18 The first edition of Content Americas was a resounding success, and was universally welcomed and praised by participants. However, the market’s venue, the Hilton Downtown Miami, was, for various reasons, universally disliked by participants. Attendees were also impressed by how quickly the market was put together. It took C21 Media, the U.K. trade publishing company that organized it, just a few short months to prepare and plan for the event. It was only in October 2022 that the company’s executives announced plans to replace the dearly departed NATPE with an all-new TV market that was already set to take place January 24-26, 2023, just a few days after NATPE would have traditionally been held. Content Americas has all the attributes needed to continue for years to come. But there’s a big problem looming in the distance, even though Brunico, the Canadian publishing company that acquired the NATPE brand after NATPE filed for Chapter 11, hasn’t yet fully explained how it plans to use the NATPE name to stage its own NATPE Global in 2024, except that it will be in January and in Miami. Brunico’s president, Russell Goldstein, was seen roaming around Content Americas meeting with several people. He was reportedly invited by David Jenkinson, C21’s managing director, and VideoAge was one trade that he wanted to meet with. But since that interview didn’t end up happening, and he told us, via e-mail, that “there’s nothing to report at the moment”, we can only speculate as to what his future plans for NATPE are. Brunico is known for organizing two markets: Reelscreen Summit, which took place in Austin, Texas in January 2023 and focuses on unscripted and non-fiction entertainment; and Kidscreen Summit, which highlights children’s content, and is held in Miami in February. Now, if Brunico were to combine these two events with NATPE Global (thereby creating a MIP-TV style market taking place alongside events that could rival MIPJunior and MIPFormat) in January or early February — something that it, reportedly, isn’t prepared to do — Content Americas would have a difficult time surviving in late January. The event is now set for January 23-25, 2024, once again at the Miami Downtown Hilton hotel, which is reportedly undergoing renovation. However, if Brunico would ultimately choose to move this possible combined market to March (close to April’s MIP-TV), the event won’t affect Content Americas, but will drastically impact MIP-TV. In effect, whatever Brunico chooses to do in 2024 could determine the fate of two markets: Content Americas and MIP-TV. But there’s also a third option. If Brunico leaves both Reelscreen and Kidscreen as they are (which seems to be the case), and instead tries to build a new niche for NATPE Global, the new entry wouldn’t create issues for Content Americas or MIP-TV, only perhaps a weaker NATPE Global, since Content Americas was able to effectively replace NATPE Miami in 2023. While all of that is still up in the air, what is clear is the fact that Miami is still a favorite destination for executives in the Americas, and the city will undoubtedly continue to host one or two TV markets a year in the coming years. The proof of this is the positive response that Latins reserved for Content Americas just 68 days after the same executives met at MIP Cancun. One explanation is that Latin executives have a January visit to Miami ingrained in their calendars, but it’s also because Miami is an attractive destination for all (except those who hail from LatAm’s South Cone, where January is considered a summer vacation month). Going back to the first edition of Content Americas, it is said that old timers who attended the first few editions of MIP-TV in the 1960s often reminisce about the fact that participants’ pictures were posted on a big board at the entrance of the market venue. This was before printed market guides became a thing. And in our post-market (printed) guide world, the organizers of the very first Content Americas Market Success Overshadowed By Looming 2024 Competition April 2023 Content Americas Report Inter Medya’s Can Okan and Beatriz Cea Okan Rlaxx’s Teresa Alonso Lopez, FilmRise’s Melissa Wohl, Emilia Nuccio, Claudia Morales, and Olympusat’s Hulda Acevedo Kanal D’s Sibel Levendoglu and Selim Türkmen ATV’s Emre Görentaş, Mustafa Keyvan, and Merve Doğan (Continued on Page 20) The positive response that Latins reserved for Content Americas just 68 days after the same executives met at MIP Cancun ... it’s also because Miami is an attractive destination for all.
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