MIP London Preview: Lucy Smith Doesn’t Want You to Draw Comparisons to MIPTV
MIPCOM boss Lucy Smith gave attendees in Cannes a preview of what to expect from the newly-unveiled MIP London set for February 2025.
MIP London, pegged as a multi-genre international content and networking marketplace following the death of MIPTV, will take place at the Strand’s Savoy Hotel and IET venues from Feb. 23-27 next year, in the hopes of attracting over 250 companies from 36 countries.
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There will be a focus on unscripted, FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) and kids content, Smith explained. After conversations at MIP Junior earlier in the week, Smith said they already have a buy-in from a number of key players, including from BBC Children’s and Education and Sky, to stage a kids U.K. and European co-production summit in London. “There’ll be more on this coming soon,” the RX France exec added.
Attendance at the conference in Cannes this year has fallen by 500, the organizer also revealed on Wednesday. She explained that after listening to feedback, the aim is now to take MIP London into the “era of co’s.” Smith said: “We’re talking about co-exclusivity, co-branding, collaboration and collectives. We also are able to help connect people more easily. We’ll be bringing a central database to the week that’s not existed so far, and in a week of screenings, we will also provide an online and on-site screenings library, which we know many do value highly.”
Smith added that London in February has already become the biggest content week in the first quarter — with London Screenings from Feb. 23-28, for example — and they see it as a chance to capitalize with business already buzzing in the U.K. capital that month.
“I think what we’ve been seeing from MIPTV over several years was a decline in the number of companies feeling that it was an important enough moment in the calendar for them to attend and invest in the same way,” Smith said. “And what we were hearing was the choice was becoming, is it MIPTV or do we go to the BBC showcase and London TV screenings?”
“The last MIPTV, there were 3,500 delegates here. We all know that that is not really sufficient for a mid-market of this caliber,” she said. “And we felt the time was to make the radical change, and we believe in change and evolving. So, therefore, we felt we’d bring a new and additional event to create a central hub around such a busy moment in the calendar.”
She continued: “I spoke to, personally, back over a year ago now, the founding partners of the London TV Screenings. And the first message is this: it was clearly not a rival event. We consulted them ahead of announcing our plans to launch this event. They understand the business reasons for doing this… I think the arrival of a lot of companies around the events in London that week was already happening. There were already 29 distributors this year.”
Smith was probed on what kind of value MIP London can deliver for people on a budget in a notoriously expensive city. She explained it’s a very different event to Cannes, and not a major exhibition. They will have plug and play solutions for anyone who wants to attend, and the early bird registration at ￡450 ($583) is already open with access to all of their venues across central London.
“I just want to be so clear about the fact it is not comparable,” Smith emphasized. “We didn’t move MIPTV to London. This is a new conference, networking and screening event with an international marketplace. We’re bringing more business, more companies, more opportunities. We really do believe that the value is there.”
“We want to open it up and create a marketplace beyond just the buyers and the sellers,” the RX France added. “It’s about having more people doing more business.”
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