MipFormats embraces Asia, looks to 2020

This year’s MipFormats conference in Cannes will focus strongly on China and where the formats business is heading up to 2020, organisers have told C21.

Nathalie Wogue

Former FremantleMedia, IMG and Endemol Shine exec Nathalie Wogue, who is heading the MipFormats conference programme, told C21 that following the unscripted formats renaissance in 2017, the priority for delegates was charting a path for the next two years.

Wogue said: “The global topic at this year’s conference will be a disrupted format industry preparing for 2020 and there will be questions in every session about that.

“A lot can happen even in six months in this business and we’ll have sessions on augmented reality in formats, how the distribution game will be disrupted and digital production of IP.”

Following a big return to format creation among prodcos and broadcasters in the UK last year, Channel 4 CEO Alex Mahon and the BBC’s controller of entertainment Kate Phillips have been tapped as keynote speakers. Mahon will also receive this year’s Formats Gold Award at Club C21 during MipFormats.

The event will take place on April 7 and 8 in the Palais and, along with MipDoc, serves as the annual curtain raiser to MipTV.

Organiser Reed Midem says 1,800 delegates will attend the two events with more than 800 at MipFormats, including more than 350 buyers and commissioning editors drawn from around 60 countries.

Lucy Smith

As well as sessions on how to work with new players in the formats business, such as SnapChat, there will be a large focus on China at this year’s event with a delegation of broadcasters, OTT platforms and producers heading to France to showcase their original formats.

CCTV, Hunan TV, Dragon TV and Tencent are among the party which is being put together by the China Alliance of Radio, Film & TV, Shanghai Media Group and iFormats.

Lucy Smith, director of MipFormats, said: “We have a very strong international focus, particularly on Asia. We want to showcase the hottest formats coming out of China because we think this is looking like a big trend for the next year.

“We recently commissioned a white paper that showed between 2012 and 2016 there were 112 international formats adapted in China but only eight in 2017. There’s now a big push to create formats and present them to the international market.

“There will also be formats represented from Japan, South Korea, the Nordics and also France. It’s very much about looking for new talent, spotting it early and discovering new formats so everybody is prepared going into MipTV.”

Meredith Chambers, joint MD at Sony-backed prodco Electric Ray, Sarah Edwards, head of international creative development at Sony Pictures Television, and Peter Salmon, chief creative officer of Endemol Shine Group, are among the speakers.

MipFormats is seeing a growing presence from brands and crowdfunding platforms, and Swedish furniture manufacturer Ikea will have representatives in Cannes next month.