MCH Group, the company behind Art Basel, is moving into the media events space, backing a new project called the Jupiter Festival.
The inaugural Jupiter Festival is currently scheduled to be held in Miami next October, with speakers including Tribeca Enterprises CEO Rebecca Glashow, Fox One President Pete Diestad, Inside the NBA Host Kenny Smith, YouTube’s Brian Albert, and ex 60 minutes Executive producer Bill Owens.
“The industry doesn’t have an event that does what we do,” says William Millis, CEO and co-founder of Jupiter Festival, in an interview with the website. Hollywood Reporter. “I start with this as a basic premise. All we care about is the future of content. I would say the industry is going through a seismic change, not a transformational change. It’s much deeper than that, and in order to understand the future of video content, we’re bringing together the industry with senior people in the industry to explore the debate and see what they will do to be successful in the new paradigm.”
For MCH Group, Jupiter represents an opportunity to venture into a new arena: media, to complement Art Basel events and exhibitions around the world.
“There is no doubt that the media, even more than ever, represent an essential pillar for the cultural development of our societies,” says Andrea Zappia, CEO of MCH Group, in an interview with the MCH Group website. THR. “With our talks at Art Basel, we’re trying to spark moments of thought leadership, and so what we thought was that media is a very juxtaposed conceptual field in a broader cultural area.
He continued: “When William came up with the idea, we immediately realized the potential behind the idea to invest and create a strong brand that could, over time, become one of the leading events that will connect people around such an important topic.”
It is worth noting that the MCH Group considers James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems its largest individual shareholder. Murdoch is a prominent player in the media space, which he recently acquired New York Vox Media’s magazine and podcast work.
The Jupiter Festival will be held at the Miami Beach Convention Center, the same venue as Art Basel Miami, where Melies promised a mix of speakers and attendees who sometimes “challenge and provoke the industry,” such as Evan Shapiro, along with top executives.
“We clearly evaluated all of our competitors and looked at it, and I think there is a gap in the market for this festival, and the whole concept is to bring the top people in the industry together in an environment where they can network, discuss and debate,” he says. “Yes, there is great content, but it is primarily a delegate-focused event designed to create connections.”
The goal is to have a spot on the annual media calendar that can exist alongside other must-attend events like CES, Cannes Lions, and potentially a convention.
