TNW is heading to Cannes for MIPCube to see what the future holds for TV

Has it really been a year since the last MIPCube? Well, yes it has been, as it happens. From April 8-11 this year, MIPCube will strive to “reinvent the content experience” at the heart of the broader MIPTV event.

MIPTV, (Marché International des Programmes de Télévision), is a TV industry event held in Cannes each year, tapping the inherent infrastructure the city’s developed around the world-famous Cannes Film Festival, amongst other events.

MIPTV is now entering its 50th year, so we’re looking forward to seeing what’s going down in what is a monumental year for the event. However, MIPCube is where our key focus will lie, and TNW will be in attendance again to report on some of the biggest movers and shakers from the digital worlds around production, business, technology, advertising and content-creation.

The lowdown

A quick glance at the programme reveals a pretty exciting lineup of speakers and workshops. On the inaugural day, for example, there’s ‘Mortal Kombat: Building a split-screen blockbuster’, featuring creators and producers  Kevin Tancharoen and Lance Sloane who will explain how they produced hit Web series ‘Mortal Kombat: Legacy’.

The 💜 of EU tech

The latest rumblings from the EU tech scene, a story from our wise ol' founder Boris, and some questionable AI art. It's free, every week, in your inbox. Sign up now!

There’s also innovation seminars around topics such as 4K and tomorrow’s TV, which promises to dig deep on the new superior-quality broadcast technology, with 2014 the much-mooted year Ultra HD will finally gain traction. Other talks include ‘Does UI really matter?’ and ‘Redefining TV’ with Heroes-creator Tim Kring.

Then there’s ‘Twitter Talks’, which looks at the future of Twitter in the TV sphere, with Dan Biddle, Head of Broadcast Partnerships at Twitter, taking the stage. And ‘Working with YouTube, a creators masterclass for content producers’, will be discussed by David Ripert Head of YouTube Next Lab EMEA at Google UK.

Oh, and as a slight aside, if you fancy checking out the broader MIPTV event, the team that helped Felix Baumgartner – that chap who jumped from space and broke the speed of sound – will be on-hand to explain how they made it happen.

These are just the tip of the iceberg though, there’s a tonne of talks, masterclasses, demos, competitions and networking events.

Shine a light on innovation

Elsewhere at MIPCube, there’s Content 360 which is designed to highlight producers and their creative content. MIPCube Lab promises to shine the spotlight on up-and-coming startups from within the video industry, ones who are reinventing business models, producing new services/technologies, or otherwise improving the content experience. Five finalists will present their ideas on stage on the Monday, with the winner announced on the Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the MIPCube TV Hack will give developers 48 hours to find new ways to interact with video content.

This is the TV Hack’s second year, and it constitutes a two-day event that brings together developers and designers to create “the next generation of video entertainment applications.” Here’s a quick look at last year’s winner, Grab Magic.

We’ll be there…will you?

MIPCube is taking place in Cannes, France from April 8-11, running concurrently with the MIPTV event. We’ll be there to bring you all the key interesting tidbits, and you’ll be able to follow all our coverage here.

But there’s still time to get involved yourself, so if you’d like to be at MIPCube, you can register here, with special rates available for startups and students. It’s probably worth it alone for MIPCube Square, a dedicated space for networking and meeting innovators and maybe even getting an early peek at new technologies.

We hope to see you there.

Feature Image Credit – Thinkstock