Video Age International October 2016

42 October 2016 V I D E O A G E (Continued on Page 44) L.A. Screenings at MIPCOM a combination of endurance and fun. At Disney LATAM, executives (pictured on the cover) added some extra fun by having a mariachi band perform at lunch with the star of the 13-episode series Hasta Que Te Conoci , Julian Roman. He played the adult part of Mexico’s singing sensation, the late Juan Gabriel, in a TV series about his life. At the Warner Bros. lot Jeff Schlesinger, president of Worldwide Television Distribution, had a number of batmobiles placed inside the breakfast and lunch areas for buyers to examine and take photos. During the lunch breaks, Warner Bros. also featured a lobster truck. It was so popular that buyers began leaving the screening theater 20 minutes before the segment ended just to get in line, each to carry at least two buns filled with lobster to their table. (In normal circumstances, each lobster roll costs between $17 and $19.) As in the past, during lunch breaks all studios had some of the talent from their new series mingling around the tables with buyers — often the highlight of the events. FOX was the only studio to offer a sit-down lunch complete with wine, instead of a buffet. CBS and NBCUniversal also offered wine, while the other studios just had soft drinks. October, many new premiering series in the U.S. have had over a month to develop, and therefore buyers have more data to rely on. For the past six years or so, before the international sales cycle of the new U.S. TV season ends at MIPCOM, and just a few weeks after the L.A. Screenings, the U.S. studios take their prized (U.S. network-picked) new series on several local market tours, including Europe, Japan, South Korea, NATPE Europe in Budapest and LATAM. The tours are meant to reach those TV outlet executives who could not make the traditional visit to Hollywood in May. It is estimated that each studio’s local late- spring screenings for the new U.S. TV season attract some 300 buyers. Studio screenings for individual companies also take place in the winter to show midseason and back-up fare and — if ready — a few new pilots. Post-L.A. Screenings tours are organized by the studios’ European, LATAM and Asian regional offices. Since studios prefer to show their latest creations on big screens — as they do in Hollywood during the general screenings — they rent theaters, such as the one at the Mayfair Hotel in London. The City attracts the largest group of buyers and also accommodates programmers from nearby countries such as Ireland. In Latin America, some studios screen for individual companies mostly in Mexico and Brazil, while others organize local marketing meetings with local studios’ executives to share release campaigns and help clients on the promotional side. Studios also organize pre-L.A. Screenings events just for LATAM pan-regional channels in Miami, or screen just with the pan- regional programmers and buyers prior to their Latin general screenings in Los Angeles. Luca Macciocca, a RAI executive who regularly attends the L.A. Screenings to analyze U.S. TV At the L.A. Screenings 2016, collectively theU.S. studios screened 132 new scripted series for over 2,000 international buyers. The season started last September 11 for FOX, and on September 19 for the rest of the big U.S. TV networks. With some studios screening up to 17 new series (NBCUniversal) and others up to 13 (Fox), buyers had to endure studio visits and dark (and cold) theaters for up to 10 hours. Most studios were able to fulfill all their output and volume deals in L.A. andMIPCOM is reserved for real negotiations, since by now buyers are aware of the performances of the new series, as well as of cancellations and script changes. Plus, with this year’s MIPCOM date in late (Continued from Cover) Fox LATAM’s Elie Wahba welcoming buyers at his sit-down luncheon RAI’s program analyst and L.A. Screenings veteran Luca Macciocca — pictured on the left of the RAI buying contingent — commented on the new U.S. TV season. CBSSI’s Barry Chamberlain, Giovanni Pedde, Armando Nuñez, Jr. Disney LATAM’s Fernando Barbosa introducing the mariachi band and star of Hasta Que Te Conoci , Julian Roman “With an eye toward this ‘overload’ possibility in the back of their minds, the networks have fallen back on content that is safe and well known like popular franchises ... spinoffs, remakes and lineage links to successful shows.” — Luca Macciocca