SE P T E M B E R/ OC T O B E R 2 0 1 2 V I D E O • A G E 24 NATPE Budapest — formerly known as DISCOP — has been given the American treatment. While most of the differences were subtle, after taking over the market, the NATPE touch was certainly felt in Hungary last June. Up until last year, DISCOP had a sort of French touch (with Basic Lead, its former organizers based in Paris) and had the feel of a family event thanks to its founder, Patrick Jucaud-Zuchowicki, greeting every participant as if they were one of his closest 1,300-or-so friends. Jucaud-Zuchowicki created DISCOP in 1991 and for its first four years it was held in Warsaw, Poland, moving to Budapest in 1995. Originally, the event was called the “DiscountedTVProgram Market,” but in 1993 it was shortened to DISCOP. “Our clients did not like the idea of attending a ‘discounted’ TV program market,” recalled JucaudZuchowicki. His company, Basic Lead, which now has offices in Paris and Los Angeles, specializes in creating TV trade shows in emerging markets, such as Central Europe in the early ’90s. In 1998, it attempted to penetrate Central Asia with a market in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, but it lasted only two years. In 2008 it started a TV market in Africa (DISCOP Africa) and last year, launched one in Turkey, known as DISCOP Istanbul. NATPE took a partial ownership position in DISCOP Budapest in 2005 that was extended to 100 percent last year. Such a mature market — with its rapid expansion — became too big a challenge for Basic Lead, a company specializing in boutique markets in emerging territories. As soon as the Americans took full control of the event, NATPE’s traditional PR service, The Lippin Group, was called in for support (Basic Lead had handled all aspects of the market on its own), as were NATPE’s top-guns, who were flown in from Los Angeles and led by brand new CEO Rod Perth. With the Americans, NATPE Budapest lost its conference component (strange, since it’s aquintessential element of NATPE) and now the organizers are evaluating whether they’re even necessary at the Budapest event. Finding sponsorships is something theAmericans are good at, and therefore the opening afternoon party at this year’s NATPE Budapest was sponsored by Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund (MTVA), the new Hungarian state radio-TV organization. However, this time HBO Hungary did not sponsor their otherwise traditional boat party, which C21 co-sponsored with NATPE. The “Made in USA” literature found at the market was also different from previous editions, with a pocket guide that offered a general overview of all key events, exhibitors and floor maps. Now for the numbers: 190 exhibitors were in attendance from 36 countries. The largest presence came from the U.K., followed by the U.S., with France a distant third. There was also a strong exhibitor showing from Turkey and Germany (each with nine companies in attendance), South Korea (10) and Canada (12). Exhibition spaces at the Sofitel Hotel in the Pest side of Budapest were scattered throughout six areas, utilizing the first three floors of the hotel down to the basement level where the registration area is also located. NATPE Budapest also saw a big resurgence in Latin companies, with nine companies exhibiting (up from just five last year), and the presence of top-level executives like TV Azteca/ Comarex’s Marcel Vinay Jr. of Mexico. ICE, the Italian trade commission, also returned with five companies under its umbrella, out of a total of nine Italian exhibitors in attendance. Themajor U.S. studios all participated too, as did mini majors such as Starz and FremantleMedia. Two exhibiting countries, Japan and Italy, invited their respective ambassadors to Hungary. Reportedly, there were 430 buyers in attendance, though a few distributors complained that the studios were taking some buyers out of the market area for screenings. Organizers responded by pointing out that all studio screenings were held at nearby locations within walking distance of the Sofitel, and that those screening rooms never held more than 40 buyers at a time. NATPE’s new CEO, Rod Perth, who made his very first appearance after being appointed to his new position, was very active, saying he hoped to meet every person who has invested in NATPE. “I’m here to listen,” he said, a comment he later reiterated during a brief speech at the opening afternoon MTVA-sponsored party, which, for the first time, was held at the Sofitel, instead of the nearby Gerbeaud House. However, in a follow-up call, Perth was hesitant to give details on his plans for the market, saying that “evaluation and recommendations have to be first discussed with the executive committee and board.” Two pressing issues currently facing NATPE Budapest are how to bring Latin companies’ presence back to the large number of years ago, and how to expand the pool of buyers inside the Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, and especially from Central Asia. These two issues are a consequence of two other trends: The maturity of the TV business in the CEE region that, flush with cash, can now afford travel to markets such as the L.A. Screenings and MIPCOM to buy studio content, and the surge of popular Turkish telenovelas that are eroding sales of the traditional Latin staple. Considering that Budapest is becoming an expensive location for many Central Asian buyers, one solution could be to re-propose the original “Discounted TV Program Market” in a less expensive city like Sofia, Bulgaria, or Bucharest, Romania. But a “discounted” market is a specialty of DISCOP, which doesn’t have to contend with a large structure and a board of directors, like NATPE does. Indeed, a few years back, NATPE was contemplating a move from Budapest, but to Warsaw, Poland, which has a larger TV market than Hungary, but would be just as expensive as Budapest. The Americanization of an Eastern European TV Market N A T P E B u d a p e s t R e v i e w Opening party at the Sofitel From l. to r.: Giovanni Celsi, Rai World; the Italian Ambassador to Hungary, Maria Assunta Accili; Zsuzsanna Jung, a buyer for Budapest Film; NATPE’s U.K. representative Gary Mitchell; ICE’s DG Enrico Barbieri and ICE’s business analyst, Zsófia Konja Tetsuo Ito, Japan’s Ambassador to Hungary, chatting with NATPE’s CEO Rod Perth at NHK Enterprises’ presentation
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