Hervé Michel, Chairman, and Sarah Hemar, Executive Director of TV France International, confirmed the realization and dates for the Le Rendez-Vous 2021 at Biarritz, to take place on September 6-8.
‘Against a backdrop of a second year of the COVID crisis, sadly, buyers have once again told us that they will not be able to travel in September. As a result, the TV France Board of Directors has decided to hold the 27th edition of Le Rendez-VousBi@rritz as a digital event for the second year running’, said the executives.
‘Aiming to offer them the richest and most pleasant experience possible, we have started to work – once again with the agency PublicisLive – on how we can capitalize on our experience last year and at Le Rendez-Vous Docs, which was held online for the first time in March’, addedHemar.
With a simple and secure user journey, the platform associated with Screenopsis, the world’s biggest database for French programs for export, will be the event’s global showcase. TV France International, along with its French audiovisual distribution companies, will offer a program of video content as well as Super Highlights presenting emblematic new programs and project pitches in all genres (animation, fiction, documentary, etc.), plus themed conferences.
In 2020, the Studio du Rendez-VousBi@rritz was installed on the roof of the PublicisGroupe building on the Champs Elysées. This year, the studio is once again planning to set up in a prime spot in central Paris.From September 6 to 8, this will be the “physical” location where TV France, its members, and the big names invited for the event’s filming will meet.
During the last year edition, 400 buyers and commissioning editors from 64 countries registered, i.e. up 1/3 over 2019, with increased attendance from buyers from far afield: Asia: China (+167%), Taiwan (+200%) and Japan (+250%), Canada (+160%) and the US (+120%)
58 French exporting companies participating and nine highlights programs were presented from the studio by their producers, distributors and French talent. 15 pitches of projects original documentaries, and 600 new programmes available for international sales in the Rendez-Vous 2020 Screening Room. More than 3,000 visits recorded on the registered site and more than 3,400 consultations of programs from the dedicated Screening Room on Screenopsis with a big appetite for documentaries (58% des consultations) and fiction leading the views.
Hemar and Michel concluded: ‘Our members, partners and buyers turned out in force in 2020, and we are confident they will do so again this year. We now aim to create the best conditions to encourage even more interactions and exchange. And at the same time, we are enthusiastic and optimistic that we will be able to meet again in person in Biarritz in September 2022’.
