Le Rendez-Vous is the very compatible TV market organized by TV France International, the professional association of French distributors.
Last month, I attended the 20th edition in the beautiful seaside town of Biarritz. It was a very informative and stress-free event that deserves to fly higher above the radar on the international market calendar.
Mission
- The mission of LR-V is for French exporters that are members of TV France International to show their latest slate of programs to international buyers.
- The targeted buyers are television channels and other media: DVD, VOD, IPTV, airlines, and more.
Two Main Assets
- A digital video library with 180+ screening stations, allowing buyers to watch via VOD the latest French television production. This year, 1,154 programs were available for screening, most of them never presented before and available in HD. 9,000 programs were screened by buyers over several days.
- Meetings with the French distributors and producers of these programs in fully-equipped professional meeting spaces.
Takeaways
- A key asset is a superb conference location right above the Biarritz cliff tops, with casual luncheons and dinners set on the Casino terrace just above the rolling Atlantic waves.
- The relaxed vibe and picturesque setting made for easy introductory conversations and follow-ups with buyers.
- The buyers were very diverse, and while anchored by the major French players, there were strong delegations from Russia, Eastern Europe, Africa, Japan, including NHK, and the Mid-East, notably from Al Jazeera.
- Many of the distributors and buyers commented that LR-V serves as a filter for MIPCOM by qualifying opportunities and target.
Le Rendez-Vous 2014 in figures:
- 266 buyers from 64 different countries, representing over 174 acquisition companies.
- 63 exhibitors, all members of TV France International, represented by more than 120 attendees.
- 1,154 programs available for screening, 63% of which are brand new and 86% in HD.
- With more programs to screen, the video library offers a larger panorama of French production in all genres: documentary, animation, fiction, feature films, performing arts, format, light entertainment, and more.
Funding
TVI funds the event with support from the CNC, the Centre National du Cinema et de l’Image Animee.
- The CNC is France’s authority for distributing back to the industry the Euros 700+/- Mn (2014) in taxes it collects from television networks, theaters and others industry sectors.
- France is projected to export programs valued around Euros 140 Mn in 2014.
- I met with Benoit Danard, CNC’s director of research, and I will soon cover the CNC’s very important… and outside Europe very underestimated… role in funding French production, including Unscripted and documentary programs.
Many thanks to Mathieu Bejart (left with CNC’s Benoit Danard) and the LR-V team for their hospitality and industry expertise, and congrats for organizing an event that is unusual for providing such relaxed access to buyers.
CNC
- Read our coverage of the CNC program here.