Videoage International January 2021

18 January 2021 V I D E O A G E NATPE Miami Virtual that as soon as in-person markets return to the world’s stage, companies — both buyers and sellers alike — will flock to them, making them all valuable in the short run before execs return to evaluating each market on its own merits. The markets are expected to be somewhat altered, and will offer virtual components in some form or another (in order to increase their respective ROIs). At the same time, many are predicting that a number of virtual markets — specifically those not associated with a known brand such as NATPE, the MIPs, ATF, or DISCOP — will fall by the wayside. Another major consideration is the reduced number of international content sales executives at the studio level, which itself was the result of two trends: The conviction that studios don’t need trade shows, and that the studios have very little left for the international market after skimming off their best content for their streaming services. This conviction on the part of the execs in the C-suites could also highlight a contrast between those who were pushing for short-term gains (through streaming) and those who were (possibly) dismissed for dispersing the focus by also considering a plan B in case their companies were miscalculating streaming’s ultimate value. When asked about the many sales executive dismissals this year, one prominent Hollywood talent agent said: “The studios feel those jobs are sales jobs and someone more junior could do the same thing. The content sells itself and buyers at some point are going to want the content.” For this preview, VideoAge contacted eight Hollywood executives and their opinions are reported below without attribution. In addition to the talent agent, VideoAge also interviewed a market organizer and an indie content sales company exec. The rest were former U.S. studio executives. “Frommy experience at the studio,” explained a former VP, “the studios do not feel they need to ‘solicit’ business as the business comes to them. As a salesperson who came from the indie side of the distribution business, this was always troublesome because I had the opinion that there’s always business to find if we participate in more markets/events. For example, our division was prevented from attending MIP Cancun because we were told it was not necessary for the studio’s business. A smaller division was permitted to go because it was more like an ‘indie’ business and needed to go after all opportunities.” “The studios haven’t needed to be at the markets for years to make money,” added a former head of Distribution at a major studio. “It was more of a social occasion to continue to establish personal contact with clients. The virtual markets don’t provide that. They are all going through enormous change and establishing their own direct-to-consumer businesses, so my guess is they don’t really know what they can sell at the moment. The indies do not have the size to build those platforms so it may still provide opportunities for them.” The president of a content sales company gave the indie point of view, and was adamant that “the studios don’t currently have new productions to talk about. I’m pretty sure that they can do business as usual by Zoom, phone, and email. They don’t need a virtual market to do that. Lastly, since so much of their cool content is now on their streaming OTT platforms, what’s left to offer?” The organizer of trade shows corroborated that view. “Because the studios run their own proprietary sales and promotional events, they don’t see any value in joining a digital event organized by third parties. Studios bring the content, the talent, and the resources to produce top-of-the-line digital sales events and all the buyers want to be their clients. Why do they need markets?” A former chairman of a studio Distribution division remarked that “the studios don’t see the value/impact of the virtual markets, and coupled with the dearth of product they have to offer, they can’t be bothered.” A former studio senior VP added another twist to the narrative: “I’d say the studios are preparing presentations that they think are better delivered to the client directly by their salesperson.” Themostcomprehensiveanalysiswasprovided by a former president of a large European studio andcurrent president of aproduction/distribution company in Hollywood: “COVID has accelerated the evolution of the film and TV business in the last year, and nearly all the U.S. studios are re- emerging as virtually integrated platforms with a global streaming consumer offering, which has negatively impacted the traditional business-to- business interface with global theater owners and traditional TV networks and channels. Therefore, the relationship between NBCUni, WarnerMedia, Disney, and ViacomCBS will be forever changed with regard to trade fairs. “The U.S. majors are focusing their future growth on having a global consumer base (data mining) and not helping to fuel their competitors’ platforms and channels with their IP. “I don’t see any of these entities attending the traditional rights-trading markets. The only large-scale players in this space will be Sony, Lionsgate, and MGM. Then, after these players there are mainly the big European producers/ distributors (still playing the traditional game) — BBC Studios, ITV Studios, Banijay, Fremantle, Beta, Mediawan, Leonine Studios, and eOne Entertainment. The remaining indies are all small production/distribution companies — all with limited resources that still need to exploit rights. “I see MIP-TV and MIPCOM becoming more European-only affairs (similar to how NATPE in the last 10 years has adopted a more Latin American flavor). The international co-pro/ financing is becoming more important, so there will be greater focus on creative discussions/ screenings rather than pure rights-trading events. So, these will be smaller and more regionally focused (no longer 10,000-15,000 attendees like the MIPs) — MIA, Series Mania, London Content Market, London Screenings, etc. “However, what COVID has proved is that, for the indies, there is still no substitute for face-to- face meetings, and that these markets/screenings provide great value in allowing indie execs to network and meet many people from one or multiple regions in a short span of time at events in London, Cannes, Berlin, Rome, and Lille. “At this stage, these streaming conglomerates will not have a plan B until they see how plan A progresses over the next 12-18 months. We are seeing a huge, seismic shift to both film and TV businesses similar to what happened in music 20 years ago,” the exec concluded. (Continued from Cover) For the indies, there is still no substitute for face-to-face meetings, and these markets/ screenings provide great value in allowing indie execs to network.