MIPCOM for creators: Cannes deal rooms, 2026 moves

If your whole business lives inside one platform dashboard, there's a quiet risk you've been ignoring: the people who control the "bigger screens" and international distribution don't even know you exist. Or worse, they've heard of you and assume you're just "talent."

That's changing. Not because the TV industry suddenly got cool. Because it got hungry.

What happened

MIPCOM - the long-running Cannes market where TV companies buy, sell, and package shows - is doubling down on creators after a creator-forward push in 2025.

Last year's revamped edition brought in more than 10,600 attendees and leaned hard into creator economy programming with YouTube as a partner. Big-name creators showed up alongside the usual studio and distribution crowd, and the event mixed creator-led studios and platforms into the same rooms as traditional buyers.

Now the organizers are spreading that "creators belong here" idea across three events in 2026:

MIP LONDON (Feb. 22-24, Savoy Hotel), MIPCOM CANNES (Oct. 12-15, Palais des Festivals), and MIP CANCUN (Nov. 17-20, Moon Palace).

The practical signal: creators aren't being treated as a side stage anymore. The plan is more dedicated space and a more structured experience aimed at creators and brands, with co-production, monetization, and global distribution as the headline conversations.

Why creators should care

Because this is where distribution deals get invented.

You already know how to win attention on YouTube, TikTok, Shorts, Twitch, Snap. But the Cannes-style markets are where "internet famous" gets translated into things like: international licensing, format remakes, brand-funded co-productions, and streamers looking for lower-risk IP with an audience pre-installed.

And yes, the timing makes sense. Streamers have been more cautious with spending than in the peak growth years, while YouTube has been eating living-room viewing at scale (connected TV is not a rounding error anymore). When buyers want audiences that actually show up, creator-led franchises look less like a gamble.

Here's the mentor bit: your channel is not the asset. The audience relationship is. Markets like this are where you learn to sell the relationship without selling your soul.

There's also a workflow upside. Traditional media is built around production schedules, deliverables, rights, and territories. Annoying? Sometimes. But learning that language is how you stop being "the influencer they hired" and become "the studio they partner with." Big difference in leverage. Big difference in money.

What to do next

Show up with a business, not a vibe. Bring a one-page deck: what you make, who watches (hard demographics), what formats already work, and what a partner can buy (rights, territories, language versions, exclusivity).
Get clear on what you're actually selling. A finished show? A repeatable format? A co-pro concept? A pilot? If you can't say it in one sentence, you'll get politely ignored by people with 12 meetings before lunch.
Protect your IP like you finally respect yourself. Know your trademarks, your character/series ownership, and your music/licensing situation. Markets are full of friendly people and "friendly" contracts.
Build your "translation layer." Either hire a producer/business lead who speaks TV-distribution fluently, or learn the basics: options, back-end, minimum guarantees, territories, windowing. Otherwise you'll nod along and sign something dumb.

If you've been waiting for "permission" to play in bigger rooms, consider this your notice. The rooms are opening. The question is whether you walk in as a creator... or as a creator with a company.