MIPCOM kicks off in Cannes

The MIPCOM TV trade fair has kicked off in Cannes. Early news from the kids section is that short-formats are back in style, with a preference for live action. Established characters are being sought out (which is not such good news for people that want to try and create new ones). As scriptwriters it is important to keep an eye on these things, as I don't see the point in working for 18 months on a dead format.

Check for details on Cannes or Bust.

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Stephen Fry: UK TV writers "treated like dirt"

Celebrated British actor and writer Stephen Fry has spoken out against the British TV production system, claiming the writers are "treated like dirt". He particularly points to the fact that writers are generally dispossessed of their work when production starts. In a report in The Stage, he is quoted as saying, “Occasionally, if there’s a good relationship, a writer can come and visit the set, but their job - if they know anything about the etiquette of a set - is to sit very quietly in a corner and is certainly not to talk to an actor about anything but gossip and it is certainly not to talk about the part [they have written], because that undermines the relationship of the actor and director,” he said.

In addition to his high-profile acting, Fry has written for TV and is the writer of "Bright Young Things". For the full story, visit The Stage.

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New Adjani film debuts on TV

Purely by accident, I caught most of the new Isabelle Adjani film "La journée de la jupe" written and directed by Jean-Paul Lilienfeld on Arte recently. I was impressed by the young cast and wondered why I hadn't heard about it before. The reason is that the film actually premièred on television, and is only now being released in France and Belgium. Isn't this backwards logic? Aren't we told that movies should be in the theatres first and then on TV and lastly on DVD? It's all the more interesting as the film brought Arte its biggest audience rating to date, nearly 2.5 million spectators or almost 9.6% of French TV audiences.

It will be interesting to see if this creates a buzz for the release. It certainly worked for Arte. The film has caused such debate that Arte decided to postpone the re-broadcasts. A message on Isabelle Adjani's blog invites people to catch the movie in theatres. Arte is a co-producer with Mascaret Films, Fontana and the RTBF. Visit the official site (in French).

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