A number of large U.S. studios are holding their post-L.A. Screenings, new season screenings at what is now known as NATPE Budapest International (or NBI), the newest in a long line of name changes for a market that started out as DISCOP in 1991.
Unique this year are the unusually cool temperatures, and the fact that Fox is holding its screenings on June 28th, the last day of the four-day market. As for the other U.S. studios, Warner Bros. screened on Monday, the 25th, CBS on the morning of the 26th, and NBCUni that same afternoon. In effect, CBS offered breakfast and NBCUni took care of lunch, both at the same theater: the Puskin Mozi, a 250-seat cinema with a bar and restaurant facilities, located just a 15-minute walk from the InterContinental, NBI’s headquarters. Warner Bros. held its event there, as well, a day earlier. Fox will use a different facility, the Danube Palace, a five-minute walk from the InterContinental.
All the U.S. studios are exhibiting at NBI, including Sony Pictures, Viacom/Paramount, and MGM. In total there are 154 exhibiting companies, of which 27 are from the U.S., 25 are from the U.K., 13 are from France, a surprising 11 hail from Canada, and 10 are from Germany. Among the exhibiting indies are: eOne, KEW, Lionsgate, A+E, and Banijay. As usual, all the major Turkish distribution companies are exhibiting, as are the larger Italian, Japanese, and South Korean content sellers.
WB screened before NBI’s exhibition floor officially opened, bringing buyers to the market earlier than usual, while Fox’s last-day screenings will lead many buyers to stay in town longer than they customarily would, which will benefit indie distributors.
This year, it seems as though the entire NBI conference schedule — which includes a number of events at the tail-end of the market, including the main party — is deliberately geared towards extending the stays of both buyers and sellers.
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