We’re reporting to you straight from the MIPCOM floor. It’s day four here at MIPCOM, but things have quieted down substantially since yesterday. Today (Thursday) MIPCOM’s Reed MIDEM will release the official overall figures, which we’ll cover in the next Watercooler.
The organizers assured that this would have been the best MIPCOM ever, and the promise seems to have held up, with only a few small problems: One was that the impending October 10 European air controllers’ strike (which didn’t come to its full fruition) caused many travelers to cut their MIPCOM stay shorter. While some sort of limited strike may occur today, it’s expected to only be in France and only cause slight delays if anything.
Another small (and unavoidable) problem was the rain. Every night at 6 p.m. on the dot up until yesterday, has rained, dampening (quite literally) people’s plans for party hopping.
That said, there were more parties than ever this year, and we suspect that the semi-quiet floor on Wednesday morning may have been a result of too much partying the night before.
The floor on first day of the market, Monday, felt busier than usual, and exhibitors reported that foot traffic was steady.
The opening night party (one of many on Monday night) was held at the Carlton this year. The theme was the Country of Honor, Argentina (the torch was passed by Canada). The party took over several rooms, one of which featured an on-stage tango performance.
Among the other parties were Starz’ Black Sails soiree, where they turned the Long Beach restaurant into a makeshift pirate’s cove with a looka-like pirate ship (conveniently if only coincidentally) out to sea (you had to use a telescope to see it). Stars of the series were in attendance.
Other cocktail parties were thrown by 9 Story, Lionsgate, eOne, GRB, TV France International, Zodiak (on a boat), Tricon, CBS, A+E, Red Arrow, FremantleMedia, Content, Global Agency, Rainbow, TV Azteca (to celebrate their 20th anniversary at the Carlton Hotel), among others. Plus, breakfast and press luncheons at Disney, screenings (Telemundo, Starz and Telefe) and a barbeque at Sony Pictures.
NATPE’s Rod Perth was on hand promoting NATPE Europe (formerly NATPE Budapest and originally DISCOP), which is moving to Prague, in the Czech Republic from Hungary in 2014.
As part of the Country of Honor celebrations, a luncheon was held for the Argentinean film-TV industry, attended by 150 executives out of a record number of 700 MIPCOM participants from Latin America.
Check out market highlights from Day One, Day 2 and Day 3 featured at the website for VideoAge’s MIPCOM Daily.
