MIPCOM Roundup

Day 1

So MIPCOM began with a bang. A big 3D bang. Having sat through rehearsals yesterday (as Jon was chairing two roundtables), I was ready with 3D Focus’ Twitter page and CMS to update readers on the conferences that were taking place throughout the day. The schedule was a packed six hours of talks from content creators, distributors and networks and where 3D was going (which you can now find online here).

The keynotes ranged from 3D advertising and the viability of the medium, to a powerful showcase from ESPN. The BBC was a heavy players and had much to share while RealD discussed live 3D cinema events and how it was proving to be a legitimate distribution method.

Overall it was a very productive day – alongside various specialist 3D providers and content studios, I managed to speak to ESPN’s VP on whether 3D was coming to the UK, the general presentation and was queried on how I thought their football broadcasting was.

I’ve also seemed to have gotten rid of my photography fatigue. Cannes really is too beautiful not to photograph – a showcase will be along soon. In the evening we went to the High TV launch party at the Martinez hotel.

Day 2

Day 2 was chock full of interviews, including director Paul Verhoeven. He was launching a new crowdsourcing film initiative in Holland called the Entertainment Experience.

We managed to schedule a one-on-one interview with him and discussed the launch, his back catalogue of films (Starship Troopers, Basic Instinct, Total Recall, Robocop) and whether he planned to launch anything in 3D. There was a pretty cool launch party after that and we ended up on LOG Media’s yacht for a bit before heading over to the C21 party and The Grand Hotel.

We also managed to talk to Color Code 3D, a company that’s doing some interesting things with cost effective 3D. Their 3D photography and advertising was certainly worth paying attention to.

Day 3

The fourth day of MIPCOM is notoriously quiet and many people leave at the end of the third day. Therefore, we’d booked a ton of interviews today – it was also good to walk around the entire show and see what people are doing in the 3D space. There’s some really cool content out there – one project in particular that I’ll be writing about for Macgasm.

We also hooked up with the head of 3Net to discuss how things were going for the US DirectTV channel and talked with several other companies that’ll surely be written about on 3D Focus.

The evening saw us head over to the black tie gala hosted by Russia’s Channel 1.

Retrospective Viewpoint

So after a week back, what are my thoughts on my first (and hopefully not last) trip to Cannes and MIPCOM. Cannes itself is beautiful, but I’d struggle to go on holiday there for more than a weekend. There simply isn’t anything to do but lie on the beach (which I did on Day 4).

It was certainly interesting to play the Journalism side of the fence again. It’s always good to return to my main love (writing and conversation) and see what technology’s out there. Covering a TV market was a new experience and it provided to be very rewarding. It helped my self-confidence (which took a massive boost after Japan).

All in all, excellent. I’d obviously like to thank Bamboo PR for letting me attend on their behalf and to Jon at 3D Focus for bringing me along with his kind generosity.

Tagged: 3D Focus, Bamboo PR, marco fiori, MIPCOM