Elizabeth Guider Reports: Snowfall Emerges as Hit of Fox Slate

PREMIUM: Sometimes it’s the least likely of series that steals the limelight at a particular Hollywood major studio during the L.A. Screenings; in the case of Twentieth Century Fox, a number of foreign program buyers all circled back to one show as being the most arresting, if not jaw-dropping, they’ve seen so far: Snowfall.

The oddity—or perhaps a harbinger of things to come—is that the show in question wasn’t made for the flagship FOX network but for one of the conglomerate’s cable outlets, namely FX. Snowfall is an unrelenting look at the rise of the crack cocaine epidemic in Los Angeles in the 1980s. The series, which is helmed by film director John Singleton, is just starting to be teased on the small screen before its launch Stateside in July.

The attraction on the part of foreign acquisition execs for such difficult, and yet very specifically American, material suggests just how unpredictable, eclectic and open to anything tastes abroad are becoming, at least among younger viewers who are demanding and being exposed to more video content from more places than their parents or grandparents ever were. (FX is also the outlet for several other drama series that push the envelope in one direction or another, including Fargo, Atlanta and The Americans.)

“There’s a segment of our audience that would relate well to, dare I say, ‘historical’ material if done well and impactfully enough,” opined one northern European buyer. “How well The People v. O.J. Simpson traveled abroad made that abundantly clear.”

Another buyer said that his team, again a group from Western Europe, was quickly tiring of two things that American TV producers and broadcasters can’t seem to tear themselves away from: superheroes (or even ordinary blokes) with ever more outlandish powers, and doctors or detectives who are beset with some kind of mental or physical defect, usually something detectable on the autistic spectrum.

“That’s why something like Snowfall at Fox or, though they didn’t show us anything completed, NBC’s limited series about the Menendez brothers, appeals in theory,” he went on. “We want shows that are meaty and less contrived, with a point of view and characters who reflect reality, good or bad.”

Snowfall, along with a half-dozen new series for FOX, is being licensed by Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution. World Screen Newsflash caught up with Gina Brogi, president of global distribution—who took the reins this past winter upon the resignation of Marion Edwards—between meetings on the Fox lot in Century City Wednesday.

She, too, suggested that buyer interest in such a gritty and intense American subject as the drug trade was one of the surprises of the week for her, though she quickly added that buyers who have screened so far this week were also taken by several of her major contenders for big FOX, especially a new comedy toplining Craig Robinson and Adam Scott called Ghosted (from producer Tom Gormican) and an ER-style procedural starring Angela Bassett called 911 (from producer Ryan Murphy).

Brogi, who has a financial background and previously oversaw Fox’s pay-TV and SVOD business, said that she relished the Screenings as an opportunity “to get exposure to and an appreciation for the clients” she will now be dealing with as the division integrates its linear and digital teams.

“Like so many businesses, ours in international TV used to be simpler but it nowadays requires a skill set that honors the evolving complexities of the market,” she said. “For example, every asset in our portfolio is treated separately and differently and we believe each needs to be showcased and windowed in the best possible way, with the most appropriate partners.” (One of her first moves around six months ago was to reorganize international operations regionally and to coordinate managers across the linear and digital divide.)

Asked how she sees the foreign market evolving, Brogi suggested that there likely will be fewer and fewer so-called volume deals with foreign clients going forward as more platforms and opportunities emerge. “So much content to be absorbed by one linear broadcaster just doesn’t make sense anymore,” she indicated.

She did claim, however, that essentially all content in her portfolio does get licensed abroad, though naturally some shows travel more widely and for higher license fees than others. (The Simpsons, World Screen Newsflash reckons, has been the most ubiquitous and lucrative franchise for the company internationally.)

About the ongoing Screenings, which will largely wrap today (Thursday), Brogi said that given how much time, effort and critical assessment have to go into making acquisition choices on the part of buyers, “to expect that anyone will close a deal while here in L.A. is probably a bridge too far.”

As a general rule, Brogi is right about the deal-making process for series; though, on occasion—admittedly increasingly rare—multiple buyers in a given territory will get into a bidding war over something they feel is outstanding. Last notable example: eight or so years ago rival buyers in several territories went crazy over the pilots for Modern Family and for Glee and the highest bidders bought on the spot. Both shows were licensed by FOX; the former is still on the air, on ABC.

So far this go-round, there’s been no such open clamoring for something at any studio that World Screen Newsflash has ascertained.

What was visible on the Fox lot Wednesday, though, was an attempt to make the visit to the studio a more showbiz experience for the 1,600 programmers who fly in for the week. Lunches are being held for fairly large groups of buyers on the fully dressed set of Modern Family and there’s a virtual reality ride to undergo related to the theatrical release of Alien: Covenant, which apparently is not to be done on a full stomach.