MIA Market 2022: New confirmed guests and a revamped schedule

MIA | International Audiovisual Market, the yearly market in Rome, Italy, returns with its 8th Edition from October 11th to 15th, 2022. It will be held in the historic Palazzo Barberini venue and at the historic Cinema Barberini, directly connected to the Palazzo. The MIA Digital platform will be active also this year to allow registered in person attendees and those attending remotely to access all sessions live and on-demand. In 2021 more than 2,000 industry professionals attended MIA and more than 500 projects were submitted this year, coming from 65 countries with approximately 70 projects selected.

NEW LEADERSHIP AND DIVISION
Gaia Tridente is the new Director of the event that this year inaugurates a new section dedicated to Animation, along the already existing editorial divisions dedicated to Doc&Factual, Drama and Film. Among the new features of MIA 2022 is the B2B Exchange, an initiative to support the Ukrainian audiovisual industry with content, events and market activities.

MIA 2022 enjoys for the first time the patronage of Eurimages, the cultural support fund of the Council of Europe for the co-production, distribution, exhibition and digitalization of European cinematographic works, which aims to promote the European film industry by supporting its production, distribution and cooperation among professionals in different countries. MIA will also host a conference hosted by EBU (European Broadcasting Union) the world’s leading alliance of public service media, which will be attended by fiction executives from many European networks.

COPRODUCTION MARKET & PITCHING FORUM
The brand new Division of MIA | Animation Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum has selected 13 projects coming from 12 countries. Among the selected projects, Italy will be represented by "The Black Diamond Race" developed by Gruppo Alcuni, a period pre-teen series set in early 21st century Modernism, and Studio Movimenti presenting "Flydog", a series that moves on the path already traced by artists of contemporary storytelling, heroes of underground pop culture, promising to be far from politically correct.

MIA | DOC Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present to the international audiovisual industry a selection of 18 documentary projects divided into one-offs, series and products primarily intended for television or platform use, from 10 countries and there are 15 international series projects presented at this year's MIA | Drama Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum. Producers from Italy, the UK, Canada, the Netherlands, France, Finland, Israel and Ireland will represent their projects.

On the other hand, MIA | Film Co-Production Market & Pitching Forum will present to the international film industry a selection of 15 feature film projects from 10 countries. As many as 10 of the 15 selected projects are by female directors, and with the majority being first or second projects.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS
Among the first sessions confirmed is the panel "Global Production Landscape. Time to Stop Saying 'Foreign-Language'", where producers Anne Thomopolous (Legendary Global), Matthew Brodlie (Upgrade Productions), Erik Barmack (Wild Sheep Content), and Francoise Guyonnet (Studiocanal), will discuss trends, experiences, and plans for the future of high-end drama production and strategies based on local content.

Also coming to MIA 2022 is one of the year's most successful documentaries "The Tinder Swindler", 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") along with producer Joel Zimmer (President AGC Unwritten, AGC Studios) will talk exclusively for MIA about the challenges and potential of unprecedented and contemporary storytelling based on stock footage taken primarily from Social Media.

In the panel "Multinational co-production, future-proofing creative business models in the independent film business", a group of U.S. producers, funds and financing agents will discuss the global ecosystem of independent film production, including private equity, government funds and tax incentives. Among the confirmed speakers we find 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 the example of a co-production from Africa, MIA will present one of the most interesting and least explored markets in the "Defining the World Markets" panel, where speakers will discuss a new view of the international audiovisual landscape from the perspective of animation producers from South Africa and Ghana. Among them will be Mounia Aram (MA Company), Sithembiso Mpehle (Tshimologong), and Francis Y.Brown (AnimaxFYB), who will talk about how to navigate the global animation industry.