Over 13,000 participants from 103 countries attended the global content market in 2007, and more are expected this year as the fast expanding market of digital media and multiple platforms for entertainment is bringing new players each year.
To respond to the greater demand for exhibition space, Reed Midem, organisers of the two events, have created a brand new venue: the New Riviera Beach Hall, located on the seaside, next to Disney ABC International, in front of the Riviera. Nine major companies have booked an office on these new premises, including Lionsgate and Fireworks International. New exhibition areas other than the Palais des Festivals include the Azur Exhibition Hall on the main esplanade (housing The Weinstein Company), the Lerins Hall on the Riviera's first floor (where Denmark's TV2 World is located), and Riviera Seaview housing ten companies.
On the packed conference schedule, the 2008 Oscar winning Alex Gibney who directed the documentary film Taxi to the Dark Side (part of the ‘Why Democracy' series initiated by Denmark's DR TV) will discuss ‘The Power of Documentary' on Sunday April 6.
Environmental issues will be debated on Monday 7, Advertising & Media, plus Online Video on Tuesday 8, Mobile Media and Telco-Media Convergence on Wednesday 9, and Social Networking on Thursday 10.
Among the leading Nordic sales companies attending the 45th MIP TV, Denmark's TV 2 World will offer to world buyers its successful comedy formats Celebrity Devil Race, 24 Hour Comedy Battle and Liar Liar, three programmes nominated for a Rose d'or, Best Entertainment 2008. Two new formats will be introduced by Kim Christiansen, Head of Sales and Sales Executives Anne Köhncke and Katrine Herforth: the documentary series School's In, following an experimental educational programme in a small Danish secondary school over 100 days, and Young@Heart, in which elder people are challenged to form a choir and sing contemporary songs.
Among TV2 World's nine documentaries presented at MIPDOC are Battle for Saddam by Esteban Uyarra, shown in a brand new version, The Cloud Mystery by Lars Oxfeldt Mortensen, (recently sold to NRK and Sweden's TV4 Fakta), The Madrid Connection by Justin Webster, and Mechanical Love by Phie Ambo.
In the TV Drama genre, the third season of Anna Pihl which had 61% market-share when shown prime time on TV2 Denmark should easily attract buyers, such as Finland's YLE who just picked it up.
Nordic World TV, the programme sales cooperation between Sweden's TV4, Norway's NRK and TV2, and Finland's MTV3 has eight new documentaries on its line-up such as TV4's Victoria's Heart about a little girl who is waiting for a heart transplant in Göteborg, NRK's 8x40min The Eira Family following a Sami family and their herd of reindeers for a year, and A Warm Heart and Frozen Kebab about an Iranian asylum seeker who has found refuge in Spitsbergen.
DR International Sales has as usual a strong line up spearheaded by the drama series Album directed by Hella Joof. The 5x58min drama features the destinies of three families over three decades, from the 1970s to 2000. The series was a huge hit in Denmark over Easter, with 842,000 viewers on DR1. It was produced by Fine & Mellow in co-production with SVT, NRK, and Nordisk Film & TV Fond.
The Summers is another quality drama series (20x1hour) about a family across several generations, and what happens when the previous balance of power in the family suddenly shifts. Co-producers are NRK, SVT, in association with YLE FST and RUV.
In production are two high profile documentaries: The Biggest Restaurant in the World (4x30min, 58min and 90min) by Oscar-nominated Weijun Chen, offers a unique perspective on the way China is heading. Thru Pictures is producing for BBC and DR, in association with SVT, NRK, YLE, VRT, VPRO and SBS. Delivery date is May 2008. Also in production is The Threads of My Chador by Katia Forbert Petersen and Annette Mari Olsen, a personal creative documentary about the connection between Iran and the Western world.
SVT Sales represented in Cannes by Malin Gullbrand and Paulette Olofson is presenting Olle Häger's documentary Light and Death, based on an interview made with Ingmar Bergman in the summer 2006. Also on offer is the award-winning documentary The Nun (Prix Italia 2007) and A Prime Minister-Ten Years Behind the Scenes, an exclusive look at what it's like to be a top European political leader such as former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson. Among SVT Sales' Drama programmes are The Pyramid based on Henning Mankell's eponymous novel, starring Rolf Lassgård as Kurt Wallander. The Ice Princess is another book adaptation from Camilla Läckberg's crime series featuring Erica Falck and Patrick Hedström.
Nordisk Film International Sales has 14 feature films on its MIP TV line-up, such as Rotterdam's award-winning film Go With Peace Jamil, Simon Staho's drama Heaven's Heart, Kjell Sundvall's thriller Night of the Wolf and the animated features A Tale of Two Mozzies and Amazon Jack 3-Jungo Goes Bananas. Also on offer are the crime series Lindell 3 and 4: The Night Sister (3x58min) and The Mourning Cloak (2x90min) in which investigator Cato Isaksen is played by Reidar Sørensen.
NonStop Sales has a mixed line up including the adventure film The Accidental Rebel by Måns Mårling and Björn Stein (currently filming the Hollywood film Shelter), the Icelandic children's film No Network by Ari Kristinsson, and Ingmar Bergman classics such as Dreams and The Naked Night.
Twelve other Nordic production and distribution companies are represented under the European Umbrella stand at the Palais des festivals, including Finland's Epidem Zot and Point Alvin, Denmark's Filmkontakt Nord and Homerun Produciton, Sweden's Nordic United AB and Norway's Nordic International.