What emerged from the May 2023 L.A. Screenings edition of VideoAge has been really promising. After a two-year in-person hiatus, the L.A. Screenings returned last year to an audience that was full of expectations that are actually expected to be fulfilled this year. The upcoming event will draw more than 70 exhibitors to the Century Plaza hotel in the Century City area of Los Angeles. It will be held May 17-19 for the independents, while the studios will screen May 20-25 on their lots.
The number isn’t at par with pre-pandemic times, when more than 85 content exhibitors showed their wares at the Century City’s InterContinental Hotel (now closed), but this time around the concurrently running Content LA (which will unspool one floor below the L.A. Screenings Independents’ registration area at the Century Plaza) is sure to keep the lobby area buzzing.
VideoAge has been publishing the L.A. Screenings Guide since 1989 and its editions have documented the Screenings’ dramatic evolution throughout the years.
What we saw from the VideoAge guides published during the pandemic (2020-2021) and the post-pandemic recovery of 2022, is how the industry was thrown off balance by the full embrace of streaming, and now –– with the streaming platforms being resized –– how the industry is slowly returning to the past economic business models that generated huge profits rather than sticking with streaming and its huge losses. The number of international buyers are also not at par with pre-pandemic periods, nevertheless all key content acquisition executives from all territories are expected to be in attendance.
Back on the lot since 2019 is Fox Studios, and this Issue will list its broadcast productions, its distributed fare, and will feature a description of its upgraded facilities.
This May edition of VideoAge also directs streaming executives to look at the early introduction of similar capital-intensive investments by utilities like electricity and telephony.
The Issue also offers a solution to the warring factions of the Miami and Budapest TV markets. Readers may also want to catch up with the recent planned relocation of the American Film Market. And they will get all of this without neglecting a roster of new content coming from independent international companies, and naturally, the usual list of new pilots for consideration for the 2023-2024 U.S. broadcast season. And, speaking of the new season, the book review features the revelations of a casting director involved with the production of pilots.
For those who like to rummage through past events, there is also a review of the challenges facing the recent MIP market in Cannes. But the most surprising aspect of this Issue are the advertisers coming from an unusually large number of countries. Indeed, they hail from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Mexico, Peru, South Africa, Spain, Turkey, U.K., and the U.S.
The full Issue can be read here.
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