Elizabeth Guider Reports: L.A. Screenings’ Independents

LOS ANGELES: Indies zig, zag and do whatever else to stay in the game, reports Elizabeth Guider from the independent screenings at Century Plaza in Los Angeles over the weekend.

"You have to be clever, consistent and grind, grind, grind." That’s how Tom Devlin, a veteran sales exec now working for Byron Allen’s Entertainment Studios, put it in describing how independent sellers have to stay one step ahead in a programming market increasingly dominated by the Hollywood majors and a few powerful international players.

Devlin was speaking Saturday from the Century Plaza in Los Angeles, where some 60-odd content supplies had been holed up for several days to catch the first wave (or in some cases the run-off) of foreign TV buyers trickling in for the annual L.A. Screenings event. Some 1,200 execs are in town principally to assess the new fall prime-time series represented by the six Hollywood majors, but in their off-hours, purchasers visit other key content providers at their local offices or in suites set up at the hotel.

It doesn’t get any easier, was Devlin’s point, one echoed by several other sellers on site. As another suggested, "resilience is a prerequisite in this business." And, he added, having something provocative to rope buyers in is now essential—and even then, given how spooked so many economies are, wallets are not being opened casually or automatically.

"There are still niches that broadcasters have to fill on their schedules that aren’t given over to the output from U.S. majors, but those slots are limited, and prices are under pressure," said yet a third seller, who didn’t want his name mentioned as he wasn’t authorized to speak for his company. He opined that business was "OK, but nothing to write home about."

Over the years, the indie suppliers of TV shows have dwindled in number and the buyers who relate to them tend to be first and foremost the Latins—some three or four hundred strong this go-round, out of almost a third of the entire foreign phalanx that shows up for the ten-day marathon. The good news is that Latin America is still a relatively healthy part of the world economy, and much of the action visible in the exhibition suites seemed to be Latin sellers pitching their wares to other Latins, with telenovelas being the mainstay of their catalogues.

As for Devlin’s company, it was highlighting two sitcoms, which domestically in the U.S. are being cleared in barter syndication: one about a black family which just happens to be the official residents of the White House (First Family) and another which revolves around a film star with anger management issues (Mr. Box Office). Devlin said he was pleased about buyer reaction to the first footage available.

Other suppliers are working other angles to make the market pay off.

Global Agency is focused on one of the largely unexploited areas of the world, namely Turkey, and upturning a number of drama series for export. Among its top titles is Magnificent Century, a lavish period piece set in the sixteenth century and centered around Suleiman the Great and his harem.

"There’s a real boom in quality series production in Turkey and we’re finding that Latins in particular have a similar taste for such powerful, soapy, romantic themes, either opting for finished product or for format rights," said Catherine Stryker, the head of sales at the Turkish-headquartered company.

Magnificent Century has already been licensed widely in Central and Eastern Europe, she explained, but a Spanish dub has not yet been completed. Nor has there yet been a sale to the U.S. cable market.

One such Stateside deal Stryker is working on is yet another twist on how independents have to operate to stay relevant. Global Agency has acquired the rights to a well-known Brazilian game show from broadcaster SBT, called Let’s Play Hangman, which is hosted by the entrepreneur cum emcee Silvio Santos. Describing it as a classic which should easily travel, she said the company is in talks with an unspecified American producer interested in its format rights. "You have to be inventive in this business—the more complex the deals are becoming, the more creative we have to be in finding and pitching the right product to the right buyer," Stryker said.

One segment of American programming which has become increasingly more visible internationally over the last decade is drama created for the various U.S. cablers, with HBO and Showtime dominating the field but a host of other outlets now stepping up big time with their own offerings: be it Lionsgate with AMC’s Mad Men or TNT with female cop show Rizzoli and Isles and David E. Kelley’s upcoming medical drama Monday Mornings.

Starz, too, has been placing big bets on period pieces like Spartacus and most recently Magic City, a sumptuously realized drama set in 1950s Miami and centered around the mob-infested hotel business.

"Original programming has definitely changed the dynamic and direction of our company," said Alisha Serold, VP of worldwide distribution at Starz Media. Despite the financial downturn, buyers are still buying, she told World Screen Newsflash. "If you have the content, they’ll be there."

Serold, who handles Latin America for Starz Media, said the company was "doing well" with Spartacus in free-TV sales. Both the aforementioned series already air on various cable outlets in Latin America.