Videoage International June-July 2019

I N T E R N A T I O N A L www.V i deoAge.org THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION June/July 2019 - VOL. 39 NO. 4 - $9.75 By Dom Serafini T oday’s crude and rude “rea- lity television” cannot match the crassness of TV “roasts,” which were popular in the 1970s and ’80s. Then, words were used as wea- pons. Today, those “weapons” have been replaced by cusses, sex, vulga- rity, and nudity. In effect, nothing in TV has changed, it’s just adapted to the politically correct times. While re-watching some of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast shows taped at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas, one thought came to mind: With the Politically Correct Police Force now on patrol, those shows could never be aired today. When the shows were broadcast on NBC from 1974 to 1984 (with a to- tal of 54 episodes), each installment was guaranteed to insult people with impunity — no matter their race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, or gender. No one even seemed to be offended — not the live audience, not the viewers at home, and not those sitting on the dais. The words were less “insul- Old: Insults. New: Reality in Politically Correct Times (Continued on Page 18) My 2¢: Six pieces of advice for modern TV executives L.A. Screenings: “Stability” reflected in fewer pilots Netflix Everywhere: The challenges faced by its global expansion Bernard Chevry, 1922-2019: The life of a pioneer Page 22 Page 10 Page 8 Page 6 T hey’ll all be there. All 100 of the returning exhibiting film and TV distribution com- panies, as well as a few new ones, will be present at the 28th annual NATPE Budapest International (for- merly DISCOP), including the large indies (Lionsgate, Banijay, and Kew Media), the Turkish sisters (ATV, NATPEBudapestTo BalanceCosts,Sales. Plus:NewContacts (Continued on Page 14) (Continued on Page 16) By Patrick Zuchowicki* O ne of the DISCOP MENA markets is now inCairo, and for a good reason. Egypt has one of the most well-established and influential entertainment and media industries in the MENA region, sup- plying much of the Arab-speaking world with TV shows. Egyptian pro- duction companies delivered the ma- jority of the Arab world’s television series in 2018. Drama proves to be the most po- pular type of programming. Secret of the Nile , the first Arabic drama se- EgyptOpensNew Int’l Opportunity inMENARegion