Suddenly, which stars will be strutting the red carpet in Cannes next week could greatly decide the future of the Canadian industry.

As Canadian productions are featured in the Canada Country of Honour event at MIPCOM, stars like Heartland‘s Amber Marshall and Saving Hope‘s Erica Durance glitzed out in their finest couture in Cannes will represent the future of Canadian production and broadcasting in an increasingly globalized business.

Also out in force next week will be Francois Arnaud (The Borgias), celebrity chef Ricardo Larrivée, Michel Courtemanche, Michael Shanks, Daniel Gillies, Eve Landry and Niall Matter.

“Canadian content is being sold to countries like the United States, Australia, Italy, United Kingdom, France, and Germany just to name a few and continues to reach new territories every day,” Valerie Creighton, president and CEO of the Canada Media Fund, said Thursday in a statement ahead of the Canadian talent showcase in Cannes.

“As countries look towards Canada for innovative content and unique funding models, the industry will be at MIPCOM to celebrate what we have to offer to the world,” she added.

Also MIPCOM-bound for the global-era glitz is Sarah Canning, Danny Rahim (Primeval: New World), David Sutcliffe and Stefanie von Pfetten of Cracked, which debuts January 2013 on CBC.

“Constantly on the lookout for new partnerships, Canada is one of the world’s most vibrant centres of multiplatform content production,” Carolle Brabant, executive director of Telefilm Canada, said in her own statement as industry consolidation at home and audience fragmentation abroad opens up new international opportunities for Canadian producers.

Photo: via Reed Midem