CANNES, France — Do “Talented Voices Drive International Appeal”? That was the title of an all-Canadian panel I had the privilege of moderating this week at MIPCOM, the international TV marketplace. Every year, Telefilm and the Canada Media Fund work to showcase worthy Canadian productions to industry buyers and sellers and network executives from around the
CANNES, France — Do we really want to do the time warp again? The question was semi-answered Tuesday night as Fox premiered it’s shot-in-Toronto re-boot of the ’70s cult classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show. The Fox PR department pulled out all the stops for the packed screening, with party hats and boas provided at
CANNES, France — One of the “stars” who walked the red carpet here Monday night was Rick Harrison. Yes, that Rick Harrison, Vegas gold & silver pawn shop proprietor best known for Pawn Stars. Now, no offense to Harrison, but when you hear red carpet, you don’t exactly think of this guy. Nobody’s ever gonna
CANNES, France — If you think TV is already peaking in North America, brace yourselves for a world of content spilling over from the rest of the world. That’s my view on my third visit to MIPCOM, the international television marketplace. Here literally thousands of TV shows are shopped to content seekers from around the
While in Cannes two weeks ago to attend MIPCOM, I had a lovely visit with Valerie Creighton, the President and CEO of the Canada Media Fund (CMF). Besides her funding responsibilities, Creighton is a tireless advocate for Canadian content and she has the passion and vigor for the job. We sat in these horribly uncomfortable chairs
Just before I go on his early afternoon show each Wednesday, I can hear CHML’s Scott Thompson yakking about something else. Today it was the news that Playboy is dropping naked women from its pages. I begin our segment by vowing to take up the slack on TV Feeds My Family. That is not going
CANNES, France–This was the MIPCOM that never was. On Saturday–two days before I arrived in Cannes–terrible storms whipped this Mediterranean seaport, dumping 120 days worth of rain in two hours. Delegates who arrived early, some to attend children’s TV marketplace MIP Junior, were caught in dangerous floodwaters. Some waded out of restaurants in water past their
CANNES, France–I met a new Facebook friend at MIPCOM–Nicola Mendelsohn. She is Facebook’s Vice President EMEA and she delivered a “Media Mastermind Keynote” address Wednesday in the Palais’ Grand Auditorium. The main thrust of her comments is that “TV and Facebook are happy bedfellows.” She says social media activity peaks when TV viewing peaks, in