MIA is about to launch a new animation presentation forum and co-pro market in Italy

International Audiovisual Market, the annual market in Rome, Italy, returns with its 8th edition of October 11 to 15, 2022. It will take place in the history Barberini Palace location and history Barberini Cinemadirectly connected to the Palazzo. The MIA Digital platform will also be active this year to allow attendees registered in person and those attending remotely to access all live and on-demand sessions.

MIA is growing year by year, demonstrating the increasingly important role of the Roman market. In 2021, more than 2,000 industry professionals participated. More than 500 projects were submitted this yearfrom 65 countries around the world with approximately 70 selected projects.

This year’s edition of the MIA brings an exciting novelty, the introduction of a whole new section dedicated to Animation and curated by an all-female team (Maïa Tubiana, Carla Vulpiani, Daniela Di Maio and Sabrina Perucca), alongside the already existing editorial divisions dedicated to Doc and factual (organized by MIA Deputy Director Marco Spagnoli), Drama (organized by Paolo Ciccarelli and Guido Casali) and Film (organized by Deputy Director Francesca Palleschi with Alexia de Vito, who handles the co-production market).

MIA continues to grow thanks to the valuable collaboration of an experienced team that has organized the event in the past: Sergio Garufi, head of MIA Digital and editor-in-chief of the website; Francesca Campagna, Guest Management Manager; Matteo Pollone, Curator of the Catalog; Marta Bertolini, Head of Corporate Communication and Public Relations; Lorenzo Fiuzzi, in charge of Business Development; Mario Galasso, who manages MIA Coordination with the support of Ida Panzera, and Francesca Cagliani, as well as all our staff members.

Among the novelties of MIA 2022 is the B2B exchangean initiative to support Ukrainian audiovisual industry with content, events and market activities that engage Ukrainian professionals and bring them back to the heart of the global audiovisual industry.

Gaia Tridente is the new director, and the event enjoys the support of institutions such as Ministry of Foreign Affairs and international cooperation, ITA-Italian Commercial Agencythe Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Economic Development and Lazio region. In addition, MIA is also supported by the official sponsor Unicredit and by Fast Web, technology partner. MIA 2022 benefits for the first time Eurimages sponsorshipthe Council of Europe cultural support fund for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitization of European cinematographic works, which aims to promote the European film industry by supporting its production, distribution and cooperation between professionals from different countries.
MIA will also host a conference organized by the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) the world’s first public service media alliance, which will feature fiction executives from many European networks.

COPRODUCTION MARKET & PITCH FORUM
MIA co-production market and presentation forum, is one of the main co-production forums in Europe, dedicated to international content in: documentaries (series and one-off), fiction and cinema, has opened up to animation with series and feature films looking for co-production partners, buyers and financial backers. A total of approximately 70 projects which represent a unique opportunity for international co-production.

ANIMATION COPRODUCTION MARKET & PITCH FORUM
For its first edition, the brand new Division of MIA | Animation co-production market and presentation forum has selected 13 projects from 12 countries. The selection was validated by the selection committee composed of Mounia Aram, founder and distributor of MA Company (France); Simon Crowe, Founder and CEO of SC Distribution International (UK); Cecilia Padula, Vice President, Children and Family, Brand Manager Southern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Paramount (Italy); Claudia Schmidt, Head of Children and Family Entertainment at Beta Films (Germany); Kristel Tõldstepp, studio director and producer at Afilm (Estonia).

The 13 selected projects, including TV series, stand-alones and feature films, showed major strengths in terms of visual assets, script and strength in terms of story and financial structure, and they closely reflect the main macro-domains of Animation Co-Manufacturing in Europe. The market features early stage projects as well as previously disclosed projects that need to cover the final funding gap to close development.

DOC COPRODUCTION MARKET & PITCH FORUM
MIA | DOC co-production market and presentation forum will present to the international audiovisual industry a selection of 18 documentary projects divided into one-offs, series and products mainly intended for television or the platform, coming from 10 countries and, as always, the Italian presence represents approximately half of the selection. The projects were evaluated and chosen by the international selection committee composed of Rudy Buttignol, President, NXT Broadcast Strategy & Brand; Fabio Mancini, editor-in-chief, RAI; Anas Abdel Wahab Khelawy, Senior Producer, Order Production Department, Al Jazeera; Nora Philippe, Program Manager, Eurodoc.

DRAMA COPRODUCTION MARKET & PITCH FORUM
There are 15 international series projects presented this year MIA | Drama co-production market and presentation forum. Producers from Italy, UK, Canada, Netherlands, France, Finland, Israel and Ireland will represent their projects. The projects were evaluated by a panel of experts consisting of Erik Barmack, CEO and founder of the American company Wild Sheep Content; David Davoli, international president of the American company Anonymous Content; and Robert Franke, vice president of drama at German pub broadcaster ZDF Studios; Emmanuelle Guilbart, CEO of French distributor About Premium Content; Françoise Guyonnet, Executive General Manager TV Series at StudioCanal; Meghan Lyvers, Director of Original Drama at Sky Studios UK; Marc Lorber, senior vice president of international co-productions at Lionsgate UK; and Kateryna Vyshnevska, Producer, Head of Development at Ukrainian Film, UA Group.

CINEMA COPRODUCTION MARKET & PITCH FORUM
MIA | Film co-production market and presentation forum will present to the international film industry a selection of 15 feature films projects of 10 countries. As much as 10 of the 15 selected projects are female directorsand the majority being first or second projects. The projects were evaluated and chosen by the selection committee composed of Ed Guiney, founder and co-CEO, Element Pictures (Ireland); Harriet Harper-Jones, independent producer and consultant, Sappho Screen (UK); Rocio Jadue, head of LatAm Films, Fabula (Chile); Stéphane Marchi, CEO and co-founder, N9NE Studio (France); Len Rowles, Head of Development, Protagonist Pictures (UK); and Bérénice Vincent, co-founder, Totem Films (France).

MIA BUYERS CLUB
This year, MIA is renewing its activity dedicated to international distribution: the MIA Buyers Club program. MIA Buyers Club offers a more compact and linear program, focusing on MIA Film’s work-in-progress initiatives. Among the activities aimed at international buyers, the projects selected for C EU Soon, a showcase dedicated to European films in post-production. The 6 movies selected for C EU Soon or chosen by: Sarah Chazelle, CEO of The Party Film Sales and co-owner of Jour2Fête distribution; Cate Kane, co-head of acquisitions at MUBI and Matthew Takata, head of the international division of the Sundance Institute’s feature film program.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Among the first sessions confirmed for the next edition is the panel Global production landscape. It’s time to stop saying “foreign language”in which a cast of international series producers including Anne Thomopolous (Legendary Global), Matthew Brodlie (Upgrade Productions), Erik Barmack (Wild Sheep Content) and Françoise Guyonnet (STUDIOCANAL), will discuss trends, experiences and plans for the future of high-end drama production and local content-based strategies.

Also coming to MIA 2022 is one of the most successful documentaries of the year The Tinder Scammer, the story of a deception carried out on Northern European women by a serial liar. Director Felicity Morris (also Producer of Don’t Fuck With Cats) and Producer Joel Zimmer (President AGC Unwritten, AGC Studios) will speak exclusively for MIA about the challenges and potential of unprecedented, contemporary storytelling based on visual imagery. archives drawn mainly from Social Media.

In the panel Multinational co-production, future-proof creative business models in the independent film industry a panel of American producers, funds and financing agents will discuss the global ecosystem of independent film production, including private equity, government funds and tax incentives. Confirmed speakers include Carlo Cresto-Dina (Producer & CEO, Tempesta, Italy), Frédéric Fiore (President & Partner, Logical Pictures, France), Maren Olson (EVP at 30West, USA), Roeg Sutherland (Head of Media Finance CAA USA) and Julie Viez (Producer, Cinenovo, France). Through examples and best cases, panelists will examine the current film financing and production scenario and their perspective on the future.

Through the example of an African co-production, MIA will present one of the most interesting and least explored markets in the Defining global markets panel, where speakers will discuss a new vision of the international audiovisual landscape from the perspective of South African and Ghanaian animation producers. Among them, Mounia Aram (MA Company), Sithembiso Mpehle (Tshimologong) and Francis Y.Brown (AnimaxFYB), who will explain how to navigate the global animation industry.

Innovation for Creative Industries Program is just one of the many lenses through which MIA offers a fresh look this year, and a pathway to the theme of technological innovation and digitization related to the audiovisual industry. Film without creative limits, safely with the use of technology. Thanks to the collaboration with the Italian outfit OneExtra group, all registered professionals will have the chance to enter a real virtual production demo room inside Palazzo Barberini, the headquarters of MIA.

MIA will also host a meeting organized with the MiSE (Ministry of Economic Development) in which strategies related to the development of 5G technology in the field of production and distribution of audiovisual content will be discussed, as well as the issue of the protection of minors in the field of video games and the distribution of related content, among esports and professional gamers.