V I D E O A G E January 2022 22 NATPE Miami Cancels Mart Cracks in the idea of holding an in-person event became clear on January 6, when ViacomCBS canceled its party and Univision called off its breakfast presentation. Pressure to postpone had started even earlier, when reps from MGM announced that they wouldn’t be attending NATPE after all, and participants admitted to increasing concerns about the large number of people infected by the Omicron variant. Additionally, most Miami hotels don’t enforce an indoor mask mandate. At this now-nixed edition, NATPE CEO JP Bommel was expected to announce that next year, NATPE might move move to a new venue, possibly in the Bahamas (with the apparent blessing of all the major U.S. studios). In consideration, among other venues, is the Grand Hyatt Baha Mar, a complex in Nassau with 1,800 sleeping rooms. However, in early January, the event coordinator at the Baha Mar was “unable to confirm the status of the group,” and NATPE officials were tight-lipped on specifics. In the view of the Miami, Florida-based Dianne Bissoon, who launched the Lime TV service in 16 Caribbean islands in 2019 for her company, the Bahamas-based Cable and Wireless, “the Grand Hyatt [in the zone called] Baha Mar is a perfect place for conventions.” It has also been pointed out that the Bahamas have the same U.S. telephone country code and are in the same time zone as Miami. A basic room at the Hyatt is 400 Bahamian dollars, which are at par with the U.S. dollar. The Hyatt is a 15-minute taxi ride from the Lynden Pindling International Airport, the country’s largest airport, which offers direct flights to and from the U.S. (with nine airlines operating out of 20 cities, including a one-hour flight from Miami), Canada (with three airlines out of five cities), and London. An informal survey among participating companies had revealed a sustained support for the January 2022 market. These interviews were conducted when NATPE Miami was still on schedule and will therefore need to be considered under the new circumstances. Alexis Rouse of NBCUniversal Syndication Studios, said that her company was “planning to attend NATPE in person in some capacity.” Definitely looking forward to an in-person NATPE was Chevonne O’Shaughnessy, cofounder and president of American Cinema International, who planned on going to Florida for the event, “I’m not a fan of virtual, this is a face-to-face business,” she said. O’Shaughnessy intended to look at how streaming services, which have been known to throw buckets of cash at projects, would conduct business at the event. She, like several others, believes “that the spending bubble will burst soon.” Kristen Bedno, vice president of Distribution and Marketing at Vision Films, reflected on the fact that “the markets we’ve attended in person recently, including MIP Cancun and Cannes, have been well-managed with COVID policies in place. We’re grateful for the safety precautions, which allow us to participate ‘normally’ in our business.” While COVID mainly prevented in-person events and meetings, Vision has “enjoyed spending more time on Zoom calls with our global clients during the pandemic,” according to Bedno, “and will continue to do so in future.” Those Zoom calls since the pandemic began have seen that “our business and relationships have grown stronger than ever over the last two years,” she said. Despite that success, Bedno suggested that “it’s always best to share an in-person meal and a laugh with our long-time friends and clients, so we’re grateful to be able to meet in January — and at the upcoming markets — provided safety protocols are always enforced.” “First and foremost, we’re thrilled to be able to see everyone in person again!” said Melissa Wohl, SVP and head of Sales at New York-based FilmRise before the event’s cancellation. “Our goal is to continue to significantly grow our content offerings and expand our reach around the world.” The excitement was shared by Vision Films’ managing director and CEO Lise Romanoff: “I cannot wait to attend NATPE Miami and my schedule is almost booked solid already with U.S. broadcasters and VoD platforms,” Romanoff said at the time. Regarding the anticipation for an in-person NATPE, Lisa Kramer, president of International TV Licensing, ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group, remarked: “As ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group’s first major in-person market since the pandemic started, we can’t wait to introduce our clients to ViacomCBS’ upcoming slate of world-class content.” Ivan Sanchez, Sales director of Latin America for Global Agency, said that “our projection for 2022 is very optimistic. At NATPE we will be presenting one of our new titles, The Game of My Destiny. Furthermore, our impression after the return to the markets is that TV channels are no longer looking only for ready-mades but that many of them are also open to the production of new projects. That is why we believe that 2022 may become a successful year for our formats in Latin America.” “We are solidifying our position as one of the leading independent TV production and distribution companies,” commented Sonia Mehandjiyska, head of International Distribution at Electric Entertainment. “We are launching a new sci-fi TV series, The Ark, and announcing the renewals of Leverage: Redemption and Almost Paradise. Gavin Reardon, International Sales & CoProductions executive at Incendo, said, “Our expectation is that this will be a much smaller NATPE Miami, but we’re eager to reconnect with our Latin American clients and all the domestic buyers in attendance.” For some attendees, the last market they attended was MIP Cancun, which was a success for its in-person meetings. According to Vision Films’ Romanoff, “there was a really good turnout at MIP Cancun and therefore, I was able to do a lot of business there, but it was mostly Latin America and the United States.” “Things have changed a lot since MIP Cancun,” said Mehandjiyska in what proved to be a prescient interview. “With the Omicron variant so rampant, there is now an uncertainty about NATPE Miami. Our main concern is how the pandemic will affect attendance.” Kramer said, “Every opportunity to gather our team and talk about our top-notch programming is a win for us. In-person gatherings and markets are a huge part of the DNA of our industry.” Global Agency’s Sanchez added, “We, as everyone else in the industry, were looking forward to attending face-to-face markets after such a long break. Both MIPCOM and MIP Cancun were very positive experiences for both buyers and sellers, and hopefully everything will go the same way in Miami.” Concerns for the market primarily have to do with how the ongoing pandemic will affect business and attendance. Wohl said, “I’m sure we share the same concern as everyone else, which is our hope that the market be a safe one for all who attend.” “Unfortunately, recently we have all seen many countries that had to implement restrictions due to the growth of the number of cases,” said Sanchez. “Considering these circumstances, we hope that it will not affect us too much and the market can be carried out as normally as possible.” “In the recurring theme of the past two years, we hope that the Omicron and Delta variants do not prevent our ability to gather at NATPE,” said Kramer. “We have gone to extraordinary efforts to ensure that our meeting environment and gatherings are COVID-safe.” Buyers felt similarly. Said Reardon: “Anyone I’ve spoken to who’s not attending has told me it’s either due to a corporate guideline prohibiting travel, or their own personal concern over the newest outbreak.” (Continued from Cover)
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTI4OTA5