CANNES – Canadian TV producers moving to the forefront of a rapidly expanding global industry is, of course, full of risk. And Cannes is another universe. The push for quality in scripted and unscripted TV, and the dire need to stand out in a huge crowd, is in part pursued out of fear of a content bubble likely to pop at some point.
"We’re going to have big blockbusters with mega-huge names and incredible packages, and you are going to see on the other hand the indies," Sharon Tal Yguado, head of Fox International Studios, said last week during a MIPCOM panel about a coming shakeout.
In all directions at MIPCOM, on billboards along the Croisette or on beachfront marquee tents, and on endless displays and posters in the hundreds of stands inside the Palais, you were forced to stop and notice the unending supply of international TV shows aimed at the worldwide market.
The foreign fare is also aimed at Canada, where emerging SVODs like CraveTV and Shomi are acquiring high-end dramas to try to distinguish themselves from Netflix Canada.
CBS global distribution president and CEO Armando Nunez during a joint keynote address in Cannes talked about his recent content licensing deal with Bell Media to bring the Showtime brand to Canada. "It really is an example of the evolution of deal making, at least in Canada and the rest of the world," Nunez explained, as legacy Canadian pay TV channel deals were expiring, Netflix Canada had established itself, and CraveTV was starting up while The Movie Network still need product.
For Canadians, the Showtime/Bell deal was a sharp reminder of the vast supply of expensive dramas flooding the international market, and likely to shoulder aside smaller indie players with mid-range product – much as happened after the collapse of the indie film bubble.
All of which had Canadians reinventing the wheel in deal-making at MIPCOM, behind closed doors, over private dinners, in Palais suites or on boats, to avoid becoming a casualty of fast-paced industry change and to fit into the new and emerging industry paradigm.
ZoomerMedia president Moses Znaimer was a buyer at MIPCOM, in part because he believes in the future of Canadian TV, rather than just chase elusive and shrinking digital dollars.
“Good enough isn't good enough.” – Lynn Chadwick, Sinking Ship Entertainment
But Znaimer, who sees the Canadian TV advertising game becoming increasingly dire, is also selling "stuff" these days. "I'm selling medical marijuana," he said, via his CARP magazine and other new platforms aimed at aging baby-boomers.
Other Canadian producers and distributors were at MIPCOM to shake up kids’ entertainment. "We are single-minded in how we develop a show. Good enough isn't good enough," said Lynn Chadwick, sales and distribution head at Toronto indie Sinking Ship Entertainment, best known for series like Amazon's Annedroids and Odd Squad for PBS Kids in the U.S.
Besides Canuck dramas enjoying continued success in global markets, a handful of homegrown formats from a Canadian market that usually acquires and remakes formats like Big Brother Canada and The Amazing Race Canada also saw doors opening in Cannes last week.
"I have ten episodes of Blue Moon ready in February 2016," said Martin Bisaillon, director of distribution and development at Montreal’s AETIOS Productions, pointing to the Karine Vanasse-starring dramatic thriller. "And I have format interest from the U.S., Europe, even Israel," Bisaillon added.
All of this pointed at a dominant trend among Canadians in Cannes: how to cut through the clutter of TV shows, online channels, social networks and apps.
"It's still a tough business. I feel for these people working very hard, and it's as hard to make something that's not working, as to make something that is working," Telefilm Canada's Carolle Brabant said. "It's a very competitive environment. You just have to walk around in this market and see everything the globe has to offer," she added.
