Cologne hosts first IP Xchange event for independent producers and distributors

IP Xchange organisers Sandra Lehner and Wolfgang Link

More than 40 TV producers and format distributors from across Europe have gathered in Cologne, Germany this week for the city’s first Independent Producers’ IP Xchange.

Producers and distributors from Germany, Ireland, the UK and Ukraine are among those gathering at MMC Studios for the event, which started on Monday.

Among them are companies including Seapoint, Constantin Entertainment, Janus, Sagamedia, Riverside and Fandango, as well as programme managers from broadcasters such as RTL.

The aim of the event was to create a platform for format trading, knowledge exchange and cooperation, especially for small and medium-sized production companies in the TV industry.

“In our globally networked world, small and medium-sized companies in particular depend on joining forces and finding overlaps for cooperation,” said organisers Wolfgang Link and Sandra Lehner.

Among the talking points, Luci Sanan from 53 Degrees North Media referred to what has so far been low interest by German TV makers in branded entertainment and at the same time warned that advertising target groups are reached less and less in classic advertising channels.

The organisers are already planning the next event, which may take place as early as next autumn.