Benjamin (Ben) Pyne is the 49-year-old New York City and Burbank, Californiabased president of Global Distribution for Disney Media Networks, the new “matrix” that rose from the “ashes” of the old uena Vista. The latter brand was retired in 2007, just about the time that Pyne took over. Considering Pyne’s varied responsibilities, one might picture him sitting behind a console, pushing a multitude of buttons. Another apt metaphor is that of him playing the divisions of his group like the strings of his guitar (of which he’s an accomplished player) in order to produce harmonious results. But, before touching on any subject with Pyne, one first has to understand the Benjamin’s Buttons. Disney’s Global Boss Hit the Right Keys (Continued on Page 60) (Continued on Page 48) WIN Television is a privately owned regional television network that reaches over 5.2 million viewers across six states of Australia and the nation’s capital. The privately owned company has grown significantly since Bruce Gordon purchased a controlling interest in Television Wollongong Transmission Ltd (WIN4) in 1979, known today as WIN Television. TheWINNetwork reaches 42 percent of Australia’s 8.5 million homes and has over 1400 employees. Broadcasting throughout 27 markets, including its related companies Channel Nine in Adelaide and Perth, WIN’s transmission spans the largest geographical area in the world. Today, WIN Corp. includes business operations in TV and radio broadcasting, pay-TV, film and TV production. WIN was the first regional broadcaster to transmit high definition digital services, 12 months ahead of government regulatory requirements, in Wollongong, Canberra, Ballarat, Tasmania, Mildura and the Southern Queensland market. WIN Television is also a founding member of Freeview Australia, which was formed by Australia’s free-to-view TV broadcasters to assist in the promotion of digital television in Australia, and to enable access to the very best quality freeto-view digital programming. WIN TV’s 30th Anniversary Salute Forecasting is Hollywood’s “Ultimates” Game BY DOMSERAFINI For the purpose of this story, “Ultimates” are not characters in a Marvel comic, but rather a marvel of financial engineering adopted by Hollywood’s account executives to figure out how much revenue will be generated by each movie title or TV series. Ultimates are updated monthly by the studios’ financial people with fresh data from the sales, (Continued on Page 44) (Continued on Page 56) VideoAgeconducted a no holds barred, 360-degree interview with the 40-year old Pier Silvio Berlusconi, vice-chairman of Italy’s Mediaset (chairman is Fedele Confalonieri, CEO is Giuliano Adreani) and son of Italy’s prime minister, Silvio. This is a critical moment for Mediaset, and for the Italian television industry in general: The transition to digital terrestrial television, competition with Rupert Murdoch’s Sky Italia (both in terms of premium TV channels and the development of a new satellite TV platform), the acquisition of Endemol, the creation of new production companies and the goal of bringing daytime drama production costs down from the current 70,000 euro (U.S. $100,000) per hour to a more manageable level of 15,000 euro (on par with those of Argentina, which manages to sell its low-cost shows Endemol, Italy’s TV Found a Big Brother In Pier Silvio Berlusconi Mediaset’s Pier Silvio Berlusconi ® THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION October 2009 VOL. 29 NO. 6 $9.75 www.videoage.org In This Issue: Food Nets Fall Season MIPCOM ‘09 Economic Blues
V I D E O A G E • N o. 6 • S e p t / O c t . 2 0 0 9 Cover stories: Endemol and Italian television found a big brother in Pier Silvio Berlusconi The Buttons of Disney’s Benjamin Pyne. Global boss hits the right keys Salute to a WINner. Australia’s WIN celebrates its 30th anniversary Movie and TV “ultimates” score big at U.S. studios 4. World: U.S., Canada, China, U.K., Italy 10. Cooking shows: Who made food on TV become more than TV dinner 12. Book Review: A look at the history of food on TV becomes a bubbling mess 14. Little DISCOPs grow and multiply, but do not bother the mother hen 16. MIPCOM preview: Market upbeat after being beaten up by economy 22. Film Fests. Italy, Canada. Two Countries Split in Four: Montreal, Toronto, Venice, Rome 24. New media guru declares the Internet a destination, saying, “it ain’t television” 26. Are TV stations, Cable and Satellite platforms preparing for IPTV? 30. Economic Blues. Times Are Tough, Budgets Are Down: TV’s New Reality Show 32. Promax report. TV role at promo trade had lost its focus but found some hope 34. Now & Then: How the TV business has changed in Latin America 36. Now & Then: How the TV business has changed in Canada 38. Roma Fiction Fest review. The Eternal City takes the MIFED mantle 40. New U.S. TV Season. Good shows, good license fees, great expectations 64. Conferences and event news. Less leg room for more money. Plus your usual calendar of must-attend events 66. My 2¢: Digital mux are a must for U.S. TV FTA channels
V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 4 VH1 Wants Ur Txt Msgs AU.S. cable TV network is casting a wider net for audiences through new digital media convergence strategies. Taking this approach to a new level, VH1 recently hatched a scheme fusing inhome and out-of-home interactivity with The Great Debate, a program meant to reach its existing audience and other audiences in new environments (such as nightclubs), while promoting the network. VH1 is the Viacom-owned adult music channel. The program, which first aired last July, centered on irreverent discussions of pop culture topics like Star Wars vs. Star Trek, Rocky vs. Rambo, and Ginger vs. Mary Ann. The Great Debate allowed the audience to express their views on those topics via text messaging through Zoom Media & Marketing’s digital billboards in over 500 nightclub locations in the U.S., Viacom’s 13.56 meter digital screen in New York City’s Times Square, and through such social networking sites as Facebook and Twitter. LocaModa, which specializes in “powering the Web outside,” developed an interactive platform that fused The Great Debate broadcast with social networking features and digital billboards. According to Wendy Weatherford, VH1’s v.p. of Consumer Marketing and Promotion, one of VH1’s principal aims with the multifaceted interactive strategy was to “reach and engage” VH1’s active audience “wherever they’re located,” in light of the multitasking habits of its audience. She noted that the nature of the show lent itself to this kind of interactivity. As such, the multiplatform element “made strategic sense,” and helped satisfy the audience’s strong desire to get involved. Thus, the show’s interactive effort was also designed for brand building purposes. Audience participation for the show was impressive, with over 350,000 total messages generated, according to Steve King, v.p. of Sales for LocaModa. In addition, one percent of the overall messages were mobile, which King deemed “extraordinary.” VH1 devised a special promotion strategy that matched the distinctiveness of the show’s design in order to broaden its audience. A key phase of that campaign involved placing program ads on digital screens at 380 gas stations around the country. VH1 also ran a promotion with Moviefone, an online and phone-based movie guide and ticketing service, inviting callers to watch the program, as well as promoting the program in 20 minor league ballparks. Company officials declined to reveal cost for the project, which include renting the billboards and TV screens and development of the interactive platform. It is also unclear as to whether the project can generate revenue stream on its own, beyond the brand promotion value. (Michael Mascioni) CP Could Be Saved Los Angeles’ city councilmen have voted to approve the motion that would designate the Century Plaza hotel in Century City a historic landmark. For over 40 years, the Century Plaza (CP) has been one of the favorite hotels for international distributors in town to exhibit at the L.A. Screenings. Early this year, the hotel’s owner revealed plans to tear down the curved structure and replace it with two highrise towers. The vote by two councilmen (who make up two-thirds of the council’s Planning and Land Use Management Committee) is the first step in a monthslong process that is hoped to result in the hotel’s designation as a city historiccultural monument. The city’s planning staff has been directed to compile a list of the hotel’s significant features and present it to the full council. The hotel is owned by Next Century Associates, a partnership between Los Angeles-based real estate investor Michael Rosenfeld and the D.E. Shaw Group. Ken Bernstein, director of the city’s Office of Historic Resources, said his staff would be backing the recommendation that the hotel, designed by Minoru Yamasaki and opened in 1966, receive the protective designation. (Continued on Page 6)
V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 6 CTV Exits NHL For Cash CTVglobe, the parent company of CTV, one of Canada’s largest TV groups, sold its remaining 7.7 percent stake of the National Hockey League’s Toronto Maple Leaves conglomerate (MLSE) for an estimated C$100 million. CTVglobe will use the proceeds from this latest sale to pay down debt associated with its C$1.4 billion acquisition of CHUM Ltd. three years ago. This is CTV’s second divestment. Last December, the company sold its first stake in MLSE for C$90 million. CTVglobe’s investment had originally been part of a media strategy to match sports franchises with cable channels like Leafs TV and TSN. However, the benefits of a media company owning minority stake in a sports franchise never materialized. MLSE is a sports conglomerate that not only owns the Maple Leafs franchise, but the National Basketball Association’s Toronto Raptors, the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, and some other smaller sports franchises as well. L.A. ITV Fest Celebrated Web The Los Angeles’ Independent Television Festival (ITVF) has discovered the Web. In its fourth year, ITVF took place over seven days in early August at Laemmle’s Sunset 5 Theater, and was attended by a few thousand people. ITVF is organized by ITV, a non-profit organization “with the mission of providing opportunities to people with television industry aspirations.” ITVF received pilot submissions from around the world. The official selections were then screened in front of a live audience. As in past editions, ITVF featured a mix of panels and awards, focused on independent television pilots, web series, and mobile programming. Panels included a “How to Pitch” session helmed by SyFy’s (formerly Sci-Fi) director of Alternative Programming, Damona Resnick-Hoffman, and “Developing for the Web” with Fox’s digital arm 15 Gigs’ director of Programming Ilsa Berg and MyDamnChannel.com’s Warren Chao. Actor Kevin Pollak screened his online talk show Kevin Pollak’s Chat Showafter sitting for a podcast Q&A with the crowd. Merrime.com, produced by Red Ladders Entertainment, won Best Comedy; Barry Gribble’s Dogwon Best TV Series and Darryl Carlton’s Oz Girl won Best Web Series at the ITVF’s Awards Show. Past winners at ITVFest have gone on to secure development deals with NBC and Starz and representation from United Talent Agency and the management/production company, 3 Arts. ( Sara Rinde ) China To Free Foreign Rights The U.S. government successfully argued that certain Chinese laws and regulations were violations of World Trade Organization (WTO) trading rights obligations. The Chinese laws, which reserved the rights to import films for theatrical release and audiovisual home entertainment for wholly or partially state-owned enterprises, have now been revised to permit certain goods (such as DVDs) to be imported into China by foreign enterprises on the same basis as Chinese companies. China has confirmed that non-state controlled Chinese entities may also apply for permits to import and distribute nonChinese theatrical films. “[This revision] is important progress in the effort by independent film and television producers and distributors to gain better access to the Chinese marketplace,” said Jean M. Prewitt, president and CEO of the Los Angeles, California-based Independent Film and Television Alliance (IFTA). “[The WTO panel’s] findings and the anticipated changes to Chinese law and practices will create new distribution opportunities for independent films and television programming. We also firmly believe that China will benefit from increased investment in its distribution infrastructure and enjoy a wider range of entertainment programming resulting from a more competitive and open marketplace.” Earlier this year, another WTO panel completed its work on a separate case brought by the U.S. against China, which involved intellectual property rights, and included a ruling that China must revise its copyright law to extend protection to pre-censored audio-visual works in order to comply with TRIPS (Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights). (Continued on Page 8) (Continued from Page 4) Now 91 episodes available (to be continued)/27‘ each The Peppercorns children‘s detective series Please see us at Stand no. 20.01
V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 8 Prime Cuts At U.K TV Nets For 2009, the U.K.’s RTL-owned terrestrial TV Channel Five cut its programming budget by 25 percent (from 220 million to 140 million pounds), marking the biggest percentage reduction of any major U.K. broadcaster in the face of declining advertising revenues. Similarly, Channel Four is expected to make cuts of up to 75 million pounds from its own £600 million (U.S.$991.7 million) program budget. Following the collapse of merger talks between channels four and Five, the latter’s chief executive, Dawn Airey, hinted at a possible collaboration between Five and BBC’s commercial arm, BBC Worldwide. This comes on the heels of similar talks between Worldwide and Channel 4. “We will not let Channel 4 have a free run withWorldwide on a joint venture,” Airey said. It seems Channel Five is very keen on launching its own standalone pre-school digital channel, but does not want to pay for any more spectrum. Thus the new service will presumably air during the day on either the Fiver or Five USA digital channel slot, along the same lines as the BBC children’s channels CBeebies and CBBC, which share spectrum with BBC3 and BBC4. “I had a meeting about it this week,” Airey said, “The economics of it are quite compelling…. I suspect we will make a decision by the end of the year.” New TV Bosses In Hollywood There’s a new buzzword circulating throughout the TV business: the showrunner. As the word implies, the title applies to the executive running the show, but who is that exactly? Historically, it was always the executive producer calling the shots on a TV show’s production, but in recent years, that title has been applied to a wider range of roles, from those responsible for arranging financing to an honorific without actual management duties. The term “showrunner” has therefore been coined to identify the producer who actually holds ultimate management and creative authority. Notable U.S. showrunners include J.J. Abrams, Judd Apatow, and Tina Fey. While in the U.S., showrunners are usually the creative force behind a program and tend to come from a writing background, in Canada, where the TV industry has traditionally been line-producer driven, it has become increasingly difficult to determine who has claim to the showrunner title. Many Canadian writers refuse to acknowledge non-writing showrunners, while producers are reluctant to give production credit to writers. It’s a confusing debate, and as a result, the Writers Guild of Canada created the Showrunner Award in 2007 in an attempt to call attention to the role of writing in creative production. It should be noted that despite all confusion, “showrunners” are still credited as “executive producers” on most films and TV shows. Sky Italia’s Official Statement VideoAge asked Kathryn Fink, Sky Italia’s programming director, to comment on the TivúSat situation and the following three issues reported in the Pier Silvio Berlusconi front cover story: 1) How Nagravision encoding is going to affect RAI and Mediaset’s free channels on Sky. 2) What Sky will be doing to compensate for this Nagravision encoding. 3) What Sky’s plans are for growth in Italy. Sky Italia responded with the following note, sent from its Milan-based Corporate Communications office: “Official statements issued by both operators confirm that Nagravision scrambling methods will be used to encrypt programs broadcast by free-to-air channels for which neither RAI nor Mediaset own international rights. So, for anyone receiving these channels with a Sky decoder at the moment, the impact on viewing will affect only a part of programs offered by respective general networks. The success of Sky and the extensive growth of its subscriber base – which is currently 4.8 million – have always been rooted in the quality of content and the option to enjoy state-of-the-art technology, as well as the ongoing enhancement of its TV schedules with new shows and new theme channels. For the future, Sky intends to pursue this same route, to increase its subscriber base, aiming mainly at high definition for 30 HD channels by the end of 2010.” (Continued from Page 6)
A new breed of blue. VISITUSATMIPCOMSTANDRSV. 14 Contact: e1tv@e1ent.com Telephone: 04 92 99 89 10 www.e1tv.com POLICE DRAMA – 13 x 60 MINS At the police academy they trained, fought, drank and slept together. Now they’re on the job together. Dangerous pursuits. Fierce shootouts. Deadly standoffs. They’re ready to brave anything on the job: it’s only their personal lives that could use the back-up. A new series from E1 Entertainment
V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 10 Cooking shows have certainly evolved from Julia Child’s first “extravaganza” on public television and the scope of their reach and marketing appeal continues to grow. In the U.S., for example, Bravo, a division of NBC Universal, has inked deals with major retailers to create Top Chef branded wines and floral arrangements. Meanwhile, the 16th season of Bravo’s popular cooking series (distributed internationally by NBCUniversal), Top Chef: Las Vegas , debuted in August. The 17 Top Chef: Las Vegas chef ’testants are whittled down week by week as they compete to out-cook their competition. The show itself serves as a bit of a showcase for the M Resort Spa & Casino in Las Vegas, which served as the primary production location. In Canada, The Edible Roadshowis one of the first Knight Enterprises cooking shows commissioned by CBC/Food Network Canada. From 1997-2001, 65 episodes were produced. From 2001 to 2003, Knight Enterprises produced 165 episodes of Cook Like A Chef for Canada’s Food Network, which was then sold to over 90 international territories. The show broke new ground with its emphasis on technique rather than recipes, moving the presenter out from behind a static kitchen counter and into position to teach viewers how, not just what, to cook. Knight’s founding president Chris Knight saw the counter as a barrier between audience and host, and thus Cook Like A Chefadopted an “in-theround” style of shooting. Cameras and microphones were positioned all around the kitchen studio as a means to successfully capture every sight and sound of cooking, whether it be the host’s commentary or the bubbling of a pot. Handheld cameras used extreme close-up techniques to bring the viewer right into the action, evolving the food from static prop into a character on the series. From 2003 to 2005, Knight Enterprises produced 104 episodes of Licence To Grill for Canada’s Food Network and Discovery Home in the U.S. The series was then sold to Australia’s Lifestyle Food, U.K.’s BET International, Finland’s Jim, Singapore’s Asian Food Channel and Germany’s Dmax. The series featured a visual technique known as a “Viz Essay.” It consisted of the quick-cut editing of rudimentary tasks (i.e., chopping an onion) set to music. This sped up the pace of the cooking, and has since been used on a number of other cooking shows. In 2005, 13 episodes of This Food That Wine were produced by Knight Enterprises for Canada’s Food Network and American Life TV in the U.S. It was subsequently sold to BBC Worldwide for Scandinavia and the Middle East and Africa, Finland’s Liv and Romania’s Euforia. This was one of (if not the first) series to deal with pairing food and wine. In order to make it appealing to a worldwide audience, the series never dealt with specific vintages or brands, but instead focused on the flavor profiles of various wines and why they worked with particular foods. It was unique because it was done in an approachable style that any novice wine lover or foodie could relate to. Furthermore, the show featured visual imagery to describe flavor profiles, thereby taking full advantage of television’s capabilities. Road Grillis Knight Enterprises’ latest series, with 39 episodes produced from 2007-2008 for Canada’s Food Network. T V D i n n e r s & D i n e r s The Evolution of Cooking Shows Cook Like A Chef featured chef Rene Rodriguez, with cameraman Ted Hart KNIGHT E N T E R P R I S E S PROVEN QUALITY LIFESTYLE PROGRAMMING Knight Enterprises delivers entertaining quality television to meet your Lifestyle programming needs. Our 400 half-hour inventory is designed for International audiences and features superior production values, engaging hosts and significant take away that will keep your audiences coming back for more. We also offer extensive merchandising to exploit ancillary revenue opportunities, as well as collateral materials that promote viewer loyalty and drives traffic to your website. Watch sample episodes at our online theatre or come see us at stand #00.01. Call 1.613.730.1728 or email info@knight-tv.com to obtain your personalized access code.
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V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 12 BY LAUREN GITLIN No one will argue that a study of the history of television is synonymous with the study of pop culture over the last halfcentury. In food and television writer Kathleen Collins’ debut book Watching What We Eat: The Evolution of Television Cooking Shows (2009, The Continuum International Publishing Group, 278 pages, U.S.$24.95), the scribe explores a specific genre of programming as it’s moved from its nascent stages on radio to its golden era on public television to its current saturation point, on niche cable network Food Network and primetime reality shows like The Restaurant and Hell’s Kitchen. Collins writes: “More than just a howto or amusement, cooking shows are a unique social barometer. Their legacy corresponds to the transitioning of women at home to women at work, from eight- to 24-hour workdays, from cooking as domestic labor to enjoyable leisure, and from clearly defined to more fluid gender roles … We are ardent consumers of food, of television, and of the products springing forth from both.” Collins breaks her book into three main sections: the advent of television, the rise of TV chef Julia Child on public television and the development of the Food Network in 1993. She touches briefly on the birth of cooking programs on the radio, as represented by Ida Bailey Allen’s show and Aunt Sammy’s programs. These shows served the dual purposes of instructing housewives on how to improve their culinary craft and shilling for sponsors like PET Evaporated Milk and Crisco shortening. What began as a radio phenomenon in the U.S. took naturally to the newly emerging television medium, appealing to the stay-at-home wives itching for companionship and counsel on how to better tend their hearths. This was the era of James Beard’s I Love To Eaton NBC and the proto-Martha Stewart, Dione Lucas, a prim, Cordon Bleu-trained chef who struck fear and awe in the hearts of home cooks with her death-defying kitchen tricks on CBS. As the role of the show’s host became more central, the idea that these shows were purely educational began to fade and the first glimmer of our modern concept of cooking as entertainment was hinted at. Of Dione Lucas, Collins wrote, “Though she was a real woman undertaking real tasks, she was transformed by the magic of TV into a performer.” In 1954, NBC launched what is arguably the prototype for today’s modern talk show, Home , a show that “addressed the traditional homemaking segments — gardening, fashion, beauty, home decorating, child rearing….” By the ‘60s, local cooking programs had all but disappeared in the U.S. as primetime slots started getting clogged with national network content, and public television stepped in to handle the fallout. Public TV (PBS) became the go-to hub for cooking shows like Julia Child’s The French Chef . Begun as a local public television program on Boston’s WGBH, The French Chefgrew out of a chance promotional gambit for one of classically-trained Child’s cookbooks and went on to become the definitive cooking show of the modern era. The pilot episode aired in 1962 and was an almost instant hit. The meteoric success of Julia Child can be at least partly explained by the simultaneous interest in French cooking, which was ushered in during the Kennedy administration and also in part owed to an American middle-class more interested in foreign travel than ever before. But a good portion of Child’s appeal lay in her earthy good humor. She charmed audiences with her warts-and-all approach, and took “the bugaboo” out of cooking, especially French cooking, which heretofore had been viewed as complicated and reserved for the upper classes. Her influence on mainstream cooking extended to a deeper knowledge of ingredients that are now taken for granted, and kitchen utensils and equipment that, in the ‘60s, were still novelties. Child also engendered the phenomenon of elevating chefs from lowly service-people to artists and celebrities, emphasizing that their work commanded respect and adulation. Her later program, Master Chefs , predated the Food Network’s focus on characterdriven cooking programs with chefs and personalities at the center of the action. The far-reaching fame and influence of Julia Child would never have been possible had she not found a home on PBS, which afforded the freedom to experiment and take risks without network heads or corporate sponsors voicing concerns over her looks, appeal or lack of commercial suavité. It was Graham Kerr’s 1970s hit Galloping Gourmet which truly bridged the gap between Child’s breed of edutainment and the Emeril Lagasseesque character-driven shows of today. Kerr’s program, which originated in New Zealand before being snapped up by CBS for American audiences in 1968, was the first to use an in–studio audience and “hidden cameras” that gauged audience’s reaction to the food. By the end of 1969, the show was on 102 local TV stations in the U.S. and had 100 million viewers worldwide. Kerr credits his wife Treena, who produced the show, with pushing him to entertain and focus on showmanship more than cooking. To her, food and cooking were dull and needed livening up. “You know, people have worries, but to make them laugh for a little so they can forget, that’s what I felt Graham needed to do. Especially with such a boring subject.” As interest in ethnic cooking grew in the ‘80s, so did the demand for shows like Cajun Chef Justin Wilson’s programs on PBS and Jeff Smith’s wildly popular The Frugal Gourmet . The cult of celebrity that surrounded chefs like Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters kept growing, setting the stage for the creation of the Food Network in the early part of the ‘90s. Smith became the first true brand, attaching his name to lines of knives and signing on for product endorsements on a scale that had not been seen before. Collins describes the phenomenon: “As television audiences grew savvier and more demanding, and competition grew fiercer, producers had to craft a complete package to ensure that they would come, as The Frugal Gourmetdid.” The germ of the idea for the Food Network was born when Providence Journal Company president Trygve Myhren charged his program production manager Joe Langhan with doing some research to determine which niche categories would work for a cable network. In his studies, Langhan discovered that interest in food and cooking was at a premium. “I didn’t know anything about food, but I understood … that it was an attractive business proposition. It costs very little to produce television cooking shows in comparison to other kinds of programs, and there’s an enormous amount of advertising available.” It was originally called TVFN, or Television Food Network, and it was slow to start, with shows like the Emeril Lagasse-fronted How To Boil Waterand the MTV-style In Food Todaystarting off on shaky ground. It wasn’t until 1996 that the network started to settle into its rhythm. When Erica Gruen took over as president and CEO that year, the Food Network was being given away free to cable operators, which was unheard of in basic cable television at the time. She endeavored to “shift the programming emphasis from people who like to cook to people who like to eat.” That shift from programming for people who love to cook to programming for people who love to eat has carried us into the modern era, in which food programming takes every shape imaginable, from the travel-centric shows like Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations and Rachael Ray’s Tasty Travels , to competitive cooking shows like Top Chef and Hell’s Kitchen, to scholarly studies of the science of food like Alton Brown’s Good Eats . The profusion of shows reflects the infinitely specialized approach to entertainment that is currently at the fore with regard to TV programming and media in general. For the media-savvy or the food enthusiast, the idea of discussing food in television is a no-brainer, and indeed, much of what Collins covers in her tome is not revelatory. There are certainly a handful of interesting anecdotes she relates that the average layperson would enjoy, specifically with regard to the very early days of cooking shows and the all-but-forgotten reign of TV chef Dione Lucas, but much of what she writes is either repetitive or obvious, and at the end, one finds oneself craving a deeper look into the topics she just barely touches on. Ultimately, while exhaustive, Collins’ research suffers from a lack of perspective. What do all these disparate factoids tell us? What’s the whole picture? Why, as NY Timeswriter Dawn Drzl points out in her review of the book, are we still so fascinated with watching people cook, regardless of whether we ourselves do so, or aspire to do so? At its core, Collins’ book provides an embarrassment of information but does not bother to synthesize it to create a satisfying conclusion. Perhaps, since she ultimately seems to credit public television with the biggest and most lasting influence on the TV cooking genre, she might’ve stuck with that area specifically, as this is indeed the richest and most detailed portion of the book and would likely have benefited from an even more tailored treatment. B o o k R e v i e w Cooking On TV Makes For A Simmering Historical Stew
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V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 14 The mother ship, DISCOP East, started its 17th annual event a bit slowly, but picked up steam during the market’s second day (of three) in Budapest, Hungary, in mid June. Market organizers attribute the slow start to “the fact that buyers and sellers were sizing each other up,” and not, as previously reported by VideoAge, because of the organization’s recent spawns: DISCOP Africa 1 (February 25-27 in Dakar, Senegal), DISCOP Africa 2 (Sept. 16-18 in Nairobi, Kenya), DISCOP Africa 3 (February 17-19, 2010 again in Dakar), and the newly tweaked DISCOP Middle East, formerly DISCOP Gulf. The latter market has been moved from Dubai to Istanbul, Turkey, and will take place September 20-21, 2010. The original March dates were found to be “too early” in the calendar. “[The slow start] is not in any way related to the fact that we have been organizing several different markets,” commented Patrick Jucaud, DISCOP’s founder and general manager. Despite this proliferation of additional markets, Sonia Danieli of Italy’s Mediaset and Delmar Andrade of Brazil’s Record TV expressed concern over the slow start of the market and the fact that some of their scheduled appointments were no shows. Ron Alexander of the U.S.’ TPI also noted the quieter nature of this year’s edition, though he seemed more reflective than worried. It should be noted, however, that DISCOP has not been much different than other international TV trade shows held this year, with the possible exception of the L.A. Screenings for the U.S. studios. There has been an overall trend of decreased attendance due to economic woes. As far as the increasing number of DISCOP offspring, Roberto Farina of Italy’s MondoTV said he doesn’t mind the proliferation of new trade shows, so long as they bring in new business and make sense financially. MondoTV will be attending the Nairobi edition of DISCOP Africa because the Dakar event was very successful for the company, and because African companies have thus far proven reliable from the collection standpoint (a sore issue for indie distributors these days). As for current licensing fees in the Eastern European territories, Farina commented that, unfortunately, they are dropping dramatically. Much to his chagrin, some Ukrainian clients are offering as low as 60 euro per half-hour episode. Record TV’s Delmar Andrade also commented on the downward direction of license fees in Central and Eastern Europe and indicated that some clients are now requesting multiple territories to be included in the same deal. Even so, collection remains his main concern, so much so that his company has occasionally offered to pay the bank fees involved in obtaining warrantees for contracts. DISCOP East recorded the attendance of approximately 510 sellers from 40 countries and 890 buyers, though market organizers complained of many buyers who, even after registering or being invited to attend all expenses paid, canceled at the last minute. Overall, officially registered buyers recorded a 19 percent drop compared to 2008, though the number of those actually present was estimated at 30 percent fewer than those at last year’s event. Sellers were scattered throughout 120 suites on four floors of the Sofitel hotel, as well as some 60 tables (most of them shared) and 60 individual viewing boxes (not shared) located in the mezzanine and basement areas. In terms of contingents, the largest one, with 45 companies, was from the U.S., followed by the U.K. (40 companies), France (39) and Spain (21). The basement also housed the registration area and conference rooms. The conferences covered topics spanning from how to monetize blocks of TV airtime to pitching for projects. Another of DISCOP’s signatures is its traditionally large number of parties, cocktails and luncheons. With 12 of such official recreational activities scattered over a three-day period, DISCOP is one of the international markets with the largest concentration of celebrations, averaging four a day. In addition to official parties, there were a number of private, unlisted events, such as the one offered by the Italian Trade Commission to the 13 Italian companies and their clients participating at DISCOP. C e n t r a l & E a s t E u r o p e DISCOP’s Offspring Did Not Affect Mother Ship Budapest Italian Trade Commission’s director Alessio Ponz de Leon Pisani greets Italian executives and international buyers at a private dinner Televisa International’s Ricardo Ehrsam, Patricia Porto Pedrido, Claudia Sahab, Jose Luis Romero Bavaria Media’s Helge Kühnen and Oliver Kreuter Telefe International’s Guillermo Borensztein and Diana Coifman Despite the reduced number of buyers, distributors reported brisk sales. Sabrina Eleuteri of Italy’s RaiTrade commented: “Even though the world’s financial crisis caused a drop of buyers compared to last year, results at this DISCOP were good. RaiTrade sold series, comedies, documentaries and children animation to countries such as Russia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia. We even made pre-sales to Romania and Bulgaria for Frederick Barbarossa, a new mini-series in production.” Finally, DISCOP’s Jucaud announced that, “We have not yet decided whether to hold one or two DISCOP AFRICA events a year from 2010 on. This decision will be made after the Nairobi event.”
ALL NEW GIRLS. ALL NEW ADVENTURES. Introducing Kristina & Karissa and Crystal. (10 x 30’) VISIT US AT MIP STAND G3.14 Comcastintl.com ©2009 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 16 BY KAREN RUTTNER For those companies that don’t have a proven hit in their arsenal, MIPCOM promises to be a subdued, no-frills affair. But for some, like Starz, Disney, FremantleMedia, RaiTrade, CCI, Comcast, and others the vibe seems to be “business as usual, if not better.” It’s no question that all companies are looking for ways to economize. Some, like Lightworks, have disappeared altogether, while others, like Carsey Werner, are conducting an experiment: attending a major market without a stand and seeing if it will ultimately make a difference in their success. The Dallas, Texas-based Center for Exhibition Industry Research has calculated that on average, it costs $215 to make a face-to-face visit with a potential customer at a trade show, and $1,039 to obtain similar results without using the organized events. And, according to Forrester Consulting of Cambridge, Massachusetts, 61 percent of marketers consider face-to-face exhibiting the most effective means of building a brand image. In addition, the Norwalk, Connecticut-based Event Marketing Institute found that 53 percent of sales and marketing professionals consider events to be the best vehicle for accelerating business relationships. But, all businesses seem focused on numbers and MIPCOM exhibitors are no exception, keeping a close eye on the number of attendees, even though this parameter is now considered inaccurate. According to Doug Ducate of the Center for Exhibition Industry Research, for the past 20 years, the success story of trade shows was measured by their rate of growth. If a trade show had 10 percent more attendees each time, it was hailed a winner. “We sold that message,” Ducate told Meeting & Conventions magazine. However, market organizers now realize the weakness of that argument. A better measure of an exhibition is in fact the quality of its attendees. MIPCOM 2009 has scheduled over 45 conference sessions, with Monday serving as heavy hitter with a keynote speech from Tony Cohen, CEO of FremantleMedia, a “Cooking TV Case Study,” and a session on “New Funding.” Tuesday is also a good seminar day with actor Jerry Seinfeld outlining his new show, The Marriage Ref . VideoAge had the opportunity to discuss MIPCOM 2009’s key features with Laurine Gaurade, acting director of the TV Division at Reed MIDEM, the market organizer. Gaurade said that, “MIPCOM 2009 will be of particular importance in helping professionals take stock of the key issues, identify new business models, exchange with fellow counterparts internationally and create new relationships and partnerships in new areas.” The theme of “rethinking” came up multiple times. “’Rethinking Production’ kicks off the conference program,” Gaurade said, “which will focus on identifying new revenue streams, taking a close look at co-production deals, commissioning, Internet distribution, new formats and online content monetization.” She explained that the MIPCOM team was extremely keen on engaging first time producers, going so far as to offer them a special rate for attendance. “We have been working closely with a number of producers’ associations worldwide in developing this program,” she said. “We want to make the initiative as accessible as possible for new independent producers, who are so important to the creative process.” From production to platforms, MIPCOM hoped to cover all bases. “Online gaming is one of the fastest growing areas of entertainment, and there are new opportunities for producers and broadcasters to forge new relationships with online gaming companies,” Gaurade said. “MIPCOM is seeking to facilitate this by bringing together game developers with international TV channels and production executives.” Furthermore, in terms of other technological developments, a stream of conferences will focus on Internet-enabled TV sets and other such innovations. “We will look at how Pay TV can adapt to the threat from web video, and will also focus on how the explosion of mobile apps will offer new sources of revenue for the content industry.” MIPCOM isn’t all about brainstorming though; there’s still fun to be had. “We are delighted to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of The Simpsons , the longest running comedy series on prime time TV,” Gaurade enthused. “We’re proud to welcome the series’ creator Matt Groening and executive producer Al Jean as keynote speakers, and we will be honoring Matt Groening with our inaugural Creative Icon Award on October 7.” Major players on the business front are looking forward to the mix of innovative business and entertainment offerings. Gene George of Hollywoodbased Starz Media commented, “We’re very excited that MIPCOM is paying tribute to The Simpsons since our animation studio, Film Roman, has produced the animation for the series, the movie, the DVD releases and The Simpsons games for the past 15 years.” George also expressed great interest in the “Connected Entertainment” seminar series, noting, “Starz Digital Media has been successful in finding ways to create new revenue streams in online and broadband platforms for our movies and series, whether it’s the Manga.com website or the animated Bunnies shorts movie parodies. Marc DeBevoise, who leads Starz Digital Media, and his team have been highly successful in building alliances with key outlets such as iTunes, Xbox, Netflix and the like. I’m sure they’ll be checking M I P C O M P r e v i e w Market Upbeat For Those With New, Exciting Content MIPCOM is one of Latin American distributors’ favorite markets MGM TV’s Gary Marenzi (Continued on Page 18) FremantleMedia’s David Ellender and Tony Cohen
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V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 18 a worldwide success are involved and this series pretty much picks up where it left off. With digital technology, a whole new world of possibilities have opened up.” Keenleyside also touched on the adjustments CCI has been making in the face of our current economy, saying, “We’re making local versions [of Artzooka] as well, which really plays into the economic struggles of the past year, as we can have [those versions] at a fraction of usual production costs.” For all those involved, MIPCOM holds a lot of promise, despite the bleak attitude some have. “Attendance is looking good,” commented Laurine Garaude of Reed MIDEM. “Currently we have 3,000 buyers signed up for MIPCOM and some 400 for MIPJUNIOR. We should have close to 4,000 buyers at MIPCOM. The overall projected attendance is in the region or are focusing their energies, and their dollars, on defining series that have great playability. We are actually seeing a more aggressive and competitive environment for these types of programs.” Are there any particular territories that seem enticing to the MIPCOM crowd? “The key countries in Europe are critical for us, and we have worked hard to build strong alliances in many territories including the UK, France and Spain,” said George. “We also see continued growth in Eastern Europe and Latin America while we still find Japan to be a very challenging marketplace.” Italy’s Mondo TV has its sights set elsewhere, as representative Matteo Corradi explained, “We are looking into a future co-production with Al Jazeera Children Channel in the Middle East region. This is a region that interests us a lot at the moment, as it is truly growing fast.” Corradi then added, “The buying and selling market nowadays is interesting. The economic meltdown affected many unexpected countries, but this will have an end very soon. We need to be optimistic and work on producing better titles to suit what all the channels are looking for.” Studio 100 Media’s Elmendorff summed it all up neatly by stating, “In times of the global economic crisis, it’s a buyers’ market. Of course the territories which didn’t suffer as much from the crisis are more enticing than others, but we keep our good business relationships with all our clients and try to adapt to the possibilities they have.” That seems to be the story for MIPCOM 2009 overall – working towards a positive outlook, adapting to new possibilities, and, mainly, rethinking the television industry as we all know it. M I P C O M ( C O N T I N U E D ) out relevant conferences in this space.” Patrick Elmendorff of Germany’s Studio 100 Media highlighted two particular seminars of interest to his company. “Being involved with international co-productions, we are of course interested in all ways of financing, which often is the most delicate stage of a television series project, so we will be at the October 5 seminar, ‘New Funding for Producers from Around the World,’” he said. “Also, we appreciate that there is a seminar [‘What is the Impact of Connected Entertainment on the Television Industry?’] that deals with the relationship of television and crossmedia platforms, which are also a vital part of our business activities.” The distributors also have memorable events of their own to contribute to the assembly. “We’re excited to be bringing a truly original series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, to MIPCOM,” said Gene George. “The series is set to premiere on our Starz premium channel in the U.S. in January 2010, but it will have its world premiere at a highly anticipated buyersonly screening [at MIPCOM]…. Starz is also co-sponsor of the Opening Night cocktail party, where we’ll be giving many other MIPCOM attendees their first real look at the show.” Jill Keenleyside of Toronto’s CCI Entertainment added, “We have several special things planned for the launch of Artzooka, our very exciting new Canada/German, multi-million dollar art series for kids. Many of the principals who helped make Art Attack Venevision International announced a special venture in China at MIP (Continued from Page 16) 12,000 of more participants.” Keenleyside should be pleased with those projections, as she had said, “CCI always likes MIPCOM because of the kids’ buyers who attend JUNIOR. It also looks as if we’re seeing more people back who took a break from MIP because of the economy.” Gene George noted a similar trend, saying, “Our meeting schedules for our sales team are filling up fast and already pacing way ahead of last MIPCOM.” Patrick Elmendorff echoed the CCI sentiment on behalf of Studio 100, pointing out, “Since MIPCOM is connected to MIPJUNIOR, we expect to see more buyers related to the kids’ segment [than there were at MIP].” VideoAgeclosed the various interviews by asking these industry participants how they view the buying/selling market overall. “Hmm, that’s an interesting question,” Keenleyside mused. “We’ve seen the challenges of the last year, but we’re also seeing more multi-territory broadcasters starting up, broadcasters coming back for more episodes or renewals of successful series. There are some great co-production opportunities out there, more than ever before. We’re seeing some significant signs of recovery, which is the best news. Let’s just hope it continues.” George expressed a similar view, commenting, “There is no question that we’re currently in a very challenging economic climate. Many broadcasters have slashed acquisition budgets to adapt to declining ad revenue. We have seen broadcasters digging deep into their current libraries and recycling their content to a greater degree. Having said that, broadcasters “ There are some great co-production opportunities out there, more than ever before. We’re seeing some significant signs of recovery, which is the best news. Let’s just hope it continues.
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V I D E O • A G E Se p t e m b e r/ Oc t o b e r 2 0 0 9 22 BY LUCY COHEN BLATTER The fall season brings four major festivals in two countries. Beginning in late August and running through October, international film executives attend the 33rd Montreal World Film Festival (Aug. 27-Sept. 7), the 66th Venice Film Festival (Sept. 2-12), the 34th annual Toronto International Film Festival (Sept. 10-19), and the fourth annual International Rome Film Festival (Oct. 15-23). These come in addition to second-tier festivals like the Cologne Film TV Festival (Sept. 30-Oct.4) in Germany, Antalya Golden Orange (Oct. 10-17) in Turkey and the Bucharest International Film Festival, recently renamed the Romania International Film Festival, held in Arad (Sept. 27-Oct. 4). And don’t forget the upcoming American Film Market (Nov. 4-11) in Santa Monica, California, which is associated with the AFI Fest being held in Los Angeles (Oct. 30-Nov. 7). But in such a depleted economic climate, the question remains: Is there a need for all of these? A survey of executives found that many are choosing one or two of the festivals to attend, as opposed to covering all ground. “We alternate,” said Caroline Stern, v.p. of International Distribution at Canada’s Cinemavault. “We send our acquisitions team to Montreal most years, and Rome is important in terms of Italian sales. But we only send representatives if we have a film there,” she added. “We’ll always do Toronto, and Venice if we have a film there, but otherwise we put a lot of time and money into Toronto.” Steve Arroyave, founder of Canadabased Arrow Entertainment, attended the festivals in both Toronto and Montreal looking for acquisitions, and concurred that Toronto has become the must-attend film event of the fall, despite the fact that it has no formal market. “It’s arguably number two behind Cannes,” he said. “A lot more distributors have been going there.” But, he was somewhat skeptical that attendance would be high at the various fall festivals. “Things have been incredibly slow the last six months or so. It’s probably been the worst I’ve seen it in the 20 years since I’ve been in the business. We’re having a hard time selling films. The video market has really gone down and in the past six months TV stations have not been buying as much.” But Arroyave pointed out that the slowing of sales could present an opportunity for those looking to acquire more titles. “A lot of sales agents are in trouble, so there might be better deals this time around.” Cinemavault’s Stern explained that she and her colleagues tend to use TIFF, which she described as “the first key market after the summer,” to follow up on talks that began earlier in the year. “Our strategy for sales has never been to compete with festival activity. Unlike in Cannes, Santa Monica’s AFM and Berlin, we don’t set up screenings. We use it as a place to follow up from Cannes,” she said. Speaking of the year’s crowded calendar, Stern pointed out that, “Every year, there seem to be more and more events and festivals that are extremely significant within their territories. It’s the same every season. We have to pick and choose based on which will have the best attendance and which will be most significant for local marketing possibilities.” According to a Toronto-based film and TV financier, “Toronto is much more important [than Montreal]. It is number two in the world after Cannes. Montreal is a niche event, and has had a volatile past.” AMontreal-based filmmaker provided the following assessment: “The Montreal World Film Festival is more or less the launching pad for new film makers as well as a high brow, intellectual festival. It is truly an international film fest as it showcases films from everywhere. A select few industry people go to Montreal, although it has a huge local consumer following. The market [side of the event] is focusing on the new ‘carriers’ rather than classic physical distribution. “Toronto is a business hub and the who’s who of the industry is present. “Montreal is more where you discover films and film makers while Toronto is where you make deals, meet the stars and enjoy big parties. “Montreal World Film Festival is the very personal vision of a film historian while Toronto is a Film Festival with a mercantile and cultural bottom line.” Another Toronto insider, who, like the other executives interviewed for this piece preferred not to be named, added: “Montreal is a small, part-time organization run by the difficult executive director Serge Losique, who has alienated all of Hollywood and many people in the Quebec film industry. Toronto is a massive organization whose programmers and management are respected the world over. Both organizations claim approximately the same attendance [roughly 350,000] but Montreal’s number includes nightly, free outdoor screenings in a public square. “Broadly speaking, Montreal is more of an ‘art film’ festival. These days it programs few, if any, studio films. Montreal has an official market, Toronto does not, but instead operates a sales office to match buyers and sellers on an as-needed basis. The volume of business done in Toronto can exceed C$100 million.” VideoAge asked Sesto Cifola, head of Cinema and TV Drama International Sales at Italy’s RaiTrade, to give an assessment of the two competing Italian film festivals. “This is the same question we’ve been hearing for the past four years,” he quipped. “Venice means tradition and artistic values. Rome has more of business nature, considering that it has the budget to invite buyers allexpenses paid. In addition, RaiTrade is one of International Rome Film Festival’s [IRFF] major sponsors because Rome is where we’re based, so it’s like a home play for us.” He then explained that “for us, they’re both important and for this reason we take different new titles [to each].” In addition to Venice and IRFF, RaiTrade has attended the Toronto Film Festival and will be participating without a stand (but sharing a room under the Italian Trade Commission umbrella) at the American Film Market in Santa Monica. “The AFM is important because of clients from Canada, the U.S., South America and the Far East,” said Cifola, “we certainly don’t go to the AFM looking for the Europeans we met in Venice and Rome.” The Business Street is the market side of IRFF and is held October 15-19 in two locations around Via Veneto: Hotel Majestic and Hotel Bernini Bristol. The latter venue also operates as the marketplace headquarters. “Venice has more value for producers,” commented a Rome-based Italian industry veteran. “Winning Venice’s Golden Lion is on par with, if not more prestigious than Cannes’ Golden Palm.” However, he continued, “Venice doesn’t have a market and for this reason its main competitor is Toronto, which, with its informal trade show, is in effect the number one fall event.” According to Paolo Di Maira, the editor of Italian film-TV trade publication Cinema & Video, “Italians always comment that Venice is an important showcase. However, with the exclusion of those producers who attend Venice with public money, many people actually dislike Venice because of its high costs and lack of business. Recently, festival director Marco Muller made it clear that Venice doesn’t want to develop a market. For these reasons, many Italian producers and distributors prefer Rome where business is not only done and encouraged, but the organization itself is betting on the business side.” Finally, Ron Moore, CEO of Toronto marketing firm SONARmediathink and executive producer of Los Angelesbased, internationally syndicated Red Carpet Diary, best summarized Canada’s two fests, commenting: “Toronto is a colossus that just keeps growing in scope and reputation. It’s not only one of the most well-run film festivals on the planet but among the best-run cultural events. Montreal just isn’t in that league any longer, but that’s not to say it doesn’t provide a great experience for cinephiles. It simply does not put Montreal on the map. But I would say that hands-down, Montreal has the best posters. They’re always extremely well designed, sometimes witty and very collectible.” F i l m F e s t s F e a s t Italy & Canada: Two Countries Divided by Four Festivals Cinemavault’s Caroline Stern Arrow Entertainment’s Steve Arroyave
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