MIPCOM Day One Wrap Up: Women in Global Entertainment, AI’s potential in TV, Banijay and more

2026 is the 14^th year for MIPCOM’s annual Women in Global Entertainment Power Lunch, co-hosted by A+E Networks and The Hollywood Reporter. As ever, the event gathered women from across the industry to lunch, network and share their knowledge.

“Our industry and our lives are navigating extraordinary changes. We have fewer people to do so much more work,” said A+E EVP, global content sales Deborah Bradley in her welcome speech.

She encouraged attendees to be careful about “where we are putting our energy”, adding: “We may not control everything around us, but we can be intentional about where we invest our time.”

The event saw actor, producer and director Angie Harmon interviewed by author and journalist Elizabeth Day about her career and her thoughts on the industry.

Earlier, Harmon also spoke to MIPCOM Daily News, and said she feels optimistic about the progress that has been made for women in the entertainment industry.

“There were women who walked before me so that I could run, and I feel that women continuously carry that torch for the next generation behind us,” Harmon said.

“I know I try to. It’s also about the younger generation learning from us, as I learned from the generation before me. It’s always about setting that example: being kind, but also knowing when to stand up for yourself.”

That’s an approach she has taken into her work as a director, as she works with actors including younger women who are making their way in the industry.

“With women as directors, women as mothers, women as executives: it’s a natural instinct to take care of and teach the ones coming up,” she said. “Screaming and being angry at somebody? That’s not teaching them anything.”

This year has also seen the first-ever MIP AI Entertainment Forum, opened by Fan Trust president Catherine Warren, who urged attendees to do their own research into what AI technologies could mean for the industry.

“Talk to an AI hype monster. Talk to an AI doomer. Get to know their perspectives,” she said, while acknowledging that this is “a time of transformation and acceleration for our industry”.

One key theme of the forum was the use of AI to create new business applications for producers. For example, turning their libraries into video training data that can be licensed to AI companies.

Arcadia Entertainment president John Wesley Chisholm said that his archive of around 8,000 hours of footage generated around $300,000 in additional revenue last year from this opportunity. “Everybody who has a library has something of value, but that library needs to be turned into a dataset,” he said.

MIPCOM’s first day also saw Utopiai Studios deliver its ‘Big AI Keynote’, with CEO Cecilia Shen stressing AI’s potential as a tool for filmmakers rather than a replacement for human creativity.

“The technology is not the filmmaker. Only humans make stories and television,” she said. “Writers write stories. Creators shape the vision. Actors bring the characters to life… It's not about making cheaper movies. It's about making movies possible that the economics of the traditional system might never allow us to make.”

Another event taking place at MIPCOM on day one was the MIPCOM Asia x Global Executive Summit, where senior Asian and international executives could network, share ideas and hear some of the latest data on their sector.

Janine Stein, editorial director, ContentAsia said that “digital now drives the screen economy”. She said that screen revenue in the APAC region was up to US$172bn in 2026, from US$136bn in 2021.

She cited trends including “linear TV shrinking faster as a business than as a medium” and while describing cinema as “flat”, suggested that “local film is the clearest growth opportunity”.

Later on Monday, Banijay Entertainment chairman Jeff Zucker and CEO Marco Bassetti made their first appearance since the firm’s merger with All3Media to discuss the future for the company.

“We have talent, IP and much more capacity to create value. We’re no longer just a production group – we’re transforming into an entertainment company,” Bassetti said. Meanwhile, Zucker talked about an “everything is possible” mentality following the merger. “We’re thrilled with the combination but we’re still ambitious to do more,” he said.

The afternoon also saw Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria accept this year’s MIPCOM CANNES x Variety Vanguard Award, before sitting down for an interview with Variety’s Cynthia Littleton.

Her key message concerned Netflix’s desire to commission shows that are hyper-specific and culturally relevant in their home countries.

“The more specific something is, the more universal it feels and becomes,” she said. “Sometimes people say ‘oh, I have an international show for you’ or a global thing. And I don’t want that. That just feels like you’re trying to make something so broad that everybody everywhere will like it… What we really want is something that feels so authentic and local and specific. When we do that, that’s what resonates with a global audience.”