Elizabeth Guider Reports: Fox’s Upbeat Screenings Session

LOS ANGELES: On the Twentieth Century Fox lot Tuesday, the mood among program buyers here for the annual L.A. Screenings marathon was altogether more upbeat now that the studio has bulked up on the dramas it has to license abroad.

What a difference a year makes in the cyclical fortunes of the Hollywood studio system and the ricochet effects on the global marketplace. Take the FOX network, which has just slipped into second place as the top 18-49 demo dog behind CBS and to third place in total viewers. But that relatively lackluster performance stirred other areas of the company into action. As a result, for international sales, there is plenty of good news.

An estimated 250 overseas buyers, mostly Europeans, spent the day combing through ten new offerings from Twentieth Century Fox Television Distribution for the fall broadcast season, double the number they had to sift through last May. Last year it was all sitcoms on sale but none of them survived the season.

After welcoming remarks from the distribution division’s longtime president, Mark Kaner, buyers screened a sizeable crop of fall and midseason contenders plus promos for the company’s upcoming films—and a teaser for a limited run sequel series of 24 toplining Kiefer Sutherland in his role as the indefatigable, much-put-upon Jack Bauer.

Of the ten new broadcast series on offer, the highest marks from buyers queried over lunch went to an hour drama called Crisis, which stars Dermot Mulroney and Rachael Taylor and is executive produced by Rand Ravich. Directed by Philip Noyce, the pilot was the last entry screened before the lunch break. The thriller has been ordered by NBC for a midseason rollout on Sundays at 10 p.m.

"It’s a compelling story and shows that Fox stepped up more this year," said Katalin Joboru, the head of acquisitions for TV2 in Hungary. Her station group does not have an output deal with Fox. "Their slate is definitely richer this go-round."

Similarly, Russian distributor Oxana Matsushima of Volgafilm, who sub-licenses to broadcasters in that territory, gave high marks to the same show, which centers around a secret service agent who finds himself at the center of an international crisis on his first day at the job. "I’d say Crisis was the outstanding entry of the morning for me: its ideas and execution were the best of the lot."

Other buyers had comments about additional entries, with several pleased about the return of Sutherland to the small screen and others happy about what they said was the improved quality of the laffers on offer.

"I really don’t need to buy much on the open market because we have (ongoing output) deals with Warner Bros., HBO and Starz, but I did think Fox’s half-hour sitcoms were much better this year," said Meric Bilaceroglu, the buyer for four channels in Turkey owned by the Dogus Media Group.

Among those shows screened Tuesday morning, several buyers responded well to the single camera workplace comedy set in the advertising world called The Crazy Ones. Destined for CBS’s Thursday night comedy block, it stars Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar and is exec produced by David E. Kelley.

"I thought [Williams] was great, but as with many comedies, it was unclear from just one episode where the story was headed," said another European buyer, who declined for competitive reasons to be identified. "That’s why we prefer to wait to buy until we see more, or until we get some idea of how it’s doing Stateside before we commit to such shows."

Sometimes a buyer can indeed wait, if his deal with a particular studio allows some wiggle room in how many shows have to be picked up, and sometimes he has to take everything, and then wait to see which ones fall by the wayside in the U.S. Once in a while, there’s a really hot show or two that multiple buyers clamor for, as in the year everyone was buzzing about Glee and Modern Family, both of which it turned out, were being sold by Fox.

So far during these Screenings no show at any studio can yet claim to be the hottest ticket in town. Though several are gaining steam.

Of the remaining network offerings that Fox is handling internationally (and airing on its sister network), Sleepy Hollow, from the team of Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, seemed to pique the most interest. As one buyer noted, the hour mystery appears to be good "counter-programming" to other shows on at 9 p.m. on Monday nights.

For her part, the company’s president of international television, Marion Edwards, is equally as upbeat as her customers. "Dramas, good dramas, make all the difference and this year we have them."

Whatever the ups and downs of the FOX network—and she believes the travails of American Idol and The X Factor are overblown—having more scripted fare to sell abroad, dramas and comedies, can only be a plus. Edwards also pointed to some new and returning cable shows her unit is handling, including the critical darling The Americans, which airs on sister cabler FX.

"It has sold widely and for decent money, including recently a deal for prime time with ITV in the U.K." —a rarity these days for an American series in that territory.