MIPTV 2011 kicks off with early sellers including Pompeii and royal wedding doc

As ever, a host of big name TV projects are premiering and selling at the market, including GK-tv and Starz mini-series Camelot starring Eva Green, Joseph Fiennes and Jamie Campbell Bower; Tele Munchen Group and TM International’s Moby Dick, written by Emmy Award winner Nigel Williams, starring William Hurt, Ethan Hawke and Gillian Anderson; and Kudos/BBC’s Abi Morgan scripted drama The Hour, starring Dominic West, Romola Garai and Ben Whishaw.

Major mini-series Pompeii and BBC Worldwide’s documentary William and Kate - A Royal Engagement are among other hot titles already selling well at the market.

Monday’s events welcomed Arnold Schwarzenegger to introduce animated project The Governator, as well as keynotes from David Frank from Zodiak Media Group and Rodolphe Belmer of Canal+.

Once again co-production will be central at MIPTV and the Producers’ Forum is dedicating numerous events to bringing professionals together to secure new partnerships. The co-production forum is spanning two days and features case-studies on new international co-productions, interviews with international commissioners and programming heads and special co-production workshops focusing on Latin America and Asia.

Connected Creativity is one of the new global forums at MIPTV, bringing together the worlds of technology and mobile media with the entertainment industry to address the new content opportunities created by connected devices.

To encourage innovation in entertainment solutions, the Connected Creativity section is introducing the CC Ventures competition and networking event. CC Ventures is an opportunity to pitch and engage with leading venture capital investors, media funds and entertainment executives looking for opportunities in the digital and mobile space.

Finalists will include 12 start-ups from around the world. They will have the opportunity to pitch their project to an international jury during a high-paced, two hour competition set to take place Wednesday.

This year’s event also sees the launch of The Brand Of The Year Award, with a new award presented to an international brand for an outstanding contribution to the development and production of brand-related content. The winner will be chosen by an international jury made up of leading figures from the production and advertising sectors, including Doug Scott of Ogilvy Entertainment, Ben Silverman of Electus, director Brett Ratner and Robert Friedman of @radical.media.