Video Age International January 2016

26 January 2016 V I D E O A G E Int’ l TV Distribut ion Hal l of Fame exhibitors and buyers. Negotiations were very relaxed. Everybody had all the time in the world! I also remember meeting the nephew of the then- French President Charles de Gaulle, who attended MIP, perhaps on behalf of a French ministry or state television. He was very tall and looked a lot like his uncle.” A few months after launching Ledafilms, Twentieth Century Fox International TV named Leda as its sales agent for Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, a relationship that lasted up until 1996. Two years after that relationship ended, Ledafilms was appointed sales agent for DreamWorks SKG, which continued until 2014. From 2006-2014, Ledafilms became sales agent for Paramount Pictures and from 2011-2013 it was sales agent for Lucasfilm. From its inception, Ledafilms experienced rollercoaster economies in Latin America, but, said Leda, “there were regions that had economic problems and others that were in good shape, so they balanced out. We sold programs in U.S. dollars and at a certain point, instead of being paid in U.S. dollars, we received bonds. “We did quite well, since the Argentinean government honored those bonds and they accrued interest, [but] we had to spend a lot of time on the financial aspect of the business, more so than on sales and acquisitions.” In the mid-1990s, Ledafilms opened a U.S. office housed at its Los Angeles-based subsidiary, Independent International Television, Inc. And those were the times that brought the greatests enjoyment: “[We had the best time] when all our TV clients were fighting for our product. I am talking about the late 90s,” he commented. From 2002-2006, Ledafilms also operated from a Miami, Florida office before, as Leda explained, “we decided to concentrate operations between our Los Angeles and Buenos Aires offices.” Over the years, Ledafilms has developed several activities: local film and TV production, television distribution of mainly U.S. productions, magazine publishing (comic books) and a children-oriented home video label. Additionally, they have dabbled in theatrical and, more recently, digital platform distribution. Asked what he attributes his business success to, Leda answered, “Personal relationships. This business depends a lot on personal relationships with the producers and with the buyers. I’ve never done business in textiles or oil, but I imagine that other businesses are less personal than our business.” Looking back there is one incident with a client that Leda likes to recall: “I have a story that was not so funny at the time, but it is now. In the 70s, I screened for a client the 16mm pilot of a TV series. After the lights came on he asked me for the license fee. When I mentioned it, he practically threw me out of his office. The following year, he pleaded with me to meet him again. Which I did. And I screened for him the same pilot I had showed him the previous year. He watched it as if it would have been his first time. When the lights came on, he asked for the license fee. I mentioned exactly the same price I had told him the year before. He immediately agreed and asked me to send him the license agreement, which he signed and soon after paid in full.” Pedro Leda in his office in 1987 4-7 April 2016 // Cannes // France Just like Ben Silverman, thousands of talented people bring content to life. Come and mip them. Ben Silverman, Founder & CEO , Electus Join them miptv.com 4 days 11,000 participants 20,650 m 2 1,632 exhibiting companies 100 countries 3,915 buyers (including 1,050 VOD buyers) * Marché International des Programmes : Your content, your community. Any screen. The global TV and digital marketplace in April. (Continued from Page 24)