MIA About to Launch New Animation Pitching Forum & Co-Pro Market in Italy
Skwigly
International Audiovisual Market, the yearly market in Rome, Italy, returns with its 8th Edition from October 11th to 15th, 2022. It will be held in the historic Palazzo Barberini venue and at the historic Cinema Barberini, directly connected to the Palazzo. The MIA Digital platform will be active also this year to allow registered in person attendees and those attending remotely to access all sessions live and on-demand.
MIA is growing year on year, demonstrating the increasingly relevant role of the Roman market. In 2021 more than 2,000 industry professionals attended. More than 500 projects were submitted this year, from 65 countries around the world with approximately 70 projects selected.
This year’s edition of MIA brings in an exciting novelty, introducing a brand new section dedicated to Animation and curated by an all-female team (Maïa Tubiana, Carla Vulpiani, Daniela Di Maio and Sabrina Perucca), along the already existing editorial divisions dedicated to Doc&Factual (curated by MIA Deputy Director Marco Spagnoli), Drama (curated by Paolo Ciccarelli and Guido Casali) and Film (curated by Deputy Director Francesca Palleschi with Alexia de Vito, who takes care of the co-production market).
MIA continues to grow thanks to the precious collaboration of an experienced team who has curated the event in the past: Sergio Garufi, Head of MIA Digital and Editor in Chief of the website; Francesca Campagna, Head of Guest Management; Matteo Pollone, Catalogue curator; Marta Bertolini, Head of Corporate Communication and PR; Lorenzo Fiuzzi, in charge of Business Development; Mario Galasso, who manages MIA Coordination with the support of Ida Panzera, and Francesca Cagliani, together with all members of our staff.
Among the new features of MIA 2022 is the B2B Exchange, an initiative to support the Ukrainian audiovisual industry with content, events and market activities that involve Ukrainian professionals and bring them back to the heart of the global audiovisual industry.
Gaia Tridente is the new Director, and the event has the support of institutions such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, ITA-Italian Trade Agency, the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Economic Development and Lazio Region. Moreover, MIA is also supported by the official sponsor Unicredit and by Fastweb, technology partner. MIA 2022 enjoys for the first time the patronage of Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitalization of European cinematographic works, which aims to promote the European film industry by supporting its production, distribution and cooperation among professionals in different countries.
MIA will also host a conference hosted by EBU (European Broadcasting Union) the world’s leading alliance of public service media, which will be attended by fiction executives from many European networks.
CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM
MIA’s Co-Production Market and Pitching Forum, is one of the leading co-production forums in Europe, dedicated to international content in: Documentaries (both serial and one-off format), Drama and Film, has opened to Animation with serial and feature film projects seeking co-production partners, buyers and financial supporters. A total of approximately 70 projects which represent a unique opportunity for international co-production.
ANIMATION CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM
For its first edition, the brand new Division of MIA | Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum has selected 13 projects coming from 12 countries. The selection has been signed off by the Selection Committee composed by Mounia Aram, Founder & Distributor of MA Company (France); Simon Crowe, Founder & CEO of SC Distribution International (UK); Cecilia Padula, VP, Kids & Family, Brand Head South Europe Middle East & Africa at Paramount (Italy); Claudia Schmidt, Head of Kids & Family Entertainment at Beta Films (Germany); Kristel Tõldstepp, Head of Studio & Producer at Afilm (Estonia).
The 13 selected projects, include TV Series, Stand Alone & Feature Film, and have shown major strengths in terms of visual assets, script and solidity in terms of story and financial structure, and they closely reflect the major macro-areas of Animation Co-Production in Europe. The market features debuting projects as well as already disclosed ones in need of covering the last gap of financing to close development.
DOC CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM
MIA | DOC Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present to the international audiovisual industry a selection of 18 documentary projects divided into one-offs, series and products primarily intended for television or platform use, from 10 countries and, as always, the Italian presence represents about half of the selection. The projects were evaluated and chosen by the international selection committee composed of Rudy Buttignol, President, NXT Broadcast Strategy & Brand; Fabio Mancini, Commissioning Editor, RAI; Anas Abdel Wahab Khelawy, Sr. Producer, Commissioning Production Department, Al Jazeera; Nora Philippe, Head of Program, Eurodoc.
DRAMA CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM
There are 15 international series projects presented at this year’s MIA | Drama Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum. Producers from Italy, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Finland, Israel and Ireland will represent their projects. The projects were evaluated by an expert panel consisting of Erik Barmack, CEO and Founder of the US company Wild Sheep Content; David Davoli, President International of the US company Anonymous Content; and Robert Franke, Vice President Drama of the German pubcaster ZDF Studios; Emmanuelle Guilbart, CEO of French distributor About Premium Content; Françoise Guyonnet, Executive Managing Director TV Series at StudioCanal; Meghan Lyvers, Director Original Drama at Sky Studios UK; Marc Lorber, Senior Vice President International Coproductions at Lionsgate UK; and Kateryna Vyshnevska, Producer, Head of Development at Ukrainian Film, UA Group.
FILM CO-PRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM
MIA | Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present to the international film industry a selection of 15 feature film projects from 10 countries. As many as 10 of the 15 selected projects are by female directors, and with the majority being first or second projects. The projects were evaluated and chosen by the selection committee consisting of Ed Guiney, Founder & Co-CEO, Element Pictures (Ireland); Harriet Harper-Jones, Independent Producer and Consultant, Sappho Screen (UK); Rocio Jadue, Head of LatAm Films, Fabula (Chile); Stéphane Marchi, CEO and Co-Founder, N9NE Studio (France); Len Rowles, Head of Development, Protagonist Pictures (UK); and Bérénice Vincent, Co-Founder, Totem Films (France).
MIA BUYERS CLUB
This year, MIA renews its activity dedicated to international distribution: the MIA Buyers Club program. MIA Buyers Club offers a more compact and linear schedule, focused on MIA Film’s works in progress initiatives. Among activities for international buyers, projects selected for C EU Soon, a showcase devoted to European films in post-production. The 6 films selected for C EU Soon where chosen by: Sarah Chazelle, CEO of The Party Film Sales e co-owner of Jour2Fête distribution; Cate Kane, Co-head of acquisitions at MUBI and Matthew Takata, Manager of the international division of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Among the first sessions confirmed for the upcoming edition is the panel Global Production Landscape. Time to Stop Saying “Foreign-Language”, in which an ensemble of international series producers consisting of Anne Thomopolous (Legendary Global), Matthew Brodlie (Upgrade Productions), Erik Barmack (Wild Sheep Content), and Francoise Guyonnet (STUDIOCANAL), will discuss trends, experiences, and plans for the future of high-end drama production and strategies based on local content.
Also coming to MIA 2022 is one of the year’s most successful documentaries THE TINDER SWINDLER, the story of a deception carried out on Northern European women by a serial liar. Director Felicity Morris (also producer of Don’t Fuck With Cats) along with producer Joel Zimmer (President AGC Unwritten, AGC Studios) will talk exclusively for MIA about the challenges and potential of unprecedented and contemporary storytelling based on stock footage taken primarily from Social Media.
In the panel Multinational co-production, future-proofing creative business models in the independent film business a group of U.S. producers, funds and financing agents will discuss the global ecosystem of independent film production, including private equity, government funds and tax incentives. Among the confirmed speakers we find Carlo Cresto-Dina (Producer & CEO, Tempesta, Italy), Frédéric Fiore (President & Partner, Logical Pictures, France), Maren Olson (EVP at 30West, USA), Roeg Sutherland (Head of Media Finance CAA USA) and Julie Viez (Producer, Cinenovo, France). Through examples and best cases, panelists will consider the current film financing and production scenario, and their perspective on the future.
Through the example of a co-production from Africa, MIA will present one of the most interesting and least explored markets in the Defining the World Markets panel, where speakers will discuss a new view of the international audiovisual landscape from the perspective of animation producers from South Africa and Ghana. Among them will be Mounia Aram (MA Company), Sithembiso Mpehle (Tshimologong), and Francis Y.Brown (AnimaxFYB), who will talk about how to navigate the global animation industry.
Innovation for Creative Industries’ program is just one of the many lenses through which MIA is offering a fresh look this year, and a pathway to insight into the topic of technological innovation and digitalization related to the audiovisual industry. Filming without creative limitations, safely as possible with the use of technology. Thanks to the collaboration with the Italian outfit OneExtra group, all registered professionals will have a chance to enter a real Virtual Production demo room inside Palazzo Barberini, the headquarters of MIA.
MIA will also host a meeting organized with the MiSE (Ministry of Economic Development) in which strategies related to the development of 5G technology in the field of production and distribution of audiovisual content will be discussed, together with the issue of the protection of minors in the field of video games and the distribution of related content, between e-sports and pro-players.