Videoage International June-July 2019

14 June 2019 V I D E O A G E (Continued from Cover) NATPE Budapest Kanal D, and MISTCO), and the major U.S. stu- dios (CBS, NBC, Paramount, and WB). The market dates are the same as last year — June 25-27 — with the 24th and 25th reserved for the studios’ screenings. Last month, VideoAge met with NATPE CEO JP Bommel (pictured on the cover) at the association’s new New York City offices on 7th Avenue and 37th Street to discuss the market over coffee. Bommel noted that there will be more than 525 buyers from 60 countries, including a first-time buyer from China, who will be accompanied by a delegation, which will be sponsoring a luncheon on Tuesday. The 1,500-or-so participants will be coming from 70 countries. Among the first-time exhibitors will be Russia’s NTV, Turkey’s Madd Entertainment, and Australia’s Fred Media. Latin Americans — a major force in the past — will, however, only have two companies exhibiting: Mexico’s Televisa and Colombia’s Caracol. Nonetheless, the Argentinean publication Prensario will be sponsoring a “Lunch With Latin America” on Wednesday. With an expected ratio of more than five buyers per distribution company, the market is expected to be a profitable one, especially considering that the cost of participation is low compared to other international markets — and is significantly lower than bankrolling sales trips throughout the region, which encompasses Central and Eastern Europe, CIS countries, the Balkans, and now MENA territories (which, for the second year in a row, will be the focus of a “MENA Regional Overview” panel on Tuesday). Warner Bros. will kick off the event on Monday with its newTV season screenings in themorning. And NATPE will offer a series of panels, which will take delegates straight through to the Buyers Cocktail Reception in the evening. Monday June 24, could very easily have been declared NATPE Buyers’ Day, since it features an “International Acquisition Summit,” as well as a “Data for Buyers” presentation. The opening keynote will be offered by Studiocanal’s Françoise Guyonnet. On Tuesday, CBS will screen in the morning, while NBCUni will take the afternoon. These screenings are expected to take some 70 buyers off the exhibition floors at the InterContinental Hotel, which is located on the Danube River promenade. This year’s conferences include Tuesday’s “International Drama Co-productions” and “A World of Formats,” as well asWednesday’s “All the World’s a Stream,” about streaming media. The event’s fourth annual format competition, “Pitch & Play Live!,” will also take place on Wednesday. Here are some observations from those who will be present at NATPE Budapest: Jimmy Elkington of Australia’s Fred Media said, “I didn’t attend [the market] last year, so I can’t really comment on that. From all reports, though, this year has a record number of buyers attending, which I view as good. I’ve looked at the list and it’s solid. NATPE Budapest is useful as it’s an accessible and affordable market for smaller channels in Central and Eastern Europe. I’ll just attend NATPE [this year], but next year I’ll do some client visits to Poland and the Czech Republic.” From Banijay Rights’ London office, Simon Subreville gave his assessment: “NATPE has kept last year’s same successful recipe, which proved to be a definite improvement over previous years. There has been an increase in the number of MISTCO’s Aysegul Tuzun, also from Turkey, expects “a slightly smaller number of participants as compared to previous years.” However, she added, “all other TV markets have also had fewer participants, and that hasn’t negatively affected our business.” As for the number of buyers, Tuzun noted that “it is very limited, but as long as there are qualified broadcasters, the number itself is not crucial. We actually prefer to have fewer fruitful meetings rather than many meetings with zero results.” When all is said and done, Tuzun finds “NATPE Budapest useful. We are very active in the Balkans due to our strong drama series and animated series for kids,” she said. Tuzun also explained that in addition to attending NATPE Budapest, “we frequently host our partners from the Balkans in Turkey, and have plans for travelling throughout this region.” Deniz Cantutan of Turkey’s Madd Enter- tainment has a slightly different opinion: “NATPE Budapest is the key market in the CEE region, and 525 buyers will keep the marketplace dynamic,” she said. In addition, “in order to meet with the buyers regularly, we make sure to travel to the re- gion during the year, as well.” ATV’s Müge Akar, also from Turkey, noted that themarket will be an “efficient” one. “In Budapest, we have the opportunity to meet with small channels. It’s more relaxed and we get to spend more time with our clients compared to other busy markets suchasMIP. [Plus], some of the key figures from CEE are only attending NATPE Budapest, and that gives added value to the market. [Also], from time to time, we do organize individual visits to specific countries,” she concluded. To Ekin Koyuncu and Salmi Gambarova of Kanal D, amajor Turkish televisiongroup, “NATPE Budapest remains a valuable market for the region. Last year, the total number of buyers was 418, [so] there is an increase. But at the market we will be able to see if this increase actually has an impact on our sales and meetings. [Regardless], it provides the necessary information regarding local and regional changes.” The duo also noted that Kanal D’s international sales team travels to the region often in order to “keep the strong bonds that we have created [over the years].” To Alessandro Venturi of Italy’s Mondo TV, NATPE Budapest “offers excellent opportunities to catch up with some of the key players from the EMEA region.” He then added: “Our general impression, however, is that competition in terms of marketplaces where content providers can pitch to international buyers is growing. It is becoming increasingly expensive to be present everywhere.” Nonetheless, according to Venturi, “early indications are that there will be some interesting sessions and screenings, along with a strong and varied attendance at this year’s event.” There will also be a good number of buyers. “Obviously,” he clarified, “we’re looking for quality as well as quantity, but high buyer numbers imply a variety of attendees from multiple territories, giving us a chance to optimize our efforts to forge the best partnerships.” For Venturi, the region is “highly competitive, but NATPE Budapest is useful for enabling us to get the most business opportunities from a rich and diverse region.” And even though “I often travel to strengthen relationships with key players, we believe that it is also useful to attend some of the most important industry markets, like this one.” attendees, and an improvement in the quality of the conferences and the different events.” He also considers 525 buyers to be a good number, “and shows the growing dynamic from the CEE region. The quality of those companies attending is also very important and reflects on what the market is today.” He continued: “NATPE is very useful because it serves a specific region. CEE is not a difficult region, but there are a lot of countries, and therefore a lot of media players. This, in turn, brings many business opportunities.” Finally, Subreville said: “We often travel within the CEE region. These trips are a good addition to NATPE, mainly to continue our discussions with the different players throughout the year, but also to meet with new companies.” To All3media’s Ben Packwood, also from Lon- don, NATPE Budapest appears to be growing in popularity. “Many of my clients attending will be doing so for the first time,” he said. As far as the number of buyers who’ll be there this year, Packwood said, “It is all about quality rather than quantity. We are hoping that there will be key format buyers in attendance to discuss our unique formats that we are bringing to the market this year.” In terms of market challenges, he said that he “wouldn’t describe the region as difficult. It’s a very mixed region with some well-established stable markets and some emerging [markets]. NATPE Budapest demonstrates that there is a lot of business to be done in the region. It also serves an important purpose in bringing people together that may not have the budgets to travel to L.A., London, and Cannes regularly.” In addition, he said, “The CEE team at All3media International is always visiting clients in the region, but we do still find NATPE Budapest to be an important market.” Senay Tas of Turkey’s Global Agency said that a number of the company’s clients have asked for her take on the market since “they are interested in attending [NATPE Budapest] for the first time.” The number of buyers planning to attend this year is also good, she said, “especially because the majority of those buyers are focused on acquiring for Central and Eastern Europe. This region is very important to our business. [The market] is useful because it gathers a lot of companies from a region where some smaller countries do not attend the major markets.” However, she added, “As a company, we never rely on the markets alone. I also travel as much as possible. But considering the high volume of sales the company has in the region, it’s definitely good to have a market such as NATPE Budapest as it is more focused and you get to meet many buyers in a short period of time.” Meeting tables at the InterContinental