The seventh edition this year takes place from October 13 to 17 in Rome in the well-known spaces of the Barberini District, under the banner of a busy program of panels, content showcases and screenings for nearly 200 sessions over four days. Building on the experience of 2020, the on-site activity will once again be enhanced and integrated by the online activity thanks to MIA DIGITAL, a platform that allows exclusive access to thousands of users, the digital admission to all activities, and the gateway to a vast catalog of original multimedia content.
With the aim of continuing to anticipate trends and business models in the sector and to efficiently support the ecosystem from an international perspective, MIA has renewed the offer of its content, networking and market tools, through the strengthening of three divisions: Scripted, curated by Gaia Tridente, Unscripted, curated by Marco Spagnoli and Strategic Development entrusted to Francesca Palleschi.
Film and Drama, the core of the MIA SCRIPTED division, will offer specific and transverse programs, making use of the expert guidance of a selected group of excellences within the sector, members of the Drama and Film Advisory Board 2021. Once again, the Market will feature high-level content, in response to new consumption habits and new production schemes.
The following have already been confirmed in the 2021 Drama Board: David Levine, (President of Television, Anonymous Content); Jeniffer Kim, (Senior Vice President, International Originals, HBO Max); Christophe Riandee, (Vice CEO, Gaumont); Mo Abudu, (CEO, EbonyLife Group); David Davoli, (President of Television, BRON Studios); Erik Barmack, (CEO and Founder, Wild Sheep Content); Françoise Guyonnet, (Executive Managing Director TV Series, Studiocanal TV); Anne Thomopoulos, (Partner, Legendary Global); Gaspard De Chavagnac, (Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Asacha Media Group); Laura Abril, (Head of ViacomCBS International Studios EMEA & Asia and SVP all Brands for South Europe and Middle East, ViacomCBS); Carlo Dusi, (Executive Producer & Strategy Director, Endor Productions); Julien Leroux, (CEO and Founder, Paper Entertainment). Some also play a key role within the Drama Pitching Forum, together with Moritz Polter, (Managing Director, Windlight Pictures); Melissa Myers, (President and Partner, Kinetic Content); Isabelle Lindberg Péchou, (VP of Creative & Development for Dramas, Nucleus Media Rights) and independent producer and talent manager Philipp Steffens. Among the Italian members, we confirm the participation of RAI with the presence in the Board Drama of the Director of RAI Fiction Maria Pia Ammirati and Andrea Scrosati, Chief Operating Officer of Fremantle. Many other distinguished personalities from the audiovisual industry are to be announced in the coming weeks.
This year the Film Board welcomes new prestigious members from the United States, as the President of Shoreline Entertainment, Steve Macy; Carolyn Steinmetz (EVP, Head of Content Finance, Motion Picture Group STX Entertainment); Scilla Andreen, (CEO & Co-Founder, IndieFlix Group); Jonathan Kier, (former President of Sierra / Affinity); Maxime Cottray, (VP Finance and Production, XYZ Films); Edoardo Bussi, (VP of International Film Sales, Metro Goldwyn Mayer Studios); Sean Furst, (Co-President of Film & TV, Skybound Entertainment). In the 2021 Film Selection Committee: Andrea Scarso, (Investment Director, Ingenious Media), Robin Kerremans (Head of International Co-productions, Caviar Content), Tobias Seiffert (Head of International Acquisitions & Co-Productions, TOBIS Films) and Alexandra Hoesdorff (Co-Founder and CEO, Deal Productions).
Given the success of the past editions and the important international response, in line with the rapid evolution of the market, the Doc section has been renewed by expanding its production horizon and becoming MIA UNSCRIPTED, and it will deal with factual and all the new languages of the audiovisual sector that have to do with reality – its storytelling and interpretation. Among the events confirmed, the Doc Pitching Forum – which has already received a hundred projects from all over the world – and Italians Doc It Better, the customary appointment with the best of Italian documentary production. Alongside, a series of activities related to the world of animation is to be featured, including a showcase with the best of Italian production.
The Unscripted Board, as always made up of prestigious personalities, lists: Marco Berardi, (VP GM Italy, Spain Portugal WarnerMedia Entertainment Networks and Sales – CEO Boing, WarnerMedia); Enrico Bufalini, (Director of film distribution, of documentary production and of the management, preservation and enhancement of the LUCE historical archive of Cinecittà SpA, Istituto Luce – Cinecittà); Laura Carafoli, (SVP Chief Content Officer Discovery, Discovery); Riccardo Chiattelli, (Content and Communication Director, La EFFE); Pierluigi Colantoni, (New Format Development Director, RAI Format); Simone D’Amelio Bonelli, (Content and Creative Director, A+E Networks); Simona Ercolani, (CEO and Producer, Stand by Me); Gabriele Genuino, (Responsible doc, RAI Cinema); Giovanni Bossetti, (Unscripted & Doc Series Italy, Netflix); Duilio Giammaria, (Director Documentary Production RAI, RAI Documentari); Gloria Giorgianni (CEO and producer, Anele); Simone Isola (Producer, Director, Kimerafilm); Erkko Lyytinen (Commissioning Editor, Yle); Roberto Pisoni (Head of Sky Arte, Sky Italia); Rudy Buttignol (President & C.E.O., Knowledge Network Corporation); Andrea Sassano, (Director Television and Artistic Resources Department, RAI), Dante Sollazzo (Head of Unscripted Originals – Italy, Amazon Studios).
Since 2015, MIA has recorded an 84% growth in terms of attendance and the number of titles presented. The 2020 edition, thanks to a new hybrid market experience, recorded a total of 3,000 on-site attendances and 3,000 active users on the platform in five days from 50 countries (with an increase of 20% of countries represented compared to 2019), 3,500 streaming content views, 620 foreign players, divided between on-site and online.
