Cannes, France: MIPCOM represents three distinct but simultaneous sales and coproduction markets for Alliance Atlantis Communications.

In light of the softening world market for independently produced episodic drama, AAC placed the accent this year on a slate of new primetime event movies and miniseries. ‘A two-hour time slot for a really good movie can find a home,’ says Ted Riley, president of Alliance Atlantis Television Distribution. Otherwise, he says, series are ‘very tight right now,’ mainly because cheaper reality programs and domestic dramas are filling international time slots.

AAC Fact introduced 10 or more new factual programs at the fall TV market, while AAC Kids showed up with a lineup of six or seven new children’s shows.

Parallel to its distribution activity, Riley says AAC looked closely at new forms of strategic partnerships including new coproduction opportunities, but in the context of a tightening market.

AAC and coventure partners produced a miniseries and five TV movies in anticipation of the threatened SAG strike this summer. The entire lineup – including the four-hour CBS sweeps miniseries Salem Witch Trials and the A&E sci-fi TV movie Lathe of Heaven, based on the Ursula K. Le Guin noveltoplined this year’s drama slate at MIPCOM.

Riley says AAC received many partnering opportunities, but the intention this year was ‘to be much more selective in light of the recessionary feel to this industry.’

‘It is not a time for marginal programming,’ he says. ‘That being said, I think any strong documentary or children’s title will find a home in the same way CSI: Crime Scene Investigation found a home in dramatic series.’

AAC’s deepening relationship with BBC in kids programming is reflected in the Canadian launch this November of diginet BBC Kids. ‘So we’re doing a lot of coproductions together to complement the launch of their new digital channel – CBBC.’

Salem Witch Trials, the true story of one of the darkest chapters in U.S. history, features an all-star cast and was directed by multiple Emmy winner Joseph Sargent. Crossed Over, also commissioned by CBS, chronicles the true life experience of a woman (played by Diane Keaton) whose son is killed in a hit-and-run incident. Both entries were produced by AAC in association with Paula Weinstein’s Spring Creek Productions (The Perfect Storm).

TV movie The Jenifer Estess Story is a triumphant story of three sisters who unite in the face of adversity when one is diagnosed with ALS. It was produced by AAC and Old Beantown Films and airs this fall on CBS.

AAC’s drama slate at MIPCOM includes The Matthew Shepard Story, produced with Goldie Hawn’s Cosmic/Clearlight Pictures and commissioned by NBC. It’s the chilling story of a U.S. college student who becomes the victim of hate crime. The A&E presentation Lathe of Heaven stars Lukas Haas, Lisa Bonet, David Strathairn (L.A. Confidential) and Sheila McCarthy (Haven) and was produced in association with Baumgarten-Merims Productions. Another Day, produced by AAC and Coolbrook in association with American Zoetrope, is a supernatural drama about a young woman who travels back in time. It airs in the U.S. on USA Network.

-www.allianceatlantis.com