THE BUSINESS JOURNAL OF FILM, BROADCASTING, BROADBAND, PRODUCTION, DISTRIBUTION JUNE/JULY 2012 VOL. 32 NO. 4 $9.75 In This Issue: Risks & Rewards Jane Fonda, Again Perennial Challenges L.A. Screenings Review ® www.videoage.org NATPE To Energize In September, Italians Keep Budapest’s TV Market Int’l Film-TV Execs Captive Venice Film Fest, Prix Italia, Roma Fiction Fest BY SARA ALESSI eptember is becoming an Roma Fiction Fest, which will be held in ATPE’s board finally appointed Rod Perth president and CEO of the important month for the the central part of Italy from September venerable U.S. TV market organizer last month (see World section), Italian entertainment sector 30 to October 5. after conducting a search to replace outgoing CEO Rick Feldman that thanks to a number of film One could even call this trifecta of lasted a month longer than anticipated. and TV trade events. (Continued on Page 22) The announcement couldn’t The have been timelier, with NATPE multimedia Biarritz Makes TV Biz Budapest now upon us. (When Sslate of bazaars starts in the NATPEN acquired full control of DISCOP East Northeast with the 69th Ritzy For French TV in June 2011 the market was renamed NATPE annual Venice Film Festival, Budapest). Now the million-dollar question is: an 11-day event that ends he 18th annual iteration of Le Rendez- Will changes at the NATPE organization — with Sept. 8. The film festival is Vous, the French programming event its new CEO and a new market to run — impact followed by the 6th annual sponsored by the Paris-based TV France the event in any way? VideoAge checked in with Prix Italia television festival, International (TVFI) association, will NATPE and exhibitors alike to find out. which takes place in the return to Biarritz, France September 9-13 at the Espace Bellevue Convention Center, northwest city of Turin, Most NATPE Budapest exhibitors were the same location as last year. enthusiastic about their futures work with Sept. 16-21. The “Prix” will (Continued on Page 20) Rod Perth, NATPE’s new CEO precede another event, the T (Continued on Page 16) When Content Is UbiQuitous BY LUCY COHEN BLATTER elevision viewers worldwide have made it clear that they want to access programming across myriad digital devices. But until now there has never been an international market dedicated solely to these new formsT of entertainment deliveries. Enter UbiQ, the first international Digital Entertainment Showcase, taking place June 18-19 in Paris, France. The event, which will be held in the city’s landmark Palais Brongniart (site of the former stock exchange) will “spotlight the best of digital entertainment — content creation, business case studies and winning strategies to engage with audiences and maximize ROI across all digital platforms — Internet, mobile, IPTV, connected TV, tablets and social media,” according to a release. “‘Anytime, Anywhere, Any Device (ATAWAD)’ now fully defines consumer expectations as well as media and advertiser obligations,” said Gwénaël Flatres, CEO of UbiQ Events, and former (Continued(Continued on on Page Page 44) 18) From creation to consumption, across multiple platforms and countless nationalities, NAB Show® is home to the solutions that transcend traditional broadcasting and embrace content delivery to new screens in new ways. SAVE THE DATE 2013 CONFERENCES April 6–11 EXHIBITS April 8–11 Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas, Nevada USA www.nabshow.com ONTENTSVIDEO AGE • No.4 • June 201 2 Cover stories: 10. L.A. Screenings Review. Nets happy, NATPE to energize Budapest’s studios content, buyers exhausted TV market without DISCOP but ecstatic When content is UbiQuitous. New digital TV market opens in Paris in September C Italians keep international film-TV execs captive with Venice Film Fest, Prix Italia Risk and reward have to make and Roma Fiction Fest 14. a fine balance in TV schedules Le Rendez-Vous: Biarritz makes biz ritzy for French television 24. Prix Italia 2012: Activities and schedules. Plus, NBCUniversal Global Networks Italia’s channel highlights 4. World. U.S. (Cable Wi-Fi, ICM, 26. Panini’s Licensing Machine ad-skipper NATPE), Hungary 28. Travel, conference news and calendar of events 8. Book Review. Jane Fonda and the creation 30. My 2¢: Challenges never go away of a new Hollywood: Stardom with a cause Additionally, Comcast revealed a based on outdoor sports magazine number of other ventures, including an Outside, on its systems in cities such as app allowing people to use gestures to Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Portland and control their TVs. The cable operator San Francisco as part of a specialty tier of has been working on making hand-held sports and lifestyle channels. devices like iPhones and iPads function NATC chief, Michael Powell, a former as remote controls, and now an iPhone chairman of the FCC, the U.S. regulatory can be used as a remote control, and the agency, warned that the government keypad can be used to search for content should not over-regulate the Internet by title as part of Comcast’s X1 cloud- because it is a developing industry. Cox, announced they’re joining forces enabled TV platform, which stores MSOs Team content in a virtual file. The service will However, there is some concern among on a Wi-Fi initiative. This venture would media watchdogs that the absence of allow the cable companies’ respective launch on Comcast’s Boston systems Up for Wi-Fi before reaching the rest of the U.S. government oversight or weak oversight subscribers to access Wi-Fi in “public hot could lead cable and phone companies Another endeavor is Comcast’s Project t the National Cable and spots,” even if they are in an area that is that deliver broadband to have an Dayview service, which can transform Telecommunications not served by their local cable provider. advantage over other services. TVs into virtual planners featuring Association Convention Increasingly, cable companies have meeting schedules, TV schedules, (NATC), which was held been offering their customers free Wi-Fi emails and traffic reports. Project last month in Boston, several in public areas Aoutside DREAM the SIGNEDhome via Dayview works on TVs, laptops, tablets major U.S. cableEGYPTIAN TV firms, OASES their mobile devices. In fact, the cable Ad-Skipper Flares ROGER FEDERER and smartphones. Finally, Comcast including Comcast(DOCUMENTARIES) Corp., 6 companiesx 12’ - 1 x 35’ taking part in this initiative announced that it inked a deal to carry CASH(DOCUMENTARIES) 25’ U.S. Broadcasters TimeA Warner Cable, Cablevision and already have over 50,000 hot spots. Outside Television, a cable network ish Network’s new Auto Hop feature, which allows its U.S. satellite TV subscribers to skip advertisements while watching recorded broadcast TV shows, is ruffling feathers at the major U.S. broadcast Programs Dnetworks, and FOX Broadcasting, NBCUniversal and CBS Corp. have sued the satellite company. Although pay-TV subscribers with digital video recorders are already able to fast-forward through commercials, Auto Hop goes one step further: Dish customers can record primetime programming for later viewing, and during commercial SinestesiaSinestesia breaks, the screen blacks out, with the A film by Erik Bernasconi program returning within seconds. The service is only offered for primetime "Sinestesia" chronicles the vicissitudes of four young adults in broadcast programming, not for cable two moments of their lives which are in turn linked to two programming, nor can it be used for live dramatic episodes three years apart. The intervening years see broadcast shows such as sports events. the characters confronted by the usual joys and difficulties of everyday life. However, they also find themselves having to The networks claim that the ad-skipping react to a destiny which, every now and again, places a cross- feature violates copyrights and, according roads in our way. to a statement from FOX is, “destroying the fundamental underpinnings of the broadcast television ecosystem.” Although not all of Dish Network’s 14 million subscribers have access to Auto Hop, TV executives are worried the service could adversely impact their business model by Fiction - 2010 - 1h30’ keeping them from being able to charge 16/9 High definition premiums for their commercial time. Coproduction: Imagofilm - The service was rolled out on May 10, RSI Radiotelevisione svizzera around the time broadcasters began their negotiations with advertisers over the sale of commercial time for the 2012- Our complete catalogue 2013 TV season. on rsi.ch/sales FOX, NBC and CBS filed their suits in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, while Dish Network countered with its own suit against FOX, NBC, CBS and Documentaries ABC (which is expected to join the other Swiss Television broadcast nets) in U.S. District Court Fiction Sales Office in New York. Dish does not believe Auto Hop violates any laws and is not Children CH 6903 Lugano convinced it will “substantially change Entertainment Switzerland Tel. +41 91 803 54 82 established consumer behavior.” Classical Music Fax +41 91 803 57 25 Years ago, the broadcast networks sued Jazz - Pop - Rock salesoffi[email protected] a similar service, ReplayTV, and won on copyright infringement grounds. (Continued on Page 6) 4 VIDEO • AGE J UNE 2 0 1 2 Hungária’s FTA service MinDig TV is now more than 210,000 subscribers, or 22 core business (film, TV, publishing and available in over 300,000 homes with seven percent of satellite homes. T-Home has touring) are now partners of the 400-person channels. Its pay-TV counterpart MinDig 28 percent and the rest are shared between firm, which was renamed ICM Partners. TV Extra has over 63,000 subscribers for Hello HD and Magyar Telekom, which is The buyout plan began after a group its 24 channels.