This year, at the inaugural MIP Digital Fronts, MIPTV will welcome the first ever international screenings entirely dedicated to online content, making Cannes the place to be for producers, distributors and international buyers of high-quality internet shows.
Over two days (April 9-10), world-renowned platforms and studios will showcase productions from their finest video talent in the Palais’ Grand Auditorium. Discover a selection here!
April 9’s first partner session will showcase YouTube‘s finest talent. The session will be hosted by Michael Stevens, creator of VSauce – the platform’s most subscribed science & technology channel. It will feature talented 20 year-old filmmakers Jack & Finn Harries, whose channel offers a collective mix of travel and philanthropic endeavours; as well as the US “Internetainer” duo Rhett James McLaughlin & Charles Lincoln “Link” Neal (aka Rhett & Link), known for their online channel full of hilarious videos, non-scripted reality, sketches and music videos like their Epic Rap Battles, such as the above one, which opposes antagonist tribes of geeks and nerds!
Next-generation media and technology company and MCN (multi-channel network) Maker Studios will also be showcasing. Expect the unexpected, as singer-songwriter Leah McFall and video games explorer Mr Stampy Cat present their creations on stage. Our feline friend (above) gets millions of views from posting daily films of his adventures in player-made videogame Minecraft. No, really!
VICE, MIP Digital Fronts’ third platform partner, has grown from an iconoclastic magazine to one of the world’s most innovative MCNs. Its network of YouTube channels includes VICE News, The Creators Project (their cutting-edge art initiative organised in partnership with Intel), the music-focused Noisey, the “new electronic music and culture channel” Thump and the science-focused Motherboard (see their stunning “3D Printed Guns” documentary above). The showcases will feature producer talent from this rapidly-growing network.
MIP Digital Fronts’ fourth founding partner is none other than Dailymotion, one of the most popular video platforms in the world with 135 million unique viewers and 2,5 billion videos viewed each month. More soon!
Other MIP Digital Fronts highlights include The Digital Studios Showcase, which will give top digital studios from the four corners of the planet the opportunity to present their best creations across every genre. Among these formats: The Comment Show (above), an interactive talk-show format currently available on VEVO. Produced by SXM, a Webby-nominated digital studio making digital productions for Samsung, Disney, Dailymotion and others, this interactive talk-show format selects the funniest YouTube comments of the week. Watch the first episode above!
Last but not least, Mexican restaurant chain Chipotle will be presented with the Brand of the Year Award at the end of the session, for its work on critically acclaimed series Farmed & Dangerous, conceived by studio Piro. Watch the trailer above. The cast and crew, including star Ray Wise, will be onstage to discuss this outstanding example of branded entertainment.
More details, including the full MIP Digital Fronts programme, here. Our new Fast Pass will give you access to the MIP Digital Fronts and MIPTV April 9 & 10. Register here, and see you in Cannes!
