CANNES --- With record attendance, extra space, new exhibitors, and bigger stands, Mip, the granddaddy of international TV trade shows, opens today on a high note --- and with a clutch of initiatives aimed at boosting Euro TV production.
For the first time, a whole day at Mip will be devoted to European drama, complete with a panel dubbed "Time to Invest in Euro Drama,'' an afternoon encounter with top Euro tube thesps and a gala dinner to toast the successes of Euro fiction on primetime TV on the continent.
Among the heavyweight execs expected at the morning gabfest are Christian Charret, chairman/CEO of France's Gaumont Television; Massimiliano Gusberti, head of fiction at Italian pubcaster RAI; and Karin Schockweiler, VP, co-production, at Germany's Pro Sieben station.
The idea is to drum up support for Euro-wide investment in the drama produced locally in Europe --- and offset the huge outlays currently being spent in Hollywood to acquire U.S. drama.
The Brits, who have never much cared for "European"-style drama, are noticeably absent from the conference proceedings; the Americans, apparently, weren't even invited.
Mip typically does not attract much star-power, so the idea of a gaggle of actors, mostly French and Germans, holding forth is tipped to draw a large press crowd. Thesps on tap include Marie Christine Barrault, Isabel Otero, Macha Meril, Jean Claude Drouot, Pierre Mondy, Claudine Wilde and Eleonore Weisgerber.
The key Mip event Saturday will be an all-day session devoted to educational programming, one of the fastest-growing areas in international television. Estimates indicate that 150,000 hours of educational TV were broadcast in 1992, the latest year for which figures are available, while educational CD-ROMs have seen remarkable sales all over the world since then.
The special Mip day, dubbed "From Education to Edutainment," is organized in partnership with the Intl. Assn. of Education and Discovery Television, whose membership includes 35 stations throughout 25 countries. Keynoter will be Boutros Boutros-Ghali, former secretary-general of the United Nations.
Also over the weekend, several key American companies will announce deals or new directions for their international TV divisions:
* Warner Bros. Intl. Television will unveil plans to boost its involvement in documentary production and distribution, using the resources and expertise of the recently acquired unit, Turner Original Prods., as a springboard;
* MGM Telecommunications Group will introduce the studio's vice chairman, Bob Pisano, to journalists and unveil new hook-ups abroad for its spinoff channel, MGM Gold;
* Disney Television Intl. toppers --- chairman Herb Granath and president Etienne De Villiers --- will host a press lunch to talk about their company's upcoming plans.
* Twentieth Century Fox Intl. president Mark Kaner will host a breakfast Sunday to talk about his company's digital platforms around the world. Hot topic over the omelettes: Rupert Murdoch's next move in Germany now that he has unceremoniously ditched his deal with Leo Kirch.
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