NATPE Budapest featured two pre-market notifications. One was from the organizer, Toronto, Canada-based Brunico, stating that it would open on Monday, June 19, a day earlier than planned. The other was from one of the airlines that serves Budapest airport, about “a planned military exercise by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization from June 12th to 23rd, 2023, which may impact multiple European airspaces. As a result, some flights from European airports may encounter delays during this time period.”
Fortunately, no disruptions were experienced on the Milan-to-Budapest flight and VideoAge reporters were able to attend the new NATPE on its new start date, which, due to the off-site afternoon Sony screenings, left the InterContinental’s two market floors rather empty. Also potentially contributing to the emptiness was the fact that the sudden, earlier start did not allow for the making of additional appointments.
Nonetheless, the buzz is that NATPE Budapest will likely win over the competing C21-organized Content Budapest (which will begin on June 27 at the Kempinski Hotel), even though it is expected that Content will still continue next year, if only just as a conference (expected to run parallel to NATPE — just like Content LA at the L.A. Screenings). There’s also the fact that some companies, such as Italy’s RaiCom, preferred Content Budapest over NATPE.
Brunico, which early this year took over the NATPE brand, did its best to replicate the old NATPE experience. However, the verdict is still out as to whether this is a good thing, or if participants were expecting something different.
According to official figures, there are 400-plus companies registered, of which 119 are exhibitors. Of those, 93 held court on the market floor (including 19 companies in the French pavilion and nine companies in Spain’s pavilion). An additional 26 saw clients in hotel suites on the second floor. In terms of participants, the number given was over 735 (20 percent more than last year), of whom 366 were content buyers.
Among the floor exhibitors was Ignacio Barrera, president of the Miami, Florida-based Mas Ros Media, who noted that this was his first ever market in Budapest and that he was there mainly in search of format buyers. (Barrera will also be at Content Budapest.)
In the 15th and 16th century the Kingdom of Hungary battled the Ottoman Empire, yet hundreds of years later the Turks came back, this time dominating the CEE television landscape. Indeed (and as usual), Turkish companies conquered the Budapest trade show with the largest presence and the most marketing power. Lots of attention was also paid to Ukraine, with a Tuesday panel about how Ukrainians should go about finding co-producers and/or co-financers, moderated by Italy’s Maria Chiara Duranti of Format Biz.
Pictured above, scenes from NATPE Budapest: Registration areas, buyers’ reception; market floor at Manuel Costa’s Record TV table; at the Lionsgate suite on the second floor are Attila Ratib and Angela Isojeh with guests Liliam Hernandez and Gema Lopez of Universal Cinergia; at the Ukraine panel; at the boat party, VideoAge‘s Dom Serafini, Brunico’s CEO Russell Goldstein, Brunico’s VP and NATPE head Clair Macdonald.
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