The first edition of MIA, the new International Audiovisual Market, will be held in Rome from October 16th to 20th, 2015, during the Rome Film Fest (16-23 October 2015).

For the first time ever in Italy, a Market will cover every segment of the audiovisual product, from cinema to television series, from documentaries to factual, from animation to videogames, and will involve, in both a strategic and operative role, the most committed and consolidated associations of Italian producers and distributors: for Film, Anica (National Association of Cinema and Audiovisual Industries) and the Fondazione Cinema per Roma; for Television, including Agorà’s activities, the APT (Association of Television Producers); for Documentaries, the Doc/it association.

MIA is made possible by the support of the Ministry for Economic Development and ICE – Italian Trade Promotion Agency, and will be endorsed by the Ministry for the Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, and by Istituto Luce – Cinecittà. It will also collaborate with the Roma Lazio Film Commission, working in synergy with the Italian Film Commissions.

MIA will offer film industry professionals networking opportunities, screenings, panels, lectures, workshops, co-production meetings, roundtables, as well as focuses on the latest market trends, on co-production and distribution at the global scale, paying particular attention to new platforms, transmedia storytelling and gaming (with the participation of AESVI – the association of Italian Videogame Publishers and Developers).

MIA will deliver real business opportunities and information to Italian operators and to the most dynamic companies on the global market, inheriting and consolidating the competences and previous experiences, of its partners including The Business Street, New Cinema Network, the Co-Production Forum, TvDays, Italian Doc Screenings, Agorà. All the actors involved will work synergetically on a joint project, the aim of which is to develop a permanent platform that can advance the internationalization of the Italian audiovisual industry, implementing specific instruments to sustain networking, exports and co-productions, and to bring Italian operators back to the negotiating table for important European and global projects. The Italian Film Commissions association will present the operational tools to promote the Italian Regions and the opportunities they offer to support national and international producers.

MIA will be held in some of the most extraordinary locations in Rome, first and foremost the Baths of Diocletian, the largest thermal complex in ancient Rome, which will be the venue for the co-production meetings and networking activities. The nearby Hotel Boscolo Exedra, near Piazza della Repubblica, will host the conferences and meetings between buyers and world sales, whereas the Quattro Fontane multiplex will be reserved for the screenings.

MIA is directed by Lucia Milazzotto, the former director of the Marketing department at World Content Pole SA and head of New Cinema Network, with years of experience in the international audiovisual industry, consolidated by her relationship with producers, distributors and many of the most important institutions in cinema, such as Eurimages, Media Programme, Sundance Institute, and Cannes Cinefondation. Lucia Milazzotto will be assisted by two specific boards for cinema and television, composed of world sales, national and international producers and broadcasters, who will scout the most interesting trends, activities, and professionals around the world.

39-year-old LUCIA MILAZZOTTO worked for fifteen years in private companies, public institutions and Foundations to conceive and develop market programmes to support the Film, Television and Media industries in the development, production and international distribution of their content. She was Marketing and Sales Director for World Content Pole SA, which has developed a PaaS business to business platform for the Media and Entertainment industry, and was head of New Cinema Network, the co-production market of the Rome Film Festival. In the course of her career, she has created a vast network of relations globally with the media and entertainment industries: she has worked in partnership with the Sundance Institute, the major European institutions for the promotion of cinema, the Cannes Cinéfondation, European Film Promotion, Eurimages, Programma Media, the major international festivals and markets. She has also been responsible for special sections and programmes at the Locarno International Film Festival and has been a consultant to some of the important associations of producers and distributors in Italy.