PARIS — M. Night Shyamalan, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Donald Sutherland will lead a large delegation of talent and filmmakers set to present their shows at the 30th edition of Mipcom, the international TV market hosted in Cannes.
Shyamalan will present “Wayward Pines,” the FOX International Channels’ thriller series based on Blake Crouch’s novel. The show, which stars Matt Dillon, Melissa Leo and Terrence Howard, turns on a federal agent who searches for two missing federal agents in a small town of Idaho.
Gooding Jr. will be on hand, along with Aunjanue Ellis (“The Help”) and Lou Gossett Jr. (“Boardwalk Empire”), to promote eOne’s “The Book of Negroes” as part of Mipcom’s World Premiere TV screening. Directed by Clement Virgo, the 19th-century-set series is based Canadian writer Lawrence Hill’s novel. Virgo, Hill, exec producers Damon d’Oliviera and Carrie Stein will also be attending the unspooling. The 6-part series follows the journey of a young woman who was enslaved in South Carolina and fought to regain her freedom.
eOne will also present “Matador” with Gabriel Luna (“NCIS: Los Angeles”) and Nicky Whelam (“Left Behind”). Producer Robert d’Orci will be in Cannes to speak about the show.
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Sutherland, meanwhile, will present Tandem Communications’ “Pirate’s Passage,” the adventure/coming-of-age toonpic he co-produced. Sutherland also co-wrote the screenplay (adapted from William Gilkerson’s novel) and voiced the lead character. Another anticipated show on Tandem’s Mipcom slate: “Spotless,” which will be presented in Cannes with the cast: Marc-Andre Grondin (“C.R.A.Z.Y”), Denis Menochet (“Inglorious Basterds”), Brendan Coyle (“Downtown Abbey”) and Miranda Raison (“24: Live Another Day”).
Also on Mipcom’s slate of TV drama series: Sky Vision’s “Fortitude” with Richard Dormer (“Game of Thrones”), Luke Treadaway (“Clash of the Titans”).
Simon Cowell will be feted at Mipcom, where he will be named personality of the year and will deliver a keynote on Oct. 13. Previous honorees include Dreamworks Animation’s CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg, Grupo Televisa’s CEO and Chairman Emilio Azcarraga Jean, Disney/ABC Television Group’s president Anne Sweeney and Lionsgate co-chairman and CEO Jon Feltheimer.
Led by Reed Midem’s TV division topper Laurine Garaude, Mipcom’s conferences will be focusing on “The Global Quest for Original Content.”
Garaude said the confab will welcome a record 13,500 participants, including 4700 buyers of whom 1500 come from digital companies. Mexico will be celebrated as the country of honor.
Mipcom’s roaster of media mastermind keynotes features Steve Mosko, president of Sony Pictures Television, Ynon Kreiz, CEO of Maker Studios, James Murdoch, co-COO of 21th Century Fox, Ted Sarandos, Netflix’ CCO, Jill Wilfert’s Lego Group’s VP of global licensing and entertainment, Charles Zhang, Sohu.com’s chairman and CEO, Sweeney, who will be back this year to reflect on her accomplishments at Disney, as well as David Stapf, prexy of CBS Televisions Studios and Armando Nunez, CBS Global Distribution Group’s president and CEO.
Mipcom will also introduce a Global Channel Distribution Day with sessions bringing together execs from traditional and digital companies to discuss content distribution and ownership, among other topics, as well as potential collaborations.
Mipcom will take place Oct.13-16.
