Videoage International June-July 2019

10 June 2019 V I D E O A G E T he number of exhibitors at the InterConti- nental Hotel remained exactly the same as last year — 84 — but at the recently con- cluded L.A. Screenings, some content sellers re- ported having back-to-back meetings scheduled — especially on Wednesday, May 15, the market’s second day. With an estimated total of 1,200 buyers, the number of international acquisition executives was definitely lower as compared to last year’s event, but, as one distributor put it, “the meetings were of a higher quality.” As usual, the L.A. Screenings started with the indies’ segment of the market, followed by the studios’ bit. The indies’ session (which started on Monday, May 13 with the setting up of the hotel’s exhibition suites) kicked off with seminars organized by NATPE, the Los Angeles-based TV trade organization, followed by NATPE’s opening party on Tuesday. NATPE once again teamed up with Isabella Marquez’s Events TM to coordinate the exhibition suites set-up, organize theseminars, andprovide the logistics for thesixevents(i.e., seminars, screenings, and parties) staged at the InterContinental, the organic market’s headquarters. The reason the L.A. Screenings are called an “organic” market is because no organization actually organizes it. The event’s calendar dates are tied to the so-called “Upfronts,” when TV networks in New York City present their pilots for the next season to advertising clients and their agencies with the intent of selling up to 80 percent of their prime-time network ad inventory in advance. Once the networks make their pilot selections, the action moves to Los Angeles where buyers gather to screen the pilots at the studio lots. Prior to the studio screenings, international buyers — mostly from Latin America, but increasingly from other regions — visit the InterContinental to meet with the exhibiting indie distributors. In terms of studio output, these most recent screenings were undoubtedly skimpy, especially when compared to last year. Out of 65 pilots commissioned, only 35 were selected by the major U.S. broadcast TV networks, with Disney providing the largest output with five dramas and five comedies. Overall, dramas won out over comedies with 21 new series. In comparison, last year, 76 pilots were commissioned by the networks, and out of those, 38 were selected for the 2018-2019 broadcast TV season, which ended in May. The official reason given by the networks for this year’s reduced numbers (which were equally divided between fall and midseason series) is to maintain consistency, stability, and reliability. It even seemed as though network executives were trying to outdo each other with just how little they had changed. NBC was proud of a schedule that had changed the least. FOX was happy to have filled a few slots. And CBS execs spoke of the network’s “stability.” To top it all off, the powers that be at ABC seemed to be of the opinion that debuting too many shows would be a disservice to new programs. The unofficial reason for this could be that the studios, which own the networks, did not want to incur large deficits, which will be recouped in the long run, but represent a drain in the short run, especially at a time when resources have to be re-directed toward direct-to-consumer original programming, and used to repay acquisition investments. Some of those investments will reportedly be financed by reduced personnel and slashed marketing expenditures. Indeed, some studios are not releasing newly produced movies in order not to incur additional costs. At the Upfronts, Karey Burke, ABC’s entertainment president, admitted that “networks don’t have themarketing budgets to launch [new] shows properly.” Nonetheless, in order to remain relevant, broadcast’s summer schedule is now full of new series, and is no longer the domain of reruns. Indeed, the five main TV broadcast networks have premiered more than 10 new scripted series since May 9. Cost-cutting was also visible at the studios’ screenings. Gone were lunches prepared by the likes of celebrity chefs like Wolfgang Puck. On the other hand, Disney served wine for the first “Stability” Reflected in Fewer Pilots, International Buyers Reassured L.A. Screenings Review The pre indie market featured six conferences at the InterContinental Kanal D’s Kerim Emrah Turna and Mikaela Perez A+E’s Helen Jurado and Jossie Capon (Continued on Page 12)