NATPE kicks off at the Fontainebleau in Miami Beach next week and will run from Tuesday the 20th through Thursday the 22. And if you want a sneak peek of what’s in store for the market, take a read below:
A star-studded event:
This year’s celebrity roster includes Jay Leno (who will receive a Brandon Tartikoff award), Eva Longoria, Russell Simmons, Craig Ferguson, producer Norman Lear (who will deliver the opening keynote), Morgan Spurlock and more. Donald Sutherland will present the Pirate’s Passage Champagne breakfast in honor of Tandem’s animated family adventure movie, which he co-produced, co-wrote and stars in. The celebrities will all take part in seminars, which seem to be multiplying each year.
Don’t expect too many new first-run shows:
The current freshman class of first-runs—CBS Television Distribution’s Hot Bench, NBCUniversal’s Meredith Vieira, Warner Bros.’ The Real, Debmar-Mercury’s Celebrity Name Game and Trifecta’s Judge Faith—are all expected to be renewed for second seasons, according to Broadcasting & Cable, which means there’s not a lot of space for new shows. As a result, the magazine reports, there are only four new first-run strips being offered to buyers at NATPE: NBCUniversal’s Crazy Talk, Warner Bros.’ Crime Watch Daily, Trifecta’s The Daily Meal and Disney-ABC’s The F.A.B.
Conferences galore — and a focus on reality:
This year’s conferences fall under several tracks: the Platforms Accelerated Track (which, among other topics, will explore how to monetize the fragmentation of delivery platforms), Access to Insight Track (a series of master classes and conversations), Game Changers Track and NATPE Reality Track. The NATPE Reality Breakthrough Awards will honor innovative content in the reality, reality competition, game show, docusoap and factual realms.
Plenty of exhibitors:
As of press time there are 19 exhibiting companies from five LATAM countries and 11 Latin companies based in the U.S. Plus, all the U.S. studios’ LATAM divisions (with the exception of Sony Pictures), and U.S. companies with only LATAM rights (e.g. Bender Media Services). There are more than 170 distribution companies with stands, and over 80 with suites. Considering each of the five pavilions as one, there are exactly 100 stands. This is in addition to six companies exhibiting at the Cabanas only, and others with meeting space (on floors four and five above the exhibition hall).
Last word:
This part belongs to the buyers.
