Change of leadership at Reed Midem

The president and CEO of Mipcom and MipTV organiser Reed Midem is stepping down to be succeeded by his equivalent at sister company Reed Expositions France.

Paul Zilk

Paul Zilk will leave the French event organiser on October 1 to be replaced by Michel Filzi.

Zilk joined Reed Midem in 2001 and has been CEO for more than 17 years. During his tenure, the company expanded its business in the real estate, television, music and eSports sectors.

Its portfolio includes leading real estate events Mipim and Mapic, and content business events Mipcom, MipTV and Midem.

Zilk will take on an advisory role to Dominic Feltham, EMEA president for Reed Exhibitions, for the next 12 months.

Filzi has 22 years of experience at Reed Expositions France, including six years as CEO. Reed Expositions France organises more than 30 events in 15 different sectors, such as building, hospitality, transport, environment and art. Filzi will remain as president/CEO of Reed Expositions France and will continue to report to Feltham.

Prior to joining Reed, Zilk’s career has included international marketing and management roles in the US, Switzerland and France, at Nestlé and the US National Basketball Association.

After a career at Andersen Consulting then at the Paris Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Filzi joined Miller Freeman in 1998, before it became Reed Expositions France following its acquisition by Reed Exhibitions in 2000. He was appointed president/CEO in January 2014.

Michel Filzi

Feltham said: “We are grateful to Paul for his leadership and success in building strong brands that have served customers worldwide in continuously evolving industries. Michel Filzi is an experienced leader and I am confident he will do an excellent job as the new head of Reed Midem.”

Zilk added: “I am immensely proud of Reed Midem. We have a talented multicultural team and many wonderful partners and clients. The past 19 years have been terrific, but this is the right time to refocus my interests and energies. Following lots of preparation in recent months, I look forward to helping Michel with our transition.”

The change comes amidst a disastrous year for the event circuit, with the Covid-19 pandemic forcing the cancellation of all major industry events, including MipTV and Mipcom.

Until early September Reed had hoped a physical Mipcom would be possible in Cannes in October, rebranding the event Mipcom Rendezvous Cannes and reconfiguring the Palais’ exhibition stands format to try to make it Covid-safe.

But after scores of industry big names, including BBC Studios, ITV Studios, A+E Networks, Entertainment One and Banijay, said they would not allow their employees to travel to Cannes for the event, it was forced to admit defeat and follow the lead of all other trade conferences and markets in 2020 by moving online-only.

A report by Variety this week says events count for 85% of the income for the French coastal resort and their cancellation has resulted in a loss of US$941m for the local hospitality and entertainment sectors.