LOS ANGELES — Actor Patrick Dempsey and showrunner Darren Star will be feted by Canneseries, the series festival, at next week's TV market and conference Mipcom.

Dempsey will receive the Excellence Award in recognition of his 30-year career in television and cinema. He is best known for his portrayal of Dr. Derek Shepherd on the hit ABC series "Grey's Anatomy." His performance earned him a 2007 Screen Actors Guild Award. More recently Dempsey executive produced The Orchard's documentary "Hurley," and he is a producer of the Twentieth Century Fox series "The Art of Racing in the Rain," which was released in August.

Dempsey's recent credits include Universal's "Bridget Jones' Baby," alongside Renee Zellweger and Colin Firth, the EPIX miniseries "The Truth about the Harry Quebert Affair," and his portrayal of Dominic Morgan in "Devils." Dempsey's production company Shifting Gears produces content for both television and film. Amongst a slate of projects, they are developing a series based on the novel "The Limit" at AMC, as well as a series called "Fodor's," which is being developed at NBC International.

Star will serve as the patron of the next edition of Canneseries, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to the television industry as a creator and executive producer of some of the most iconic and zeitgeist-defining shows of the last three decades," according to the event organizers.

Star is the creator and executive producer of "Beverly Hills, 90210," "Melrose Place" and "Sex and the City," which won an Emmy and a PGA Award in 2001. He is the creator of the current hit series "Younger," which recently wrapped its sixth season on TV Land, and was picked up for a seventh season set to debut next year. He is in production on his new Paramount Network series "Emily in Paris," starring Lily Collins.

"Canneseries is delighted to honor Patrick Dempsey, whose McDreamy character is one of the most iconic embodiments of series history, and to benefit from the support of a showrunner as respected as Darren Star as the patron of our third season," Canneseries artistic director Albin Lewi said.

Canneseries runs from March 27 to April 1.