The indies’ portion of the L.A. Screenings at the Century Plaza has concluded, and the content-buying contingent moved to the studios’ lots, starting with Paramount and NBCUni on Saturday, May 21. (Technically, the buyers who “moved” were the Latins and some Canadians because those from Europe had only arrived the previous day.)
The indies portion officially ended with a party/presentation from Argentina’s Telefilms, while the studios’ screeners are to be entertained this week at parties thrown by Paramount and by mini-majors such as Lionsgate and e-One.
Paramount screened six series (two from CBS, one from The CW, and three international co-productions) 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 the Universal City Walk (and not at various theaters on its lot). And Warner Media screened eight series at its traditional Steven Ross Theatre, starting on Monday, May 23 (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 21st for the independents (mostly cable networks). For LATAM, limited screenings took place towards the end of the week at the Century Plaza hotel. Except for 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, NBCUni 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. However, some members of the press usually manage to sneak in by registering as buyers with willing accredited buyers. Studios needed proof of vaccination, but NBCUni reps went one step further by messengering home testing COVID kits (at least to journalists).
As predicted, the studios screened and sold fewer new series compared to the pre-streaming era, since the bulk will go straight to their international DTC platforms, even though the attraction to potential subscribers is doubtful.
This subject was the topic of a VideoAge luncheon in Beverly Hills, California on Friday, May 21, with four international TV executives (three of whom are pictured above). The question posed was whether “streaming will be a Trojan Horse for the studios (the same way the elimination of Fin Syn was for the networks).” The consensus was that the giant Social-Tech media will not be gabling the studios, and that Amazon’s acquisition of MGM is not a test case. About the future of Netflix, many noted that it is considered a streaming pioneer that will end up being “the Polaroid of the sector,” in the sense that it created an industry, but has since been taken over by other, better services.
Rallie’s John Laing added: “Streaming exerts immense economic pressure on the studios due to fierce competition to attract and retain subscriptions. Rather than ordering content, gauging its performance by audience uptake and mitigating the risks of new content production costs with foreign broadcasters through license fees and output deals, they have abandoned their traditional economic model for an unfamiliar and traditionally untested economic arena betting the whole house on streaming! Additionally, the studios are now forced to compete by financing and constantly producing more brand-new content and bearing all the costs while ransacking the value of their content libraries, which are the foundation of their economic power. The irony is streamers as such, other than the BBC, have forgotten the power of broadcasters.”
Pictured above, from l. to r.: Multicom’s Irv Holender, VideoAge‘s Dom Serafini, Incendo’s Gavin Reardon, and Media Dorothy’s Dorothy Crompton. Not pictured is Rallie’s John Laing.
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