Video Age International February-March 2016

12 March 2016 V I D E O A G E help to launch in a time period when there are markets, but when you are sitting on a good show, it’s better not to wait to launch it.” To Peace Point Rights’ Les Tomlin, “NATPE Miami is a great time to launch new series. Our buyers have their budgets confirmed and they have the dollars to commit.” On the other hand, Cisneros’ Marcello Coltro said, “we announce most of our shows in October during MIPCOM and have follow-up meetings in January; but this year we have a great pipeline of productions being highlighted [at NATPE].” Onthe financial side,A+EStudios International’s Mayra Bracer said, “people are becoming more creativeabouthowtheyamortizetheirinvestments and are changing their buying patterns. Now they’re coming to make [comprehensive] offers. But if they say we’re not going to buy it unless we can amortize the investment across all platforms, I cannot do it. It may not be available on all platforms.” Each seller interviewed said they met with around 30 buying companies. However, for some exhibitors, especially studios and large indies, NATPE was not only about selling, but it also represents an opportunity for sales staff and executives to meet. When VideoAge asked a major Latin American distributor how many buyers he expected to see at NATPE, he answered simply, “all of them,” but he added, “each of us [of the sales force] only meet a handful of them, so themarket is relatively easy for us. NATPE gives us more an opportunity to meet among ourselves than with Latin buyers who we see regularly.” In addition to all the major U.S. studios, the mini- studios (like Lionsgate and Viacom) and the mini- majors (like A+E, and Starz) were on the scene. Put together, they represented just seven percent of the total number of exhibiting companies at NATPE. However, they generated 70 percent of revenue for the organization and constituted 80 percent of buyer expenditures. Although still a considerable amount in terms of dollar figures, the indies were left with just 20 percent of the pie to be divided among over 250 exhibiting content sellers. To render these statistics more dramatic, for the major U.S. studios, LATAM (NATPE’s main focus) represents eight to 14 percent of their global business. VideoAge has estimated that the collective business done at NATPE by the 250 indies — including follow-ups to and from other markets — is $50 million. This is against their investment of $12 million, which gives close to one-to-four return. Next year’s NATPE will start on Tuesday, January 17, following the Martin Luther King Day holiday. NATPE Report Telemundo Internacional’s Marcos Santana welcoming 600 guests at his screening Kanal D’s Ezgi Ural, Kerim Emrah Turna, Ozlem Ozsumbul Retiring NATPE CEO, Rod Perth, introducing NATPE’s new COO, JP Bommel. YLE’sMaria Kivinen, Jukka Kaivola, Johanna Salmela and VideoAge ’sMonicaGorghetto at theVIP 2000pre-NATPE party VideoAge has estimated that the collective business done at NATPE by the 250 indies — including follow- ups to and from other markets — is $50 million. As far as sharing time with the indies, TV Azteca’s Pedro Lascurain devoted 45 percent of his schedule to look for indie formats, “since we have closed deals with major distributors.” Similarly, a French broadcaster who did not want to be named, said to have devoted most of his time to indies. For David Kines of Canada’s Hollywood Suite, indies were taking 35 percent of his time, while 65 percent was reserved for the studios. As for Caracol’s Camilo Acuña and Marcela Montoya, they didn’t have “a set percentage, [but were] organized in order to cover the whole market.” For her part, TV2 Denmark’s Anette Romer estimated that indies took “possibly around 20 percent” of her time at NATPE. From Uruguay’s Canal 10, Patricia Daujotas said that for her “half of the market was devoted to indies.” (Continued from Page 10)