CANNES: More than a dozen Indian companies are marking their presence at MipCom 2003 in the Palais de Festivals in Cannes. Scheduled to be held from 10-14 October 2003, the market is expected to be busy, the weakening American dollar notwithstanding.

Star India - with its gaggle of soaps and current affairs programmes, E-City Entertainment with its clutch of Spiritual shows (from the Chakra channel library), Eros International (with its huge movie library), Discovery Communications have all taken up booths in order to display their libraries. Balaji Telefilms, which had taken up a stand decided to abstain this year.

The other companies which have registered include: UTV Communications, Iqbal and Anu Malhotra’s AIM Television, Chennai-based magazine Animation Reporter, Dessin Works, Kosmic Studios, Uttar Pradesh based Escosoft Technologies, Secunderabad-based Green Gold Graphics, and Mumbai-based companies Sound Entertainment, UTV Software, Vale Music India, and indiantelevision.com.

Three days of conferencing, with pitching sessions from format show creators, screenings of several new programmes including those produced for HDTV, loads of lunches and evening cocktails and parties – attendees of this year’s MipCom are going to have their hands and time full. Of course there will be the meetings to begin new deals or continue conversations on existing ones and close some. Of course the nominees of The International Emmys are slated to be announced on 10 October. With a handful of Indian entries, it will be interesting to see if any of them hit the nomination charts.

Of course, two people are going to be recognised: News Corp. president and CEO and Fox Group chairman and CEO Peter Chernin is to be awarded with the Personality of the Year Award, and Warren Leibfarb, the founder of the DVD will be awarded the Decoration des Arts and Lettres by the French minister of Culture and Communication Jean-Jacques Aillagon.