Videoage International January 2020

I N T E R N A T I O N A L www.VideoAge.org DEFINING ENTERTAINMENT VideoAge -FrontCover -KnivesOut.indd 1 1/9/20 11:26AM THEBUSINESS JOURNALOF FILM,BROADCASTING,BROADBAND,PRODUCTION,DISTRIBUTION January2020 -VOL.40NO.1 - $9.75 ByDomSerafini I tseemsthatthemoneypeopleare actually in search of producers as an alternative to producers selling out to streamers.Apparently, there is a pool of money in Holly- wood forproducing independentmo- vies and TV shows that is available for the asking. Banks (debt), private investors (equity), film commissions (rebates, cash back, and tax credits), crowdfunding, distribution advan- ces, pre-sales, product placement, revenue sharing commitments from key actors, foundations’ grants, co- productions, and contributions from brands,allaccount for thiscash.Plus, if the production has some foreign elements,money can even be gotten fromvariousgovernmentprograms. The concept of brands contri- buting to TV financing isn’t new. Red Bull, for example, has its own content-investmentdivision.Brands havealsobeenpartof film financing for years. There is also a growing tendency tousedistributors as com- missioners.Today,distributorsoften put more money into productions thanbroadcasters. Tony Friscia, a Los Angeles-based financial consultant, added three ex- Meeting of The Wallets: Money And Productions (Continued onPage 26) My2¢:Aunifiedvision ofTV’s future isneeded at tradeshows HallofFame:RobertChua onsharing life,TVbiz withwife inHongKong DISCOPJoburg recalibratesafter problematic8thedition SecciónenEspañol: Streaming;Trumpy TV;producciónoriginal Page34 Page28 Page20 Page13 I t’s impossible to tell yet if this year’sMIP Cancun was a suc- cess in terms of sales— a bet- ter opinion will be formulated at NATPEMiami,which is set to take place in late January.What is clear, however, is that last year’s three- day, sixth annual edition of MIP Cancun inMexico(which tookplace MIPCancun:A PreludeofThings ToComeatNATPE (Continued onPage 22) (Continued onPage 24) ByMikeReynolds T he ability to negotiate the appropriate location,andone offering tax and/or cash-in- hand incentives, can be a godsend when seeking funds to start and completeaproduction. However, at times, a seemingly dream incentive becomes a night- marewhen trying towade through thegrants, tax rebates,orcash-back dealsofferedbyabout two-thirdsof U.S.states,everyCanadianprovince and territory, and a growing list of countriesaround theglobe. That said,eye-catching incentives from film andTV commissions and entities can certainly be important in helping achieve and overcome TheRebateDebate: CashwithCaveats forProductions MAIN OFFICES 216 EAST 75TH STREET NEW YORK, NY 10021 TEL: (212) 288-3933 E-MAIL: admin@videoageinternational.com WWW.VIDEOAGE.ORG WWW.VIDEOAGELATINO.COM P.O. BOX 25282 LOS ANGELES, CA 90025 VIALE ABRUZZI 30 20123 MILAN, ITALY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DOM SERAFINI EDITORIAL TEAM ISME BENNIE (CANADA) BILL BRIOUX (CANADA) ENZO CHIARULLO (ITALY) LUIS POLANCO LEAH HOCHBAUM ROSNER SUSAN HORNIK (L.A.) CAROLINE INTERTAGLIA (FRANCE) AKIKO KOBAYACHI (JAPAN) OMAR MÉNDEZ MARIA ZUPPELLO (BRAZIL) PUBLISHER MONICA GORGHETTO BUSINESS OFFICE LEN FINKEL LEGAL OFFICE ROBERT ACKERMANN, STEVE SCHIFFMAN WEB MANAGER BRUNO MARRACINO DESIGN / LAYOUT CARMINE RASPAOLO PREPRESS CLAUDIO MATTIONI VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL (ISSN 0278-5013 USPS 601-230) IS PUBLISHED SEVEN TIMES A YEAR: JANUARY, MARCH/APRIL, MAY, JUNE, JULY, OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER/DECEMBER. PLUS DAILIES BY TV TRADE MEDIA, INC. © TV TRADE MEDIA INC. 2020. THE ENTIRE CONTENTS OF VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL ARE PROTECTED BY COPYRIGHT IN THE U.S., U.K., AND ALL COUNTRIES SIGNATORY TO THE BERNE CONVENTIO AND THE PAN-AMERICAN CONVENTION. SEND ADDRESS CHANGES TO VIDEO AGE INTERNATIONAL, 216 EAST 75TH STREET, SUITE PW, NEW YORK, NY 10021, U.S.A. PURSUANT TO THE U.S. COPYRIGHTS ACT OF 1976, THE RIGHTS OF ALL CONTENT DONE ON ASSIGNMENT FOR ALL VIDEOAGE PUBLICATIONS ARE HELD BY THE PUBLISHER OF VIDEOAGE, WHICH COMMISSIONED THEM TV trade shows should give up on those useless conferences, and instead have a panel of experts from various TV fields so that they can come up with a unified vision of the industry’s future Page 34 4. World: German viewers didn’t like “TikTok Who’s There?”; Super Bowl telecast to “hail” U.S. president Trump’s TV spots 6. Book Review: How Bollywood and Turkish soaps are leading mass culture on a global scale 28. Int’l TV Distribution Hall of Fame: Robert Chua: Sharing life, TV biz with wife Peggy in Hong Kong 32. Calendar of events in 2020. Plus: Airports ranked by The WSJ Features Cover Stories Meeting of the wallets: Looking for money versus looking for productions MIP Cancun: A prelude of things to come at NATPE Miami The rebate debate: Film commissions’ cash is alluring, but with many caveats for productions 10. ATF Review: At 20 the market reaches drinking age 13. Sección en Español La serie original se reincia los pilotos disminuyen Un programa de juegos presagia una presidencia Un gratificante flujo de dinero en el streaming 20. DISCOP Joburg Review: Market under siege by sellers, internal issues, and competitors News