Videoage International October 2020

24 October 2020 V I D E O A G E The Future Is Closer Hastings , Netflix’s co-founder and co-CEO, said: “I don’t want to really set up a home office because I want to believe that the pandemic is going to end soon.” (Separately, in an interview with the Wall Street Journal , he said that “remote working has negative effects.”) Earlier in the same interview with the New York Times , he added, “I see producing stories as bigger than ever. But those stories will be produced in Atlanta, in Vancouver, in London, all over the world as opposed to strictly in Hollywood.” Chris Knight , CEO of Gusto TV, was ready to get back to business when he spoke to VideoAge during a Zoom interview from his office in Ottawa, Canada. “We restarted production on June 24, after shutting down in March,” he said. As for markets, he noted “We no longer go to markets to screen content. Those days are over. Nowadays we go to markets to find new business, and markets are cost-efficient to do so because our most precious commodity is time.” But, he asked, “How do we develop new business without going to markets?” Knight also explained that Gusto TV is planning to expand in LATAM and Asia. “And we haven’t touched MENA yet,” he said. He didn’t personally participate in a single virtual market (“I’m suffering from online fatigue,” he said), and he complained that everything online takes three times as long as in person. From New York, Danny Fisher , CEO of FilmRise, commented, “By 2021 I hope there will be a vaccine against the coronavirus, and that even though the pandemic will hopefully have subsided, it will create a new normal, like the TSA after 9/11 is still with us.” He believes that personal safety will stay with us the way that tight security continues to be enforced at U.S. airports by the Federal Transportation Security Administration agency following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. “I’m not suffering from virtual fatigue because, for me, Zoom meetings are more efficient than those [conducted] face-to- face, which are often interrupted. But ultimately, we all long for — and need — the in-person meetings again,” he said. From Munich, Germany, Herbert L. Kloiber , CEO of Night Train Media (NTM), said that he expects “that we will have found a more comprehensive way of getting into physical production, including the insurance side of things, as well as generally accepted procedure guidelines” in 2021. “For the TV outlets, I expect that there will be a continued shift of budgets toward their re- spective SVoD services to spearhead ‘originals,’ with the traditional networks acting as financing support and secondary windows.” From Paris, France, Emmanuèle Pétry Sirvin , partner, Dandelooo, predicted: “2021 will be a strong year for growth as we start two new full series productions. Our studio, Ooolala, will grow from 10 people to over 80 at minimum during 2021. “If all goes well on the financing side,” she continued, “we will also start in the middle of the year with the production of Upside Down River for Canal Plus.” On the distribution side, she noted that the company “will harvest the crop in 2021: The flowers will be in full bloom for two new animated series produced by our partners: Pompon Little Bear by [French] Supamonks Studio and Royals Next Door by [Finland’s] Pikkukala. And of course, we plan to be at MIP-TV in 2021.” According to Hollywood producer Marc Pro- vissiero , in 2021 “we’re walking back to work, not running. Studios have a backlog of 100 films to release. There won’t be a sea of greenlights. And there will be production.” Provissiero has Nobody , a theatrical movie, set for a February 19 release by Universal Films. From Munich, Moritz Polter , executive pro- ducer, International Series, Bavaria Fiction, commented: “Hopefully, face-to-face meetings will be possible again with overseas partners next year. Virtual markets just can’t replace physical meetings and the buzz of a real market,” he said. With regard to international productions, he continued, “We will have two projects in 2021. Europe is currently able to get more productions going than the U.S. European actors and heads of departments are actually at the limit of their capacity, while there are almost no productions shooting in the U.S.” However, Hollywood’s observers reported that FOXandTheCWnetwork, for example, plan to launch new and returning series in 2021, allowing productions ample time to adjust to a new normal that includes extensive safety protocols to film during the pandemic. Moira McNamara of Argentina’s Ledafilms commented: “We have great expectations for 2021. We are shaping up several projects and we’ll continue adding new attractive and commercial pictures for all platforms to our vast catalog of premium titles. Between the last part of 2020 and 2021 we’ll be launching four new titles. We believe that NATPE 2021 in Miami will be the next live market. If the vaccine is available, we will return to our ordinary travel plans attending the different markets in Europe and in America, but until then the virtual markets are our new normal.” To Gary Marenzi , CEO of Santa Monica, California-based Marenzi & Associates, “I anti- cipate the next several months will see frenzied [buying] activity and competition for the best shows. Beyond the global streaming wars, the AVoD market is catching fire in the U.S. and will also develop rapidly abroad. Meanwhile, traditional broadcasters and premium pay-TV channels are more willing to collaborate at an early stage on new content that will allow them to compete more effectively with the streamers.” He continued: “I’ve always been a big fan of the key markets, and I’ll continue to participate in them, but I also subscribe to the ‘80/20 rule’ (i.e., 80 percent of the revenue comes from 20 percent of the market). With consolidation among the streamers and without a huge library to service, it’s much easier to do ‘surgical’ distribution globally than ever before, as evidenced by many companies downsizing their distribution arms or eliminating them altogether.” To Kate Beal , CEO of Eastleigh, U.K.-based Woodcut Media, “In many ways, we have never been more connected internationally, as broadcasters and co-production partners have hadmore time to spend discussing ideas on Zoom. This ‘new normal’ way of working will continue to some degree into 2021, and when it comes to physically attending international markets, I think we will be more selective, with safety for our staff being our number one priority.” Hervé Michel , president of Paris-based TV France International, said: “At TV France, we do not expect a change before at least the end of Q1 of 2021 and although our exporters are eager to take to the road again, they do not expect major participation at TV trade shows. So far, most of our members reported good results for 2020, but they’re anxious to discover how business will evolve in the next six months, even though it seems that sales of new programs might be a lesser problem than expected before the past summer.” (Continued from Cover) (Continued on Page 26) Gusto TV’s Chris Knight NTM’s Herbert L. Kloiber GRB’s Gary R. Benz