Over the past five years I’ve had the great good fortune to spend this week in the south of France, attending the annual international TV marketplace known as MIPCOM. I’ve truly valued that perspective, occasionally through the good graces of Canadian government agencies, on the rapidly changing business of worldwide content marketing. Also, the view
Two weeks ago in Cannes I had the pleasure of catching up with Lauren Lee Smith, star of the CBC historical drama Frankie Drake Mysteries. She even sat for a breezy, two-and-a-half minute video chat (above). The Vancouver native was in the south of France to promote international sales of Frankie at MIPCOM. The CBC
CANNES — MIPCOM, the international television marketplace taking place this week in France, is a bit like a giant food court for TV. There’s a lot of junk food, some of the fare is overpriced and underdone and a lot of it is hard to swallow. Then there’s Jamie Oliver. The British celebrity chef delivered
CANNES — British comedian Sir Lenny Henry brought his “one big idea” to MIPCOM Wednesday. The 59-year-old actor, singer and Comic Relief co-founder was asked to give a keynote on diversity and he pushed a very intriguing notion: provide tax breaks tied to diversity. Henry told how, when he first arrived at BBC, the network
CANNES — Forget all that stuff about Peak TV and the new “Golden Age.” Every year at MIPCOM, the heap of content on display during the international TV market is staggering. As it says on an enormous poster on the side of one of the 200-foot yachts out in the harbor, “Content is king. Distribution is
CANNES — Want to get your series streamed before two billion subscribers? Now you can, thanks to Facebook. The social media giant was represented earlier this week at MIPCOM by two dudes without socks: Ricky Van Veen, head of Global Creative Strategy, and Daniel Danker, Director of Video Product. Six weeks ago, they helped launch Facebook’s
CANNES — Richard Plepler just looks like money. He always appears as if he just stepped off one of the 200-foot yachts docked in the harbour surrounding the main pavilion here at MIPCOM. He looks like Thurston Howell the Fourth or Fifth. HBO’s Chairman and CEO was presented with the “Hey, he showed up” award Monday
CANNES — You didn’t need Detective Murdoch to solve this mystery — Christina Jennings was just honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. It happened Sunday night at the Content Innovation Awards, held each year as part of the international television marketplace MIPCOM. The Shaftesbury chairman and CEO was recognized for staying out front in the increasingly disruptive