Mumbai: The 24th MIPCOM recorded its highest attendance figure of all time, driven by an increase in attendance from the ‘METRIC’ countries and regions namely the Middle East, Turkey, Russia, India and China, as well as Ukraine.
At the close of the market on 17 October, the number of international buyers was up by 7.2 per cent, from 4,242 in 2007 to 4,573 this year. MIPCOM 2008 totalled 13,588 participants, an increase of 1.6 per cent over the 13,371 industry professionals who attended in 2007. A total of 4,519 companies from 103 countries registered, of which 1,779 were exhibitors.
The number of attendees from emerging markets showed strong progression: Russian attendance was up 39,6 per cent (377 participants); the Ukraine up 30,5 per cent (111); the Middle East up 34,7 per cent (419); China up 19,5 per cent (141); and Africa up 18,5 per cent (135). Several other territories also had a significantly stronger presence, notably in Europe with Spain up 19,6 per cent to 651 participants and Germany up 10 per cent to 825.
"With the growth of the METRIC countries (Middle East, Turkey, Russia, India and China), MIPCOM is now more than ever the market for professionals who want to negotiate business with new territories and develop content for all platforms," said MIDEM director of television at Reed Paul Johnson. "That’s why this year we put several tools in place to help with that, such as our MIP Accelerators matchmaking events. We will be enlarging them at MIPTV 2009."
Innovation and creativity in the Spanish audiovisual industry were in the spotlight at MIPCOM 2008 through ‘Focus on Spain,’ a series of events and conferences attended by actors Monica Cruz and Miguel Angel Munoz, as well as ICEX executive vice president Ángel Martin Acebes, FAPAE president Pedro Pérez and RTVE president Luis Fernández.
Over four days, there were 32 MIPCOM conference sessions with more than 100 speakers and seven keynotes from top-level executives and experts including Chad Hurley, founder and CEO of YouTube; Gary Wang, founder and CEO of Tudou.Com; Michael Eisner, former CEO of Walt Disney and founder of The Tornante Company; Philippe Dauman, President and CEO of Viacom Inc.; Ze Frank, Internet pioneer, actor, presenter and lecturer; Gary Carter, President Creative Networks and Chief Creative Officer FMX of FremantleMedia; and David Zaslav, CEO, Discovery Communications.
The Mobile & Internet TV Screenings, where more than 100 films were available for viewing, demonstrated the importance of short multiplatform formats in current developments in audiovisual production.
Many artistic talents came to promote their projects to industry professionals, including Jude Law and Jeremy Gilley (The Day After Peace), Adrian Grenier (Alter Eco), Jane Seymour (Dear Prudence), Neve Campbell, Sebastian Koch and Stephen Campbell Moore (Sea Wolf).
As a prelude to MIPCOM, MIPCOM Junior saw a rise of +19 per cent of companies attending, a total of 613 from 55 countries. Over two days, 1143 programmes (up 23 per cent) were presented, more than three-quarters of which were new material. The keynote from Cyma Zarghami, President of Nickelodeon, was a highpoint in this 16th edition of MIPCOM Junior. Huntik: Secrets and Seekers (Rainbow S.P.A., Italy), in the ‘Most advanced property’ category and Funny Face (Renegade Animation, USA), in the ‘Most promising property’ category won the Licensing Challenge 2008.
