World Screen Content Trendsetter Awards

For the fourth consecutive year, World Screen is teaming up with Reed MIDEM at MIPCOM to present the Content Trendsetter Awards to four programming executives to honor their contributions to the television industry.

This year’s winners, ITV’s Sasha Breslau, Globo’s Paulo Mendes, Nine Entertainment’s Les Sampson and SundanceTV’s Christian Vesper, reflect today’s varied and ever-evolving media landscape. ITV is the U.K.’s leading commercial network. Besides its flagship ITV network, it has a bouquet of digital channels and a catch-up service. Globo, Brazil’s market-leading network, is the envy of broadcast networks all over the world. It is able to consistently garner 20-, 30-, even 40-percent audience shares. Nine is one of three commercial networks in Australia. Rather than see viewers migrate to competing on-demand services, it is launching its own SVOD platform. SundanceTV in the U.S. is riding cable television’s wave of critically acclaimed, highly serialized shows that capture viewers’ attention and feed the binge-viewing craze.

The challenge facing all linear channels today, whether broadcast, cable or satellite, is to extend their offerings in order to reach viewers wherever they may be and on whatever screen they prefer. As a consequence, network schedules and on-demand menus must be rich in variety. It is the main responsibility of the four Content Trendsetter Award winners to source must-watch programming that will draw viewers and brand their networks or services.

They will be presented with their awards at the end of the Acquisition Superpanel: What Do Buyers Want? session, which will take place on Wednesday, October 15, in the Grand Auditorium in the Palais des Festivals from 12:15 p.m. to 1 p.m. The discussion, moderated by World Screen’s group editorial director, Anna Carugati, will cover topics that range from spotting shows that work with local audiences to negotiating the complex maze of rights required to provide shows on multiple platforms.

“We are thrilled to be working with our friends at Reed MIDEM for the fourth consecutive year to honor these leading programmers with the World Screen Content Trendsetter Awards,” says Ricardo Guise, the president and publisher of World Screen. “In their respective territories of the U.S., U.K., Australia and Brazil—among the most vibrant and dynamic TV markets in the world—these executives have developed keen eyes for spotting top-notch, on-brand imports to satisfy their demanding audiences. At the Acquisition Superpanel at MIPCOM, we’ll hear them share insights into their approaches to finding the best the global market has to offer. The must-attend session will surely provide plenty of useful information for anyone in the business of producing, buying or selling content in the new golden age of television. We are delighted to be honoring their achievements at MIPCOM.”

Sasha Breslau
Head of Acquired Series
ITV, U.K.

In this golden age of television, there is no shortage of quality series, and they are coming from so many countries, not just the U.S. and the U.K. There is Scandinavian noir drama, transatlantic co-produced event TV movies and miniseries, German cop shows and so much more. It is Sasha Breslau’s task to search through the seemingly endless options and match shows to ITV’s portfolio of channels. What won’t find a home on the main network ITV could very well be placed on ITV2, ITV3 or ITV4, which are the U.K.’s most successful digital channels, or the recently launched lifestyle channel, ITVBe. Breslau joined ITV in 2008. She previously worked at Channel 4, in both new media and acquisitions. Among the shows she has recently acquired are The Americans for ITV, Mom and the Real Housewives franchise for ITV2 and Storage Wars for ITV4.

Paulo Mendes
Director of Acquisitions
TV Globo, Brazil

The eyes of the world were on Brazil this summer as it hosted the FIFA World Cup, and a huge global audience witnessed Globo’s production prowess as it provided coverage of all the matches. But TV Globo’s expertise extends far beyond sports. As the market-leading network in Brazil, it offers a schedule chock-full of entertainment shows, telenovelas, series, news and current affairs, in addition to the country’s beloved football. Paulo Mendes must complement this strong slate of domestic fare with the best programming from around the world. He heads the acquisition team and buys films and TV series from independent producers as well as from the Hollywood studios. Some recent buys include Homeland, Revenge, 24: Live Another Day and Under the Dome, although Mendes points out that he buys from France, the U.K. and Russia as well.

Christian Vesper
Senior VP of Scripted Programming and Current
SundanceTV, U.S.A.

SundanceTV, a sister channel to AMC and owned by AMC Networks, is dedicated to making television that is as distinctive as the best independent films. It launched in 1996, and through the years it has remained faithful to founder Robert Redford’s mission of celebrating creativity. Today, Christian Vesper is responsible for sourcing and developing original scripted projects that fit the channel’s goals to present non-formulaic and daring stories—whether those stories originate in the U.S. or elsewhere. He served as executive producer for the miniseries Top of the Lake, co-produced with the BBC, and was involved in the development of the series Rectify and The Red Road. He also took part in the acquisition and development of the Golden Globe-winning miniseries Carlos, and has acquired the documentary The Staircase, series such as Slings and Arrows and Peter Bogdanovich's film Runnin’ Down a Dream.

Les Sampson
Director of Acquisitions, StreamCo
Nine Entertainment, Australia

Australia’s television market is vibrant and diverse, and among its many outlets are three highly competitive commercial networks, a public broadcaster and a successful pay-TV platform. Les Sampson is a television executive with extensive experience in free TV and pay TV in Australia and in the U.K. He began his career at Nine Network as a management cadet, and then worked his way up to programming executive. He later became controller of the Sky channels at BSkyB in the U.K. He then moved back to Australia and worked at the pay-TV company Foxtel as general manager of its owned and operated channels and as general manager of acquisitions, sales and content. In 2008, he returned to Nine Network as director of acquisitions, and earlier this year was put in charge of content acquisition for Nine’s soon-to-launch SVOD service.