Established last year with the aim of putting Italy back on the map of the European and global audiovisual industry and of supplying the world’s most active professionals with an efficient market instrument, in its second edition MIA confirmed its success and registered a positive trend, in terms of both quality and quantity, by proposing an original format and a significant meeting point for film, television, documentary and animation.
MIA presents itself as a market with a strong editorial character, built with the aim of giving participants the opportunity to find strategic partners for their business. In this regard, MIA’s director Lucia Milazzotto said: “Using a cinematic metaphor, it seems as though we succeeded in bringing together the ideal cast of participants – in terms of producers, commissioning editors, buyers, sales agents, institutions, and professionals – for an ambitious project: making MIA a privileged, transversal, and transnational meeting place where to find all the possible partners for specific targets of industrial development and product – Italian and global, independent, with a strong international stance and a great productive value, whether it is film, drama series, documentary, factual, or animation.”
In the four days of the market, MIA registered a general increase of more than 6% of numeric data: there were over 1500 participants, 58 countries represented, more than 500 producers and commissioning editors, around 350 buyers, 130 international sales agents, 42 projects for film, drama, documentary and factual series. There were 100 films in the international market with around 20 international premieres and 16 works in progress in What’s Next Italy for a total of around 140 market screenings (+7%).
During the 42 panels, workshops, masterclasses, key note speeches and meetings, 300 professionals from the international audiovisual industry participated.
There was also a strong presence of national and foreign institutions, of professionals in the sector (law firms, agents, casting…), of talents and directors representing around 170 participants, and of the press with 300 participants.
A big success for MIA | Cinema was the section What’s Next Italy, imagined as a useful market tool for both the short and the long term: a springboard for new Italian films and an authoritative reference point for identifying and then following the status of Italian projects throughout 2017. A privileged gathering in which “works in progress” were presented, by the filmmakers Ferzan Ozpetek, Manetti Bros., Francesca Comencini, Giovanni Veronesi, Edoardo Leo, Susanna Nicchiarelli, Leonardo di Costanzo, Fulvio Risuleo, Fabio Mollo, Toni D’Angelo, Sidney Sibilia, Paola Randi, Guido Chiesa, Cosimo Gomez, Laura Luchetti and Volfango De Biasi.
The What’s Next Italy presentations gathered producers, sales agents, film and animation directors, offering international distributors and creative talents the chance to meet and find business opportunities which have the right balance between industry and creativity, and between talent and international commercial success.
The data from MIA | Cinema’s Co-Production Market was positive, with 24 projects coming from 14 countries and around 1000 one-to-one meetings organised.
3 prizes were awarded to 3 projects: Jobst Plog (Eurimages President) alongside Roberto Olla (Executive Director of Eurimages) presented the Eurimages Co-Production Development Award 2016, worth 20,000 euros, to the Turkish project Sisters by Emin Alper, produced by Nadir Öperli. This year at MIA Cinema the ARTE International Prize was presented for the first time: The prize of 5,000 euros to support development was presented by Annamaria Lodato to the director Agnes Kocsis for her project Eden produced by Els Vandervorst. With this award, ARTE and MIA hope to contribute to the development and production of independent filmmaking. True Colors’ Catia Rossi was delighted to announce that True Colors had become the international distributor of the Mexican project Almost Paradise by the celebrated Mexican director Gary Alzraki which won the possibility to participate at the Miami Film Festival, a MIA partner, during which the project will be presented to the Latin American industry.
There has also been a great interest and attention for the special programs of MIA | CINEMA: Young Audience Spotlight during which national and international institutions and professionals have gathered to discuss from a cultural and industrial perspective the growth of the new young audience, and for the Animation Day, a day entirely dedicated to the animated language and to the competitive models that make animation a paradigm with a strong international scope and potential.
The participating foreign professionals expressed enthusiasm in MIA TV, a programme conceived and designed to target business and address new producing and distributing opportunities for TV series as well as the boom for series in our country.
For the first time the Italian industry offered an important showcase of Italian talent: the number of commissioning editors, broadcasters and international producers who gathered together spoke very highly of the presentation of the Italian system in the spectacular showcase “The Italian Journey” presented by the actor Giampiero Judica from Martin Scorsese’s Boardwalk Empire, which showed how, along with tax incentives and co-production possibilities our country offers incredible locations and a workforce renowned throughout the world.
The Film Commissions President Stefania Ippoliti has indeed reminded the extraordinary variety of Italian landscapes. Representing the Workers – who have collected over time more than 60 international awards among OscarÒ, Golden Globes, Emmys, and Baftas – there where Carlo Poggioli, Alessandro Lai, and Laura Nobili from the award-winning Tirelli Costumi, displaying the costumes from two great International co-productions: Young Pope and I Medici; OscarÒ-winning Manlio Rocchetti; the Master Paolo Buonvino; and for the special effects Makinarium. The APT president Marco Follini highlighted three key qualities of Italian TV production: Professionality, Curiosity and Kindness, emphasising the fact that in the last few years Italy’s TV output is becoming more and more exportable.
Alongside this, 9 International and Italian Drama television series projects selected by the MIA TV Board and the YAS Teen Project were presented at the first Drama Pitching Forum. They were greatly appreciated by the attending broadcasters, producers and executives and several negotiations that involve key players of the American and European industries are already underway. During the welcome address, the CEPI Vice President Mauro Mauri has wished that Italy could live a new “TV Renaissance” and that the MIA TV Drama Pitching Forum could metaphorically become the “square” where all the possible and various opportunities can gather and blossom.
For what concerns the international speakers, there was a great enthusiasm for the ITV Studios President Maria Kyriacou’s Key Note, the panel on the possibilities of contamination of drama series between Pay TV and Free TV, and the Masterclass with three international key figures: Tim Kring, American Producer of Heroes, Touch, and Crossing Jordan among others; Gina Gardini, Cattleya Executive Producer of Gomorra, Romanzo Criminale, Suburra and many others; and Michael Eilenberg, Independent Producer, who as Head of Drama in HBO has produced series such as Game of Thrones and the cult series True Detective. The workshop on the administration of a budget for an American Drama series, held by Courtney Conte, President of Slingshot, was also an important moment of exchange.
There were two all-Italian moments of celebration: the 20 years anniversary of the series “Un posto al sole” with the cast, RAI Fiction Director Eleonora Andreatta, and Freemantle producers among others; the case of “Il commissario Montalbano” produced by Carlo Degli Esposti of Palomar, which has proved how a local series could become international, with successful spin-offs such as “Il Giovane Montalbano” and the announcement for the new series “I racconti di Vigata”.
MIA TV was also an opportunity to present worldwide the evaluation of the television season 2015/2016, and the data of Rai, Mediaset and Sky. Fiction remains a mainstay of Italian television programming. Italy beats France, Britain and Spain for the total number of hours broadcast, second only to Germany.
The studies discussed, revealed that Italian products have begun to stand out for their quality, garnering international recognition but it’s necessary to invest now to maintain such a change.
MIA DOC has received many positive outcomes for its new format and for the focus on art and culture in documentary. Two and a half days of meetings and professional exchanges with over 45 speakers from 12 countries, two country focuses to find out the possibilities of cooperation with Canada and Israel, 10 projects presented publicly at the Arts and Culture Pitching Forum, followed by several meetings organised between independent producers and international and Italian decision-makers all with the aim of developing international collaborations, pre-sales and co-productions.
The project Movie Maestro, directed by Pierpaolo De Santis and produced by Enrico Pacciani of Alkermes Ltd., selected at DOC – Arts&Culture Pitching Forum 2016, thanks to MIA’s partnership, will have the opportunity of being presented in the official selection of the prestigious French market “Sunny Side of the Doc” which will be held in June 2017 in La Rochelle.
The participation of Italian and foreign institutions, who participated in the market’s daily activities and around 50 panels was impressive. The minister Dario Franceschini, chose MIA as the occasion to present to international players of the sector, the new DDL Cinema Law. The Director General of MiBACT Cinema Nicola Borrelli spoke several times, at MIA TV’s “Italian Journey” and to support youth initiatives like teaching film in Italian schools with “Class Choices. Film in School”. General Director of DG Connect at the European Commission, Roberto Viola, highlighted the success of TV series, stressing how important it was that the European and Italian industries were part of this new market opening. President of the Commission for Education and Culture at the European Parliament, Silvia Costa, presented the regulations which are taking shape in the European Parliament, where on the one hand it must promote cultural audiovisual production, distribution and cultural diversity, and on the other be more competitive when it comes to the rest of the world.
The President of the Lazio Region Nicola Zingaretti chose MIA again this year to present the new regional call “Lazio Cinema International“, which sees 10 million euros worth of funds made available for international co-productions.
The Director of International Affairs at IMCINE (the Mexican Institute of Cinematography) Monserrat Sanchez Soler has signed an agreement that marks Italy’s adhesion, as the only non-Iberian country, to the pan-regional programme “Ibermedia“.
