An affair pour les affaires, full of action and reaction.(MIT-TV Preview)

Now that the U.S. writers' strike is finally, thankfully a thing of the past, the U.S. and international TV industry is ready to get back to business in a big way. The 45th annual MIP-TV, which will be held April 7-11 in Cannes, France, will be the first television market of the year to benefit from the end of the work stoppage. VideoAge checked in with a who's who of MIP-TV participants to find out how the now-defunct strike affected them and why MIP-TV continues to be one of the most important markets in the biz.

"April is critical for us," said Mark Cranwell, director of Content Acquisition for Babelgum, a next-generation global Internet TV network headquartered in Ireland, which plans to launch its site not long after MIP-TV. "So we're going to be on a buying frenzy at MIP." Babelgum will focus on acquiring programming relating to four main topics: nature and wildlife, travel, film and participation sports. "We have a mandate to have a lot of content on our system when we launch and there's no better venue than MIP-TV to get that done," said Cranwell. As for worries about the effects of the strike: "Maybe big studios will scale back their goodie bags, but since we're looking to license product that's already been produced, it won't affect us."

Oliver Kreuter of Germany's Bavaria Media feels that MIP-TV is one of the most important markets he attends each year. "MIP-TV is the big kickoff market for Europeans," said Kreuter. "As a TV producer, 2007 was the best year in the history of Bavaria Film. We were able to expand in large markets like Italy." In addition, Kreuter is excited to announce at MIP that Bavaria's Storm of Lave, which he terms "the little Bavarian telenovela that could," has been picked up for an additional 200 episodes. Storm airs in 20 territories, including Italy, Austria and Finland.

Munich-based Studio 100's Patrick Elmendorff concurred with Kreuter that MIP-TV (as well as MIPCOM in October) are "the most important" markets for Germans. "There's no other place where you can meet with that amount of international producers, co-producers and buyers in one spot." Studio 100 is coming to Cannes with a number of productions, including Big & Small, a puppetry co-production with the BBC and Canada's YTV and Balloontoons, an animated series from Russia. "We're interested in meeting cofinancing and co-producing partners," said Elmendorff.

Marielle Zuccarelli, senior vp, International Distribution at California-based GRB Entertainment, which launched an acquisitions department last year, said she'll be at MIP in search of shows to acquire. "Right now I want to use our budget to invest in more product," said Zuccarelli. And while she won't have the time to attend any of the many conferences offered by Reed Midem at MIP-TV, Zuccarelli said she'd like to get better educated on new media and mobile rights if she can. "But mostly, I'm looking forward to sales."

So is Andrea Stokes of Canadian firm Canamedia, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. "We're bringing several new HD series and documentaries to MIP," she said, adding that MIP-TV is as important as ever since "it's imperative for us to keep in close contact with our international broadcasters. There's no better way than personal meetings at the market."

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Personal meetings are the lifeblood of a market, after all. Mathieu Bejot of TV France International, said his company will once again organize its umbrella stand of French companies, and estimated that approximately 50 firms will participate. "Coming to the market with us gives companies more visibility," said Bejot matter-of-factly. "There's always traffic at our booth, so it's much easier to meet people."

Mark Gray, vp, Programming for FremantleMedia Enterprises in the U.K., said he's looking forward to a slew of one-on-one meetings. "MIP-TV is always going to be important for us as long as buyers go there," he said. "It's well organized and many countries are well represented, although there will probably be fewer Asians there than at other markets."

Regardless of this, Japan will be the country of honor at MIP-TV 2008. "Japan has always played an important role in our markets and more importantly, is a key player in the global entertainment industry, particularly in digital delivery," said Paul Johnson, director of Reed Midem's Television division. "The Japanese have also been some of our most loyal clients with their attendance at MIP-TV dating back over 40 years." Johnson went on to cite the fact that in 2012 the country will be the second-largest market for mobile television services behind the U.S. and ahead of Italy. Plus, nearly 60 percent of the world's animation is made in Japan. In addition, Japanese public broadcaster NHK will receive the Green World Award at MIP. The prize will be given in recognition of the networks continued commitment to raising public awareness on environmental issues.

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This year's MIP-TV will feature a slew of seminars and conferences, including a keynote from Elisabeth Murdoch, chairman and CEO of Shine Group; "Fresh TV Around the World," wherein attendees can see clips from the world's most talked-about new TV shows; "Advertising & Media Seminar," in which advertisers explain how they communicate with an increasingly fractionalized audience, and more.

But for many, the conferences are viewed as a waste since they pluck buyers from the floor, where they're most needed. As Herb Lazarus, president of Carsey-Werner International, the international sales and distribution arm of Carsey-Werner Distribution, said, "I feel like [the conferences] pinch on what we're there to do."

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Because what they're there to do is business, after all. Greg Phillips, president of U.K.-based Fireworks International, a subsidiary of ContentFilm, said his company is going to the Palais with a slew of shows, including dramas The Border and Heartland as well as its recently acquired CBC product. "We have a new stand and a larger space this year," said Phillips, noting that Fireworks has relocated to the Sunset/Riviera Beach Hall. "We've been on the floor for years, but unfortunately, the space was just not large enough. So the opportunity to be in a new area was too good to pass up."

Jose Escalante of Israel's Dori Media Group is also enthusiastic about MIP. "This is the first market of the year where you can meet with the Europeans and the Asians," he said. "Because of the strike, a lot of people will attend and they'll be looking for product." And Escalante wants them to find it at Dori's stand. Additionally, Escalante is of the opinion that more Latins will be on hand this year than in previous years. "Normally, they go to NATPE and the L.A. Screenings, but this year, they may need to find other sources," he said.

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One such Latin company that will be there will be the newly launched Buenos Aires-based Latin Flower Company, a distribution firm specializing in Latin fiction, which is led by Silvana D'Angelo, formerly of Telefe and Dori Media. Other Latin companies expected at MIP include Venevision International and Telemundo Internacional. Said Telemundo's Melissa Pillow "I'm looking forward to closing an important quantity of new deals in just five day's time--something that would be much more difficult during a normal work week."

Jon Helmrich, founder and president of International Broadcast Communications (IBC), a U.S.-based programming distribution and channel development company with offices in Los Angeles and New York, said that MIP-TV and MIPCOM are "without question must-attend markets for people who do what we do." He went on to say that a whopping 80 percent of IBC's sales happen as a result of the two markets. Anita Barnard, sales manager of London's 3DD, said she also finds that MIP is essential for her. "Other markets like the Asia TV Forum and DISCOP are more regional," she said. "MIP is more important because it touches on global trends."

MIP-TV 2007 drew a record 13,311 attendees, a growth of nine percent over 2006. There were 4,532 companies from 104 countries--an eight percent increase over the previous edition's 4,192 from 96 countries. In addition, the event welcomed 3,816 buyers. Reed Midem expects similar numbers for the 2008 edition.

As RHI's Joel Denton put it: "MIP-TV and MIPCOM are the most important markets of the year. Some of the smaller, more targeted ones are great for specific clients, but MIP-TV and MIPCOM are still the granddaddies of markets."