V I D E O • A G E JU N E/ JU L Y 2 0 1 0 12 L . A . S c r e e n i n g s ( c o n t i n u e d ) TV networks, but for cable nets, as well, and sister stations TBS and TNT want the world to know that they’re big too. Consequently, they also made presentations to advertising clients along with the big five nets. They announced three new comedies (one animated) and two new dramas. by becoming a two-tier model with advertising and cable operators paying to retransmit programs. This is similar to the model used by cable nets, wherein revenues are generated by the per-sub fee and advertising. Moving on to the L.A. Screenings — an event for international program acquisition executives that follows the upfronts — a total of 67 international distributors set up shop at the hotels in the Century City section of Los Angeles (including the U.S. studios’ Latin American divisions). In addition, five companies screened in their offices and an additional five hung around the hotel lobbies. For the independents, the Screenings kicked off on May 18 and virtually ended on Saturday, May 22, while the studios began screening on Friday, May 21, and finished on the 28th. The large studio output meant that buyers were kept on the lots from morning to late afternoon, thus offering little chance to visit indies. As per last year, the indies’ kickoff party was care of Venevision International on May 19, while the closing ceremony was covered by Telefilms’ May 22 afternoon screening and cocktail, and Telefe’s evening party that same night. For the studios, Disney started the celebrations with a presentation and party on its lot on Sunday, May 23. This was followed by a cocktail held by Lionsgate on Monday, and competing NBC Universal and Warner Bros. parties on Tuesday evening. The studios closed the 2010 L.A. Screenings with 20th Century Fox 75th anniversary party on Thursday, May 27. For those Latin buyers who arrived earlier to meet with some of the indies, it meant that their stay lasted over 10 days, versus three for Canadians and six for buyers from other parts of the world. In addition to some buyers grumbling about the length of their stay, some Latin buyers complained about the glut of telenovelas now on the market, with new productions coming out of Germany, Malaysia, Israel, the U.S. and, naturally, Latin America. Nonetheless, sales went well for a few independent exhibitors with appointments and even for those relying on walk-ins. One distributor even reported a $100,000 sale to a wandering Turkish buyer. Jose “Pepe” Echegaray, the Miami, Florida-based vp of International Sales, Latin America for Britain’s Power Corp., reported that for his company, the Screenings were productive, though quiet. “The overall assessment,” he said, “was that while the market was positive, it was a bit slow. The additional studio afternoon screenings limited the already shorter time independents have with clients, which made it even more restrictive.” Echegaray noted that while he had fewer meetings and more down time than in years past, he found buyers, as a whole, to be more decisive than usual. “Some territories were not wasting time, they made selections of product in preproduction without even viewing a trailer,” he said, “Selections were made from the brochures.” Some buyers reported being very impressed by the pilot episodes from CBS, Disney, NBC-Universal and Fox, but they also wondered aloud how many shows will actually become successful considering this year’s unusually large number of new series. In terms of numbers, at these L.A. Screenings there were some 1,400 buyers (300 more than last year) from 70 countries. Some buyers said that they will be acquiring additional shows to keep as back-ups in case their prime choices don’t work in their territories or will be cancelled by the U.S. TV networks. Finally, even though some networks ordered series from competing studios (like, for example Disney selling to CBS and Fox selling to ABC), and indie company Lionsgate is producing for FOX, most new series are produced by the networks’ studios: Disney for ABC, CBS for CBS, NBC-Universal for NBC and Fox for FOX. On the other hand, this year Sony Pictures produced for ABC and CW, and Warner Bros. for all networks except FOX. Disney Media Distribution’s Fernando Barbosa, Fabiola Bovino, Henri Ringel, Jack Morera, Leonardo Aranguibel Lionsgate’s Kevin Beggs (r.) with Charlie Mars, Mary-Louise Parker, Will Arnett, Mitch Hurwitz (Continued from Page 10) Teletica’s Jorge Garro M6’s Bernard Majani and Twentieth Century Fox’s Gerard Grant at the Fox studios bash
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