(Continued from Page 10) 12 by some international acquisition executives to the fact that, this year, there was poor coordination among the studios, with some screenings conflicting with others. But according to Jennifer Ebell, EVP, Television Distribution, Fifth Season, “Buyer attendance remained strong, with the right decision-makers from across the globe in [the] room. While conversations happen year-round, L.A. Screenings offers a valuable opportunity to meet face to face. Even in a cost-conscious market, it continues to draw the people who matter,” she said. How different these L.A. Screenings were from the 2025 edition could be easily ascertained by looking at the list of pilots in the May 2025 and 2026 issues of VideoAge. There are 19 for the 2026- 2027 broadcast TV season and just five in last year’s guide. The number and days of screenings for this year also increased, while the number of indies exhibiting at the hotel (this year, the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills, yet another new venue) remained stable at 55. Going back to the Upfronts, Monday, May 11, the start of the networks’ presentations, was a busy day in New York City, with NBC and FOX. ABC followed on May 12 at the Javits Center, while CBS held smaller Upfronts earlier, in April, in Los Angeles. Canela’s Upfront presentation for its Hispanic advertisers was also held on Monday, at the Avra Restaurant in Rockefeller Center, which was across the street from NBC’s Upfront presentation at Radio City Music Hall. FOX’s Upfronts were staged at the New York City Center. Moving over to the indies, the big news circulating inside the SLS Hotel, which this year housed the L.A. Screenings Independents, was the sudden departure of Darío Turovelzky as CEO of Telefe, which he helped make into Argentina’s most popular broadcast TV network. Telefe was acquired in October by the local media holding company Grupo TV Litoral from Paramount Skydance. When VideoAge asked both buyers and sellers about the new venue, the SLS Hotel (a favorite of Portugal football/soccer ace Cristiano Ronaldo), which replaced last year’s Roosevelt Hotel (which, in turn, superseded the Century Plaza Hotel), the general opinion was favorable. However, before committing to another year, L.A. Screenings organizers sent out a survey among participants to solicit their opinions. In terms of exhibitors — split between hotel suites and meeting tables — the number listed on the board by the elevators remained the same as last year at 55. However, according to official figures, the total number of companies was 107, including those firms that replaced other companies that canceled at the last minute (such as Ledafilms), and those who attended without registering or exhibiting. The exhibitors listed on the board came from 12 countries, in addition to the U.S. Also significant was a large contingent of members of the Latin trade media, who were in L.A. together with a sizable group of U.S. public relations agents. As for the number of TV content buyers, it has been reported that this year’s L.A. Screenings event attracted over 700 of them to the studios. Many — an estimated 180 (mostly from LatAm, with a few from Hispanic Canada and the U.S.) — were at the SLS Hotel for the indie portion, which started briskly on Thursday, May 14, but slowed down on the second and final day, Friday, May 15. Even though the L.A. Screenings Independents market ended on May 15, Argentina’s Telefilms held down the fort with its own screening and party on the following day at the SLS Hotel. The Telefilms’ gathering was held at the same time that the major U.S. studios started their own screenings and parties on Saturday, May 16, 2026. The studios’ events ended on Wednesday, May 20, with Disney’s LatAm screenings, which were held on its studio’s lot. Finally, returning to ex-Telefe bigwig Turovelzky, the unconfirmed rumor circulating at the L.A. Screenings Independents was that his days at Telefe were numbered after he aligned himself with his old boss Gustavo Yankelevich, who also bid to buy Telefe from Paramount, but lost to the current owners. Isabella Marquez (r.) and Lissette San Martin coordinated the indie segment of the L.A. Screenings Inter Medya's Sinem Aliskan and Beatriz Cea Okan Calinos Entertainment's Goryana Vasileva and Cristina Duffy Michael Bonner, NBCUniversal Global TV Distribution president, posed in front of a portrait of iconic detective Columbo. VIDEOAGE June 2026 L.A. Screenings 2026
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