Videoage International August-September 2021

23 “With the pandemic, while strong dramas are still in demand, what I see and experience from our recent sales is that people are shifting towards more optimistic, feel-good stories. Romantic comedies have become the breakpoint to the stress we are all experiencing in our daily lives. And with our strong romantic comedy lineup we are eager to expand our reach worldwide.” “Thepandemic furtherencouragedus toevolve our views of the industry,” said O’Shaughnessy. “We understand that the consumption of VoD platform content is here to stay, and we see the potential in free VoD platforms that have become huge players with large audiences. We have started to embrace new forms that enhance viewing experiences. This is why ACI has decided to expand into the VoD world by launching our own YouTube channel and our own SVoD/TVoD platform that would provide our customers with the best viewing experience and access to the content they want to watch.” “The pandemic actually brought more opportunities for Something Special,” said Kim. “With the uncertainty of production outlook, more studios are focusing on developing paper formats, and are open to co-developments. With this opportunity, Something Special was selected for several government-funded projects, including the Format Lab project for two consecutive years, where Korea’s A-list creative directors teamup with top studios fromacross the world to co-develop original formats in diverse groups of genres — music competition, factual entertainment, dating reality, crime mystery show, and more.” Similar to KDI’s Koyuncu, Kim also noted a move toward feel-good storytelling. “With the pandemic and depressing news around the world happening every day, it is natural that buyers are looking more into family-oriented, positive, play-along elements in a format. Factual entertainment has also been gaining traction, especially for more favorable productions during the pandemic, with a focus on daily life and social experiment, which will be easier to be developed into seasons.” “While we yearn to go back to meeting people in person and doing business with them, we’ve also realized that this is an opportunity to pivot and relook at our strategies and processes as Koyuncu. “Opening new markets and monetizing our content in all windows is very important for us. In addition to traditional broadcasting, we are aware that we all need to prepare for a digital future. While our audience loves the quality and the richness of our stories, we see the switch to on-demand viewing, especially with younger audiences. With Demirören Media’s brand- new SVoD platform Dramax, we are aiming to introduce our series to a much wider audience, offering all productions dubbed into Spanish and Arabic.” a business,” observed George. “A huge focus has also been given to prioritizing the mental well-being of our employees and helping them transition comfortably to working from home and dealing with what is now the ‘new normal.’ ” Sirvin remarked, “Being able to ‘set up office’ in the countryside with long working days and taking time to talk with our partners who are working from home in stressful and difficult environments has made us realize even more so that we are first human beings and need to come closer to nature and devote our precious time to meaningful activities.” VideoAge: Do streaming platforms and services affect your business model for international content sales? “Yes, they do, especially for Korea in the coming months,” said Kim of Something Special. “With Paramount+, Disney+, Peacock, and other OTTs entering Korea soon, now it will be a multi-player game of OTTs, in addition to Netflix, which already has a wide user base. This provides a great opportunity for OTT platforms to collaborate with Something Special, specifically in the following ways: they can invest into Korean original production, become Korean localization production partners for IPs they own, and can co-develop ideas that can turn into global IPs. We hope the new landscape of OTTs in Korea will bring new opportunities for global OTT platforms to strategically collaborate with Something Special to their advantage.” “Yes, streaming platforms and those services have affected our business model,” confirmed O’Shaughnessy. “While we once had locked-in deals with certain territories withmonies upfront, sales have switched to a disruptive environment that sells rights to channels and platforms directly. This has greatly impacted our cash flow as we have had to come to terms with the fact that the process of receiving profits has been changed to a longer wait with a 9-to-12-month window.” Vision Films’ Lise Romanoff commented: “We have been busier than ever during the pandemic! Television is stable and VoD is booming. We are currently with more than 30 TVoD, SVoD, and AVoD platforms in North America, and are expanding globally, doing business directly in the English-speaking world, including the U.K., Australia, New Zealand, and Africa. And we are exploiting our foreign-language versions in Latin America, France, and Germany.” Sirvin noted the increase in windowing options. “Platforms can come on board either very early on projects or ‘down the road’ — once the program is well established and has gained success on traditional TV (and in many languages too!),” she said. “This creates many windowing opportunities and visibility for our programs. Each platform has its own objectives and needs whichenlarges thedistributionhorizons (formats, age targets, genres), and fosters creativity.” “While adapting to the changing trends and realities of the broadcasting industry, we will continue to deliver strong dramas and romantic comedies to the international audience,” saidKDI’s August/Sept. 2021 The Return of In-Person Marts (Continued from Page 22) (Continued from Cover) Vision Films’ Lise Romanoff panels and discussions on paradigm shifts in the industry, new economic models, and the challenges of ecological transition. This year, the Forum will feature the Forum Exclusives programming, comprised of 21 series representing 19 countries, with seven world premieres. The selection will be shown at the on-site screening room and available through Series Mania Digital, the online component of the festival. The Forum will also showcase 15 projects selected as part of the Co-Pro Pitching Sessions, which awarded 50,000 euro (U.S. $60,000) to the best drama project. Entertainment One’s Polly Williams will serve as the jury president for the pitching sessions. New this year will be the Creative Bazaar, an incubator for workshops and training programs for writers and producers. Special guests include scriptwriter and producer Chris Brancato and showrunner Clyde Phillips, among others. The newly created Series Mania Étoile Award celebrates singer and actor Audra McDonald, who will be in Lille for her new series The Bite, distributed by ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group. Lille Dialogues, a one-day summit that brings together European lawmakers and international TV industry leaders, will take place on August 31, 2021. Organized in partnership with the Ministry of Culture, CNC, and European Commission, the event will include a rich program of conferences and keynote presentations, with executives from Banijay, The Walt Disney Company, TF1 Group, and SVT, among others. Series Mania’s Back in Lille, In Person