Cannes, France: It’s been a slow reemergence, but the cautious optimism that defined the pronouncements of producers at MIPCOM since 2001 has given way to the real thing at the 2004 edition of the international TV market in the south of France.

While attendance figures were not available by press time, early indications point to a strength not seen in several years.

‘This is the biggest market I’ve seen since September 2001,’ says Laura Michalchyshyn, SVP dramatic programming at Toronto-based Alliance Atlantis Broadcasting, commenting on the wait in line to get into the Palais de Festival on day one.

Indeed, that lineup on opening morning takes nearly 15 minutes, as each attendee has to negotiate a gauntlet of security, including bag checks and metal detectors. Restaurants are booked solid for lunch and dinner up and down La Croisette.

One of the best indicators of the buoyancy of the market comes from the kids programming side. While some producers continue to sound notes of caution, most attendees who came to Cannes early for MIP Junior express hopefulness that has been absent in recent years.

‘What we’ve seen recently, and it continues at this market, is that there is a kind of good, steady demand,’ says Steven DeNure, partner and executive producer at Toronto-based Decode Entertainment.

DeNure, in Cannes with youth products including new projects Freaks of Nature and Delilah and Julius, a copro with Halifax-based Collideascope Digital Productions, compares the positive outlook to recent struggles by tooncos facing ‘a huge oversupply, with too many people making too many shows for too few time slots.’ It was this glut in inventory that contributed to nearly sinking several major animators, including Nelvana and Cinar.

These companies also serve as canaries in the coal mine for overall drops in international TV demand, felt most clearly at MIPCOM beginning in 2001.

But that surplus has been used up, and many here say broadcasters are back in a buying mood.

According to Peter Moss, EVP of TV programming and development at Toronto-based Corus Entertainment, another issue that contributed to declines is also now being resolved. Most major media companies, including Corus, Alliance Atlantis Communications, CHUM and Astral, own broadcast outlets and were dealing with mountains of debt thanks to a surge in expansion in the late 1990s. Only now are they finally getting a handle on that.

‘It’s like an elephant swallowed by a snake. It’ll take a couple of years to just work through the system,’ Moss says. ‘Companies are profitable, schedules need refreshing and it’s becoming more competitive because of cutbacks. So, automatically, you’re starting to see new stuff being ordered and new products are on the market.’

Despite the growing optimism, some producers remain cautious. Arnie Zipursky, president and CEO of Toronto’s CCI Entertainment, says the market for preschool product continues to be difficult. CCI is making a major push with its 52 x 11 Harry and His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs. Zipursky is also shopping Monster by Mistake and is scoping interest in the 22-minute pilot Foolish Girl.

‘I know that in the U.K., for example, preschool is very tough to sell right now, mostly at BBC and ITV, the two major terrestrials, because they’ve got a lot of preschool and they’ve got a lot of in-house or indigenous preschool [productions]. And that’s an important market for us. So it’ll be tough to move preschool,’ he says.

Likewise, Vincent Leduc, VP of production at Montreal-based Zone3, is still not convinced.

‘I guess business is picking up, but it’s been a tough year. We all know that. I guess it’s the nature of these business people to be optimistic. We’ve been saying the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is just around the corner for years,’ he says.

One of the sources of the positive outlook from many animation producers at the market stems from recognition of new outlets for their programming.

Scott Dyer, EVP production at Nelvana in Toronto, which is introducing new productions ShockRockets, Pandamania and a CGI version of longtime hit Nelvana property Babar, points to several emerging channels for animated programming.

‘That goes not only for the broadcast side, especially with the opening of markets like China, but also from the on-demand market and from the Internet broadband delivery side. There are lots of new places to put programming,’ he says.

Still, he maintains that there are many issues that need to be worked out over the next few years in terms of the dynamics of the on-demand and Internet markets, including figuring out whether one broadcaster’s rights eclipse another’s.

‘There are so many different mechanisms now for delivery that the overlapping rights are complicated,’ he adds.

Another growing market for animated product is the direct-to-video market, says Rick Mischel, CEO of Vancouver-based Mainframe Entertainment. ‘The DVD market growth has been explosive,’ he says. ‘And we’re in the fortunate position to be taking advantage of that growth.’

Mischel’s big push at the fall market includes the new Tony Hawk 70-minute animated feature Tony Hawk in ‘Boom Boom Goes the Circus’ and the 26 x 30 CGI series Beat Freaks.

One of the biggest success stories at this market is Atomic Betty, a Canada/France copro that has been sold in dozens of territories and premiered earlier this fall on Teletoon in Canada and Cartoon Network in the U.S. Produced by Toronto-based Breakthrough Animation, Atomic Cartoons in Vancouver and Tele Images Kids in Paris, the 52 x 11 show is being hailed as a true Canadian success story.

‘I’m disappointed that Atomic Betty is on Teletoon,’ says Corus’ Moss, ‘but I’m very happy that Atomic Betty is the success that it is, because the whole market is buoyant when you start to see that it is possible.’

Other big animation projects at the fall market include Alliance Atlantis’ 39 x 30 Dragon Booster, CineGroupe’s feature Pinocchio 3000 and Cookie Jar’s 52 x 11 Gerald McBoing Boing and 40 x 30 live-action/animation hybrid Postcards from Buster.

-www.mipcom.com