Five Takeaways From The MIA Market: “New World Order,” Europe Steps Up & Public Broadcasters Go Hard
The MIA Market, Rome’s splashy precursor to Mipcom Cannes, is almost over and there has been plenty to digest. Attendants from all over the world including a healthy dose of U.S. C-suite star power have been listening intently in the cinema screening rooms on the Piazza Barberini all week, and there has been plenty to discuss, as execs from around the world ponder a path to normality following a year of chaos and disruption. Meanwhile, the Israeli-Hamas conflict rages and the world mourns, with ripples felt here in Rome. See below for Deadline’s key takeaways from the annual TV and film confab.
“New world order”
In the face of a year in which streaming models have at times felt on the verge of collapse and there have been dual U.S. labor strikes for the first time in six decades, a feeling of optimism and the charting of a forwards-path echoed within the halls of Cinema Barberini. American execs were here in force (attracted perhaps as much by the world-class food and beautiful sights as the draw of addressing a confab), with Paramount’s Nicole Clemens, Miramax’s Marc Helwig and Anonymous Content duo Davids Levine and Davoli all addressing delegates. While SAG-AFTRA’s last-minute change of demands put a large spanner in the works, each took a future-facing approach to their keynotes. Helwig went into depth, positing a “new world order” in which there will be “much lower budgets” and the market for first-look deals will “further contract.” That market contraction was a constant theme, with network execs and producers seeming to accept that the industry will not be going back to splashy days of yore, and Pulse Head of Scripted Judy Counihan dialled the prediction up to a “huge contraction” across the board during her panel session Tuesday. There was “certainly too much stuff” commissioned during the streaming arms race,” Helwig considered. This proliferation has potentially creeped into the U.S. agenting community, pondered Severance EP Nicholas Weinstock, who said the major agencies now have so many clients that they have become a “little more like portfolio managers, a little more like a bank.” Each was positive, however, positing how this contraction will allow the market to slowly correct itself and could be a good thing for new talent. “We’re trying to introduce entirely new filmmakers into the repertoire of our company,” said Anonymous’ Levine. Financing these projects is of course another matter, and multiple panel sessions were devoted to considerations around future funding models, co-productions and raising that all-important capital. Twas ever thus, but onwards we march.
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Europe steps up
It was the European head honchos who spoke in the most positive terms, finding that now is this continent’s time to show why it is such a hub for TV and movies. “Hollywood should be jealous of what Spain is doing and our facilities allow for this,” said Netflix’s chief in Spain and Portugal bullishly on Thursday afternoon. The words ‘authentic’ and ‘local’ could be heard ringing around delegate’s ears by the final day. One of the best-attended panels featured senior bods from Mediawan, Sony, Studiocanal and Universal International Studios, and optimism about Europe was the name of that game. Mediawan’s Elisabeth D’Arvieu said European production now has a “big competitive advantage” over America and panellists listed a wealth of reasons why, including tax credits, favorable production hubs, local broadcasting ecologies and a “cost-effective pool of talent.” The notion of Europeans “selling into the U.S” and boosting exports in that direction was raised on several occasions. There are of course the aforementioned financing issues and plenty of strife remains with economies in flux but European delegates were showing serious resolve. As if on cue, CBS Studios unveiled Icelandic series The Darkness from Lasse Hallström, starring Enemies, A Love Story and Hunters star Lena Olin. As if on further cue, enter the New8…
Public broadcasters go hard (but not home)
Reports of the death of public broadcasting have always been greatly exaggerated. In amongst virtually all U.S. streamers facing existential questions, these paragons of local culture have held firm and have been doing what they do best, and now they are collaborating big time. MIA’s big announcement came via a Tuesday press conference and unveiling of “the biggest drama collaboration in Europe,” as pubcasters in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium signed a contract to join the five Nordic broadcasters who make up the Nordic Twelve to form the New8. While confused journalists were left scratching their heads at how three plus 12 could possibly equal eight, bosses from each PSB spoke with confidence about how they will go about collaborating on eight TV series a year, which will be available in each member country. They will meet four times per year and submit projects to be funded by each territory, with four coming from the Nordics, two from Germany and one each from Belgium and the Netherlands. There was palpable excitement. Deadline spoke with execs throughout the week who were impressed with the resolve but met the New8 with a dose of scepticism, preferring to keep powder dry until projects begin to emerge and pondering the deeper ins-and-outs of the partnership or how it can avoid bureaucratic nightmare. But, more broadly, public broadcasting is felt to be in a good place. “We are staying relevant in a highly competitive landscape and fulfilling audience expectations,” said the drama financing boss of Norway’s NRK. A report into the local Italian industry is due out later today.
Don’t forget animation
In a canny move, MIA devoted more energy to animation and factual TV this year, broadening a market that has previously leaned on scripted. Various panels debated the topics of the day in animation and there were pitching sessions to help discover the next generation of talent. Flying the animated flag was Marge Dean, a doyen of the genre who runs Walking Dead maker Skybound Entertainment’s Animation Studio. She argued passionately on day one for animation to be given a seat at the top table, breaking free “from the kids and comedy box that it has been stuck in for decades.” Dean had a ready-made example, Amazon Prime Video’s Invincible, a show that had a budget four times less than the Boys with “barely” any marketing and yet regularly hits the streamer’s top-five most watched, she said. Dean also dismissed the AI threat, finding: “It’s only a danger to creativity if we let it be.” With question marks over scripted financing (they never stop) and anime and adult animation proving popular on streaming platforms, more networks may think about taking up Dean’s mantra as we enter 2024.
Israel-Hamas conflict
It has been a sombre week for the international community. As delegates were heading to Rome, Hamas was attacking Israel and kidnapping dozens of citizens. Israel has long punched above its weight in TV and film and MIA recognized this, with talk of the growing conflict not dying down throughout the week. Oscar-nominated Waltz with Bashir director Ari Folman was due to keynote on animated docs but pulled out as the confab started. He was then due to address delegates remotely but this was also cancelled. Next week’s Mipcom Cannes looks set to further highlight the plight of the Israeli and Palestinian communities in a conflict that the international community is beginning to understand will not be ending anytime soon. While the brunt of the Israeli delegation is no longer going to Mipcom, there will still be representatives from Israeli media companies who are based in other nations, and there will be plenty to discuss. For now, the world mourns.
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