MIPCOM Insider: Five Key Takeaways From Cannes — Squeezed Scripted, Nostalgia & ‘NCIS’ In Spotlight
There has been plenty of fat to chew on this week at MIPCOM in Cannes. The television industry is clearing a path forwards after a very difficult few years, and that route became clearer during the four-day confab. Below, we identify some of the key takeaways from the Croisette.
Squeezed Middle In Scripted
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Conversations about the future of TV drama almost a year after the U.S. strikes ended dominated chatter at this year’s MIPCOM. What was being communicated to us was an extension of the ‘squeezed middle’ chat that dominated conversation in Edinburgh a few weeks ago. That confab’s chatter was focused on non-scripted, but these proclamations were concentrated on drama. Effectively, buyers are still looking for the odd splashy tentpole, maybe a buzzy limited series here and there, but are mainly beefing up catalogs with cheaper, higher-volume, bankable and returnable fare.
Our Deadline Hot Ones highlighted the current penchant for procedurals as we entered the market, and on and off-record chatter over the past four days backed this up. “What is nice is there was this disdain for procedurals and now people are saying, ‘You know what, the audience enjoys them and we should make new procedurals’,” said Warner Bros TV. Chair Channing Dungey, who also talked up the creative discipline required to make them. The trend could also be seen in two of the market’s most talked about shows, Paramount’s NCIS spin-offs Origins and Tony & Ziva, which were heavily advertised across the Palais des Festivals and attracted attendees to one of the most fun sessions with franchise stars Cote de Pablo and Michael Weatherly.
This procedurals buzz was evident in some of the sales coming out of the market and could already be seen in deals we broke on cozy crime shows like Cineflix’s Whitstable Pearl, while we revealed the BBC’s Doctor Foster and France’s High Intellectual Potential were the top-selling scripted formats of the past 18 months. “The ‘in-between’ is hard to rationalize,” a U.S. exec from a streamer told us, comparing the trend to what happened early last decade after the 2007-08 labor strikes. “This is about ordering ‘keeping the lights on’ shows and mitigating risk.” The exec, and many others, echoed Dungey’s notion that prioritizing shows that keep the dial moving is no bad thing, and many producers told us they at least felt a semblance of buyer strategy now appears to be in place.
Dungey pointed to a TV industry still “grappling” with “fundamental changes” brought on by the turmoil of the past few years, but the sector feels up to the challenge.
Paramount Global Leads Hollywood Pack But Check Books Remain Shut
They used to sell, then they warehoused it all for their streaming services… now they’re selling again. The Hollywood studios were shopping their wares to buyers at MIPCOM, with Paramount Global Content Distribution notably putting its weight behind the market. That’s understandable given NCIS, which has generated $4.5B for the studio. NCIS stars De Pablo and Weatherly pressed the flesh with buyers and joined Paramount Global Content Distribution boss Dan Cohen on stage, while the SpongeBob SquarePants voice crew joined in to provide more light relief. Talent can sometimes look like they’re dialing it in when doing promo activities, but these folk seemed to genuinely enjoy talking up their new show.
Disney had a big stand in the Palais and it was the Mouse House that made its windowing strategy the most present via a panel with EMEA chief Diego Londono. Fox had a visible presence, while NBCU used the market to get behind The Wall, which it is relaunching internationally. Warner Bros. had a Harry Potter baking format to talk about.
One of the interesting wrinkles of MIPCOM 2024 was a major streamer selling international on its shows as Amazon MGM set up shop. Nestled inside the Palais, it was selling series including Earth Abides – but also movies from the fast-growing Prime Video lineup.
Few were laboring under the intention that American buyers are spending big on originals again, mind. One senior U.S. producer, who makes shows around the world, said in the past projects were being 80% funded by Americans with Europeans making up the other 20%, but this figure feels like it has reversed. He noted that more and more European shows are emerging that have previously been turned down by U.S. buyers. Italian producer Luca Bernabei told us Americans are learning from Europeans in how to keep costs down. Those strike ripples are still very much being felt.
Nostalgia Reigns
In an era of risk reticence, it was notable how nostalgia ruled the market. Studios were leaning heavily into their well-loved brands (Warner Bros. Discovery’s big formats were a Harry Potter baking competition and a Friends gameshow) to chalk up sales, while board game adaptations were a big deal. Mattel announced it had sold a telly version of Pictionary to British broadcaster ITV, while Talpa Studios and Hasbro joined forces to adapt Trivial Pursuit. One of the bigger formats under the spotlight was Stranded on Honeymoon Island, our Global Breakout from Monday, which has already sold to the BBC and Australia’s Channel 7, and there is talk that a U.S. deal is close — a reminder that the dating genre rarely goes out of fashion.
Execs were mixed on the frequency with which big players like the BBC are now buying shows that have launched successfully in smaller territories rather than commissioning off paper, especially given we are in the era of ‘fewer, bigger, better’. Unsurprisingly, The Traitors is still making waves. One unscripted sales exec estimated that around 80% of format pitches at the famous The Wit pitching session had some element of the hit mystery gameshow in them. However, if repurposing loved brands or buying formats from smaller territories is not viable, there’s always the trusted reboot.
BBC Studios adorned the front of the Palais with a giant Weakest Link poster, marketing the show to buyers like it was the year 2000. That Sony Pictures Television has managed to get So You Think You Can Dance back on air in Poland after nearly a decade is simply more grist for an increasingly nostalgic mill.
Industry Cautiously Optimistic But Cannes A Tad Quieter
Maybe it was because the sun never stopped shining, but there was a feeling of cautious optimism about the state of the industry at this year’s market. The sense there is light at the end of the tunnel was communicated to us by numerous sources and while things are of course still highly challenging, strategies felt more secure.
Last year’s MIPCOM also had the spectre of October 7 hanging over it, with ramped-up security around the Palais and the fallout being felt from such a devastating day. Attendance this year was slightly down on 2023, however. “I wasn’t bumping and weaving my way between meetings,” was how one Canadian executive described footfall on la Croisette. The lower numbers (down nearly 5% to 10,500 from 2023) were perhaps a surprise given that MIPTV will not take place in Cannes next year and that some top U.S. executives, including Sony chief Tony Vinciquerra, made the flight over the Atlantic.
MIPCOM boss Lucy Smith put the lower numbers down to companies sending slightly smaller delegations, some of which made their decision “late in the day.” Some super-indie stands were slightly smaller, while there was arguably little less star power than 2023 when Andrea Riseborough and Domhnall Gleeson came to town (Poirot himself, David Suchet, might disagree as he was mobbed in the streets by execs and locals — more on that below). TV executives cited numerous factors for the slightly quieter year, including tight budgets, the rise of rival events including Content London, and the “always on” nature of video call meetings following the pandemic. However, the plethora of Monday and Tuesday night cocktail parties were as ever packed and the famous ‘Booze Alley’ was replete with attendees chattering late into the night (and early into the morning). MIPCOM’s lifeforce remains but the market is, as ever, always changing.
Market Movers – Deals In Cannes
MIPCOM is a program sales event so no surprise there was a flurry of news from buyers and sellers – and some new projects coming to market too. Halfway through proceedings Deadline broke the news of Underbelly, a twisty new drama with soon-to-be Suits L.A. star Stephen Amell, Minnie Driver and more, from Murdoch Mystery production house Shaftesbury. In keeping with the playing-it-safe theme, cozy crime fared well, while the daddy of all procedurals, NCIS, put in a solid showing. Studiocanal’s Paris Has Fallen went to Hulu, per our scoop at the start of the week. Banijay was the most prominent of the international distributors and got away an Indian version of U.S. procedural Monk as part of its formats deal with NBCUniversal. Other format news included an India sale for Buy it Now, the entrepreneur format from The Traitors maker Studio Lambert. Newbie distributor Sphere Abacus had David Suchet with them in Cannes and although the Poirot star had lost his voice, he was out on the town and talking to the international set. His show, Travels With Agatha Christie With Sir David Suchet, accordingly landed deals. Beta Film was also out in force, with talent from its epic Euro drama Rise of the Raven in Cannes and pre-selling the show this week. On the docs front, Fremantle landed rights to My Life As Roger Moore about the iconic Bond actor. Turkish sales companies put on a show – with Global Agency, ATV, Inter Medya and Kanal D all welcoming talent from their big series, adding some Turkish star power to Cannes.
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