V I D E O a A G E JA N U A R Y 2 0 1 3 30 (Continued from Page 28) NATPE’s History Repeats Itself more studios abandoned the convention floor for the suites, and some even sent reps but did not exhibit. This lack of floor presence was exacerbated by the fact that the high number of conferences took people away from the floor. By 2010, NATPE announced that it would move from Vegas to Miami — a move VideoAge viewed as overdue recognition that NATPE had morphed into an international event. However, Disney did not attend in 2010, and “The outcome wasn’t rosy, but the consensus seem[ed] to be that the market has hit bottom and now has nowhere to go but up.” Things were looking up in 2011, when NATPE moved to the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach, as indicated by our headline, “Miami Market Marked Momentous Moments.” The parties returned (including two pre-parties), and it was evident that the market would be a success before it even began. Yet, despite the upside of being in Miami, many felt a need for more mid-sized companies to exhibit on the floor, since a large number of companies set up shop in suites in the Tresor Tower of the Fontainebleau, making the elevators congested and causing buyers to be late for meetings, or even miss them completely. The 2012 event marked the last under former president and CEO Rick Feldman, and the new president and CEO, Rod Perth, will have a chance to make his mark at the 2013 event, when NATPE celebrates its 50th anniversary. According to Perth, “NATPE’s 50th Anniversary is a moment that should be celebrated by everyone in this amazingly vibrant and resilient industry. Our Miami market/conference is the first mustattend event of the year, and our mission is to catalyze the most productive and successful U.S.-based content market and conference. Our theme this year is ‘Beyond Disruption,’ which speaks to the wealth of opportunity that has been created in recent years by technology. By facilitating ongoing conversations among the Hollywood, international, digital, brand and agency communities, NATPE is becoming a critical bridge between content creation and monetization,” he said. “But,” he added, “it’s not just about how much business will be transacted — with influencers and decision makers from around the world, the opportunities for networking at NATPE are endless and invaluable. “And finally, any birthday deserves a special celebration, so we are throwing a must-attend 50th Anniversary party for everyone at NATPE on Tuesday evening at the Liv Club,” he said. Only time will tell what this year — and the next 50 — hold for NATPE, but in the meantime, we’re grabbing our party hats. 2010. Peter Iacono, Kevin Beggs 2010. Lisette Osorio, Camila Reyes 2012. Gene George 2009. Susan Bender, Sally Treibel 2010. Delmar Andrade, Edson Mendes 2010. Valerie Cabrera 2011. Eric Mueller, Stephanie Pacheco, John Garcia, David Stern, Gustavo Gomez, Tomas Davison 2012. Luciana Egurrola, Mariana Fernandez NATPE 1983: FROMVIDEOAGE’S MARCH 1983 ISSUE We don’t know how long NATPE International will remain International — however welcome that designation may be. Some syndicators and buyers are complaining about its size and unfocused schedule. Other international events now taking shape in the U.S., such as AMIP-TV, and domestic events such as INTV, could be more appealing to some (the informal, relaxed atmosphere is what contributed to the meteoric success of the Monte Carlo TV Market). NATPE International could maintain its lead by once again fine-tuning its format. To us, an international TV market in the U.S. makes sense. It could reduce U.S. distributors’ increasing marketing costs, offer foreign distributors new opportunities and bring together all the major foreign buyers — Canadians, Australians, British, Italians, Germans, Japanese, Latin Americans — who make the U.S. a regular stopover. One suggestion is to have NATPE’s international aspect leading the domestic event, with seminars and conferences starting a few days earlier. This arrangement would suit the U.S. distributors, who could prepare themselves while attending to a relatively small clientele; the foreign buyers, who now feel neglected; the interested U.S. TV programmers, who could pay closer attention to foreign products; the foreign distributors, who could perform more effectively; and the organizers, who would be relieved of some heat.
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