Writers’ Strike Clouds NATPE
George Winslow -- Multichannel News, 1/14/2008 3:10:00 AM
International demand for U.S. shows remains at record levels, but the impact of the writers strike is likely to cloud the sales climate for some distributors while creating opportunities for others in Las Vegas at the NATPE programming market later this month.
“NATPE will be the first market since the start of the strike and people will talking about what it means,” said John Laing, CEO of Rigel Entertainment, which handles international distribution for about 10 films a year.
The international sales arms at most of major studios will be active at the market and are bringing a number of new midseason shows to the market.
While CBS Paramount’s domestic sales operation will not be exhibiting at NATPE this year, the company international division remains on the floor.
“We surveyed our buyers and decided it would be very worthwhile to attend,” said Armando Nunez Jr., president of CBS Paramount International Television. “We came out of a very healthy international sales climate in 2007 and expect that to continue at NATPE” even though the writer’s strike is “having an impact on the current seasons product,” and is “reducing the number of episodes” available internationally.
With the closing of the sale of Alliance Atlantis, CBS Paramount is taking over international sales of the CSI franchise and will also be selling new syndicated and network series.
Jeffery Schlesinger, president, Warner Bros. International Television also has high hopes for some of their newer product, particularly Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
While the market doesn’t have the international importance it once had and Warner Bros. has cut back its presence, Schlesinger said Warner Bros. still expects a strong contingent of buyers form Europe, Asia and Latin America, which has long been an important region for distributors at NATPE.
“2008 is already looking great,” Schlesinger said. “In Latin America Mexico and Brazil are rock solid and Argentina is coming back.”
Still, the strike is beginning to have a major impact on the development of new shows for the 2008-2009 broadcast season and a strike extending into March could force the U.S. broadcast networks to cancel their upfront presentations in May. That could have a major impact on the May Screenings, when the studios begin selling their new network shows internationally, and slow the flow of new product into international markets.
Other distributors handling independent films, kids programming and reality fare could however, see a positive bounce in their sales from the labor stoppage and attendance for NATPE seems to be on track to reach last year’s levels.
“We’re hoping that a lot of buyers who need product to replace the network series will be bidding for our films,” Laing said.
Kids’ producers are also unaffected. Animation producers’ work with different unions and the writers strike has allowed them to recruit some striking writers for the projects, according to Andy Heyward, chairman and CEO of DIC Entertainment. “It has actually been a plus for us because we’ve been able to get some writers we wouldn’t have normally worked with,” he said.
International demand for kids fare also remains strong Heyward added and the company continues to expand its KidsCo channel, which is a joint venture between Corus Entertainment in Canada and NBC Universal. “We expect to have the channel in 18 territories by the end of March,” he said.
Reality producers are also seeing a bounce in the U.S. and internationally. But Paul Buccieri, the new president and CEO of Granada America, which produces such reality fare as Hell’s Kitchen, said, “This is terrible for the business. Some people have looked at it as a wonderful opportunity for reality. While it does mean the networks are putting on more reality, they are putting on a lot of shows in a hurry. Some of them might not be of the best quality and when the strike is over that will hurt.”
Buccieri, who assumed his new post in December, said Granada America is already producing seven series in the U.S. and that the British company hopes to expand its international production efforts in 2008.
“We already have a very robust amount of business in the non-scripted areas and see significant opportunities to expand in the scripted area,” he said. “We have an unbelievable wealth of material and formats from ITV and around the world and we see [international production] as incredible opportunity.”
Grace Under Fire
01/27/2008Weger Upped at Cartoon Enterprises
02/25/2005TNT Summons 'Mentalist' Into Syndication
11/05/2009Three Decades of Hits
01/27/2008
