to Tubi to network primetime.”

Cannes has a special place in Ramsay’s heart — he dropped anchor here early in his career when working as a chef on industry legend Reg Grun dy’s super yacht. Before heading off to his next production task, the UK version of Next Level Chef, “I’ll find a new one-star Michelin restaurant somewhere in the Golfe-Juan and hide myself away in the corner,” he said.

NEW PARTNERS HELP EARTHxTV TO SPREAD THE ECO MESSAGE

EARTHxTV, the ad-supported entertainment network that focuses on the world’s pres sing environmental challenges, has entered into a string of partnerships that will bring its shows to more viewers across the planet.

Deals have been closed with Charter Communications and NCTC in the US, Sky and Freeview in the UK, and M7 in Europe.

Partnering with distribution platforms in key global markets will bring EarthxTV’s eco-centric programming to new audiences that “care about where and how we live”, said Rajan Singh, the company’s head of global distribution. EarthxTV claims that the US deals alone will make its service available to millions of homes.

EarthxTV has built a catalogue of hundreds of hours of original and acquired series, short films and feature documentaries since its launch in 2020. Its latest original series include House Of What?!, which profiles people who have built sustainable homes, and Bike To Bites, a food-focused travelogue in northeastern America.

Also debuting on EarthxTV in October are shows about Tasmanian cuisine, women conservationists and the inter connection between ‘great climate regulators’, including tsunamics, volcanic eruptions and forest fires.

Banijay signals premium factual ambitions with Lara Vs Escoba

BANIJAY Rights is moving into the premium feature-documentary game — and the flagship project for this ex pansion debuts at MIPCOM CANNES this week.

Lara Vs Escobar focuses on the after math of one of the most famous assas sinations ordered by Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar. It is produced by Banijay Benelux joint venture Scenery.

“Our expansion into the premium fea ture-documentary space is led by this extraordinary modern-day story as told by Scenery and amazing director Mags Gavan,” said Simon Cox, execu tive vice-president of content acquisi tions at Banijay Rights.

Lara Vs Escobar reflects one of the key trends at this year’s market: an abun dance of premium factual series and documentaries from the industry’s biggest producers. The doc focuses on the 1984 assassination of Colombian justice minister Rodrigo Lara and the ensuing friendship between his son,

Jorge Lara, and Pablo Escobar’s son, Juan Pablo Escobar.

“It’s a reconciliation tale like no other, bringing two of the unlikeliest of friends together to find common ground, with a plot as powerful of some of the world’s best dramas,” Cox said.

Gavan has spent more than a decade working on the project. “I started the most inspiring journey, which also

took me through the worst tragedy whilst developing the film,” she said.

“It’s going to take the audience on the same emotional rollercoaster but, hopefully, leave them in a better, more hopeful place.”

Lara Vs Escobar follows on the heels of Human Playground, a six-part sports docu-series from Scenery and Banijay UK subsidiary Workerbee, which pre miered on Netflix in September.

Frida leads BBC Studio’s factual slate

BBC STUDIOS is bringing a strong slate of factual titles to MIPCOM CANNES, including a new series on Mexican pain ter Frida Kahlo that has already been licensed for her home continent.

Frida (3 x 60 mins/working title) has been snapped up by National Geographic in Latin America, after the announce ment in August that the series from Rogan Productions will air on the UK’s BBC Two. The series explores Kahlo’s life and work as an artist, with a focus on her relationship with fellow artist Diego Rivera.

Also launching this week is How To Live To 101 (working

title), which follows Dr Michael Mosley across the world as he meets older people who claim to have discovered how to defy the aging process. The series is co-produced by the BBC Stu dios Science Unit and Chinese streaming service Migu. BBC Studios is also showcasing the second series of Life In Ten Pictures (6 x 50 mins), pro duced by BBC Studios’ Docu mentary Unit. As with the first series, each episode tells the story of a historical celebrity through 10 images, while also discussing broader themes, in cluding identity, race, gender, politics, sexuality and mental health.

Jorge Lara (left) and Juan Pablo Escobar in Banijay Rights’ Lara Vs Escobar

Frida

Masked Singer producer banks on AI dating for global impact

TOKYO Broadcasting System is in Cannes to launch Love By AI, a cut ting-edge dating show format that uses AI technology to help people find their true love.

Love By AI was created through a partnership between TBS and Craig Plestis, producer of the US version of The Masked Singer. Plestis, at MIPCOM CANNES to promote the show, said: “When I’m looking for a new concept or show idea, my first question is: ‘Has this been done before?’. Love By AI is without a doubt a unique and vi sionary format that has never been done before. I see this show as ha ving a global impact. It is flexible and can be tailored for each indivi dual market. At its core, it is the ul

timate fusion of science and heart.”

Plestis is a former head of reality who now runs his own indie Smart Dog Media. “I have always had great respect for Japanese culture and the creative work at TBS. So when my agent, Steve Wohl of Paradigm and Greg Bellon, who represents TBS, made an introduction, I was game. Originally I was going to help promote their existing content and formats in the US, which I still do, but then we started talking about creating a brand new idea, which re sulted in Love By AI. The show aired in Japan and was a hit and we hope to bring it to the US.”

Explaining what it takes to transfer an Asian hit to the US, he said the key thing is “to identify a unique

idea. Then you have to adapt it for the US audience, which often means the Western audience as well. Bes poke content is key.”

Of Smart Dog’s growth plans, Plestis said: “We are getting into scripted as well as some hybrid formats. I have optioned a few hit Korean dramas and have some original ideas as well. We shall see what happens.”

Gurin teams with Film.UA to take Ukranian content global

THE GURIN COMPANY and Ukraine’s Film.UA Group have formed a new partnership, under which the Emmy Award-winning US producer will represent Film. UA’s non-scripted programming in the US and other internatio nal territories. The Gurin Com

pany will select Film.UA formats and ready-made properties with international potential and pro vide development, distribution and co-production services to enable each project to realise its full commercial and creative potential outside Ukraine. The partners will also work together to originate and develop new properties for the US, Ukrainian and international markets. The partnership is launching two brand new formats at MIPCOM CANNES 2022; The History Of Criminalistics and The Insiders Project. Phil Gurin, president and CEO of The Gurin Company, said: “While predominantly known for scripted output, Ukranian story telling expertise is well-known,

highly-regarded and deserves to be known far beyond its borders.

With a project like The History Of Criminalistics, Film.UA was able to execute some terrific dramatic recreations with great skill. Even more, their cinema-quality special effects and CGI, all done locally in Ukraine, can stand against any of the big global studios, and we can’t wait to bring that level to our productions in other territories.”

Kateryna Vyshnevska, head of de velopment and co-productions at Film.UA Group, said: “We are es pecially pleased that the co-ope ration encompasses projects touching on the subject of war in Ukraine, but also pure entertain ment, from crime docu-drama to extreme urban explorations.

The Ukrainian audiovisual in dustry has many talented people who will continue to create great content. We are not defined by the war only and this co-development deal is a great testament to that.” Also new from the partnership is

factual series Rebuilding Ukraine

Together (8 x 45 mins), a Film. UA home-renovation pilot that was filmed before the war but ne ver aired. The series’ mission is to rebuild the Ukrainian homes that have been destroyed in the war, while also creating a sup portive community for trauma tised local families.

Craig Plestis

Phil Gurin

‘‘The ultimate fusion of science and heart’’

‘We are not defined by the war only ’

Underknown migrates from web to TV with science show What If

WHAT would it be like to be swallowed by a whale? Could you swim around a nuclear reactor or surf a tsunami?

These intriguing questions — and many more — are explored in What If, the internet science show from Canadian digital-first me dia company Underknown, which

is launching a TV production arm this week in Cannes. Now, the short-form web proposition, which has more than by 65 million followers across social media, is being reworked and reformatted into a 52 x 60 mins long-form te levision series in partnership with West One International.

“We’re reversing the trend of TV shows moving online,” said Carl Hall, managing director of West One. “From a TV perspective, it’s like Underknown has put out pro mos of all the most exciting factual subjects online. We can take this viewing data to create TV program ming that already has an in-built au dience. We’re making Netflix-type meta data available to broadcasters for the first time.”

That statistical data is certainly im pressive: Underknown claims its multi-lingual factual content has “strong endorsement” from over 100 million active viewers and ge nerates over one billion views each month. And many of those viewers fall into the golden 18-to-34 demo graphic. “With the huge amount of data we’ve collected, we’re able to cherry-pick the most engaging

subjects, tailoring content market by market,” added Underknown co-founder and CEO Steve Hulford. What If is the first Underknown project to be re-imagined for TV on the development slate, which is overseen by Connor Boals (for merly CNN) and Cameron Mac donald (ex-Frantic Films). More original TV content is set to follow,

starting with History In Living Co lour (6 x 60 mins), in which visual historian Jordan Lloyd explores the unknown stories behind iconic photographs. West One will raise fi nance and distribute Underknown’s content globally.

“We’re in production with 52 epi sodes of What If, but that’s only a tiny percentage of our digital out put,” Hulford added. “We thought we’d start with the best of the best.”

Monetisation talks for Turkey’s Merzigo

TURKISH aggregator Merzigo is back in town after sealing a raft of deals at MIPCOM CANNES 2021.

“There were just a few of us last time, but this year we’ve returned with a 25-strong team and our own booth,” said chairman Yigit Dogan Celik. “Merzigo is aiming this week to talk to existing clients and meet new clients, to further help compa nies monetise their content.”

Merzigo has grown quickly in recent years, assisting dozens of free-to-air channels in particular to reach new audiences via digital delivery plat forms. “We are a young company with a big team, employing almost 300 people,” Dogan Celik said. “We have offices in the UK and India, and a Spanish office opening in Madrid next year. We distribute thousands of hours of content across YouTube and Facebook.”

He added: “Our expertise is com bining technology with monetisa tion know-how.”

Dogan Celik noted that around 30% of broadcasters’, distributors’ and studios’ revenues now come from digital routes: “That means we have to stay on top of new trends.

We have a very strong R&D team, which monitors the algorithms constantly, while our business ana lysts examine new ways to mone tise and localise content.”

“We thought we’d start with the best of the best”

Merzigo’s Yigit Dogan Celik

Team What If: West One International’s Carl Hall (left) with Underknown Studios’ Steve Hulford and Connor Boals

CONTENT FOR SALE

3BOXMEDIA

SPANISH-GERMAN distributor 3Boxmedia presents a new season of Children Of The Stars. In the series, from Chilean production company Cabala Producciones, Ricardo Garcia shares his passion for the cosmos. He explores huge caverns that can simulate future Martian bases, trains like an astronaut in the sea, explores Antarctica to investigate the fu ture of the planet, tours the Amazon to research the knowledge of native peoples and visits the largest telescopes that explore the solar system.

DOGWOOF

FREE Money (1 x 75 mins/HD) is a new film that examines an audacious so cial experiment, with consequences that could radically change the way we share the world’s wealth. When universal basic income (UBI) comes to the Kenyan village of Kogutu, lives are forever changed. Fast-growing non-profit GiveDirectly is providing free money for 12 years as part of the world’s largest UBI experiment. Filmmakers Lauren DeFilippo and Sam Soko juxtapose the story of these young economists, bankrolled by Silicon Valley and convinced that they have found an infallible algorithm to end world poverty, with por traits of local Kenyans whose lives are being dramatically impacted for bet ter and for worse. Among other titles brought to the international market by the UK’s Dogwoof are: Pray For Our Sinners (1 x 82/52 mins/HD), which confronts the Catholic Church’s recent history of brutality against children and women, from corporal punishment to state-sanctioned mother-and-baby homes; and My Name Is Alfred Hitchcock (1 x 120 mins/HD), a documentary that re-examines the vast filmography and legacy of one of the 20th century’s greatest filmmakers, using the auteur’s own voice.

LONDON-based distributor Cake has partnered with Arcana Studios for My Brother The Monster (26 x 11 mins). Produced by Canada’s Arcana Studios and Mexican producer Gasolina Studios, the series is aimed at six- to eight-year-olds. Petunia’s ordinary summer becomes extraordi nary when a ball-sized furry monster rockets down to earth. Mombou becomes a nine-foot monster and part of the family. When he becomes overwhelmed he reverts back to his original size, which happens a lot, particularly at school. Mombou’s ability to grow and shrink depending on his emotions represents the challenges some children face.

KBS MEDIA

A SCRIPTED highlight from Korea’s KBS Media is Bad Pro secutor (12 x 70 mins), about two very different prosecutors who reluctantly team up to confront bad guys, corrupt au thorities and institutions. From the non-scripted genre comes competition show The Song We Loved, A New Singer (10 x 90 mins), featuring re-interpreta tions of songs from the 1970s to the 1990s. From the factual slate comes Kiss The Universe (2 x 50 mins), which includes cut ting-edge visual effects — inclu ding AR, scientific knowledge and orchestras accompanying beautiful images of space.

My Brother The Monster (Cake)

Children Of The Stars (3Boxmedia)

Kiss The Universe (KBS Media)

Free Money (Dogwoof)

Here we highlight examples of the thousands of hours of content brought to MIPCOM CANNES from around the world

monetize the future

Merzigo is a cutting-edge technology company that has developed proprietary digital tools to provide a range of innovative services to broadcasters, producers and distributors. Our pioneering approach to channel creation and management is increasingly of interest in the international marketplace and we are now helping numerous leading entertainment brands to grow their AVOD business, finding them new audiences and increasing revenue streams.

HAT

STRANGERS On A Plane (20 x 30 mins), brought to MIPCOM CANNES by the UK’s Hat Trick International, is a stripped daytime format in which five holiday-goers pack their bags for the same popular holiday destination. Once settled, they each take control of an action-packed 24 hours in a bid to prove they can ‘holiday’ better than the others. From chaotic dune-buggy racing, to beach raves and unsavoury youth hos tels, the five travelers battle it out for the week’s grand prize — another five days in the sun with a person of their choice.

FEDERATION STUDIOS

DRAMEDY Under Control (6 x 30 mins) features Marie Tessier, recently ap pointed Secretary of State, in charge of foreign affairs, who must deal with five Europeans, including two French people, taken hostage by terrorists in Sahel. Marie immediately goes rogue while striving to make it look like everything’s under control. Further priorities for France’s Federation include: Bardot (6 x 52 mins), a series starring Julia de Nunez that portrays the life of French icon Brigitte Bardot before she became a superstar; One Of Us (6 x 52 mins), set in a high school which specialises in students with disabilities, following 17-yearold Victoire as she discovers that friendship outweighs any prejudice that may come their way; 66th North Precinct (6 x 52 mins), about detective Maria Puda sis, an ex-world champion boxer who, with the help of her partner Samu, solves crimes across the unforgiving, beautiful Nordic landscape; young-adult drama series Kids In Crime (8 x 26 mins); thriller Off Track (6 x 52 mins), about a mo ther whose secret life is revealed when she goes missing; Peter Doherty: Stran ger In My Own Skin, a documentary about the British punk rock star; and, un der the Boreales Federation label, dedicated to premium documentary, comes The Cold Rush, which addresses the adaptability of nature to global warning.

Strangers On A Plane

Under Control (Federation Studios)

Are

RAINMAKER CONTENT

THE UK’s Rainmaker Content brings Arthur – A Life With The Royal Family (1 x 60 mins) to MIPCOM CANNES, about royal photographer Arthur Edwards, who worked for one of the UK’s leading newspapers, The Sun, for almost four de cades. Arthur has followed and captured more than 200 royal tours across 120 countries and has been behind the lens at se ven royal weddings, four funerals and seven royal births. In this documentary Edwards tells his story alongside how he built an enduring relationship with the royal family.

Stephen Fry, host of Dinosaur With Stephen Fry (Passion Distribution)

PASSION DISTRIBUTION

THE UK’s Passion Distribution returns to MIPCOM CANNES with a range of titles. Heading the list is Dinosaur With Stephen Fry (4 x 60 mins), pre sented by actor, writer and dinosaur enthusiast, Stephen Fry. The series presents 165 million years on earth chronologically, featuring a Dinosaur World constructed with help from CGI experts, world-leading palaeontolo gists and scientists. The 360-degree Dinosaur World allows viewers to tra vel through different environments and hyper-realistic versions of the Ju rassic and Cretaceous periods. Each episode sees a new species introduced to the Dinosaur World. Other titles on the slate include: sports reality series Freddie Flintoff’s Field Of Dreams (3 x 60 mins); Send Nudes: Body SOS (10 x 60 mins), a warm-hearted, transformational series; Elizabeth: Life Through The Lens (1 x 60 mins), a documentary about the UK’s late Queen Elizabeth II; Afghanistan: No Country For Women (1 x 60 mins); Women’s Health: Breaking The Taboos (4 x 60 mins); and Men Of West Hollywood (10 x 60 mins), following six well-known male socialites, along with their boyfriends and girlfriends in West Hollywood.

Arthur

A Life With The Royal Family

Content)

A HIGHLIGHT for London- and Amsterdam-based Off the Fence at MIPCOM CANNES is Queens Of Ancient Egypt (3 x 60 mins), a Tile Films/CuriosityStream production. Egypt was home to the best known of all ancient queens, Cleopatra, who has been the subject of countless films and documentaries. But Egypt also had many other great female monarchs, many of whose names and stories are all but forgotten. Drawing on fascinating new discoveries and cutting-edge research, this series tells the stories of three little-known but incredible Egyptian queens, revealing how they became standard bea rers for their sex long before the modern era.

ITV STUDIOS

MOTHER Nature (2 x 60 mins) is an intimate portrait of the lives of animal mothers of many species, and the unique challenges they face in looking after their offspring. From the cheetah with six hungry newborn cubs, to the tiny poison dart frog who has to piggyback her babies to safety, each mother has her own battles to fight. The common factor is that they’ll do anything to pro tect their babies. The Plimsoll Productions two-parter is brought to MIPCOM CANNES by the UK’s ITV Studios. A priority format from the UK distributor is Loaded In Paradise (15 x 60 mins), produced by TwoFour for ITVX and ITV2. The fast-paced reality game show features party-loving pairs that island-hop around Greece in a race to take control of — and spend — €50,000. Only one pair can control the gold card loaded with cash at any one time. This lucky pair gets to live it up, while the penniless pairs hunt them down. After each 48-hour chase, everyone reconvenes at a luxury safe house.

Mother Nature (ITV Studios)

Leo Da Vinci 2 (Gruppo Alcuni)

GRUPPO ALCUNI

ITALY’s Gruppo Alcuni is showcasing a number of new animated titles at MIPCOM CANNES. Leo Da Vinci 2, produced with RAI Kids, HR, ARD and CM, is a 52-episode CGI series devoted to the young genius and his friends. Mini Pet Pals & Mini Dinos is a spin-off of the pre-school series Mini Pet Pals, which brings the number of episodes about the six inseparable friends to 234. Vlady & Miro is a new slapstick series, and Gateway 66 is a brand-new production, mixing animation and live action, that blends adventure and science, thanks to the help of experts from MUSE, the science museum in Trento. Gruppo Alcuni is also presenting in-development projects, including The Black Diamond Race (9 x 45 mins), a series for pre-teens about an extraordinary car race between Europe and India in 1929.

Exatlon

by Claudia Collao

CINEMA

follow up on the

Lang´s world famous METROPOLIS was a flop Eisenstein´s QUE VIVA MEXICO!

that Visconti´s OSSESSIONE

never seen

director hid a dupe negative, and that Carné´s LA never saw the light of day? Four projects which have history, but which also reflect the eternal struggle and profitability, the particular spirit of an era, and changing aesthetics.

Collao

Television

Definition

STRANGEST OF ANGELS

is a collaboration between three New Zealand Georgia Jamieson Emms, composer Kenneth Young Leese. The plot is based on an episode in writer She was wrongly diagnosed with schizophrenia from the asylum where she spent years locked up. with a stunning Semele to her credit shot the opera singback technique. It leaves the audience to question of authority and mental health who gets sane and who is not.

ANNE Rice’s Interview With The Vampire (7 x 60 mins) is a sensuous, contemporary reinvention of Anne Rice’s revolutionary gothic novel, following Louis de Pointe du Lac, Lestat de Lioncourt and Claudia’s story of love, blood and the perils of immortality, as told to journalist Da niel Molloy. Further programming from AMC Networks includes: dra mas Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches (8 x 60 mins), Tales Of The Walk ing Dead (6 x 60 mins), The Walk ing Dead: Dead City (6 x 60 mins), Moonhaven (two seasons of 6 x 60 mins); Parish (6 x 60 mins) and Dark Winds (two seasons of 6 x 60 mins); comedy sci-fi series Demascus (6 x 30 mins); animated drama Pantheon (two seasons of 8 x 60 mins); come dy crime series Darby And Joan (8 x 60 mins); romantic dramedy Cannes Confidential (8 x 60 mins); documentary Queer For Fear (4 x 60 mins); and reality series Super-Sized Salon (7 x 60 mins), Millionaire Af ter Lockup (6 x 60 mins) and Grown And Gospel (6 x 60 mins).

POORHOUSE International returns to MIPCOM CANNES with an exten sive range of culture-focused programming. In Search Of Lost Words (1 x 90 mins) is a music film featuring work inspired by the ground-breaking book from illustrator Jackie Morris and writer Robert Macfarlane which was produced in response to the removal of 50 everyday nature words, including kingfisher and bluebell, from the Oxford Junior Dictionary, because those words were allegedly not used enough by children. Each lost word is conjured back to importance through Macfarlane’s spells or poems. Renowned mu sicians, including Julie Fowlis and Seckou Keita, founded a Spell Song En semble which recorded two acclaimed albums and have since performed live. Filmmaker Hannah Papacek Harper uses interviews with the authors and conservationists, as well as Spell Song music, in this choral documentary. Through The Writer’s Mirror (1 x 58 mins) profiles Percival Everett, whose work covers a large spectrum of genres and styles, from social and politi cal satire to more realistic texts and poetry. His latest novel, The Tree, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. Further titles on the slate include: Putin’s Rasputin – The Last War Of Alexandr Dugin (1 x 52/90 mins); Ill-fated Mas terpieces Of European Cinema (4 x 52 mins); chamber opera The Strangest Of Angels (1 x 54 mins); and John Craxton – A Life Of Gifts (1 x 58/79 mins).

Sergei Eisenstein

Young conducts members of the Christchurch Orchestra. sings the part of Janet Frame and Anna Leese the Katherine Baillie.

Rebecca Tansley

Minerva Productions for New Zealand Opera

Definition

Anne

Ill-fated Masterpieces of European Cinema (Poorhouse International

RTE PROGRAMME SALES

MY BUNGALOW Bliss (4 x 60 mins), produced by Animo Productions, is brought to MIPCOM CANNES by Eire’s RTE Programme Sales. The bun galow — an affordable housing solution that quickly became a phenomenon — first spread out into the Irish landscape in the 1970s when a series of easyto-follow design catalogues flooded the country. Under the eye of presenter Hugh Wallace, this se ries sees four innovative architects, paired with four first-time bungalow homeowners, who are desperately seeking a solution to their dark, damp and dated homes. The four celebrated architectural practices redesign these humble bungalows and rei magine them into beautiful bespoke homes, fit for the way we want to live today.

Sunny Bunnies Sing Along (Media IM)

MEDIA IM

SUNNY Bunnies Sing Along (26 x 2.92 mins) is a new music-based spin-off show. Each episode showcases brand new animation and features fun songs based on po pular nursery rhymes or favourite children’s songs which have been ‘Bunnified’ with funny new lyrics and musical arrangements, created to appeal to all the family. The series is a co-production between AVOD network WildBrain Spark and Poland’s Animation Cafe. The new Sunny Bunnies music sub-brand is being developed fol lowing the success of the Sunny Bunnies series, now in its seventh season. Sunny Bunnies has amassed more than 3.8 billion views and 2.6 million subscribers since it launched on YouTube in 2015.

131_ARIA ANIMATION_N_COM

Hugh Wallace, presenter of My Bungalow Bliss (RTE Programme Sales)

NIPPON TV

FORMATS are on show from Japan’s Nippon TV at MIPCOM CANNES. Firstly, from the creators of Nippon TV’s series Mother and Woman – My Life For My Children, comes Love With A Case, a 60-minute drama format that follows four members of the police, unlikely colleagues who somehow solve complex cases with their unique perception and deductive reaso ning. Another 60-minute drama format is Home Tutor, an inspiring story which features an unusual home tutor who guides her students in uncon ventional ways, teaching them how to use money wisely in order to survive the harsh reality of the world. On the unscripted side, Time Potion is an innovative 60-minute game-show format where against the clock contes tants fight across three stages while their ‘life’ starts to tick away. Bottles containing ‘time potion’ are scattered around in the game universe and upon achieving a challenge, the contestants gain the chance to drink the potion, which will extend their lives in the game. Another format is Money Or Junk (60-120 mins), which features at MIPCOM CANNES’ Treasure Box Japan, the Japanese formats showcase. Contestants compete to make real money out of anything, through actual e-commerce apps, all while being taken to a remote location where resources are scarce.

RIGHTS

HIGHLIGHTS from the Mediawan Rights drama slate for MIPCOM CANNES include: thriller series Golden Hour (6 x 52 mins), set in the first hour after a terrorist attack when panic and fear are overwhelming, and the danger of a second attack threatens, bringing out the best and worst in people; and 3PU (6 x 52 mins) featuring the Paris unit that deals with anyone picked up off the street suffering from amnesia or showing signs of delirium. Every patient comes with a mystery that the team must solve to free up space for the next person. A factual highlight is Taiwan, Forbidden Nation (1 x 90 mins), looking at the issues surrounding Bei jing’s ambition for a ‘unified China’. From the unscripted genre comes The Time Hotel (3 x 90 mins), a new interview format where the latest AI technology brings historical and even fictional characters to life, in cluding encounters with other historical figures, and is illustrated with personal or historical archives. The French company also brings docu mentary portrait Charles III, The New King, looking back at key mo ments and the rehabilitation of his reputation with the British people.

NEW DOCS

COLOGNE, Germany-based

New Docs brings a number of new titles to MIPCOM CANNES, including history documentary Trained To See – Three Women

And The War (1 x 106/52 mins), about how, by the end of WWII, for the first time in history, wo men journalists were allowed to report directly from the front.

Current affairs series Taliban

2.0 – A New Dawn (3 x 52 mins) is an analysis of the new Taliban administration in Afghanistan, due for delivery next year. The Future Of The Cruise Industry (1 x 52 mins) takes a look at the challenges faced by the cruise industry, where environmental impacts and safety risks are pro blems that need to be addressed.

ONEGATE MEDIA

ONEGATE Media — formerly Studio Hamburg Enterprises — highlights drama series Dark Rivers, about a policewoman from Berlin who is forced to begin a new life with her daughter in witness protection after giving tes timony against a mob leader. Further drama series include: Simply Nora, the heartwarming story of a struggling doctor who moves to a Baltic island after losing her job on a luxury cruise ship, finding unexpected friendship and support; and family drama series The Nurse Next Door, about a wo man who returns to nursing after 10 years of being a stay-at-home mother.

In the documentary genre, a priority for OneGate is Reeperbahn Special Unit 65 (5 x 43 mins), a series that tells the story of Germany’s first-ever police unit dedicated to the fight against organised crime. Featuring in terviews, archive footage and fictional elements, the series is set in the notorious St. Pauli red-light district of Hamburg in the 1980s, a hive for crime, prostitution, violence and drug trafficking. From the kids catalogue comes The Peppercorns, the longest running live-action children‘s series on German TV, with 18 seasons to date. The series follows five teenage friends who fight against crime and injustice from their headquarters in a Hamburg warehouse.

Home Tutor (Nippon TV)

Golden Hour (Mediawan Rights)

Dark Rivers (OneGate Media)

Trained To See – Three Women And The War (New Docs)

ZDF STUDIOS

FROM the factual catalogue of Germany’s ZDF Studios comes The Mar gay And Me (1 x 90/50 mins/UHD), a story about one of the least known and rarely filmed wild cats, and a spectacular coming-of-age story for his companion, a young man named Falton. Both are native to the pris tine jungle of Guyana in South America. The margay is a rescued orphan, and his saviour has brought him back to the jungle, but as the little cat has no knowledge of survival in the wild Falton must help it. Apart from the physical challenges of the dense jungle, they face predators at eve ry turn, from piranha to jaguar. Neither scientists or indigenous people know much about the mysterious margay, so the two embark on a jour ney of discovery high up into its native home, the canopy. ZDF Studios brings an extensive roster of factual, entertainment and children’s pro gramming to MIPCOM CANNES.

BEYOND RIGHTS

BEYOND Rights is launching three new biographical documentary se ries at MIPCOM CANNES. Charles: The New King (2 x 60 mins), pro duced by ITN Productions, uses ITN’s exclusive royal archive combined with new interviews from people close to Charles, to deliver a series ex ploring the pivotal moments in his life from royal infant to King. Diana (6 x 60 ins), from October Films, is a CNN Original re-examining the life and legacy of Princess Diana as a feminist role model. The London-based distributor also brings Reframed: Marilyn Monroe (4 x 60 mins), pro duced by Raw and also a CNN Original, which provides a fresh look at the movie icon, revealing a complex woman who took on the power bro kers in Hollywood, challenged the misogyny of 1950s America and kickstarted a change in attitudes towards female sexuality.

DISTRIBUTION360

CANADA’s Distribution360 re turns to Cannes with second sea sons of two of its latest formats.

Race Against The Tide (10 x 30 mins) puts world-class sand sculp ting teams to the test as they com pete to produce extraordinary sculptures before the tide comes crashing in. They also need to nail the theme, impress the judges and avoid elimination. Best In Minia ture (8 x 60 mins) follows expert miniaturists tasked with building their dream home in miniature form, creating it in painstaking de tail at a 1:12 scale. Week by week, the remaining miniaturists battle it out to stay in the game until only three remain for the final. Both shows are produced by marbleme dia and are available as a format.

FRED MEDIA

NEW YORK By Design: Architecture (6 x 30 mins) is a new series that uncovers outstanding projects that exemplify excellence in New York architectural design, showcasing the human story behind some of the most innovative and creative architects and builders. The se ries features The High Line, the latest eco houses and incredible penthouses on a ‘Billionaire’s Row’ in the city, among other sites. Af ter each episode, an expert panel of design industry leaders decides which projects go through to the top 10. In the final episode the top 10 is reviewed. Australia’s Fred Media is also launching a third series of Stripe Studios’ reality title The Circus (10 x 30 mins) and a four th season of observational documentary series Paramedics (10 x 60 mins), produced by WTFN.

Charles: The New King (Beyond Rights)

New York By Design: Architecture (Fred Media)

The Margay And Me (ZDF Studios)

DANDELOOO

FRENCH animation produc tion and distribution company Dandelooo is showcasing 2D comedy and edutainment series Fantastic Antics at MIPCOM CANNES. Commissioned by France Televisions, produced by Les Films Jack Febus and targeted at six- to 11-year-olds, Fantastic Antics (26 x 3.30 mins) is a slapstick series that ex plores what the ancient world was like. Characters Braillard, Colomba and Lablatte embark on journeys through the daily life of each civilization, embra cing science, arts and culture. The series features Greece and Egypt as well as less familiar ci vilisations in Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East, Meso potamia and Mesoamerica.

GAUMONT

GAUMONT brings new thriller series Off Season (6 x 60 mins) to MIPCOM CANNES. Recently launched on France Televisions, the series, set in the beautiful scenery of the Alps, follows Sterenn Peiry, a Swiss Police Captain who is rebuilding her life after a family tragedy and must team up with a French counterpart to hunt down the macabre Edelweiss serial killer. While investigating, Sterenn learns that her son has killed his girlfriend accidentally. Ready to do anything to protect him she decides to cover up the crime by reproducing the staging of the serial killer with her body. Further priority titles includes: drama El Presidente (8 x 60 mins), about a man who rises from managing a small-town soccer club in Chile to become head of the soccer association, and then becomes embroiled in an FBI an ti-corruption scheme; and kids CGI show Galactik Football (78 x 26 mins), aimed at six- to 12-year-olds, set in a futuristic universe, mixing football, competition and superpowers.

MONDO TV STUDIOS

BRAND-new animation Leo’s World (10 x 12 mins) is made with and for child ren on the autism spectrum, and is showcased at MIPCOM CANNES by Mondo TV Studios, part of the Mondo TV Group. Leo’s World is designed by experts to engage in active communication with autistic children through stories, cha racters, scenarios and images. The focus of Leo’s World is the daily adventures of little Leo, a boy on the autistic spectrum, and his two friends, Lola, a clever and friendly dog, and Babu, his beloved puppet. Babu comes to life to transport them to a fantastic and highly imaginative version of our everyday world, where Leo can find out how much fun there can be in the simple things he sometimes finds hard to deal with. The Leo’s World project plans to develop into a remote support system for children with autism and their families, through different formats — not just the series and the accompanying illus trated book, but also via educational apps, video games and more. Produced by Brand Cross in collaboration with RAI Kids and with support from the Ministry of Culture, Mondo will manage distribution for all territories except Italy, Vatican City State, Malta and San Marino Republic.

FIFTH SEASON

FIFTH Season brings Undressed to the international market in Cannes, a series that sees a group of participants join host Kathryn Eisman to discover how possible it might be to change our lives just by changing our clothes. Created by Made Up Stories (Nine Perfect Strangers, The Undoing, Anatamy Of A Scandal) and Mother Me dia Group, Undressed is a series that delves into the psychology of fashion, aiming to explore how a person’s outer appearance can re flect their inner truth.

Off Season (Gaumont)

Leo’s World (Mondo TV Studios)

Fantastic Antics (Dandelooo)

Undressed (Fifth Season)

PRIME ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

PROGRAMMING from the entertainment and documentary genre are brought to MIPCOM CANNES by France’s Prime Entertainment Group. Included are: celebrity portrait series Close Up (120 x 26 mins), with a new line-up of subjects, including Daniel Craig; a trilogy of Hollywood-based documentaries — The Barrymores (1 x 52 mins), Dorothy Arzner (1 x 52 mins) and Cary Grant (1 x 52 mins); and animation series Runes (26 x 22 mis), about William, a 12-year-old heir to the throne, who discovers an cient runes that unleash mysterious magic and a terrible threat. The series is produced by Prime’s sister company, Les Amateurs, creators of Kirikou And The Sorceress and The Triplets Of Belleville.

BLUE ANT MEDIA

CANADA’s Blue Ant Media is brings a roster of titles in multiple genres to MIPCOM CANNES. Highlights in clude: Prince Andrew: Bani shed (1 x 90 mins/HD), from Blue Ant Studios, which exa mines the world of privilege, jealousy, desire and greed that pushed Prince Andrew into the orbit of notorious sex offenders Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell, and then into a sordid sex trafficking scandal; and Chasing The Rains (4 x 60 mins/4K/HDR), from Maramedia, a journey into an uns poiled and rarely filmed wilderness region in Africa for an indepth look at animals that build their survival around dramatic rainfalls. Many months or sometimes even years may pass here before a drop of rain falls so all species have learned to survive around raging rivers, droughts and downpours.

RED ARROW STUDIOS INTERNATIONAL

GERMANY’s Red Arrow Studios International is launching a slate of new uns cripted formats at MIPCOM CANNES. Love For The Ages sees three middleaged married couples, each at a crossroad in their relationship, attempt to in ject some youthful energy back into their lives by swapping their spouses for partners 20 years younger. Claim To Fame features 12 people with famous rela tives who are challenged to keep their identities secret while exposing the others one-by-one. Hold The Front Page sees two celebrities set off around the country in search of scoops, scandals and surprising stories in the world of local news reporting. Old People’s Home For Teenagers, a spin-off of Old People’s Home For 4 Year Olds, sees older adults brought together with teenagers in an attempt to transform their lives and combat their shared sense of social exclusion and loneliness. My New Mystery Job features a group of participants who sign up for a career change — without knowing what it is. The X Experiment follows a well-respected presenter as they set out to explore contemporary, socially rele vant issues by pushing themselves to the limit in extreme investigations. And fi nally, Celebrity Career Challenge is a travel and adventure primetime challenge format that puts teams of celebrities to the test as they attempt to learn new jobs in a different country.

ARTE

AMONG the titles brought to MIPCOM CANNES by ARTE are: The Messenger RNA Revolutions, about the biological methods and discoveries used to develop COVID-19 vaccines and fur ther revolutionary therapies; Martin Luther King: More Than One Dream, which explores the well-known 10-year struggle of Martin Luther King in the Civil Rights Movement, and also his tireless work for economic equality, access to housing and action against poverty; and Greenwashing, The Challenge Of Reforestation, exploring the issues around the European Union plan to plant three billion trees by 2030.

Old People’s Home For Teenagers (Red Arrow Studios International)

Martin Luther King: More Than One Dream (ARTE)

Prince Andrew: Banished (Blue Ant Media)

CORUS STUDIOS

PROGRAMME highlights for MIPCOM CANNES from Canada’s Corus Stu dios include: Sarah’s Moun tain Escape (10 x 60 mins), following a couple as they overhaul a 5,000-squarefoot Bavarian-style lodge in Whistler, British Columbia; House Of Ali (8 x 60 mins/ working title), featuring luxury home designer Ali Budd as she reveals the mil lion-dollar renovations that have marked her career; Repossessed (8 x 60 mins), about paranormal investi gator Moe Sargi and a team of dedicated sleuths who travel across North America in search of haunted objects and the desperate owners who need their help; The Love Club (4 x 120 mins), films that feature four friends and their search for love after they take a vow to call on one another if they are ever in romantic trouble; and Sex With Sue (1 x 90 mins), which explores the decades-long career of sex educator Sue Johanson.

FREMANTLE

WRECK (6 x 60 mins) is a mystery thriller series set on the high seas that mixes cult horror, black comedy and biting social commentary. The crew of a luxury cruise liner comprises a di verse group of disillusioned Gen-Z workers who embark on an odyssey of hedonistic partying and excess as they try to escape their routine. The storyline develops into an atmosphere that evokes the feel of the slasher-movie genre. Further priorities for Fremantle include: East Side (10 x 60 mins), a drama from the producers of Shtisel, that is set against the bitter rivalries and explosive tension of East Jerusalem, featuring Momi, an ex-se cret service agent turned-fixer, who plays by his own rules as he brokers shady property deals between the Arab residents of East Jerusalem and the powerful Jewish groups trying to take control of the area by whatever means possible; The Elon Musk Show (3 x 60 mins), a documentary featuring exclusive insights from friends, family, business associates-turned-rivals, advisors and more; Unbreakable, a relationship reality show which sets out to find the strongest celebrity couple as they take part in mental, physical and emotional challenges designed to test their relationships; and The Real Love Boat, a dating show inspired by the long-running dram series The Love Boat.

WAG ENTERTAINMENT

EVIDENCE Of The Unexplained (10 x 60 mins) is brought to MIPCOM CANNES by London-based Wag Entertainment, and produced in-house for Sky History, UK and NTV Germany. The series examines the latest sightings of UFOs, which are sup ported by clear video footage or eyewitness accounts and ex plores recently released declassified evidence which casts new light on historic cases. From weird carvings on 10,000-year-old temples to data recorded by sophisticated military sensors, the series looks at all the evidence and attempts to discover the truth, with access to key eye witnesses, amazing footage, the latest military data, and expert testimony from insiders within the Pentagon’s top secret UFO investigation programme.

Evidence Of The Unexplained (Wag Entertainment)

ORANGE SMARTY

A HIGHLIGHT from the Orange Smar ty roster for MIPCOM CANNES is Mi chael Palin: Into Iraq (3 x 52 mins), which follows Palin on an epic 1,000mile, revelatory journey through Iraq.

Following the course of the Tigris river from its source in eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf, most of his journey is through Iraq, visiting Mosul and Erbil, before following the river to Tikrit. He then moves on to Baghdad, exploring bustling city life and the Green Zone.

As he heads further south Michael sees the legendary sites of Babylon and Ur before completing his journey on the coast of Iraq. He experiences what life is like for the 40 million people who live in Iraq today and explores its ancient history as Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilisation. Orange Smarty holds wor ldwide rights, excluding UK and Eire.

Michael Palin: Into Iraq (Orange Smarty)

Wreck (Fremantle)

The Love Club (Corus Studios)

WILDBEAR International attends MIPCOM CANNES with three new history titles. The World War: 1914-1945 (6 x 60 mins) is an original series that views the most violent and significant episodes in modern history from a fresh perspective, not as two world wars, but as a conti nuous period of strife. An expert re-examination explores links and conclusions that tie the entire war period together and, with the benefit of hindsight, pieces together how the world stayed at war for so much of the 20th century. The Bomber: Terror Of World War II (6 x 60 mins) tells the definitive history of the bomber, a potent symbol of modern warfare. The 100 Days (6 x 60 mins) explores the origins and the conse quences of significant events — including the Suez Crisis, the assassina tion of Martin Luther King, and the fall of the Berlin Wall — and the 100 days that surround each event, revealing unexpected aspects of some of the pivotal moments of modern history.

THE TELEVISION SYNDICATION COMPANY (TVS)

TVS RETURNS to MIPCOM CANNES with a wide range of program ming, including: Caffeine And Octane (50 x 30 mins), a monthly car show featuring unique and rare cars, along with a range of car enthu siasts; buddy travel show Marlin Quest (13 x 30 mins); Judge Mom (15 x 30 mins) and Judge Dad (40 x 30 mins), two series in which tough love and common sense are employed to resolve real disputes with cheating spouses, creepy landlords, greedy siblings and scheming coworkers; and The Inner Circle, starring Michael O’Keefe and Barbara Williams, a mo vie about a breast cancer survivor and the healing power of her network of family and friends.

MOSTAPES

DINOSALLY features a plucky, pink young dinosaur who goes on ad ventures in Dino Town with her friends. Sally sees every day as an op portunity for fun with her two best friends, Blambi and Tibo. They have ideas to explore, whether at Dino School or out on a field trip. The plans can become messy sometimes, but Sally and her friends fi gure out a solution that ends up making things even better. The series is brought to MIPCOM CANNES by Seoul-based Mostapes.

CINEFLIX RIGHTS

INDEPENDENT distributor Cineflix Rights is at MIPCOM CANNES on its 20th anniversary with a slate of new and returning drama series, movies and factual brands. A priority for the UK company is Last King Of The Cross, starring Tim Roth and Lincoln Younes and set in the late 1980s and 1990s. It is inspired by true events, charting the rise of a poverty-stricken immigrant who becomes Australia’s most infamous nightclub mogul. Other scripted titles include series Reginald The Vampire, feature thriller Sugar and the second season of crime series Whitstable Pearl. New factual titles include natural-history series Pa trick Aryee’s Wild World; Holiday Homes In The Sun; The Yorkshire Auction House; Cult Justice; Somebody’s Hiding Something; Close En counters Down Under; Ghost Ships; and History Of The Sitcom.

Dinosally (Mostapes)

Judge Mom and Judge Dad (TVS)

Holiday Homes In The Sun (Cineflix Rights)