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Cannes: Canadians have been described as ‘international citizens’ due to their ease in adapting to various cultures and locales, and nowhere is this more evident or valuable than at mip-tv.

The 32nd annual international tv program market took place April 7-12 at the Palais des Festivals in Cannes, France, attracting almost 10,000 representatives from 102 countries. As the fifth largest constituency, Canadians played a key role at mip, characterized by a level of sophistication that might have seemed impossible a mere five or 10 years ago.

According to Ted Riley, president of Atlantis Releasing: ‘The world has finally caught up to the way Canadians have always had to do business. Canada is now the envy of the world, truly cosmopolitan, with a credibility no one else has, incomparable access to the u.s., and an unparalleled ability to deal with Europeans.’

Riley reports ‘a great market where we can get to the nub of a deal within 10 minutes.’

Liberty Street, produced by Linda Schuyler of Epitome Pictures and distributed by Atlantis, did particularly well at the market, with sales to Holland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Israel, and pending sales in other markets.

To demonstrate the maturity of the Canadian industry, Alliance International boasted the third largest stand at mip. According to president Rola Zayed, the greatest opportunity the market provided was the ability for the Paris, Toronto and Los Angeles offices to work together in Cannes, view the potential of various projects, determine their viability, simultaneously react and quickly bring them in-house.

Alliance Communications is being touted as the model for major Canadian production companies with its groundbreaking u.s. deal for Due South, setting a standard where the goal no longer is to produce the best Canadian production, but the best international production.

Isme Bennie marked her 24th trip to Cannes as president of Paragon International by closing the first sale within the first half-hour of the market. She reports the runaway success of Once Upon A Hamster, with extensive broadcast and video sales; a seven-figure, worldwide deal for a large program package; sales of 26 episodes of Ready Or Not to ZDF Germany, and Happy Birthday Bunnykins to South Africa and the u.k., with video rights to Southeast Asia and several territories; plus numerous other sales.

The low Canadian dollar and emerging international services stimulated mip sales. Kelly Alexander of the Ontario Film Development Corporation and Michelle Bischoff of Telefilm Canada report producers working their stands saw an unprecedented level activity, due in part to the development of new cable and satellite services.

Producers working out of sodec and Tele Export Quebec echoed their enthusiasm.

Brisk sales for broadcast and video were reported for a broad range of programming, including Madison (Forefront Productions), Just For Laughs (Les Distributions Rozon), Profiles of Nature (Ellis Enterprises), AlysÉThe Broken Dream (Filmoption Internationale), Hearts of Hate: The Battle for Young Minds (Great North Releasing), My Hometown (Mercier Films), Anna Banana (Multimedia Group of Canada), The New Red Green Show (Oasis Pictures), Wacky Palms (Owl Communications), Groundling Marsh (Portfolio Film and Television), Waitress (Portfolio), Theodore Tugboat (Cochran Entertainment), Tales for All (Les Productions La Fete), zap (Verseau International), and a host of additional titles.

Producers also reported great presale interest in new productions, and a record number of requests for material and cassettes.

Malofilm sold the rights to Mighty Machines to Buena Vista for worldwide video release, and broadcast rights to Louis 19, King of the Airwaves to Scandinavia, Denmark and all of Latin America. Henry and Verlin was sold to Scandinavia, Belgium, Latin America and HBO Asia.

Peter Simpson reports that Norstar Entertainment is ‘working to expandÉand get more specifically into television.’

New projects include taking four great stories and overlaying the notion of Sherlock Holmes, for an extended four-part drama, as well as getting into docudrama with the launch of the documentary series Life After Death.

The National Film Board has just completed its best year ever with a 24% increase in revenue, and is working hard to keep the momentum going by identifying market niches, and adapting its vast inventory.

Through creative packaging, the board can get the price per sale up, editing where necessary to international program length standards.

The nfb found mip-asia to be a ‘breakthrough’ in reaching the Asian market, and is now working to not only sell its catalogue but also develop European coproduction deals at mip.

Catalyst Distribution reports a record 120 meetings scheduled at mip prior to arrival, with additional meetings in place after the fact, netting excellent sales. Catalyst placed an output deal for 350 hours of programming to be broadcast in New Zealand, and received great interest in the classic sctv series.

Sullivan Entertainment International reported record-breaking tv deals for Butterbox Babies in France, Spain and Australia, including home video sales in Scandinavia and the Benelux countries.

The Road to Avonlea series was placed on NHK Japan and has been purchased for an additional season in Hungary, Finland, the Netherlands and more.

Louis Fournier of Cinar says his company’s primary focus at mip was to take its production Arthur to market. Arthur is scheduled to run on pbs in the fall of 1996.

According to Fournier, ‘Response was great and the question is deciding who we are going to sell to.’

Cinar also screened the first footage of Little Lulu in an effort to attract international interest for additional episodes.

For the first time in more than 10 years, cbc and bbc have entered into a coproduction agreement. The project, a nine-hour drama based on the life of Cecil Rhodes, will be broadcast in Canada in the fall of 1996.

The lingering tale of the market is that of a healthy, growing Canadian industry with too many successful stories to be told in this limited space. And that’s good news.