Video Age International OCTOBER 2008

In This Issue: UTube Film Comishes Buzz Marketing Int’l TV Channels THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2008 VOL. 28 NO. 5 $9.75 ® www.videoage.org In July, Fox international distribution announced that it had officially split its 2008 development season into three parts — the first part being the L.A. Screenings in May, the second being another set of screenings that took place in London in mid-September, and the final part to take place at MIPCOM. The move comes five months after a 100 day-long Hollywood writers’ strike that brought the entertainment industry to its knees, forcing U.S. TV networks to order fewer pilots during pilot season. Each U.S. broadcast network had to rethink the way it did business. Then, at the upfronts in New York in May, NBC, for example, opted to announce its complete 52-week programming strategy, while ABC picked up just two new fall shows. Some studios, including NBC Universal and CBS New U.S. Season, Int’l Biz Still Reeling From Strike (Continued on Page 54) (Continued on Page 62) BY LEAH HOCHBAUMROSNER In the film and television business, life doesn’t end at retirement or when “looking for new opportunities.” In fact, in many cases, it starts at those stages — most often, in consulting. And that’s when the real work begins. But what exactly does a consultant do? And why are they so in demand? VideoAge sought out the folks who’ve done it and lived to tell the tale. Consultancy is now an art that is in demand worldwide. We contacted a wide selection of former TV executives in Europe and Canada, but it was mostly the Americans who were willing to speak openly. However, Frank Mulder, who recently retired from his job as a buyer for Holland's Public TV Broadcasting, commented: “It's no use being a consultant in the Netherlands,” noting that what buyers want is only to be informed early about upcoming product. “Nowadays, buyers prefer to deal directly with production companies and majors.” As far as money is concerned, a consultant tends to make a good living, with income around $200,000-plus per year. Jobs are few and far between, Ex Execs Find Reel Work as Consultants New TV Directives Are All About What, When & Where BY BOB JENKINS Last December, the European Parliament approved the new Audiovisual Media Services Directive (AVMSD), a set of rules and regulations for the electronic media that replaces the previous Television Without Frontiers. The new legislation differs from its predecessor in many (Continued on Page 58) (Continued on Page 64) BY DOMSERAFINI It has been five long months since L.A. Screenings ’08 took place and yet the industry is still ranting about it as if it happened yesterday. But it’s not that farfetched since, if not exactly yesterday, it resumed last month and will continue during MIPCOM. It’s a sort of sequel, L.A. Screenings, Part II: The Pilots. Only a handful of pilots were screened by the studios last May because of the writers’ strike that took place earlier in the year. Some studios were even reduced to making PowerPoint presentations for international buyers who flocked undeterred to L.A. Indeed, in May, 65 new series were announced (versus 110 in 2007) and, of these, only 44 had pilots (versus 66 in 2007). A few words of appreciation for the buyers are in order here. These past Screenings proved that the notion that acquisition executives go to the L.A. Screenings just for the parties is totally unfounded. This time, they descended onto L.A. well aware that there were no parties, no give-aways and very few L.A. Screenings Extended Int’lly Into Fall Harvest

V I D E O A G E • N o. 5 • O c t o b e r 2 0 0 8 Cover stories: The L.A. Screenings extended internationally into fall harvest. This report is both a preview and a review New U.S. TV season, international biz still reeling from strike. But have no fear, MIPCOM is here! New European TV directives are all about what, when and where. Translating them into plain English was the challenge Former TV/film executives find consultancy is hard work. It comes without pork, perks or padding 4. World: China, India, U.S., Italy, Turkey, U.K. Plus: Famous quotes 10. Book Review. The past and future of telenovelas. The easiest part was predicting the future 12. Brasil TV Forum proved to be a great meeting spot for Portuguese-language TV networks around the world 14. DISCOP could be the only market in the world where its growing pains delighted everyone 16. Promax’s sad story: television became just a sidebar. Event stripped of its TV biz buzz 18. European film commissions are like farmers who want film and TV businesses to bloom in their respective territories 20. Airlines and hotels nickel and dime travelers in exchange for aggravation, exasperation and hardship 22. Buzz marketing and other devilish techniques are all the rage in today’s TV biz 24. Argentina’s telenovelas pick people’s pockets while warming their hearts 28. Economy cools Licensing Show in N.Y. Will Las Vegas move heat it up? 30. Broadcast to broadband part 1: WiMax reaches U.S. shores 32. YouTube vs. professional TV: Who’s gonna win? Plus, Q & A with Glauco Benigni, the Italian who threw a book at YouTube 34. Broadcast to broadband, part 2: Four big players of IPTV 36. Writer wants you to understand that P2P is no longer permission 2 pirate, for crying out loud! 40. U.S. international channels: conquering the world without you knowing it 44. MIPCOM preview. The best is yet to come 48. Production & finance: whose rights are they anyway? 50. SPORTELMonaco: post-Olympics blues 52. Florida Media Market shines on film and TV in Latin America and Hispanic market 60. List of pilots shown and not shown in May at the L.A. Screenings 66. Calendar of events and convention news 68. My 2¢. Give television’s R&D its due. In the long run it makes for a good run all the way to the bank

China’s CCTV Weds Cisneros Venezuela and Florida-based media and entertainment company The Cisneros Group of Companies and China Central Television (CCTV) inked an agreement to distribute content across their respective regions. The deal was finalized in August during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It represents the first-ever alliance between a Chinese and a Latin American television company. The two firms have an aggregated TV audience of 1.5 billion throughout Latin America, Europe and the People’s Republic of China, so each side stands to gain a substantial amount of viewers from the deal. Other perks of the partnership include shared access to both organizations’ complete catalogues and upcoming co-productions. Chairman of The Cisneros Group, Gustavo Cisneros, cited his company’s numerous telenovela properties as the most attractive to CCTV. “We are already providing our popular Latin American soap operas to China which — like many other countries around the world — has a great appetite for this attractive form of international entertainment.” Meanwhile, Zhao Hua Yong, president of CCTV, said that he “looks forward to building a cultural exchange between Latin America and China.” The Cisneros Group is an organization made up of a variety of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking broadcast television and telecommunications companies, including Venevision International. CCTV is China’s leading television network, operating 209 local stations. Murdoch Grows India’s Media Rupert Murdoch has announced plans to expand his News Corp empire in India. The AustralianAmerican mogul revealed that his media company will invest $100 million in six new regional TV channels in India . The new channels will join Star TV, News Corp’s existing Indian satellite service. Murdoch will launch the channels in the next 12 months, although he has not yet unveiled the cities where they will be based. The investment by News Corp is an attempt to take advantage of India’s growing commercial activity. The region’s television advertising sector is growing rapidly, and brought in the equivalent of U.S.$2 billion in revenue in 2007. Tam, the Indian ratings company, predicts that commercial advertising will grow by 18.5 percent in the next four years. At the moment, the Indian government limits foreign investment in print and broadcast to 26 percent, a measure that protects local news outlets. The cap won’t hinder Murdoch’s plans for TV, although he’s still hopeful that regulations will be relaxed in the future. But while Murdoch and company have jumped into the television sector full force, they have been discouraged in the print media sector. U.S. TV Net Vs. FRAPA Aleaked memo to employees of New York-based TV network ABC has caused a stir with the Format Recognition and Protection Agency (FRAPA), a Cologne, Germany-based international organization that safeguards formats. On June 14, 2008, BC Studios executive vice president Howard Davine sent out a memo to the network’s executive producers, which, according to FRAPA’s interpretation, hinted that producers should circumvent intellectual property laws. The memo, which was originally OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 (Continued on Page 6) Gustavo Cisneros of the Cisneros Group (left) and CCTV’s Zhao Hua Yong

RaiTrade’s Sesto Cifola and vp Alba Calia OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 (Continued on Page 8) (Continued from Page 4) published by Los Angeles entertainment industry blog Deadline Hollywood Dailyin late June, encouraged producers to “carefully scrutinize” whether it is “necessary or appropriate” to license foreign formats. FRAPA, which represents about 100 companies from around the globe, did not directly approach ABC with a formal reprimand. However, the organization issued a press release on August 14 as a slap on the wrist. “In FRAPA’s view,” said agency chairman Ute Biernat in a statement, “Davine’s memo can be seen to be encouraging ABC producers and showrunners not to license formats honestly.” ABC responded to FRAPA’s charges, insisting that the memo had been misconstrued. “ABC Studios has been and continues to be committed to the protection of intellectual property and rights holders,” a rep said. U.S. Cable Co. Wins TV Rights In August, the U.S. Court of Appeals made it possible for cable operators to offer customers the option of recording shows to watch whenever they want — without buying a DVR. The judging panel overturned a district court decision that prohibited Long Island, New York-based Cablevision from debuting what it’s calling a remotestorage DVR (RS-DVR). The panel agreed with Cablevision execs, who maintained that the system, which would store TV programs on a central server instead of the hard drive inside the set-top box, is the same thing as a DVR, and wouldn’t infringe on the copyrights of program producers. The judgment shot down an argument by Time Warner’s Turner Broadcasting, which said that Cablevision would reproduce their copyrighted works because it buffers shows before they are transferred to the server where they are stored. The court disagreed, finding that consumers, not Cablevision, would control the recording process. If this ruling holds up, it could have a huge impact on the U.S. TV industry since cable operators could offer DVRlike services, including rewind and fastforward at a fraction of the cost necessary to buy a conventional DVR with a hard drive. TV Between Biz, Rome Politics Officially, the six days of the Roma Fiction Fest began July 7, but it was the RaiTrade reception on July 9 — which introduced pitching sessions — that in effect kicked off the event. The festival was touted as “The market of ideas for TV dramas,” and was held at the Cinema Adriano’s facilities, with free screenings for the public. With a welcoming cocktail at the Visconti Palace Hotel, RaiTrade, RAI’s Sales division, and the official sponsor of the event, opened the second annual Rome festival for television drama, which, in the words of Italian daily Il Messaggero, was “a creation of Piero Marrazzo, the leftist governor of the Lazio Region.” Indeed, the Rome TV Fest is still a “product” that is more political than industrial. Costing 7.5 Million euro, it was divided between the Lazio Region (four million euro) and Rome County, which are both run by center-left political parties. The municipality of Rome, now with a center-right administration, participated with a symbolic contribution. Even though this year’s “Fest” only became a reality at the last minute, there has already been talk of next year’s edition, with the idea of expanding it with a mini-fair called “Business Street” in the hopes of recreating what Italy lost with the closing of Milan trade show MIFED. The concept of “Business Street” is borrowed from yet another Roman festival with political undertones, Roma Film Fest, which will be held October 22. The connection between the Fiction Fest and the Film Fest of Rome –– which aims to compete with the Venice Film Festival — is Francesco Gesualdi, secretary general of the Lazio Region and former manager of Cinecittá Holding, Italy’s largest film and TV production facility in Rome. Gesualdi also represents the region in

Famous Quotes Is it possible that, within the centerleft cultural area, there cannot be found a manager, an intellectual, a journalist, capable and competent, without a political party membership card or party affiliation, and worthy of being considered for RAI’s board of directors? Why doesn’t the Democratic Party have the courage to give a good example? Wouldn’t such a gesture force the center-right to do the same? To act differently? Furthermore, could that be a sign of change, a discontinuity with the past, or even a turning point? Giovanni Valentini La Repubblica, May 31, 2008 the Rome Cinema Foundation, which organizes the Roma Film Fest. At the TV Fiction Fest, an international jury selected 30 finalists from over 100 submitted drama projects. The finalists had to subsequently persuade the professionals to vote their way with a personal pitching presentation. Among the winners were BBC’s Ten Days to Warin the TV movies’ category; KBS’ Hong Gil-Dong, The Hiroin the miniseries category; and Fox Channel’s Boris 2for continuing series. At the Fest, RaiTrade illustrated its new sales structure, which places new Marketing director, Roberto Nepote, directly under president Carlo Nardello. The International Sales division, which remains under Sesto Cifola, is now set up according to territories, including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, Latin America, and English-speaking countries. YouTube Faces Italy, Turkey Italy’s commercial broadcaster, Mediaset, sued YouTube for copyright infringement in civil courts in Rome, London and Los Angeles. As YouTube’s main shareholder, Google was also sued. In the suits, Mediaset, which owns three over-the-air channels in Italy — Canale 5, Italia 1 and Rete 4 — as well as Telecinco in Spain, and Endemol in Holland, is asking for $500 million in damages, pointing out that these do not include damages due to loss of advertising revenue. In the past, YouTube faced similar cases with Viacom, France’s TF1 and Spain’s Telecinco, but, so far, no punitive money has been paid. According to Mediaset, some 4,643 of its video clips were uploaded to YouTube without permission. These videos represent more than 325 of its channel’s programming hours. The Italian media company calculated that those clips uploaded to YouTube subtracted a total of 315,672 days of viewership from its channels, and caused substantial advertising losses. Meanwhile, in Turkey, YouTube was inaccessible betweenMay and August of this year after a local court banned the site for OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 (Continued from Page 6) having videos it deemed insulting to the memory of Mustafa Kema Ataturk, the founder of theTurkishRepublic. But in early August, YouTube reached a solution with Turkey’s Telecommunications Department. The pair created a version of the website that is unique to Turkey, using a .tr extension. Content deemed insulting to Ataturk, or containing pornography or the promotion of gambling or suicide will be filtered out. Turkey won’t be the first country to have access to YouTube through a specific network. Similar sites for Germany and China are already up and running. Digital TV Big in Europe New statistics show that digital TV service (which includes digital cable, digital satellite and digital terrestrial television) in Western Europe has reached over half of the population. London-based research firm Informa Telecoms and Media recently published its 12th annual Western European TV Report, which reflected that around 54 percent of households in the region received one of the three kinds of digital television services as of the end of 2007. This figure is up from 42 percent penetration in 2006. Informa also announced predictions that the number of digital television homes in Western Europe will grow to 104 million by the end of this year, and that by 2013, it will reach a 90 percent penetration rate. Though digital TV services (not to be confused with digital TV sets) is expected to take over Western Europe’s market in the next five years, Informa also reported that only four of the region’s 15 countries (Finland, France, Ireland and the U.K.) are expected to completely convert to digital over the next year. The other countries will maintain a large number of terrestrial analog cable households until the region-wide switch to digital, which is scheduled for 2011. At the moment, the U.K has the most booming market for digital TV services, which reaches 25 percent of households. However, France and Germany may soon overtake it, with 20 percent and 17 percent penetration, respectively.

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After years of being the premier TV genre in Latin America, the popularity of telenovelas has spread around the globe. Latin telenovelas are selling like hotcakes, especially to Eastern European broadcasters, while local productions are popping up in almost every territory. VideoAgerecently caught up with telenovela “guru” Mauro Alencar, to discuss his book, the history of the novela in his native Brazil and why the genre is rising to worldwide prominence. Now in its second edition, Alencar’s book A Hollywood Brasilera: Panorama da Telenovela no Brasil, which translates as Brazilian Hollywood — A View of the Telenovela in Brazil (2002, Editora Senac Rio, 175 pages), is unfortunately, for now, only available inPortuguese.When it is finally translated, it will nodoubt prove tobe a useful educational tool for both fans and producers around the globe. Much like the series it describes, Brazilian Hollywood is glossy and attractive. Lush Technicolor photographs of screen shots and production stills accompany the text, and, as a bonus, a CD of 18 musical themes from popular telenovelas is included. The book spans the evolution of the burgeoning genre, beginning with its roots in 19th century “feuilleton” (a term that refers to Spanish, French and Brazilian literature). As the book reports, as early as the 1930s, the first serialized novelas hit the airwaves in Miami, Florida in the form of “radionovelas” (other accounts give Cuba as radionovelas’ birthplace). They could be distinguished from North American soap operas because they reached a definitive conclusion, while their North American cousins continued for years without an end in sight. Iconic themes of romance, betrayal, and intrigue set them apart from existing soaps and they were instantly popular with Miami’s neighbors to the south, the countries of South and Central America. Like most of Latin America, Brazil was immediately smitten with telenovelas. But until the 1960s, Brazilian programs largely imitated Mexican and Argentinean shows, sometimes even reusing scripts from these countries. It was not until the early ’70s that the country’s soaps began to develop an identity of their own. By examining individual programs and their impact on the genre, Alencar takes us through this evolution to the presentday industry boom that has, as the Examples from shows past and present highlight the elements that set Brazilian novelas apart from those that originate in other Latin countries. Alencar explained that Brazil’s take on the genre has a distinct flavor because it reflects the cultural diversity of the country. “The Brazilian novela presents a very large variety of subjects and “portraying the day-to-day lives of [Brazilians] and mixing drama and comedy.” One such program was Irmãos Coragem, which combined elements of the Hollywood Western with soccer. A doctorate in communications as well as innumerable years working in the industry lend authority to Alencar’s analysis in Brazilian Hollywood. After receiving multiple degrees in media from the University of São Paulo, Alencar devoted himself exclusively to “the analysis, study and practice of the telenovela.” Throughout the ’80s and ’90s, Alencar collaborated on articles and books about the genre, including Memories of the Brazilian Telenovela, which he wrote with fellow novela expert Ismael Fernandes. Additionally, he was hired as a consultant for telenovelas in Chile and spent 15 years doing telenovela research, helping train actors and working in production at Rede Globo. His body of work is impressive, and spans both print and television. Despite the fact that telenovelas are purely entertaining, and deal with few serious themes, Alencar was insistent that they have brought only positive attention to Latin America. “The novela has portrayed our society and taken from real-life Latin America the raw material for its construction.” And as telenovelas take the world by storm, these Latin cultures are getting more attention than ever. When asked about the reason behind the recent popularity of the genre, Alencar pointed to the “daily chapter” format of the shows. The ongoing sagas hook viewers and “create a deep, affectionate bond with those who watch them.” At the end of the day, however, the worldwide interest in telenovelas goes back to engaging storytelling and quality product. As for the future of telenovelas in the global arena, Alencar was optimistic. “The world is discovering the telenovela,” he said. “At the moment it goes far beyond the territory of Latin America, and inside that promising present I see a cooperation and the potential for collaboration between producing countries.” As a historian, industry professional, and simply a fan, Alencar looks forward to seeing where this exciting cultural phenomenon is headed. ES V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 10 B o o k R e v i e w Brazilian Hollywood: The Past & Future of Telenovelas book’s title suggests, created a version of Hollywood completely devoted to telenovelas. In addition to covering history, the book explores the shows’ structure. As Alencar pointed out in an interview with VideoAge , a large portion of the book centers on “text [meaning scripts], production, acting, direction, product merchandising and soundtracks.” provides distinct glimpses of its people in diversified settings,” he said. Alencar’s expertise on the genre is rooted in his life-long love of TV. “I have always been fascinated with fiction television, in particular,” he said, citing the early 1970s programs on Globo TV network as his childhood favorites. Alencar credits Globo with modernizing the telenovela by

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The highlight of the ninth annual Brasil TV Forum, which ended June 5 in São Paulo’s Frei Caneca Convention Center, was the first ever “PortugueseSpeaking Broadcasters’ Meeting,” which was held at the nearby Novotel Jaragua hotel. Reportedly, this meeting represents a precedent, as there have never been any other similar gatherings among broadcasters of Portuguese-speaking nations, although Portuguese is the world’s sixth most spoken language. Broadcasters arrived at the Forum from all nine of the world’s Portuguese-speaking nations, including Angola, East Timor and Mozambique. They congregated at a series of five general meetings to discuss technological innovations and coproduction opportunities. From Brazil, most of the major TV networks were present, including Rede Globo, Bandeirantes, TV Record, TV Cultura and new cultural network, TV Brasil. Notably absent, however, were other major Brazilian TV groups, such as SBT and Rede TV. The message that the other former Portuguese colonies brought to Brazil is the importance of paying attention to their needs, especially in the form of content. Portugal’s television industry has been generous toward its former colonies. Brazil, on the other hand, tends to ignore former colonies, focusing instead just on Portugal, and the results are clearly visible. While a former British colony such as the U.S. has, for example, managed to spread American English worldwide, the Brazilians, despite their country’s might, do not exert any influence and even have a hard time understanding the Portuguese-language spoken in other former colonies. This year’s Brasil TV Forum occupied double the space of last year’s edition and brought together broadcasters and producers from more than 30 countries to network, share experiences and find content. Organizers moved the event to a different floor at the centrally located Frei Caneca Convention Center, hoping to make things more comfortable for attendees. The Latin-flavored Forum drew roughly 1,200 participants — mostly hailing from Brazil, but with international contingents from Canada, and for the first time this year, a delegation of eight producers from Italy, seven from Spain and 10 from Uruguay. At the opening cocktail reception, which officially kicked off the three-day event, prizes were awarded to Brazilian production house Flamma for its children’s cartoon series Princess do Mara; to HBO for a large number of original productions made in Latin America; to Brazilian TV network RBS (Rede Brasil Sul de Comunicacao) for encouraging local production; to author Janete Clair, in memoriam, for her contributions to Brazilian dramaturgy; and to Colombia’s Fernando Gaitan, creator of Ugly Betty, which has become a hit in many countries, including the U.S. A lifetime achievement award saluted program sales veteran Roberto Filippelli, credited with the introduction of Rede Globo’s telenovelas first to Italy in the late 1970s, and later to the rest of the world, including China, in 1983. Besides the opening ceremony, Brazil’s own TV Globo organized the only other cocktail reception at the event. Organizers of the Forum, including André Mermelstein, are hopeful that the number of Brazilian co-productions will soar due to new tax incentives that should soon be in place, which are designed to encourage TV channels to partner with independent producers in Brazil. Article 3 of the new Audiovisual Law allows foreign companies that sell or license programming to invest 70 percent of withholding tax due in the development or co-production of independent features, shorts, series or documentaries. The National Film Agency (ANCINE) still needs to implement the rule, however locals expect it to happen in the next few months. But even before the new incentives are available, there was big news of a co-partnership coming out of the Forum. Globo TV announced the renewal of its partnership with Portugal’s SIC for another four years. The deal gives SIC the exclusive rights to exhibit all new soap operas produced by Globo until 2012. It covers only the purchase and sale of soaps — not programming of any other kind. At the Frei Caneca Center, on the market side, there were 18 exhibitors. The conference was comprised of six panels, three pitch sessions, 20 meetings (including the much-anticipated “30 Minutes With…” sessions in which directors discussed their programming and acquisition policies, as well as offered tips for producers and distributors on how best to pitch projects to acquisition execs), and a record 83 screenings. Because São Paulo is not too attractive a city and is strangled by traffic (it is said that, in five years time, the city traffic will grind to a standstill), earlier this year, Forum Brasil organizers announced plans to move the event to Rio de Janeiro in 2009. But during the market, they said that the plan has, for now at least, been scrapped. This is mostly likely because, with its 10.8 million inhabitants, São Paulo is not only Brazil’s main TV market, but also the country’s financial and broadcasting center. Dates for next year’s event have not yet been set, but Forum Brasil 2009 will most likely take place in early June. V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 12 B r a z i l T V F o r u m Portuguese-language Nations Meet to Seek TV Understanding The Italian contingent withVideoAge’s Dom Serafini Portuguese-language broadcasters: Angola: TPA; Brazil: TV Globo, TV Record, TV Cultura, TV Brasil; Cape Verde: RCTV; GuineaBissau: TGB; Macao: TVM; Mozambique: TVM, STV; Portugal: SIC, RTP; São Tomé and Príncipe: TVS; East Timor: RTTL VideoAge was one of the sponsors of the Forum

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The NATPE-ization of DISCOP, which was held in Budapest, Hungary, June 18-20, has started showing its effects, now that U.S.- based market, NATPE, has finally taken over, bringing its supervisory expertise to the conference. The growth of this Central and Eastern European market has been described as phenomenal, to the point where, if not kept under control, it is said that it could turn out to be problematic. With 1,729 total participants (up from 1,522 in 2007) one could clearly see the market growth everywhere — from the added fourth floor, to the new tables in the basement, to the longer corridors with more hotel suites turned into sales offices at the Sofitel. For some distributors, such as Germany’s Bavaria Media, DISCOP has become so important that, according to its head of Distribution, Oliver Kreuter, it requires the premiering of new shows, just like MIP-TV and MIPCOM. But many exhibitors had hoped that the growth was going to be organic and not pumped-up. Already, signs of growing pains showed up in services such as shipping, AV readiness and hotel reservations. Some exhibitors also worried that the ratio of sellers to buyers cannot remain as it has been, tilted toward the buying side. Indeed, the major challenge for DISCOP’s organizers could be how to manage growth. At least two resourceful exhibitors, Italy’s Mondo TV and Canada’s The Fremantle Corp., posted copies of VideoAge open to their ads as replacements for brochures that were stuck in customs. Other than that, the market was good for most participants, many of whom were looking forward to attending DISCOP Africa, to be held in Dakar, Senegal, February 25-27, 2009. Among the main events there is a planned meeting of all French-language African TV networks. At press time, more than 200 companies had already signed up as exhibitors. Going back to DISCOP East, one observation had been that Budapest has become a very expensive city, and perhaps a thought should be given to moving the market further East to Bucharest, Romania in 2010 since distributors have contracts for the Sofitel’s venue through 2009. Reportedly, Romania could offer at least 40 percent savings and, according to one Romanian buyer, the market could be held at the Marriott Hotel. DISCOP organizers have already been approached by several people about this move and it seems that they are giving it some thought. Meanwhile, DISCOP East ’08 exhibitors — specifically, Latin American companies — were happy with their sales, as they were among the first to harvest the riches of the Central and Eastern European TV market. Indeed, DISCOP’s Latin presence was so predominant that it has developed a flourishing Spanish-language TV publishing trade sector, even though the language is not spoken among buyers. In addition to the big Latin American contingent, other large groups of sellers came from Spain, with 20 companies; Italy, with 18 exhibitors, of which 12 were under the Italian Trade Commission umbrella; and France, whose companies were under TV France International’s umbrella. The success of this DISCOP could be gauged by early Friday morning of the market during VideoAge’s breakfast meeting, sponsored by DISCOP, which attracted more people than usual, even though it was held on the market’s last day. This is when, customarily, most participants have left or are busy packing or recuperating from the previous night’s late-ending HBO party, which traditionally keeps many in bed well into the afternoon. Among the parties to remember were the yearly Dori Media cocktail, the opening reception, Hungarian TV’s gala party and a dinner offered by the Italian ambassador to Hungary for the large Italian contingent and its guests. Over 400 exhibitors and more than 1,000 buyers participated in the 15th annual DISCOP East ’08. Buyers came from 33 Central and Eastern European countries, while a record 108 sales executives, out of a total of 596, came from the region. DISCOP 2009 will be held June 17-19 at the same venue. V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 14 D I S C O P E a s t R e v i e w Market’s Growing Pains Leave Attendees Glowing Part of the Italian contingent in attendance at a dinner organized by the Italian ambassador to Hungary during DISCOP East A view of the Sofitel’s exhibition area Mediaset’s Sonia Danieli, Bavaria Media’s Helge Koehnen Televisa’s Claudia Silva, GMD’s Pedro Font

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BY ERIN SOMERS Wrestling icon Vince McMahon, Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane and political activist Jesse Jackson delivered keynotes at this year’s 53rd annual Promax BDA conference, which ended June 19 at the New York Hilton, in Manhattan. Promax is a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization for marketing professionals, while BDA, also based in L.A., is an association of broadcast and multimedia designers. The two organizations have a combined membership of about 3,000 companies, and have been united almost from the beginning, though they maintain two separate boards. The general consensus among attendees of the associations’ main annual event was that although the convention’s three headliners were all engaging, the three-day conference was disappointing, at least for TV marketing professionals in attendance. For those who had shunned the event in droves, the outcome was, one could assume, predictable. While in the past, Promax has been an important event for television promotion gurus, this year’s edition in particular seemed to be targeted at new media companies and composed more of flashy gimmicks than informative TV sessions. Despite rising attendance figures, startlingly few TV-related exhibitors were on hand and even fewer TV promotions executives graced the mostly empty floor of the Hilton. In an interview, recently appointed association president Jonathan BlockVerk boasted that Promax “has seen participation go up, while other conferences have seen it go down.” However, only 31 exhibitors (of which 19 were only loosely TV-related) could be found in booths in the Networking Village and kiosks outside the grand ballroom, and only nine companies set up shop in suites. The booths were occupied primarily byWeb-based music companies like Musicbox and Rumblefish, as well as new media promotion firms. A few venerable giants, including ESPN, MTV, Sony and Warner Brothers, represented the television sector, albeit in a low-key manner. According to Block-Verk, Promax’s new emphasis on Internet-based marketing is a response to the changing face of the entertainment industry. He explained that, in the technology and effects-driven world of promotion, the Web is becoming increasingly important. “Of course we’ve talked about the Internet before at Promax,” he said, “But this year we’re talking about innovation, we’re talking about what the Internet means to the business and how you can use it and what opportunities are out there.” And although Promax seems to be in a period of evolution from a TV-based event to a new media-centric conference, BlockVerk is confident that “it continues to lead the international conversation on the role of marketing, promotion and design.” On opening day, Block-Verk summed up Promax’s shifting focus best. “As an industry, we’re at a crossroads of the most challenging, but also the most exciting time in the history of entertainment…it’s not about television — it’s about entertainment and information content marketing.” Block-Verk’s speech was followed by remarks by Seth McFarlane, the young creator, producer and writer of popular animated series Family Guy . Though McFarlane’s humorous commentary was highly enjoyable, the speech was more of a stand-up routine than a look at the promotional tactics that have made his series a hit. Similarly unrelated was a Q&A session with U.S. political activist, the Reverend Jesse Jackson, hosted by a CNN news anchor. Jackson talked at length about Barack Obama’s battle during the primaries, but didn’t say anything about the links between campaign promotion and television marketing, a logical anticipation at such gatherings. The most relevant of the three speakers was World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) top man Vince McMahon, who was presented with a well-deserved Promax BDA Lifetime Achievement Award. At the ceremony, the everhumble wrestling bigwig said, “I really appreciate this extraordinary award. And you’ll probably never hear anyone else say this, but I really deserve it.” Indeed, as one of the conference workshops “Case Study: Wrestlemania — 24 Years of Excitement,” clearly demonstrated, McMahon and his team have used marketing and promotion to build a multi-million-dollar empire that encompasses television, print, licensing, and live events. When asked what makes for a good promotion, McMahon remarked, “You first and foremost want to be in touch with your audience and communicate with them on their level. Audiences appreciate creativity and honesty. The WWE brand is so flexible, so malleable, that we can do anything. But the most important thing is to create content that is contemporary and interests our audience.” McMahon also explained the reasons why the WWE brand has been so successful internationally. “The product is easily understood,” he said, “But we have to change branding for each individual country.” For example, the company takes into account the cultural sensitivity in each region, like the aversion to sexuality in the Middle East and the distaste for violence in Europe. Aside from McMahon’s speech, only a handful of panels and workshops, out of a total 70 sessions, managed to address good old-fashioned television. Sessions that drew the TV crowd were the “30 Minutes With…” dialogues that gave audience members direct access to some of the design and marketing industry’s leaders. The roster of participants included Adam Stotksky, svp, Marketing and Brand Strategy, NBC Universal Sci Fi; Jakob Trollback, founder and creative director of Trollback + Company; Douglas Scott, senior partner/president of Ogilvy Entertainment; Lee Hunt, president of Lee Hunt LLC; and Dave Martin, director, Interactive Media, Ignited. Additionally “The Network Television CMO Summit” brought together a roundtable of some of the leading broadcast TV marketers in the U.S., including executives from ABC and CBS. The panel discussed the difficulties of promoting programs to audiences who have seen it all. “The challenge for us,” said ABC’s Michael Benson, “is how do we take the formats we traditionally have and break through those.” It was challenges like this that, in years past, used to be at the center of Promax conferences. Finally, in one of the most informative presentations, “Deciphering Digital Transition,” Barry Goodstadt, senior vice president of Los Angeles-based Centris, a media market research firm, presented new findings on the decline of over-the-air (OTA) households. “An analysis of Centris data collected since early 2004 shows that the number of OTA households has declined from nearly 24 million to about 17 million in first quarter 2008, a loss of seven million OTA households,” said Goodstadt. “We estimate that with consumer choice information and the evidence of potential reception problems factored in, this number could drop to between four to five million once the transition has ended. This substantial reduction in the number of OTA households has serious implications for broadcasters and the TV industry.” In other words, the transition to digital television may result in viewers’ reevaluation of how they receive their local television. And up to 13 million households might decide to get rid of off-air reception in favor of cable or satellite. If and when this happens, towers and transmitters that are currently aimed at a diminishing number of OTA viewers will be devalued, resulting in lower stock prices. Also, government regulators might have to change their views in respect to broadcast spectrum that will be used to reach only a handful of people. Of the few U.S. studios that did attend, all declined to comment on whether the importance of Promax is diminishing for television executives. Additionally, the Italian, French, German and British contingents, including promotion executives from major U.K. TV companies, were nowhere to be found. This is despite official figures that claimed attendance from 48 different countries. Promax will return to the New York Hilton in June of 2009. The exact dates of the conference are yet to be finalized. Leah Hochbaum Rosner contributed to this story. V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 16 T h e P r o m a x S t o r y TV Takes A Backseat At Troubled Trade Show Vince McMahon accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award

Ruby Visit us at Stand G3.14 ©2008 E! Entertainment Television, Inc. All rights reserved. “The Style Network” is a trademark of E! Entertainment Television, Inc. “Comcast” is a trademark of Comcast Corporation, registered in the U.S. She’s got everything to live for. And everything to lose. (8 x 30’) (1 x 60’)

BY MARIA ZUPPELLO Film commissions are government organizations (national, regional and local) set up to attract the production of movies, TV programs and commercials to their respective locations. They offer services such as scouting locations and assistance cutting through local bureaucracies. In addition, some provide hard economic incentives, such as tax rebates, hotel discounts and even actual cash. The first film commissions were created in the U.S. more then 50 years ago. Now they are commonplace, especially in Canada and Europe. In March 2007, a new network, the European Film Commission Network (EuFCN) was set up, uniting 64 national film commissions from more than 18 countries. Austrian Arie Bohrer of Vienna’s Location Austria — part of the country’s government-backed film commission — was elected president of the network. The aim is to set new standards for the positioning of Europe’s film commissions, to position them into a more international market, and to promote the exchange of information between members. In an audiovisual industry expected to grow worldwide to $105 billion over the next three years, Europe has become a welcoming locale for filming. This has happened despite the weak dollar, which discourages U.S. production and, at the same time, makes the U.S. a more economically attractive venue for European production. VideoAge reviewed a selection of key film commissions around Europe. CZECH REPUBLIC The Czech Film Commission (http://www.filmcommission.cz) has worked, since 2004, as part of the Czech Film Center, partly funded by the Czech Ministry of Culture, and was created in September 2002 to promote Czech film abroad Since 1989, the Czech Republic, whose movie industry annually attracts $83 million from abroad, has become renowned for its wide variety of locations, well-equipped studio facilities and lower costs of production, wages and taxes. Barrandov Studios in Prague boasts some of the country’s most important facilities, bringing in by far the biggest share of moviemaking revenue, valued at roughly $300 million annually. Barrandov’s new sound stages were completed in 2006, and filmmakers have since come in droves. Much of the most recent James Bond movie Casino Royale was shot on Barrandov’s sound stages. Earlier this year, Barrandov Studios signed a contract to host Paramount’s $170 million GI Joe , one of the most expensive films ever in the Czech studio’s history, falling between the estimated $150 million Casino Royaleand the $180 million Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe . But other Eastern European countries are siphoning off business from the Czech Republic (foreign spend dropped 65-70 percent between 2002 and 2007) with incentives and tax breaks. Bulgaria is clearly star-struck, bending over backward to promote its massive Boyana studio, a holdover from the Cold War that nevertheless beat out Prague for The Black Dahlia, with Bulgaria standing in for 1940s Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Hungary is competing with hefty tax incentives for foreigners that Prague film people have been trying unsuccessfully to wring out of the Czech government for years. FRANCE Regional and local commissions have flowered nationwide. One, Ile de France, offered $22.9 million last year to French and foreign productions shooting 50 percent in the Paris region. France counts on new factors in its hope to acquire shoots: an impressive film commission infrastructure, Film France ( h t t p : / / www. f i l m f r a n c e . n e t ) , globalization, and a leap in computergenerated imagery and visual effects abilities. Film France’s website offers 124 abbeys and 101 battlements, ordered by century, in which to film. GERMANY Germany’s film commissions (http://www.location-germany.de) are a network of 10 regional commissions, which reproduce the same federal structure of the country. Germany has recently made headlines because of Valkyrie , a movie in which Tom Cruise plays a true-life German World War II hero. Valkyrieis considered the country’s most relevant movie filmed there in the last 12 months. The German government issued $6.5 million in subsidies for the project, hoping to diminish the furor over the country’s initial refusal to allow filming at a memorial site located within the Defense Ministry complex. Valkyrie’s budget has been estimated at $80 million, with about two-thirds of that being earmarked for filming in Germany. The German government has also resolved to provide $94 million in aid annually for the production of movies in Germany. The intent is to provide support for film production over a period of three years. The German government will reimburse each production company in Germany that produces a film and applies for assistance for costs incurred while producing the film in Germany. The measure is not intended to just benefit large productions. Companies with smaller and mid-sized projects with budgets of $1.5 million or more for feature films can also apply for partial reimbursement of production costs. IRELAND One of the fastest growing film commissions is the Northern Ireland Screen (http://www.northernirelandscreen.co.uk), with many areas of activity, including funding, locations, services, facilities, exhibition, audience development, education and business support. Northern Ireland Screen (NIS) is funded by Invest Northern Ireland, the Department of Culture Arts and Leisure, and the U.K. Film Council, and is delegated by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland to administer lottery funding in Northern Ireland. Since 1997, 36 movies have been filmed there. Northern Ireland Screen’s greatest asset for attracting foreign productions is the Paint Hall studio. Five minutes from Belfast, the studio was constructed in the 1970s and originally used to paint ships in climate-controlled conditions. It was occupied last year by Walden Media/Playtone for the production of their $50 million fantasy movie City of Ember with Tim Robbins, the most expensive movie ever to shoot in Ulster. Set designer Martin Laing stated, “We went to Romania, Prague and Germany trying to find a very large place where we could build an entire city. That brought us to the studio in Belfast. It has allowed us to build the city we wanted.” NIS contributed £800,000 ($1.6 million) toward the budget, its maximum grant. That proved an astute investment. City of Ember spent $18.2 million in the city, employed a local crew and left behind a functioning film studio where previously there was just an empty shell. Northern Ireland Screen bought back the rigging and took a three-year lease on the building. It’s offering the studio for free, along with investments of up to $1 million, to any production that promises to spend at least $4 million in the province. Expenditure also qualifies for the U.K. tax credit, which can knock another 2025 percent off the cost. In total, NIS has roughly $24 million a year to spend. ITALY The Italian Association of Film Commissions was established in 2003. It works with the Italian Film Commission based in Los Angeles, a division of the Italian Trade Commission. Up until now, it has connected 16 film commissions all across the country. “We mainly work for the Italian audiovisual industry, mostly television,” said Andrea Rocco, president of the Italian Association of Film Commissions. “In the last two years American production has dropped.” Nevertheless, some producers are leaving Italy in favor of other locales, like Bulgaria. Many factors can explain the shift. Despite ongoing discussions between film industry representatives and the Italian government, there is no tax shelter legislation similar to that on offer in many other countries. Plus, Italy has relatively high costs of production compared to other European locations, particularly the emerging Eastern European centers. The country’s film production spend in 2007 was $496 million — much less than the respective $1.53 billion and $1 billion in France and Germany, where tax credits drive vibrant industries. SPAIN The Spain Film Commission (http://www.spainfilmcommission.org) was established on March 26, 2001 and has its premises at the Instituto de Ciencias y Artes Audiovisuales (ICAA). The promotion of Spain as a location for productions is growing, thanks to three new studios. Ciudad de la Luz studio, a $442.5 million juggernaut in Cadiz, Alicante, was launched in 2005 in the hopes of bringing more Hollywood coin to Iberia. Some of the films made at the complex were the $118 million Astérix and the Olympic Games and JeanJacques Annaud’s $53 million comedy His Majesty Minor . Even Bollywood producers visited the complex last spring for new business. Backed by Valencia’s regional government, Ciudad will be totally completed by 2009. But Ciudad could face growing competition from Madrid. In Loeches, a small town northeast of the capital city, a new complex covering 49 acres called Ciudad del Audiovisual will host production facilities, offices, soundstages, a film school, hotels and a shopping mall. A private-sector project, it’s scheduled to open in 2011. And in the Basque town of Oiartzun, near San Sebastian, construction began last September on Zinealdea, an 893,400-square-foot production center funded with public and private money. Zinealdea should be ready mid-2009. The complex’s three buildings will host film and TV studios, production services, offices, a film school, a film commission and a leisure area. V I D E O • A G E OC T O B E R 2 0 0 8 18 Europe’s Film Commissions Filmed Ent. Is More Than Just Big Biz For Europe (Continued on Page 64)

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