CANNES — “Ugly Americans” will sweep through Cannes this week alongside two new sales execs as MTV Networks International heads to MIPCOM to continue sales on their expanded catalog of more than 5,000 programming hours, MTVNI said Sunday.
MTVNI, who has seen its catalog swell by 20% over the past two years, has already kicked off this year’s market with pre-sales for Comedy Central’s animated comedy-horror program “Ugly Americans” to Channel Five in the U.K., CTV in Canada and SBS in Australia.
“It’s a really fun, neurotically grounded show,” exec vp of Nickelodeon and MTVNI’s International Program Sales Steve Grieder said in an interview.
Related Stories
Animated pre-school hit “Team Umizoomi” has been sold to Gallic public broadcaster France Televisions and Canada’s YTV in addition to strong sales across the board in Asia including EMAS in Malaysia, MediaCorp. in Singapore and EBS in South Korea. The series airs on Nick Jr. and is currently the top animated series for preschoolers stateside.
Back in the real world, MTV’s scripted dramedy created by David Katzenberg “The Hard Times of R J Berger” has been swept up by the Nine Network in Australia and MTVNI has high hopes for the show on the international market. ‘It’s a real breakthrough for MTV. ‘The Hard Times of RJ Berger’ really captures the angst, drama and tragic comedy of being a dweeb in high school,” Grieder said. He added: “It’s a show that has a big opportunity to engage broader audiences.”
Also on MTVNI’s Mipcom slate is Nickelodeon’s live action tween series “Victorious” from “iCarly” creator Dan Schneider and BET’s reality series “Model City” about black and latino male models and their runway lifestyles.
Joining MTVNI’s already active sales team is Emmanuelle Bon who will handle program and format sales, plus production development and co-production opportunities. Bon will be based in Paris and will work directly with MTVNI’s local channels and broadcast partners, but will also expand her reach across the southern European territories including Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece and Cyprus. Maria Rakhmatullina-Ufland will join Bon and the team in London to oversee sales for Emerging Markets including key markets like the Middle East and Russia.
