Most of you are probably familiar with MIDEM, the leading global conference focusing on the music industry (see our article on the last edition here). But you may not know that the same organizers also host the leading and longest-running conference focusing on the global TV and, now, online content ecosystem called MIPTV. This year’s conference will take place April 8 – 11th and, as with MIDEM, will be held in Cannes, France. Given how profoundly the internet and mobile technology have impacted the content industry, the organizers have put leveraging the power of new technologies to drive innovative content creation and distribution at the heart of this year’s edition.
MIPCube, 100% focus on digital content
In addition to bringing together leaders of the TV industry, MIPTV also seeks to encourage and elevate disruptive innovation and technology as well as entrepreneurship within the sector via its MIPCube conference track (also April 8 – 11th in Cannes). More specifically, MIPCube is the part of MIPTV dedicated to digital content and solutions,brining together the worlds of production, business, technology, advertising and content creation to ‘shape the future of digital content.’ The event leverages a series of high-quality talks, demos, competitions and networking events to connect digital content and solution creators and the business community.
MIPCube competitions = great opportunities for startups and developers
For startups and developers, perhaps the most exciting opportunity MIPCube offers is the chance to compete in the following three startup and developer focused competitions:
1) MIPCUBE LAB: This competition is designed to showcase startups whose solutions (technologies and/or services) improve the video experience or video business models in some way. 10 finalists will be selected to pitch in front of a jury made up of VCs and key business leaders. In preparation for the pitch, finalists will receive one-to-one coaching sessions from the Microsoft BizSpark team as well as a one-to-one meeting with Illuminate Ventures. Of course there are some great prizes to win too. You can learn more and/or apply here. This one has a really tight deadline of this Friday, February 22nd, so act fast.
2) Content360: For the pure content creators amongst you, this may be of interesting. CTC, Russia’s leading independent media company, in conjunction with Russian telecom MTS and agency Ailove, are looking for are projects that incorporate mixed-video storytelling in a transmedia environment that seamlessly integrate TV, Web and active mobile internet use. 5 finalists will be selected to pitch on stage with the chance of winning a €5k development prize. The deadline on this one is Monday, February 24th and you can apply here.
3) MIPCUBE TV HACK: Back for its second year and co-organized and co-sponsored by BeMyApp, the MIPCUBE TV Hack is a two-day event ‘uniting developers, designers and industry leaders to create the next generation of video entertainment applications’. Those interested, will need to apply by February 24th here. If you’re interested, you’ll need to do so now as only 15 hackers will be selected to compete!
Last but not least, although targeted to brands and agencies rather than startups, there’s another competition that may be of interest called the Brand of the Year award. This competition recognises a brand and its agency for the creation of original video content, and its use as a key element of a branded entertainment strategy/campaign. The deadline to apply for this is also the February 24th and you can learn more about it here.