MIPCOM (September 26-30) turns 13 this year. The five-day event in Cannes, dedicated to the business of television programming, promises to be even bigger than last year when the fall market drew almost 10,000 participants and exhibits from 1,000 companies worldwide.

On the 27th, mipcom ’97 shines the spotlight on Germany, featuring a seminar on coproductions and programming and another exploring the future of German digital cable. The seminars will be introduced with a keynote address from Jan Mojto, managing director at Ismaning-based BetaFilm.

On the 28th, MIPCOM honors the 1997 Personality of the Year, Discovery founder, chairman and CEO John Hendricks, an early champion of cable doc programming. (See page 53 for RealScreen’s spotlight on Hendricks.)

Long gone are the days when a catalogue full of docs was a distributor’s recipe for ruin. Now there are non-fiction slots in even the most unlikely of places, and the international viewership is primed for all things real – cops, crime, weather, war, transport and, of course, animals enough for Noah.

If broadcasters are looking and paying, distributors are only too eager to be of service. For high-profile non-fiction projects which are pretty much assured a choice slot, you’d think the distributors would be tripping over each other to get there first. RealScreen combed MIPCOM catalogues to find out how distributors are elbowing their way into the world’s most sought-after documentary and reality-based programs.

Also in this report:

-Bad Boys, Whatcha Gonna Do?: Off the Fence stakes out South Africa’s elite ESPU in a new series that brings Cops-style attitude to the animal world

-War of the Worlds: Worldview Pictures divides and conquers in its production, War and Civilization

-Welcome to Mike’s World: Michael Moore takes another jab at TV

-Swimming With Sharks: Predators and distributors come together for Ron Taylor’s Shark Pod

-Stade-by-Stage: For the 1998 World Cup, France pulls out all the stops and LM is there.