Water Cooler

By Leah Hochbaum Rosner

After nine years in Saint-Tropez, TV France International is moving its 13th annual Le Rendez-Vous French TV Screenings, which will take place September 3-7, north to Biarritz, a seaside town near the Spanish border in southwestern France, known as one of the surfing capitals of Europe.

“We had to move to accommodate an increasing number of participants,” said Mathieu Bejot, managing director of TV France International. More than 240 buyers have already confirmed attendance at the market — a marked increase from last year’s 200 — representing more than 120 channels from 40 countries. In addition, 54 French exhibitors will also be on hand to meet and greet television executives from all over the globe. Le Rendez-Vous is the first European television market of the fall season, as well as a key event for French exporters hoping to shore up programming for their yearly slates.

“We are very excited to change the venue,” said Bejot, who is eager for participants to see the market’s bigger, better locale. “We’re delighted to welcome this record number of buyers.” He also wanted to assure participants worried that the larger accommodations would somehow change the event that this was not the case. “At the same time, we want to make sure that, while it keeps growing in terms of attendance and business, Le Rendez-Vous maintains its distinct flavor.”

There seems to be no danger of the conference losing that flavor. Le Rendez-Vous has long been known for the high quality of its screenings. A completely digital video library allows buyers to access vast quantities of French programs. “Buyers no longer need to line up to borrow tapes,” said Bejot, harkening back to the videotape days of yesteryear in which buyers had to painstakingly rewind tapes after they finished watching a show, and then queue up to return them. It was a tedious and lengthy process that everyone is glad has been usurped by a technologically advanced system. “Programs can be browsed through or screened thoroughly according to everyone’s needs. As a result, there are now three times as many screenings — around 9,000 — as there used to be.”

Bejot went on to say that: “The priority given to screenings and to programs is a definite bonus [at Le Rendez-Vous]. We also benefit from being a focused market, which allows for intensive business meetings and socializing at the same time.”

Though the conference is in its 13th year, it has been steadily growing. The 2006 event saw sales representatives from 54 French production and distribution companies who presented a record 785 programs — up 15 percent from the previous year. The 2005 market drew 216 television executives (up 20 percent from 175 in 2004), who represented 118 broadcasters in 47 countries. The 2005 event also pulled in representatives from 42 French production and distribution firms.

“Our aim is to provide buyers and sellers with the best business environment, including top screenings facilities and business meetings conducted in a casual, friendly atmosphere,” concluded Bejot.

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By Leah Hochbaum Rosner

The resort town of Antalya is once again getting ready to host Turkey’s premier national film event. Preparations are underway for the 44th annual Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival, which will take place October 19-28, 2007. The event, jointly organized by the Foundation of Culture and Arts in Antalya (Antalya Kültür Sanat Vakfı, AKSAV) and the Foundation of Turkish Cinema and Audiovisual Culture (Türkiye Sinema ve Audiovisuel Kültür Vakfı, TÜRSAK), will also host the third edition of the International Eurasia Film Festival — which began as the international section of Antalya but has quickly become a major global draw.

Considered the Golden Orange Film Fest’s “international gateway to the world,” the Eurasia event will open with Ang Lee’s Lust, Caution, the latest film from the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain director. Other flicks that will screen both in and out of competition include Control, a biopic about Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis; Gus Van Sant’s Paranoid Park; Julian Schnabel’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly; Daniele Luchetti’s My Brother is an Only Child; Catherine Breillat’s An Old Mistress; and Robert Thalheim’s And Along Come Tourists.

Prizes will be awarded by a jury of expert film critics from European and Asian countries. A new feature of this year’s Eurasia festival will be a special jury prize from the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema (NETPAC).

This year, Antalya has created the Script Development Fund, a new resource with the goal of encouraging Turkish co-production initiatives. TURSAK (the festival’s organizing committee) has asked that co-producers (at least one of whom must be of Turkish origin) send in applications as well as screenplay treatments (10-15 pages long) to the TURSAK Foundation in order to be considered. The top five projects will then be chosen by an electoral body from the Antalya Festival, and will be announced on October 10. The producers and scriptwriters of the chosen projects will then be invited to the festival to make presentations about their scripts and explain why their movie should win the $20,000 pot.

In addition, Eurasia is launching the Eurasia Production Platform, which was designed to be a global congregation of sorts, wherein producers from all over the world can meet, greet and trade production tips. This year’s platform will host internationally operating producers Joachim von Vietinghoff (The Man From London), Antoine Simkin (Fissures), Rustam Ybragimbekov (Nomad) and Andrei Sigle (Sun, Alexandra), who will discuss their new projects.

Eurasia will also include an homage to recently passed silver screen auteurs Ingmar Bergman and Michelangelo Antonioni. The festival will honor the directors’ impressive contributions to the film canon by showcasing some of their most famous works. Bergman’s Scenes From a Marriage and Saraband will be featured to Antalya attendees, as will Antonioni classics Beyond the Clouds and Blow Up.

German actress Hanna Schygulla will be on hand to accept a special “Honor Award” for her eclectic oeuvre and lifetime achievement. Schygulla has worked with pioneering directors of the New German Cinema movement, such as Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Wim Wenders.

Aside from the many prizes, the International Eurasia Film Festival is a great place to watch international movies that are making waves the world over. While this part of the Antalya Golden Orange Film Festival is only in its third year, festival organizers surely realize that after acting global, there’s no thinking local.

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By Leah Hochbaum Rosner

Television executives’ calendars are nearly overflowing with trade shows each year. MIPCOM, MIP-TV, SPORTELMonaco, the L.A. Screenings, NATPE and AFM, among others, have TV people flying around the world almost constantly. So, is there room on the slate for yet another market?

Maritza Guimet thinks so. Guimet is president of the Florida Media Market (FMM), an organization that aims to provide a platform where independent filmmakers can meet with international buyers, distributors and production companies to buy, sell and network their product. FMM is holding its second annual Global Film & Media conference October 18-21 at the Alexander Resort in Miami Beach, Florida.

Imagine, a market where producers become the sellers and distributors are the buyers. Up until now, sellers faced uphill battles looking to license product to replenish their distribution pipes. And the same can be said for producers who look either for some upfront money or to assign distribution rights.

“Our goal for the conference is to fill the gap between independent content makers and film executives,” said Guimet. “We want to find a way to link up people who have brilliant ideas with the financiers who can help them create the product they long to create.”

Although the market launched last year, Guimet, who began her career as an actress before moving behind the scenes, believes that everything will essentially launch anew with the upcoming event. “Last year we had just 13 vendors,” she said. While it’s still too early to know just how many people will make it to the floor this year, Guimet is positive numbers will far exceed the more low-key 2006 affair.

The conference will feature three different tracks. The first, “Let’s Make a Deal” will bring together more than 200 media execs from more than 13 countries for four days of buying and selling. The track will feature networking breakfasts and lunches, as well as appointment-only one-on-one sessions in which filmmakers can search for co-production partners to help finance their projects. Track two, entitled “Teach Me Something I Don’t Already Know,” is a series of educational workshops and panels featuring experts who’ll share their marketing, advertising, financing and international project management tips for working in the U.S., Latin America, Asia and Europe. Track three, called “Independent Showcases,” will allow independent content creators to demonstrate their work to television and film producers in search of new ideas. The showcase will also include pitching sessions and screenings.

Guimet’s colleague at the FMM, Gina Rudan, feels that what Guimet has done in creating this market is nothing short of amazing. “Maritza is the founder and champion of this event,” she said. “She took on the challenge of bringing together the people with the money with the people with the great ideas.”

Rudan is also of the opinion that Guimet’s decision to take the market globally immediately makes it stand out from the pack. “For people who normally don’t have access to TV executives in other parts of the world,” this event is a godsend, she said.

Cuban-born, Venezuela-raised actress and singer Maria Conchita Alonso will emcee the event, which also features an Awards Brunch, to be held on October 21. The brunch will recognize winners in a number of categories, including feature films, short films, documentaries, TV programming and screenplays.

“Never before has there been such an amazing opportunity for filmmakers and content creators to actively engage the very people who make deals happen for U.S. and international film and television projects,” said Guimet.

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By Leah Hochbaum Rosner

TV ratings measurement has always been a hotly contested issue among broadcasters, many of whom have for years claimed that Nielsen Media Research misrepresented their viewership numbers. (The process is now aggravated by the fact that commercials themselves are now being measured, but, for now, let’s stick with our original problem.) Broadcasters desire a broader definition for ratings that includes cable airings, re-runs and time-shifted viewing, while marketers want to stick with the status quo. Which begs the questions: how can a program’s audience correctly be gauged in a universe of multiple-platforms and DVRs?

The answer, according to some: “live plus,” a broad term that encompasses “live plus same day,” “live plus three” days and “live plus seven” days, the variations of Nielsen’s “live” ratings that, among others, take DVR playback into account. It’s been estimated that these days, primetime TV commercials are only viewed by roughly 8-10 percent of viewers, abysmal numbers as far as advertisers are concerned. But how can they combat this?

“Many marketers aren’t happy with ‘live plus seven,’” said Brad Adgate, senior vp and director of Research at Horizon Media, pointing out the uselessness of a viewer watching a commercial for a one-day sale that already ended. “So ‘live plus three’ is a better compromise. Since Nielsen says 95 percent of all viewing occurs within three days of a program’s initial airing, this shorter window helps placate most marketers.”

But even with these new ratings time periods, viewership continues to drop for network television. This summer alone, “live plus same day” DVR viewership, which gives audiences an extra day after a program’s original airing to watch a show, was down 2.3 million per night for the Big Four U.S. broadcast networks (ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC) — a whopping nine percent lower than last year, according to Nielsen data.

But it’s not just the heat that’s tearing people away from television. During the regular U.S. broadcast season, which ended May 23, the nets were down an average of 1.5 million viewers per night, 3.6 percent lower than the 2005-06 season.

The summer season’s loss is 60 percent more than during the regular TV season because the nets have decided it’s not economically feasible to produce scripted summer series, and must therefore rely on repeats, which, in the best of times, get only 60 percent of their regular-season numbers.

At this year’s Upfronts, NBC Universal inked a pioneering deal totaling somewhere between $800 million and $1 billion with media buying conglomerate Group M, which consists of Mindshare, mediaedge:cia and Mediacom. Despite its costliness, the really compelling part of this agreement was that Group M agreed to use “live plus three” days of ratings data. The initial agreement is across all properties: NBC, Telemundo, USA Network, Sci-Fi, Bravo, as well as digital and branded content. Group M has leveraged the deal for many of its clients, including Burger King, IBM, Sprint, Volkswagen, Cingular and Nokia.

“‘Live plus three’ is a relatively fair solution that gives the networks the time-shifted viewing and lets advertisers only pay for people who actually watch the commercials,” said an NBC Uni spokesman who spoke on condition of anonymity, before adding that time-shifted viewing is too big a percentage of today’s overall viewing to be ignored.

“It’s in the interests of both the broadcast networks and marketers to come to some sort of agreement considering the billions of dollars at play in this industry,” added Adgate.

While other nets have been slower to jump on Nielsen’s new “live plus three” bandwagon, it remains to be seen whether or not advertisers and networks will both ultimately be happy with the new arrangement. Either way, one thing’s for sure: the world has changed — and program ratings will never be the same.

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