Canadians have always been MIPTV stalwarts. Wherever you see three or four executives huddled together in conversation, it’s a fair bet that one of them is a Canadian animation or documentary producer looking for co-financing partners. (Or explaining why the Winter Olympic Games is important.)

These guys are still to be found – clutching coproduction treaties or pitching two-minute trailers for new CGI series. Indeed, this market even saw them gather enthusiastically at 9 a.m. on Monday morning for a matchmaking session called Connect with Canada (under the sign of the Maple Leaf).

All of this is good, solid Canucks-in-Cannes activity. But at MIPTV 2010, there were some other trends of interest involving Canadians. The first was the amount of Canadian content cropping up in the catalogues of U.K. distributors.

A good case in point is CBC sitcom 18 to Life – which has been picked up by ITV Studios for global distribution. Also of interest is the news that U.K.-based distributor Digital Rights Group is to sell formats such as Next Great Leader on behalf of CBC (as well as funding some development).

Clearly, this is partly to do with the recession, which has restricted the amount of content being commissioned within the U.K. market, but it’s also a good indication of the way that the global content market has moved in recent times. On the one hand, the growing number of pay-TV channels demanding decent-quality content means distributors need to go in search of new shows (the more volume the better). On the other, expansion in the scripted formats market means that it doesn’t matter too much whether the original concept comes from the U.K., Canada or Australia – the other territory which is attracting interest from international distributors.

Another notable trend is that Canadian-based or -owned distributors are adding a bit of U.S. sizzle to their MIPTV slates. The obvious reason for this is that U.S. content is easy to promote and attractive to buyers. Cineflix International, for example, was in Cannes with none other than William Shatner – host of a new show called Weird or What. Undoubtedly, trucking around town with the Star Trek icon is a great way of cutting through the usual clutter – and one which also appeals to trade journalists and photographers.

You get a similar story at ContentFilm’s distribution arm Fireworks International, which was in town with Spike TV’s 2010 Guys Choice Awards. The third edition of the annual event takes place on June 20, and so far, it has been presold to 90 broadcasters including Movie Network (Australia), MTV OY (Finland), TV2 (Denmark), Animax Latin America (pan Latin America) and AXN Asia/Animax Asia (pan Asia).

The third trend concerns the way in which the Canadian content and distribution proposition has expanded well beyond its traditional comfort zone. Over and above the kind of U.K. and U.S. alliances mentioned, recent evidence of the emergence of a muscular new Maple Leaf mob includes the acquisition of DIC by Cookie Jar Entertainment, the involvement of Corus Entertainment in the rollout of kids channel KidsCo and the emergence of E1 Entertainment. The latter was particularly prominent at MIPTV, this time with a Jason Priestley comeback project entitled Call Me Fitz.

Another great example of this renewed creative confidence was the news at MIPTV that Insight Production, which has topped the ratings with shows such as Battle of the Blades and Canadian Idol, has two new international projects about the origins of environmental protest group Greenpeace. Commenting on the productions, Insight president John Brunton called Greenpeace ‘a Canadian gift to the world; a legacy that changed the way we look at our planet and one of Canada’s most important stories.’ Based on the evidence of MIPTV, the world might be about to catch a few more Canadian stories (though keep Battle of the Blades for yourself).

Still in Cannes: I went down to the market expecting to see a glut of Africa-themed content to schedule around the forthcoming South Africa-hosted FIFA World Cup. Instead, there was a resurgence in shows based around ancient civilizations of Egypt, Greece and Rome. Pick of the bunch is Starz Entertainment’s bloodthirsty Spartacus remake Blood and Sand, while National Geographic will set the wheels in motion on a Greece copro with Skai. Just for good measure, ZDF Enterprises will put in a showing with Project Egypt.

Fascination with the ancient world isn’t limited to the West. Indian audiences are experiencing a resurgence of interest in the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, while a Japan/China joint-venture called China Histories was in Cannes with a flagship series on Chinese World Heritage Sites.

It would be nice, however, to see a few more stories related to the historical African experience reach mainstream audiences (i.e. not just the ones that relate to poverty and hunger). Surely there’s scope for the black historical experience to get the kind of upgrade that other civilizations have received. *