14 V I D E O A G E June/July 2022 cancellations and companies that participated without exhibiting. When the indies’ portion of the L.A. Screenings at the Century Plaza concluded, the contentbuying contingent moved to the studios’ lots (this time around without Fox and Disney), starting with Paramount and NBCUni on Saturday, May 21. (Technically, the buyers who “moved” were the Latins and some Canadians because executives from Europe had only arrived the previous day.) The indie portion officially ended with a party/ presentation from Argentina’s Telefilms, while the studios’ screeners were entertained the following week at parties thrown by Paramount and by mini-majors such as Lionsgate and eOne. The studio portion stretched from May 21-25, with their LATAM screenings scheduled on May 21 for Paramount, May 22 for NBCUni, May 23 for WarnerMedia, and May 24 for Sony. Disney had a suite at the Century Plaza, and it screened there on May 25. Paramount screened six series (two from CBS, one from The CW, and three international coproductions) at its usual location, the Paramount Theater (but this time no talent worked the buyers’ tables during lunch). NBCUni screened seven new series, this time at Universal City Walk (and not at various theaters on its lot). And WarnerMedia screened eight series at its traditional Steven Ross Theatre (one each from CBS and NBC, two from The CW, and four from HBO). Disney did not have its traditional general screenings, but screened for the major Canadian TV buyers in their hotel earlier in the week, and on May 21 for the independents (mostly cable networks). For LATAM, limited screenings took place towards the end of the week at the Century Plaza hotel. With the exception of Canada (the long border with the U.S. makes sales of broadcast shows necessary for all studios), most of Disney’s TV shows will end up on its own streaming platforms. On Monday, Universal Studios also staged a new season press luncheon at a restaurant near its lot since members of the press weren’t allowed to attend the actual screenings. All studios required proof of vaccination, but Universal and Lionsgate went one step further. Universal reps messengered COVID home-testing kits (at least to journalists) before its event, while Lionsgate rapid-tested all guests onsite before allowing entry to the hotel rooftop for its party. As predicted, the studios screened and offered fewer new series compared to the prestreaming era, with the bulk going straight to their international DTC platforms, even though the attraction to potential new subscribers is doubtful. In terms of buyers, the return of the in-person L.A. Screenings — after skipping two events due the pandemic — has found not only Fox and Disney missing, but also a reduced number of acquisition executives (about 50 percent fewer than 2019). However, the ones who attended were high-level, and all were excited to be returning to Hollywood to screen the new 2022-2023 TV season. In terms of territories, all the countries that were at past events were in attendance, with the exception of Asian countries, many of which were represented by U.S.-based executives this year. The largest contingent was from Europe, especially Germany, the U.K., Italy, and France, all scattered at their favorite hotels. LATAM also had a large contingent of program buyers, who were mainly housed at the Century Plaza Hotel. Another large contingent hailed from Canada. It reportedly had the largest number of buyers in attendance this year. As for the Century Plaza, the renovated hotel has a luxurious lobby that was bustling with L.A. Screenings participants. As for the buyers, many were in for a bit of a trek as exhibitors rented corner suites that were at the far end of the hotel’s long and dark-carpeted corridors. Buyers roaming the Century Plaza included Canada’s Aldo Di Felice, president of TLN, who concluded the Canadian screenings with the U.S. studios and later cruised the Century Plaza in search of indie fare. And according to Carmen Roberts, Communications director for Chile’s Canal 13, her network’s top executive, Maximiliano Luksic, spent much of his time visiting the Century Plaza suites looking for Latin and Turkish telenovelas. Market Report Disney Media Distribution LATAM’s Alis Perez, Barbara Lorenzo, Fabiola Bovino at their Century Plaza suite FilmRise’s Emilia Nuccio and Alejandro Veciana at their Century Plaza meeting table The Telefilms team at their traditional screening and cocktail reception Lionsgate’s Jim Packer and Chase Brisbin at the Lionsgate rooftop party Kanal D International’s Ekin Koyuncu was on hand at the Century Plaza Paramount Global Content Distribution’s Dan Cohen and Lisa Kramer at the Paramount Theater Global Agency’s Ivan Sanchez was representing the Istanbul-based company at the Century Plaza (Continued from Page 12)
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