Rome’s MIA Market Kicks Off as Director Sends Wishes to Israeli Execs Not Able to Attend: ‘Our Thoughts Go Out to Them’
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Rome’s MIA Market, dedicated to international TV series, animation, feature films, documentaries and more, kicked off Monday in the Eternal City’s 17th century Palazzo Barberini. There were some 2,300 registered industry execs on day one – roughly 300 of which are buyers – more than 120 selected projects on display, and plenty of panels.
At a press conference, MIA director Gaia Tridente noted that, sadly, a group of industry execs who were expected to arrive from Israel, including “Waltz With Bashir” director Ari Folman, are being forced to stay in the country by the war that has broken out with Palestinian militant group Hamas. “Our thoughts go out to them and we hope to be able to welcome them in Rome in a context of peace and security for all,” Tridente said.
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The pre-Mipcom event, taking place Oct. 9 to 13, has expanded its scope this year, adding a full-fledged section dedicated to animation and a new tech pavilion for extended reality and virtual reality content, as Tridente underlined in a Variety interview last week.
In recent years, MIA has also bolstered its non-scripted section, as Banijay’s chief content officer of development James Townley told Variety in Rome. “As well as having a strong scripted focus, MIA is looking to expanding to unscripted,” Townley said. “For me, this is a really important market. I’d heard a lot about it and I wanted to see it for myself.”
Townley, who is holding a MIA panel titled “Inside Banijay: A Non-Scripted Creative Success,” also noted that “with the base that we have with Banijay in Italy and all the creativity that is coming out of this country, I’m thrilled that we managed to find time to make this happen.”
Now at its ninth edition, MIA (which stands for the Mercato Internazionale Audiovisivo or International Audiovisual Market) serves as a driver for the international penetration of Italian content, which has doubled its exports of both film and TV titles since 2017. Italian production now “is a form of soft power,” as the head of Italy’s motion picture association ANICA Francesco Rutelli put it. “In these very tough times it’s very important for us to produce, create, collaborate and have global partnerships with many countries in the world that seek our producers and creatives to generate product that speaks to audiences all over the world: that is the purpose of MIA,” Rutelli said.
“MIA marks a positive collaboration between [Italian] film and TV producers that we imagined nine years ago as a place to make all different aspects of the business converge,” said Chiara Sbarigia, head of Italy’s TV producers’ association APA.
Standout Italian product being unveiled at MIA includes Italian author Robert Saviano’s directorial debut “I’m Still Alive,” an animated adaptation of his eponymous graphic novel illustrated by Israeli artist Asaf Hanuka (“Waltz With Bashir”). Hot international series being unveiled as works-in-progress comprise “A Prophet,” the series adaptation of Jacques Audiard’s 2009 film, and a new TV series adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ classic “The Count of Monte Cristo” directed by Oscar and double Palme d’Or-winning director Bille August.
MIA panels include sessions with Marge Dean, head of Skybound Entertainment’s animation studio and president of Women in Animation; Nicole Clemens, president of Paramount Television Studios and Paramount+ Original Scripted Series; David Davoli, president of international and Anonymous Content in tandem with David Levine, Anonymous Content’s chief creative officer; and Sara Bernstein, president of Imagine Documentaries. A high-caliber Netflix panel will feature Tinny Andreatta, VP content Italy; Diego Avalos, VP content Spain and Portugal; and Jenny Stjernströmer, VP content Nordics who will discuss the streaming giant’s storytelling ambitions and European strategy.
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