Event Review: NATPE

NEW YORK: The Fontainebleau in Miami was positively humming with activity last week at NATPE, from the first hour of the morning on Tuesday till well after the official close of the market late Thursday afternoon.

Rod Perth, the president and CEO of NATPE, called it an “ambitious three days,” and indeed it was for many companies attending the market and conference.

Perth was joined by Jordan Levin, executive chair of NATPE, for a special press conference on the final day of the event, where both reported “excellent feedback” from attendees and shared an overall positive sentiment about the 2015 edition. “People felt like it was valuable for them to be here, and really relevant, in that not every question was answered, but the right questions were being asked and the right people were sitting around thinking about them,” said Levin.

Among the thought leaders and creative luminaries in attendance at NATPE were television icon Norman Lear, who delivered the opening keynote; Ted Sarandos, the chief content officer of Netflix, who was part of a session with Breaking Bad’s Vince Gilligan and Arrested Development’s Mitch Hurwitz; talk show host and TV personality Jay Leno; and multi-hyphenate entertainment mogul Russell Simmons.

World Screen’s Anna Carugati took to the stage in the Fontaine Ballroom for a packed Q&A session with José Antonio Bastón, the president of television and content at Televisa. Carugati also moderated an insightful session with FOX International Channels’ Hernan Lopez, Viacom’s Bob Bakish and Sony Pictures Television’s Andy Kaplan about the state of the pay-TV business.

FOX International Channels unveiled big news during the market about plans to consolidate all of its 126 FOX channels outside the U.S. under a single brand positioning and network package. Other big news that broke during NATPE came from the online retailer Overstock.com, which is planning to launch a VOD platform in the middle of this year.

Boxing champ Oscar De La Hoya was at the event to plug his new U.S.-based cable channel being launched this spring, De La Hoya TV. The channel has already locked in a partnership with DSI by Inverleigh, which is the content arm of the international sports outfit Inverleigh Media Holdings.

Cisneros Media and Turner Broadcasting System Latin America announced a new strategic alliance to exploit their common interests and assets in Latin America. Cisneros Media Distribution signed an agreement with Sierralta Entertainment for the co-production of an English-language season of Latin Angels, targeting the U.S. market. Also, Intro Pictures (a.k.a. IoIo Filmes) entered into a deal with Cisneros Media Distribution to adapt the series DeMente Criminal (Criminal MasterMind) in Brazil.

Meanwhile, Sony Pictures Television and Televisa revealed the second co-production under their previously established partnership: El Dandy, a new original teleseries based on the film Donnie Brasco.

Globo, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, hosted a breakfast at NATPE to present its 2015 catalogue, which includes novelas such as Empire alongside a slate of miniseries, comedies, dramas, feature films and TV movies. Uruguay’s Teledoce picked up Globo’s Precious Pearl, which last year won the International Emmy for best telenovela.

Several format deals were closed during the market, including Keshet International licensing the game show BOOM! to TVN in Chile. The company scored another deal for the format with Argentina’s Telefe. New agreements were signed by FremantleMedia International for the global formats Family Feud, Got Talent and Idols in Latin America.

GRB Entertainment, meanwhile, secured a number of sales from its catalogue at NATPE, including a deal for the Whitney Houston special Remembering Whitney. The company also inked an agreement with Olympusat for the U.S. Hispanic rights for the Spanish-language version of West Coast Customs: La Competencia. BBC Worldwide sold a range of content to three platforms in Chile: state broadcaster TVN, Chilevision and pay-TV operator VTR. In the way of kids’ content, 9 Story Media Group sold the animated preschool series Peg + Cat to Discovery Kids in Latin America, including Mexico, Brazil and Argentina.

With its slew of sessions, panels, Q&As and keynotes, along with the brisk business being done by attendees, NATPE 2015 proved to be a busy and fruitful three days.