14 NATPE Budapest (formerly DISCOP East) — the internationalcontentmarket focusing on Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) — will once again take place in the storied city of Budapest, Hungary, June 24-27. Ahead of the market, many independent exhibitors were looking forward to the return to Budapest, and eager to see how this edition would measure up to last year. Meggan Kimberley, Sales executive for Starz Worldwide Distribution, was enthusiastic. “It’s a great market to connect on a deeper level with buyers in Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS [because] you can take a little more time with the buyers and focus on these countries more than you can at MIP-TV or MIPCOM. This helps for a better understanding not only of the individual territories, but the whole region.” According to Gilda Demirtas, director of International Sales for Echo Bridge Entertainment, “we look at NATPE Budapest as an opportunity to generate new sales and clients. We always want to strengthen our relationships, learn about our clients’ programming needs and be ‘top of mind’ when they need to fill a block.” “Overall, it’s been a very vital market, which has to do with the fact that it’s specific to Central and Eastern Europe,” said Max Bolenius, VP of Sales, German Speaking Europe and Central/Eastern Europe for FremantleMedia International. “It’s good for closing pending deals from MIP, or to see people you don’t usually get to see at MIP,” he said. Bolenius added that last year he found “the market was emptier, but it’s still important for us, despite the fact that it was not as crowded as it was in 2011 and before. My hope is that attendance doesn’t go down anymore and that the key people and the key markets are still represented.” Rod Perth, president and CEO of NATPE, which organizes the market, made it clear that the organization is “committed to creating a cost-effective market,” and is encouraging exhibitors and buyers to attend by appealing to their money-saving sensibilities. “We’re a very reasonable market and there’s been no increase for distributors,” he said, adding, “we offer all different pricing points — including suites, meeting tables [and] viewing boxes.” A single meeting table, which comes with a market badge, costs $2,100, while a single screening suite, which comes with three badges, is $9,000. Two side-byside suites go for $11,000. As far as buyers, Perth said, “We’re offering a Tuesday-only day pass for U.S.$45, and have lots of VIP buyer incentives. We’ve identified the buyers our exhibitors want to be there and have made it cost-effective for them.” However, he also said he “wouldn’t expect huge increases in numbers over last year, as we’re going into the headwinds of a difficult economic time in that area. That said, several new exhibitors from regions including North America, Asia, Europe and Latin America have signed up this year.” Meanwhile, several exhibitors said they hoped to see increased attendance from buyers from Russia and Poland, key territories that are slightly underrepresented. For example, FremantleMedia’s Bolenius has found that “Russia, Poland and Ukraine aren’t regularly represented enough, [and his] hope is that they’ll be there,” even though his expectations weren’t high due to the fact that another event for the Russian-speaking world, Digital TV CEE, will take place at the same time in Poland. However, Bolenius was quick to point out that “all other territories are represented fairly well.” Marielle Zuccarelli, managing director of International Content Distribution for A+E Networks, said: “We already have many broadcaster partners in Hungary, Romania, and the Balkans. This year, we will continue to increase our foothold in these territories and expand our reach in Russia, Slovakia, Poland and the Czech Republic.” “Our key target territories…include Russia/ CIS and Turkey,” said Mark Benmore, VP of Sales for Content Television and Digital. “The territories throughout these regions offer increasingly diverse opportunities as new channels and platforms continue to flourish and this market is key to expanding our reach.” Similarly, Zuccarelli of A+E said that the recent growth of DTT in CEE gives them reason to expect more sales in the region. NATPE’s Perth acknowledged that in the past “there was a little bit of tension at times because the studio screenings tended to take buyers off the floor — something that independent companies didn’t appreciate.” Therefore, he explained that NATPE “worked with the studios — and they were full partners with us on this — to separate the screenings so that they don’t compete with the rest of the market,” he said. “We’ve reserved Monday and most of the day Tuesday for studio screenings. Then the market will start midday on Tuesday. That was a big response to what we heard from attendees.” No doubt, the indies are happy about the separate screenings. According to Melissa Pillow, Telemundo Internacional’s Sales director for Europe, since the screenings “have been scheduled before the television market, I expect that this year the lack of conflicting agendas will lead not only to more meetings but also to more effective ones.” Pillow commented that she hopes the “market in Budapest will continue to be one of the primary content markets of the year. The experience this year at NATPE Budapest will be crucial for our company to better understand the future of this market, and to observe our clients’ response to participating in a screening plus a By Sara Alessi Participants Warming Up to CEE Mart and Pleased About Separate Studio Screenings June/July 2013 NATPE Budapest Preview (Continued on Page 16) ITV’s Ahmet Ziyalar and Can Okan at last year’s event The entrance to the exhibition floor in 2012
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