MIPTV has been under pressure for the past few years with attendance dropping and more and more companies deciding not to exhibit twice a year and opting to only exhibit at MIPCOM in October. Although this trend may make it seem like an event to be missed, in fact, these attendance figures make MIPTV an important opportunity for African TV content producers.
Within this attendance trend, companies that are still attending MIPTV are reporting more business being done at the April TV market, as the number of sellers has plummeted far more than the number of buyers has, and as a result the ratio of buyers to sellers has increased to the delight of those sellers who have decided to continue to attend the waning market.
African TV content producers had even more opportunities at this past MIPTV with the launch of an African Pavilion entitled “Creative Africa,” that brought all African participants and companies into one space with a 60 per cent discount on accreditation and several branded spaces on offer at very low prices.
The Pavilion was a major highlight of this year’s event and from an exhibitor point of view, definitely created a space for deal-making and networking. With a common use area and well-staffed reception area at the entrance, a number of top African and South African companies were on hand, with 32 African companies attending MIPTV and 61 participants in the Creative Africa Pavilion.
A host of major announcements relevant to the African market were also made during the event. Annecy International Animated Film Festival & Market/MIFA (Annecy MIFA), DISCOP Markets and the African Animation Network (AAN) announced a partnership to create the first ever pan-African animation pitching competition called Annecy – MIFA Pitches Animation du Monde. The Annecy – MIFA Pitches Animation du Monde will comprise two rounds of semi-finals; the first at DISCOP Abidjan (30 May to 1 June 2017) and the second at DISCOP Johannesburg (25 to 27 October 2017).
Okuhle Media and Afrokaans Film and Television, both from South Africa, had a solid presence with branded table spaces, while an additional three companies had significant presence within the Pavilion with branded booths; Aforevo TV (Nigeria), AAA and Hoplite Entertainment (South Africa), and Stained Glass (South Africa).
The latter, Stained Glass Productions, were certainly the highlight of the African Pavilion, as they are expanding into the global market from their throne as queens of the soap slots. Their booth was beautifully arranged with a collage of their development projects on the walls and their slick presentations running on the LCD screen. They looked very prepared for the market and were offering quality international television projects including a remake of the classic 80’s TV series Shaka Zulu, that they have purchased the remake rights for from the SABC as well as a feature film that looks ripe for the international market right now.
Gugulethu Zuma from Stained Glass elaborated on their experience at MIPTV, “I would encourage South African producers to attend. It was an eye opening experience that gave me some important insights into the international market and current trends.”
South Africa certainly dominated the African Pavilion with four out of the five exhibiting companies hailing from SA. AAA Entertainment was also the only South African sales and distribution company exhibiting at the African Pavilion and representing some of the top independently owned television content like Quizzical Picture’s SAFTA winning Those Who Can’t and feature films such as Keeping Up with the Kandasamys. Mayenzeke Baza, head of Sales for AAA Entertainment had this to say of the market, “This MIPTV saw buyers mostly enquiring about unscripted formats and content, as well as feature films and scripted series in the action genre. Sadly, we did not have enough local independently owned content in those categories, but our partnership with Hoplite Entertainment allowed us to offer the buyers international versions of what they were looking for.”
As more and more attention becomes focused on African content, African TV content producers need to take advantage of opportunities such as the Africa Pavilion at MIPTV. Although the costs of attending these events may seem prohibitive, South African companies need to take the leap of faith to get into the international content business or they will forever be making content for the broadcasters and not owning any rights to it.
It takes attendance at a few MIP events to get to understand what a specific market wants and how to get into the supply pipeline for that market, how to develop for it, budget for it and package content and projects. There are 218 TV content buying territories in the world and we are only really exploiting one, South Africa, and this is not sustainable in the long run. We have the ability, the skills and the hustle to export our IP and content to the world and we just need to think outside the local box and “maak a plan” like we were born to.
By Pascal Schmitz, head of Acquisitions, AAA Entertainment
