Videoage International - 2020: A Year in Review

22 January 2021 V I D E O A G E The Future Is Closer Than You Think T he joke (and by nowwe need some humor!) is that in the year 1720 the world was hit by the Bubonic plague, that 1820 saw an outbreak of Asiatic cholera, that 1920 saw the rise of the Spanish flu (even though Spain had nothing to do with it), and that 2020 is the year that the now-infamous coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, came into existence. Let’s hope that we’re nowhere to be found when the next pandemic inevitably hits in 2120. As we can see, planning 100 years ahead seems easier than figuring out how 2021 will evolve. And yet, we have to imagine the world that is coming because the future depends on our collective 2020 vision. To do so, VideoAge relied on the visions of 13 film and TV executives from eight countries: Roxanne J. Barcelona VP, Worldwide Divi- sion of Manila, Philippines-based GMA Network; Kate Beal , CEO of Eastleigh, U.K.-based Woodcut Media; Gary R. Benz , CEO of Los Angeles-based GRB Studios; fromNew York, Danny Fisher , CEO of FilmRise; from Munich, Germany. Herbert Kloiber , CEO of Night Train Media; Chris Knight, CEO of Ottawa, Canada’s Gusto TV; Gary Marenzi , CEO of Santa Monica, California-based Marenzi & Associates; Moira McNamara of Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Ledafilms; from Paris, France, Hervé Michel , president of TV France International; from Munich, Moritz Polter , executive producer, International Series, Bavaria Fiction; Hollywood producer Marc Provissiero ; from Paris, France, Emmanuèle Pétry Sirvin , partner, Dandelooo; and Berk Uziyel , CEO of The Hague, Netherlands-based SPI. Going Safely to the Movies in Europe T he Lombardy region of Italy — Milan in particular — has been greatly affected by the pandemic. Under this constant threat, going to the movies is a challenge, but cinema operators, at least in this large city, have gone out of their way to create and enforce safety protocols in order to give cinemagoers a sense of security and confidence. Nineteen multiplexes and six single-screen theaters operate in the Milan metro area. On a recent Saturday in October, a total of 45 different movies were shown on 188 screens from 11 a.m. until 9:30 p.m. Ticket prices ranged from seven euro (U.S.$8.28) to nine euro (U.S.$10.65). For this account, a VideoAge reporter screened the Italian-made romantic comedy Divorzio a Las Vegas (in these times of crisis, only a silly comedy would do!) at a 3:30 p.m. showing at Plinius Multisala, a six-screen multiplex with strict anti- COVID safety procedures. At the ticket counter the salesperson recorded the names and telephone numbers of moviegoers (for tracing purposes). Before entering the auditoriums an attendant took patrons’ tempe- ratures, and a hand sanitizer dispenser was near- by. The screening rooms were well ventilated (but lacked specialized filters) and were disinfected after each showing. All seats were pre-assigned and an inspectormade sure that patrons kept their face masks on throughout the movie. The theater was operated at 50 percent seating occupancy. MIPCOM Goes Virtual U p until September 10, plans seemed to be proceeding as scheduled with the live MIPCOM event. However, three elements contributed to the announcement — made 30 days before the TV market would have opened its doors at the Palais in Cannes — that the live event would be scrapped in favor of an all-digital affair. First, there was the fact that few exhibiting companies committed to the live event. Second was the fact that Americans would not have been present. And third was the surge of people being infected with COVID-19 in the South of France. That France was walking on a tightrope regarding COVID-19 was known as early as June when reports indicated masses of people walking along the Croisette sans masks and failing to socially distance. After the summer, with hordes of tourists with even more cavalier attitudes on display, the contagion increased, ultimately forcing the French government to impose added restrictions. As for the lack of Americans, the problem here was two-fold. On the one hand, the E.U. hasn’t been allowing Americans in. On the other, Americans have been too afraid to travel, especially when airlines don’t enforce safety rules. The AVoD World Is Expanding FAST T he VoD world is expanding throughout the globe. Inaddition toTVoD, SVoD, andAVoD, a new arrival, FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming Television) is quickly winning over audiences. But while the VoD universe is “on- demand,” FAST is a linear streaming service originally created in Los Angeles in 2014 as Pluto. It was acquired by ViacomCBS in 2019. Even though some analysts consider FAST to be the very last window on the rights exploitation grid (after broadcast TV, basic cable, and AVoD), to Danny Fisher, CEO of New York City- based FilmRise, FAST and AVoD co-exist in the same space. “FAST mimics the old broadcast/ cable linear models, and its future is flexibility (fast-forward, rewind, and switch to different episode),” he said. Belowthe Line “Trunk Protesters” in Milan O n October 10, Italian film and TV pro- duction workers protested against the hardships caused by the coronavirus and the lack of government incentives and guidelines that are bringing the sector to its knees. Some 1,300 below-the-line personnel carried 500 trunks (known in the U.S. as flight cases or hard equipment cases) into the square by the Duomo Cathedral in Milan and staged a musical routine by making in-tune noises by opening and closing the trunks’ lids. Italy’s entertainment sector employs 570,000 people. It sustains 7,527 companies and 122,905 workers in the audiovisual field alone. During the pandemic, upwards of 80 percent of workers for general events lost their jobs. The share increases to 90 percent for sporting events. Losses for cinemas alone are estimated at three million euro (U.S.$3.53 million) per week. For theaters, losses up to now amount to 10 million euro (U.S.$11.77 million). Irv Holender: Int’l TV Hall of Fame Honoree T hrough the years, U.S. film and TV veteran Irv Holender has been involved with over 10 entertainment enterprises, and ac- quired libraries from more than 30 companies, some of which converged into Multicom, the group he now serves as chairman of. Acquiring libraries has been Holender’s main goal from the start, and he’s now one of the world’s foremost experts in finding, assessing, and acquiring them. Between 2010 and 2017, Multicom acquired 14 film and TV libraries for a total of over 7,000 hours of content. “I realized early on the risk of producing, and began focusing on content, especially on proven historical iconic TV series and films,” Holender said. “The preference is always to own. However, we still distribute third-party content.” Throughout his career, Holender witnessed all five major development phases of the television business: the growth of domestic (U.S.) syndication, the emergence of U.S. cable TV networks, the development of home video, the evolution of international television, and the explosion of digital media. October 2020 Review