18 Hollywood is well-versed in dramas — those created for the big or small screen, as well as those generated by social, financial, or climatic forces. Turbulence has, from the start, tried to rattle Hollywood with all kinds of earthquakes — geological, technological, managerial, labor-related, and talent-induced. It has faced scandals, market upheavals, scam artists, and fires. According to The Los Angeles Times, January’s Los Angeles County wildfires killed 28 people, destroyed 18,000 structures valued at more than $275 billion, and triggered vast evacuations and many displaced families. The 2023 Hollywood strikes that included the Writers Guild, the Screen Actors Guild, and the Federation of Television and Radio Artists resulted in an estimated 45,000 job losses in the entertainment industry and a $6.5 billion economic loss to Southern California’s economy. Plus, the six months that the strikes went on caused $60 billion in losses for the Hollywood studios, and this is on top of the estimated $100 billion losses from the start of streaming platform competition. Despite all the adversity, Hollywood has kept its good humor by producing a good number of comedies over the years. Nonetheless, it also let everyone see the drama behind the facade. This could be the reason that the Screen Actors Guild Awards statuette represents the twofaced mask of comedy and tragedy. In May, L.A. Screenings 2025 will have reps for the Hollywood studios putting on their happy-face masks as they welcome some 1,000 key TV content buyers from around the world (down from the traditional 1,700 buyers of the pre-pandemic era) who are attracted by the studios’ quality productions, star power, and the extravagant parties that only Hollywood knows how to stage. And at these upcoming L.A. Screenings there will be plenty, with shindigs hosted by Disney, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. Discovery, Paramount Global, Sony Pictures TV, FOX Entertainment, and Amazon MGM. Plus, on the indie side, there will be cocktail parties, including the one thrown by Argentina’s Telefilms. This is why VideoAge’s symbol for the L.A. Screenings 2025 is the phoenix, the mythological bird that rises from the ashes of its predecessor. The L.A. Screenings, now in its 62nd year, is scheduled for May 15 and 16 for the independents and for May 17-21 for the major studios. The related Upfronts for broadcast TV, which are held in New York City, will start on Monday, May 12, 2025, and end on May 15. So, what does the international content sector expect to see at these L.A. Screenings? According to Joe Flint, who knows Hollywood, since he writes about television for The Wall Street Journal from Los Angeles, Hollywood is pivoting conservative with the removal of transgender stories and the fear that some programs could be perceived as “woke” (i.e., alert to racial discrimination). Flint writes that “media giants ... are scaling back on DEI [Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion] initiatives,” explaining that the FCC, the U.S. communications regulatory agency, is investigating NBC for promoting DEI. Flint concludes with the notion that “most of the shows launched recently began development during Trump’s campaign,” which to VideoAge indicates that the new series that will be presented during the L.A. Screenings will reflect this conservative trend. This year, the independent screenings that precede the studios’ L.A. Screenings will have a new venue: The Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood, which is replacing the traditional Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel in Century City. Isabella Marquez, the organizer of L.A. Independents, found a new venue because the costs associated with the Century Plaza had become exorbitant. Since 1983, when VideoAge began covering what was previously called the “May Screenings” (before VideoAge changed it to the current “L.A. Screenings”), independent TV companies set up shop at various hotels around Los Angeles on their own. Some rented suites at the Westwood Marques (now The W), others at the Four Seasons, forcing buyers to rush from place to place in L.A. traffic. That was until Isabella Marquez swooped in to coordinate all the independents, first at the Century Plaza, then at the InterContinental, then back at the Century Plaza until the hotel became too expensive and indifferent to the needs of the distributors. Now Marquez has found a solution with the selection of The Roosevelt Hotel as the new venue for the Independent Screenings 2025. “The iconic hotel,” said Marquez, “offers a range of suites and event spaces to accommodate various needs. We were looking for a hotel that could meet the diverse requirements of our clients and TV buyers. The Hollywood Roosevelt stood out for its spacious and comfortable suites, reasonable pricing, and ability to provide sleeping accommodations for both exhibitors and buyers throughout the entire event schedule.” The Hollywood Roosevelt is a four-star hotel located on Hollywood Boulevard, and the rate for a standard sleeping room is $239 per night. But will the buyers be there? It is the recurrent general question from content distributors. And the answer is that buyers will, as usual, be in Los Angeles in droves, attracted by the studios’ invitations. How many of those will trickle down to the indies two days before the studios’ screenings, is, as always, a matter of speculation, and mainly a function of the content being offered by the indies. The indies’ exhibitor list can be found on page 16. As for the 2025-2026 TV season, the talk has mostly centered on renewals since there are few newly ordered series, like 911: Nashville for ABC, Boston Blue for CBS, and Tomorrow, a New Amsterdam sequel, for NBC. The full list of new, renewed, and indie series can be found starting on page 20. The major U.S. commercial TV broadcast networks have renewed a total of 35 series. Scores of cable TV channels have also renewed lots of current shows. Finally, what will save the U.S. TV season in commercial spots in 2026 will be heated elections and tons of sports content, with the Winter Olympics (February 6-22 in Milan-Cortina, Italy), the FIFA World Cup (June 11-July 19 in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico), various U.S. sports like football and basketball, and the mid-term congressional elections. Hollywood’s Dramas Won’t Affect Its Best Television Dramas VIDEOAGE May 2025 L.A. Screenings 2025
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