December 2013 22 NATPE’s Success Is Its Challenge be able to accommodate the growing number of exhibitors by offering seven exhibition options, plus cabanas by the swimming pool, but only for those companies already exhibiting. This arrangement has alleviated the elevator problems at the towers. Ironically, the problem for NATPE is its success, which makes the hotel-headquarters greedy, knowing that people will participate despite growing costs. In this case, the balancing act is to manage the market’s growth without resorting to expanding the not universally popular market floor, and limiting the escalating hotel costs. At press time, the sleeping rooms at the official hotels were already sold out. The three-day market is set to kick off on Monday, January 27, but it’s expected that many companieswill startwheeling anddealing theday before, if not even on Saturday, considering that many Latin American buyers keep second homes in the Miami area. Indeed, on Sunday, the city of Miami will sponsor its traditional welcoming cocktail party at the Eden Roc, adjacent to the Fontainebleau. On Monday, Venevision will sponsor the opening night cocktail party. As for the exhibition areas, there will be the usual four hotel towers — Tresor, Sorrento, Chateau and Versailles — for suite-style sales offices, the market floor for exhibition stands, meeting rooms lined up along a ground floor corridor and meeting tables set up in large rooms on the floor above the meeting rooms. Gone are in the past the award was skewed toward the U.S. domestic aspect of the television business, this time it’s well balanced with domestic and international recipients, Emilio Azcárraga of Mexico’s Televisa, Jon Feltheimer of CanadaU.S.’s Lionsgate, Academy Award-winner James L. Brooks (of The Simpsons fame) and Lauren Zalaznick, EVP of Media Innovation and Cross Company Initiative at NBCUniversal. Not that U.S. business will be ignored at NATPE. Indeed over 35 local TV station buyers have already registered with many executives representing a group of stations. This is in addition to the domestic cable TV program market, which is a yearlong business. Naturally, for the domestic syndication business, NATPE comes at a somewhat awkward moment when, after the November (ratings) sweeps, most syndicated shows have already been replaced or reconfirmed. However, technology is coming to NATPE’s rescue in the sense that, with the advent of Nielsen’s Local People Meter (LPM), daily measurements are available in many local TV markets; therefore, stations don’t have to wait for one of the four annual sweeps (February, May, July and November) to see how each show is performing. So, a market such as NATPE is a good meeting ground to explore possible new show replacements. the boats moored at the dock across the street from the Fontainebleau that were once used as exhibition space. The most economical exhibition area is the meeting table ($2,800), followed by a market floor stand. As for the suites, prices can range from as low as $9,450 for a room at the Chateau to $137,000 for a penthouse in the Sorrento Tower. The typical average cost for a studio to attend the market is estimated at $700,000. Sony Pictures will attend NATPE in a reduced capacity (they already secured 50 sleeping rooms). Valerie Cabrera, EVP of Entertainment One International (eOne), summed up how themarket is shapingupbest: “Everything is falling intoplace really well. Client meetings and interviews are already starting to get booked. We’re expecting a great turnout and are excited about the diverse slate we’ll be offering this year,” she said. Cabrera noted that eOne is “expanding its presence at NATPE by sending more executives and securing additional exhibition space to accommodate the higher demand in meetings and interviews.” The company will bring the same amount of titles as it did at MIPCOM. Sheila Aguirre, SVP of Sales and Development Latin America, Caribbean and Hispanic USA for FremantleMedia International, was also enthusiastic. “NATPE and the L.A. Screenings are our priority markets for Latin America,” she said. “NATPE gives us the opportunity to focus exclusively on Latin American broadcasters’ needs,” Aguirre added. She also praised the timing and location, saying, “NATPE provides a great opportunity because it takes place at the beginning of the year when clients are beginning to make their acquisitions strategies. So, we can gain valuable insight into what our clients’ needs are, as well as their expectations and what they plan to do for the rest of the year. Another very important aspect is the fact that NATPE takes place in our backyard. Most clients arrive in Miami the week before, so we can arrange meetings prior to the market,” she said. FremantleMedia has “always had a significant presence at NATPE and we plan to continue in that manner,” Aguirre said. One way they’ll do that is with Thom Beers, FremantleMedia North America CEO, participating in a special “Storytellers Who Have Shaped Pop Culture” session with Morgan Spurlock on January 28. CaracolTelevision’sLisetteOsorio,International VP, agreed that “NATPE is without a doubt one of themost importantmarkets. It offers an important meeting point with our clients because it sets the pace for the rest of the year from acquisitions budgets to selling points to cover, we close deals and we start conversations that will result in important negotiations.” Ledafilms is also gearing up for NATPE, and according to Sales manager Moira Mc Namara, “We will bring more new titles [than we brought to MIPCOM] as NATPE is a major sales event for Latin American distributors.” The 11th annual Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Award — NATPE’s signature event — to be held on January 28, will be marked by a first. Whereas (Continued from Cover) ITV’s Can Okan Univision’s Alberto Ciurana RAI’s Giovanni Celsi (r.) and ART’s Karim Abdallah, Rai World’s distributor Gaumont International Television’s Tim Farish, Richard Frankie, Erik Pack and Globo TV’s Paula Miranda
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