Pact to boost UK presence at MipJunior

MIPTV: UK producers’ trade body Pact has secured government funding to bring more UK animation and children’s TV production companies to MipJunior in October.

John McVay

The international business development organisation UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) will supply the grants and interested companies should contact ‪[email protected]‬ for more information.‬

Pact CEO John McVay said: “This is a sign of how important these sectors are to Pact and how hard Pact works to secure support for companies as they face difficult market conditions.”

Mike Watts, MD of UK indie Novel Entertainment, added: “Attending markets like MipJunior can be an expensive exercise for animation and children’s TV producers in the UK.

“In securing these grants from UKTI for a further year, Pact is continuing to provide invaluable support for programme producers who crucially rely on international sales and coproduction partnerships.”

In related news, MipJunior organiser Reed Midem’s television division has brought together nine international TV executives to form the Kids Buyers Advisory Board.

The board’s primary role is to offer guidance on strategy and content development for future kids’ programming projects related to Reed Midem’s portfolio of television events, including MipTV and Mipcom.

It consists of Jules Borkent of Nickelodeon in the US; Deirdre Brennan of Corus Kids in Canada; Jackie Edwards of the BBC in the UK; Hitoshi Furukawa of NHK in Japan; Luca Milano of Rai in Italy; Karen Miller of Disney Channels Worldwide; Cartoon Network’s Adina Pitt; Tiphaine de Raguenel of France 4; and Janine Weigold of Super RTL in Germany.