'MIP was a reminder that our sector is a relationships industry'

A number of Pact Member companies, including some of our Future30 cohort, headed down to Cannes for the return of MIPTV last week.

Amongst them was Michael Ford, Head of Content for Threewise Entertainment. Here he shares his experience of getting back into the swing of international markets, including networking at the airport, new insights and trend-spotting, and even a bit of karaoke...
 

This was my first physical market since Kidscreen in Miami 2020, just a month before the pandemic swept the UK.

When we first submitted to Pact Future30 back in July 2021, none of us were 100% sure what to expect. Two years' FREE membership for a growing indie isn’t to be dismissed, but what else would it bring?

If we got onto the programme, we hoped for a colourful and interesting cohort for one. Fifteen years working in and around the TV and Film industry and beginning at the Edinburgh TV Festival through Television For Young People (TVYP) or The Network as it’s now known, I’d learned that sometimes your best relationships are the friends you make along the way (or they would be if any of those friends worked in drama… pretty useless the lot of them really… great friends though!).

But when Dawn (McCarthy-Simpson, Pact)  told us we were getting a FREE ticket to MIPTV (plane ride and accommodation not included) there was no way we were going to miss it (even without the free flights and 5 Star Hotel).

As a Kids & Family indie mourning the physical death of Kidscreen in February in favour of yet another dose of zoom mind control, I was determined to hit MIP and make the most of it. This was my first physical market since Kidscreen in Miami 2020, just a month before the pandemic swept the UK, and just under 9 Months before we officially launched Threewise Entertainment (perfect timing).

Since the trip to Kidscreen and founding the company 18 months ago, my small team have been hard at work in Birmingham and London shaping our slate across live-action and animation. We secured our first short-form live-action commission straight out of the gate for CBBC, a single drama about a young Deaf swimmer. Shortly after, our live-action mystery adventure series (launching this Summer across the Paramount network of channels) was greenlit for production, and we also pressed ahead with development of an exciting slate of live-action and animated projects, with two animations now circling broadcast homes, and succeeding in attaching some top Marvel-sized voice talent. 
 

This was going to be a chance to renew vital acquaintances made before lockdown, (and to) meet face-to-face with contacts I’d only ever seen through a screen.
 

As far as Cannes goes, I last walked La Croisette over a decade ago, my one and only trip to the Cannes Film Festival as part of wrapping my brain around the world of film financing. But for Threewise this was going to be a chance to renew vital acquaintances made before lockdown, meet face-to-face with contacts I’d only ever seen through a screen, and as importantly, find those new contacts that you can only make by a chance meeting at the airport in the queue for the shuttle bus (tick), an unexpected introduction from a peer (tick), or a last minute party invite (tick). Nailed it!

From feeling like Kevin McCallister in Home Alone - but remembering how to pack my suitcase after two years out of practice - I was finally off to MIPTV. I arrived on the Sunday, did the airport networking bit, hit La Californie for a bite to eat with ten percent of my fellow ‘thirty’ and got to bed early (not my choice) rested and ready for three days at the market.

Honestly? It was everything I wanted and more. I’m a people person (or at least I like to think so). A great Breakfast Meeting with US co-producers to kick-off (thanks Doug), a brilliant talk on the proto-meterverse and kids insights with David Kleeman from Dubit, and two meetings with international distributors and a billion dollar entertainment company before Lunch. 
 

It was three days that seemed to reaffirm the faith we’d placed in the team and the projects we’d been developing for almost two years. 
 

What followed was more traversing of the metaversing (as a producer who also works in VR, this is something I very much planned to indulge in), a drink or three, great dinners (thanks Alexandra), more kids insights and trend-spotting, meetings with top kids broadcasters and streamers, winning a bet (thanks Eline), karaoke (thanks Sav & Tess), and a chance to meet “the man in the chair” himself aka Ned (actor Jacob Batalon) from Spider-Man - all thanks to Cineflix (NB Our man in the chair is called Vince!).

By Thursday - which also included a couple of brilliant last minute post-market meetings (thanks to the airport and peer-to-peer introductions I mentioned) - I can honestly say I was walking on air. It was three days that seemed to reaffirm the faith we’d placed in the team and the projects we’d been developing for almost two years. 

In development, it is so easy to end up in a bubble where you think everything is great until you get a Fresh Prince style slap of reality. Thankfully (at least this trip anyway), we avoided that, and crucially we uncovered new potential distribution routes for content (the life blood of an indie). More than anything, MIP was a reminder that our sector is a relationships industry. If like me you weren’t born with them, that’s fine - you can make them! But one way or another, make them you must - and there’s no better way than with a handshake, fist bump… or karaoke!
 

More than anything, MIP was a reminder that our sector is a relationships industry.

We’re really grateful to Pact and MIPTV for the ticket and for the reminder that there is no substitute for being on the ground. We’re already looking forward to the Creative Cities Convention in Birmingham later this month (no plane ticket or even suitcase required for that one), Children's Media Conference (CMC) in Sheffield in July, and MIP Junior in October back in Cannes for starters. Markets really aren’t cheap but they do still feel essential, at least to us… and great fun! 
 

For anyone that didn’t get to soak up the latest MIPTV insights, here are the TOP THREE "WISE” TAKEAWAYS courtesy of Threewise Entertainment:

1. Transmedia is more important now than ever as audiences want their favourite brands and characters wherever they are;

2. The Metaverse and Web 3.0 will create new billion dollar marketplaces for content creators especially in Kids & Family;

3. The UK Creative Industries will continue to play an important role in an ever-expanding global marketplace and we are grateful for the part our Future30 peers and Threewise get to play in that!

Pact would like to thank Michael Ford, Head of Content at Threewise Entertainment for sharing his MIPTV experience.

All images courtesy of Michael Ford.