Videoage International - 2020: A Year in Review

4 January 2021 V I D E O A G E Meeting of The Wallets: Money And Productions V ideoAge ’s editor-in-chief Dom Serafini explored the many ways to make money in production with borrowed money. Wrote Serafini: “Apparently, there is a pool of money in Hollywood for producing independent movies and TV shows that is available for the asking. Banks (debt), private investors (equity), film commissions (rebates, cash back, and tax credits), crowdfunding, distribution advances, pre-sales, product placement, revenue-sharing commitments from key actors, foundation grants, co-productions, and contributions from brands, all account for this cash. Plus, if the production has some foreign elements, money can even be gotten from various government programs. “The concept of brands contributing to TV financing isn’t new. Red Bull, for example, has its own content-investment division. There is also a growing tendency to use distributors as commissioners. Today, distributors often put more money into productions than broadcasters.” Tony Friscia, a Los Angeles-based financial consultant, added three extra forms of financing. The first is P&A funding. Capital is invested in marketing costs instead of production costs. This is attractive to investors because it is the last money in and the first money out of theatrical film rentals. The second is leveraging the “Ultimate.” This allows producers to borrow money against an estimate of a movie’s gross over its lifetime, a figure that analysts calculate about two months after a picture’s theatrical release. It looks at the lifespan of a film (roughly 10 years) and includes major income factors beyond theatrical box office. The third is receivables financing. This uses a hit movie as collateral to fund other movies. The Rebate Debate: Film Commissions’ Cash Allures F rom Hollywood, VideoAge ’s Mike Reynolds reported on various tax and cash incentives to producers. Wrote Reynolds: “The ability to negotiate the appropriate location and one offering tax and/or cash-in-hand incentives can be a godsend when seeking funds to start and complete a production. “However, at times a seemingly great incentive is akin to a nightmare when trying to wade through the grants, tax rebates, or cash- back deals offered by around two-thirds of U.S. states, every Canadian province and territory, and a growing list of countries around the globe.” Michael Thornton: 1961-2019 V eteranTVcontent international distributor Michael Thornton died in Los Angeles last November following heart surgery complications. He was 58-years old. Thornton had been in TV content distribution since 1986 with BVI/Walt Disney International in London. After Disney, he worked at Hanna- Barbera for two years marketing home video rights worldwide, and then at Spelling Entertainment Group. Thornton also served as VP Worldwide Sales at Wellspring. In 2005, he co- founded with partner Sheri Levine the New York City-based Forward Entertainment. NATPE 2020 Review “I t’s so cold in Florida that the weather service warns of falling frozen iguanas,” read a Miami Herald headline on Wed- nesday, January 22, the second day of the NATPE Miami market. The temperature warmed up the next day in this subtropical city, but it was a rainy last day. Not that the market started on a better note. Indeed, the managers of the Fontainebleau Hotel, NATPEMiami’s headquarters, reportedly received a note from hackers who demanded money in order to unlock their computer system prior to the market’s start. A hotel manager did not answer a request for confirmation, but rumors swirled that the FBI was called in and that, ultimately, the hotel paid up. The computer problem caused those NATPE participants who arrived on Saturday to have to wait long hours in order to get into their rooms. Then, on opening day, Tuesday, there was a false fire alarm that caused a short evacuation in some areas of the compound. Additionally, some exhibitors fumed that the market floor doors were still closed at 9 a.m., leaving no pre- arranged places to meet with buyers. This was supposedly done in order to allow participants to attend the opening ceremony, giving credence to the idea that NATPE organizers favor conferences over marketplace activities. The 10th anniversary of NATPE in Miami brought with it lots of parties (a record 20), NATPE’s own Iris Awards (that returned after a 19-year hiatus), a first-time sit-down dinner for the Tartikoff Awards, the second annual Global TV Demand Awards, and, as explained by NATPE CEOJPBommel duringa closingpress conference, a large number of streaming platform buyers. Another notable development was the increased presence of U.S. TV station groups, which allowed CBS Television Distribution to announce that its new daytime talk show, The Drew Barrymore Show, cleared 85 percent of U.S. homes for fall 2020. The increased attendance of U.S. domestic TV stations was also documented by the presence of many local FOX TV stations and by Perry Sook, founder and CEO of Nexstar, a group with 216 local TV stations in 118 markets, in addition to domestic syndicators such as Carsey-Werner, Litton, and Trifecta. Disney also unveiled the new company name for its LATAM Division: Buena Vista Media Distribution, headed by Fernando Barbosa. Robert Chua: Int’l TV Hall of Fame Honoree B roadcaster, producer, satellite TV pioneer, and content distributor Robert Chua was tapped as VideoAge ’s International TV Distribution Hall of Fame honoree. VideoAge last met with Chua in Cannes during MIPCOM 2019, where he’d traveled with his wife, Peggy. The inseparable pair have been married for 45 years. The former Peggy Jen was the last of Robert’s assistants at Hong Kong TV station TVB, where he worked for six years until 1973. In 1974, Chua and Peggy started Robert Chua Productions. In 1975, the couple produced 26 episodes of Audio Visual Robert Chua for Hong Kong’s RTV. Chua had originally settled in Hong Kong in 1967 at age 21, moving from his native Singapore where he worked as a producer at Radio and Television Singapore. He left for Hong Kong when the colony was caught up in the midst of China’s Cultural Revolution (1966-1972). He grew up in Singapore, which, in 1946, the year Chua was born, was declared a U.K. colony. He left it after Singapore became an independent republic in 1965. Also in Hong Kong, Chua launched the variety show Enjoy Yourself Tonight on TVB, and in 1994 he founded China Entertainment Television Broadcast (CETV), a 24-hour satellite TV station, which focused onMainland China. In 2003, CETV was acquired by TOM Group. In 2003, with his own production company, Chua produced the interactive quiz show Everyone Wins , which aired in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, and Vietnam. Chua went back to production in 2015 with the reality show Someone Who Cares for Hong Kong TVB-2. A year earlier he was appointed to the board of advisors of RTHK, Hong Kong’s public broadcaster. January 2020 Review