And they’re off! Well, technically, the indie portion of the L.A. Screenings 2022 actually started yesterday (Wednesday, May 18). It will continue until tomorrow, before being taken over by the U.S. studios, which, this time around, will do without Fox and Disney.

There are 66 companies exhibiting on the indies side at the renovated Century Plaza Hotel, which is now under the Fairmont brand (which in turn is part of the French conglomerate Accor). These exclude last minute cancellations and companies that are just participating without exhibiting.

On the studio side are NBCUni, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros. Discovery. Lionsgate and MGM will also be there. Disney LATAM will be screening in a hotel room at the Century Plaza.

In terms of buyers, the return of the in-person L.A. Screenings — after skipping two events due the pandemic — has found not only Fox and Disney missing, but also a reduced number of acquisition executives (about 50 percent less than 2019). However, the ones who are attending are high-level, and all are excited (at least those contacted by VideoAge) to be returning to Hollywood to screen the new 2022-2023 TV season.

In terms of territories, all the countries’ representatives that were at past events are attending, with the exception of Asian countries, many of which will be represented by U.S.-based executives this year. The largest contingent is from Europe, especially Germany, the U.K., Italy, and France, all scattered at their favorite hotels. LATAM also has a large contingent of program buyers, who will mainly be housed at the Century Plaza Hotel. Another large contingent has headed south from Canada. It reportedly has the largest number of buyers this year.

As for the Century Plaza, the renovated hotel has a nice lobby that was bustling with L.A. Screenings participants. Some of them commented that the long corridors were empty, but that was because many exhibitors rented corner suites.

As for the buyers, Canada’s Aldo Di Felice, president of TLN, concluded Canada Day with the U.S. studios and is now cruising the Century Plaza in search of indie fare.

And, according to Carmen Roberts, Communication director for Chile’s Canal 13, her network’s top executive, Maximiliano Luksic, is roaming the Century Plaza looking for Latin and Turkish telenovelas.

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