MIPCOM Cannes is introducing a new initiative to connect brands and agencies with studios, production companies, IP holders, creators, and commissioners, aligning with branded content expert Doug Scott for MIP BrandWorks this October.
The move, intended to drive partnerships, development, and dealmaking around brand-funded content, builds on the initiatives introduced by MIPCOM last year. MIP BrandWorks will run across three days of MIPCOM. The team at RX is working with Scott, an Emmy-nominated producer and the co-founder of UNXNOWN. Scott founded OgilvyEntertainment and is a former Cannes Lions jury president for branded content.
MIPCOM will also feature significant strands around the creator economy, AI, and verticals, in line with shifts in the overall content ecosystem.
“MIP BrandWorks signals the next evolution of MIPCOM Cannes, reaffirming it as the gateway to the global media and content business,” said Lucy Smith, director of the event. “What began as a step change last year is now a full transformation. Across the industry, companies are no longer operating separately—they are building together, and MIPCOM is where those partnerships can flourish. With Doug bringing unrivaled experience in global brand storytelling, we are taking this significantly further in October. Together with an expanded creator economy and AI presence, this cements MIPCOM Cannes as the one place where the whole industry, in every form, comes to do business.”
“MIP BrandWorks represents the evolution of branded content into something far more systematic,” said Scott. “We are creating an environment where brands can move beyond campaigns to build always-on programming, develop format IP and integrate commerce directly into the narrative, giving them the tools to operate with the power and reach of modern media companies.”
Billed as a “curated environment,” MIP BrandWorks will feature The Brand Showcase, sessions connecting brands as commissioners directly with producers and creators; themed sessions across microdrama and vertical series, scripted, unscripted, and more; and the Brand x Creator Pitch Fest. There will also be a CXO Summit, an invitation-only forum co-produced with David Freeman, CEO and founder of Kynetic Media Ventures. There will also be main stage keynotes, data presentations, partner showcases, and private dealmaking environments.
“My partnership with MIPCOM Cannes to launch MIP BrandWorks CXO Summit is about building the connective tissue the industry has been missing, a shared system where creator networks, brands, and studios operate by design rather than chance,” Freeman said. “This creates that layer, aligning creators, capital, and IP to turn audiences into long-term enterprise value.”
