Brazil bazaar brings biz a boost
Debut MITV draws local industryites
But it lacked a confab where local and international players could do business and exchange ideas.
The first Intl. TV Market Brazil, MITV, which wrapped June 6 in Sao Paulo, fulfilled that demand.
MITV is the evolution of the Brazil Forum for Programming & Production, which ran for six editions in Sao Paulo.
About 500 industryites attended the two-day event that was based on Mipcom in Cannes.
Brazil's top nets -- TV Globo, SBT, TV Record and TV Bandeirantes -- sponsored and participated in the market.
The highlights included a pitching session with 12 local productions and screenings of 70 shows for prospective buyers.
"We won't compete against the big markets in Europe and the U.S. but I believe there is room for an important market in Latin America, where people can have access to products not available in the big events," says MITV's general director Andre Mermelstein.
A jury, which included Discovery Network's production and development director Michela Giorelli, Canada's National Film Board international relations director Eric Michel and FRV Entertainment Intl. executive producer Michael Thorton, chose two TV animation series as the best projects in the pitching session; "Historietas assombradas" (Hunting Tales), from Glaz Entretenimento, has a pilot episode completed; "Sapo Xule" (Frog Xule), from Cinema Animadores, is at the script stage.
The seminars gathered TV execs, government officials and film representatives to discuss regulation, incentives and financing, new distribution platforms, the role of pubcasters in Latin America, and the impact of digital TV.
