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THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • NOVEMBER 2014
www.worldscreen.com
AFM and Pre-International Emmys Edition
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CONTENTS
NOVEMBER 2014/AFM & PRE-INTERNATIONAL EMMYS EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW
Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise
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Editor Anna Carugati
A note from the editor.
UPFRONTS
Executive Editor Mansha Daswani
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New content on the market.
SPOTLIGHT
Managing Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Associate Editor Joanna Padovano
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MarVista’s Fernando Szew.
IN THE NEWS
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22
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Associate Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Jessica Rodríguez
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Breakthrough’s Nat Abraham.
WORLD’S END
Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari
Assistant Editor Joel Marino Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider
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In the stars.
Special Projects Editor Bob Jenkins Online Director Simon Weaver Production & Design Director Victor L. Cuevas Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell Sales & Marketing Director Cesar Suero Sales & Marketing Coordinator Faustyna Hariasz Business Affairs Manager Terry Acunzo Senior Editor Kate Norris Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Juliana Koranteng Jane Marlow Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood
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Copy Editor Maddy Kloss
SPECIAL REPORT
16 INDIES TAKE OFF Producers and distributors of TV movies are finding new opportunities in the on-demand, nonlinear world. —Anna Carugati
CONTENT TRENDSETTERS
26 ACQUISITION SUPERPANEL WORLD SCREEN is published nine times per year: January, March, April, May, June/July, September, October, November and December. Annual subscription price: Inside the U.S.: $90.00 Outside the U.S.: $160.00 Send checks, company information and address corrections to: WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. For a free subscription to our newsletters, please visit www.worldscreen.com.
World Screen Content Trendsetter Awards were presented to programmers from the U.S., U.K., Australia and Brazil following the Acquisition Superpanel at MIPCOM. —Mansha Daswani
ONE-ON-ONE
28 SUNDANCETV’S SARAH BARNETT The president and general manager of SundanceTV discusses the channel’s approach to original storytelling. —Anna Carugati 6 World Screen 11/14
Ricardo Seguin Guise President Anna Carugati Executive VP & Group Editorial Director Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development WORLD SCREEN is a registered trademark of WSN INC. 1123 Broadway, Suite 1207 New York, NY 10010, U.S.A. Phone: (212) 924-7620 Fax: (212) 924-6940 Website: www.worldscreen.com ©2014 WSN INC. Printed by Fry Communications No part of this publication can be used, reprinted, copied or stored in any medium without the publisher’s authorization.
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WORLD VIEW
BY ANNA CARUGATI
Open to Change As many of you know, I injured my foot recently and have been hobbling around on crutches for the past several weeks. As someone who a) loves to walk and has walking as her favorite mode of transportation in Manhattan, and b) hates to draw attention to herself, this chipped bone and torn muscles have been a bit of a setback. But just as the saying goes, there is a silver lining in every cloud and I have actually found several silver linings. First, the numerous acts of kindness bestowed upon me. I’ve known that New Yorkers, who are regularly considered rude and uncaring, are the first to rise to the occasion when there is a problem. Countless numbers of people have held open doors, ceded their subway seat, or even patiently waited as I slowly walked up subway stairways like a baby, same foot taking each step—the healthy left one—rather than using both feet to climb the stairs. In Cannes during MIPCOM, in the rain, in the taxi line in front of the Palais, I was third in line and perfectly willing to wait my turn, but the two people in front of me, without hesitating, let me take the first taxi that arrived. I actually felt bad, but since I must have looked ridiculous trying to juggle the crutches and the umbrella, winding up with a crutch over my head and the umbrella by my foot, I took the taxi! And for anyone who may have thought that Delta Air Lines’ personnel can be a tad snippety, well, show up at the gate in a wheelchair and kindness abounds—on the part of passengers, too. Another benefit of the béquilles, (the French word for crutches) was that when I arrived for an interview or even just met someone in a hotel or in the hallways of the Palais, they gave me a little more of their time than I had anticipated, and time is a very rare commodity at these markets. In these longer than usual conversations, I gained valuable insight into some of the trends in the television industry. One nugget of information I found particularly interesting is that the business seems to be moving into a “post-windows” era. Not that windowing product isn’t as important, if not more important, than ever—it is. But from what I hear, in mature markets, the SVOD platforms are now known entities. Distributors have a better idea of what kind of deals they can get, how much they can make in license fees between broadcasters, cable and satellite channels, digital channels, catch-up services, and SVOD or AVOD platforms. There is less guesswork involved. Less, Let’s throw this against the wall
Smart companies learn to adapt quickly, but
most importantly, they
listen very carefully to what their clients need.
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and see if it sticks. More calculated moves across a chessboard of possible rights. This doesn’t mean the television landscape isn’t constantly evolving; it certainly is and technology continues to disrupt and offer opportunities to those distributors who can see through the disruption. Take the TV-movie business. Producers and distributors in this slice of the industry have to be particularly attuned to changing landscapes and broadcasters’ needs. There are still homes for the traditional female thrillers or action-adventure made-for-television movies on free-to-air broadcasters. There is new demand for movies aimed at tweens or teens and constant demand for movies the entire family can watch together, especially during the Christmas holiday season. Edgier films, with more action or violence, find homes on pay-TV platforms. Digital platforms can be hungry for all sorts of content, often documentary features and biopics. And several execs I talked to, whose companies have historically only made TV movies, are branching out into theatrical releases, in the horror genre in particular. That thrill of being scared half out of your wits is quite universal! But the biggest trend I’ve heard about is that the business is so dynamic and ever-changing that once you think there is a fixed rule about something, it can change in an instant with a new device, screen, platform or viewing habit. Smart companies learn to adapt quickly, but most importantly, they listen very carefully to what their clients need. In this issue, we have interviews with MarVista Entertainment’s Fernando Szew, Breakthrough Entertainment’s Nat Abraham and SundanceTV’s Sarah Barnett. SundanceTV is a typical example of a channel that has responded to its market. Viewers in the U.S. cable arena love serialized scripted series and Barnett and her team have carefully acquired, co-produced or produced series that can sit alongside the best-of-the-bunch independent movies the channel is known for airing. In the process, they are open to ideas from the U.S. and outside the U.S. Listening, adapting and creative risk-taking— now more than ever, these are required for success in today’s television landscape. Equally important is being open to change, kind of like getting used to life on crutches.
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UPFRONTS
American Cinema International Love Finds You in Charm / Wish You Well / Rosemont American Cinema International (ACI) has in its catalogue a number of family titles, which Chevonne O’Shaughnessy, the company’s president, says there is strong demand for. At this year’s American Film Market (AFM), ACI is bringing out the family dramas Wish You Well, about a girl and her younger brother who move in with their great-grandmother following a family tragedy, and Rosemont, which takes place during a blizzard that occurs just before Christmas. There’s also the family drama Resilient Love, about a high-school basketball player who returns to the court following a high-risk brain surgery. Another top offer is the TV movie Love Finds You in Charm, the story of an Amish girl who must choose between staying in the community she was raised in or venturing out into the wide world.
“These are familyfriendly films featuring great casts, and that’s a combination that works globally.” —Chevonne O’Shaughnessy Rosemont
Artist View Entertainment A Dark Reflection / The Adventures of Pepper & Paula / The Last Rescue The feature-length A Dark Reflection, one of Artist View Entertainment’s AFM highlights, is a thriller based on a set of true events that follows a female investigative reporter’s journey. Artist View is also showcasing The Adventures of Pepper & Paula, about an amusement-park entertainer and her canine friend. “This fun family adventure will be a big success for the daytime playable and DVD sell-thru buyers,” says Scott Jones, Artist View’s president. On the action front, the company is offering The Last Rescue, a film set during World War II that deals with one soldier’s need to find the courage to save a group of POWs. According to Jones, the company hopes to place these titles within pay TV, though all platforms are suitable.
“We are fortunate to have strong relationships with our pay-TV and free-TV buyers worldwide.” —Scott Jones The Adventures of Pepper & Paula
Breakthrough Entertainment Bark Ranger / Pups United / Anne of Green Gables Family programming is at the forefront of Breakthrough Entertainment’s AFM lineup. The company is bringing to the market the film Bark Ranger, about three kids who stumble upon criminals and their hidden loot in the Yukon wilderness. When the children go missing, it’s up to a dog named Barky to find them and help them get away from the bad guys. Pups United, which is currently in preproduction, follows a golden lab named Rex who must save a stadium full of fans after uncovering a dangerous plot during a soccer tournament. Also being featured is Anne of Green Gables, which “will be one of [Breakthrough’s] most high-profile projects,” according to Tim Brown, the company’s executive VP of feature films.
“We love the kids’ and family space. Every broadcaster seems to have a need for this type of programming, so this is really a great strength of ours.” —Tim Brown Bark Ranger 10 World Screen 11/14
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Globo Brazil Avenue / The Life We Lead / Brave Woman The best-selling title in Globo’s history, Brazil Avenue, continues to win over audiences around the world. With a story written by João Emanuel Carneiro, the telenovela has been sold into 130 countries. Another highlight of the Globo catalogue is the telenovela The Life We Lead, which was filmed in HD in Brazil and Argentina and has already been licensed in 98 countries. “As it deals with universal themes such as love, friendship and the struggles that people face in their search for happiness, the telenovela has great appeal and is capable of [resonating] with various audiences,” says Raphael Corrêa Netto, Globo’s executive director of international business. Another top title this year for Globo is the telenovela Brave Woman, which has been winning audiences in several countries, according to Corrêa Netto.
“Our flagship continues to be telenovelas, which have been recognized for their unique stories and productions that reflect Globo’s quality standard.” —Raphael Corrêa Netto Brazil Avenue
Incendo The Good Sister / Forget and Forgive / Trigger Point A lead offering from Incendo, The Good Sister tells the story of a man who begins a dangerous affair with his wife’s long-lost sister. The film stars Sonya Walger (Lost) and Ben Bass (Rookie Blue). The Good Sister is one of several female-led thrillers that the company has to offer, alongside Forget and Forgive. In this 90-minute movie of the week, homicide detective Anna Walker awakes with amnesia after a brutal attack and must race to uncover not only her identity, but also that of the assailant. Trigger Point, which stars Jordan Hinson, is about a girl who joins a campus activist group, which may wind up having deadly consequences. Gavin Reardon, the head of international sales and co-productions at Incendo, notes that each of these titles has been “crafted with the international market in mind.”
“All our films are fast-paced, well-produced female-led thrillers.” —Gavin Reardon Forget and Forgive
Lightning Entertainment Ask Me Anything / Indigenous / Now Add Honey Among the films being presented by Lightning Entertainment is the horror thriller Indigenous. The movie is about a group of young friends who travel to an exotic tropical paradise for a week of partying. The trip takes a deadly turn when they find out that bloodthirsty, flesh-eating creatures are stalking them. Indigenous was part of the midnight offerings at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The film slate also includes the dark comedy Ask Me Anything and the comedy Now Add Honey. Ask Me Anything features Britt Robertson of Under the Dome, while Now Add Honey stars Portia de Rossi and Lucy Fry. “We always look for stars and genre in the films we sell,” says Ken DuBow, the executive VP and general manager at Lightning.
“Lightning has a long history of listening to buyers’ needs and bringing those films to market.” —Ken DuBow Indigenous 12 World Screen 11/14
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MarVista Entertainment The Brittany Murphy Story / 10.0 Earthquake / The Assault MarVista Entertainment’s AFM catalogue houses a broad range of genres, with content produced in-house and by third parties. This includes the biopic The Brittany Murphy Story, based on the late actress’s life, and The Assault, both of which premiered on Lifetime in the U.S. Also featured is the disaster and action flick 10.0 Earthquake, which stars Henry Ian Cusick (Lost, Scandal ). “We are able to deliver such a solid slate in part due to some very strong production alliances that we have made,” says Vanessa Shapiro, MarVista’s executive VP of distribution. “We have a reputation for collaborating with our programming partners around the world to determine what their audiences want and then we work diligently to either create the content ourselves or acquire the projects that meet those demands.”
“We have grown significantly, particularly in the last two or three years, into one of the largest providers of movies to the global marketplace.” —Vanessa Shapiro The Assault
Multicom Entertainment Group Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World / Send No Flowers / The Secret Life of John Paul II Multicom Entertainment Group was established by veteran TV executive Irv Holender to serve as an independent global TV distribution company. Additionally, Multicom co-produces original programming, working in joint ventures with leading broadcasters and entertainment companies. Among the titles on offer from Multicom is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, following a band of adventurers on an expedition to discover a lost world. The crime drama Send No Flowers sees a Mafia princess join forces with her estranged sister to maintain control of the family, while The Secret Life of John Paul II tells the true story of a great friendship born on the mountain peaks in northern Italy between the late Pope John Paul II and a private ski instructor.
The Secret Life of John Paul II
Red Arrow International Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot / 100 Code / Bosch Each of the three top highlights from Red Arrow International has “outstanding talent on and off camera,” according to Irina Ignatiew, the company’s managing director of global scripted distribution. Oscar winners Dame Judi Dench and Dustin Hoffman star in Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot. The project also boasts Oscarnominated screenwriter Richard Curtis (Four Weddings and a Funeral ) and Emmy Award-winning producer Hilary Bevan Jones. 100 Code is led by Dominic Monaghan (Lost) and Michael Nyqvist (the Millennium trilogy). “Created by Oscar winner Bobby Moresco, the gripping series combines a fish-out-of-water story with edgy Scandi crime at its best,” says Ignatiew. Based on Michael Connelly’s best-selling book franchise, Bosch features Hollywood veteran Titus Welliver (Argo) in his first series lead.
“All networks, and especially the many new players, are looking for original content, making TV extremely attractive for stars in front of and behind the camera.” —Irina Ignatiew Roald Dahl’s Esio Trot 14 World Screen 11/14
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Congratulations to Globo’s
ROBERTO IRINEU MARINHO on receiving the International Emmy Directorate Award
From your friends at World Screen
For the past thirteen years, World Screen has been the publisher of the International Emmy Almanac.
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Artist View's A Dark Reflection. 16 World Screen 11/14
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INDIES
TAKE OFF
Producers and distributors of TV movies are finding new opportunities in the on-demand, nonlinear world. By Anna Carugati So much of the television business has been overhauled by technology. Between niche channels, digital platforms, portable devices and second screens, it’s not surprising that TV movies and independent films have also felt the impact of the evolution of the industry. Besides the relentless pace of new developments, some channels in the U.S. have shifted their programming strategies, and economic fluctuations in several parts of the world have affected acquisition budgets. It would seem that demand for the made-for-television movie would be in jeopardy. But the producers and distributors who have been able to navigate all this change have succeeded in carving out profitable businesses despite, and sometimes even because of, the upheaval. “The universe of original movies on television is a relatively stable marketplace, though like everything else in our industry, it is quickly changing,” says Fernando Szew, the CEO of MarVista Entertainment. “There are windowing issues, digital players and theatrical day-and-date releases. It’s a very dynamic marketplace right now, very different than it was say 15 or 20 years ago, when the TV movie—or, as they called it back then, the movie of the week (MOW)—was primarily a network movie in a weekend slot.” Indeed, the MOWs on the broadcast networks in the U.S. were often television events gar-
nering high ratings. As the broadcast networks moved away from television movies, some of the cable channels, notably Lifetime and Hallmark Channel, made them a mainstay of their schedules. Then, as reality shows and original scripted series came in vogue, the number of slots for traditional TV movies diminished. However, there are still enough to justify the production of original movies, and a number of specific genres are still finding homes on channels around the world. “We are very geared toward licensing our product to the traditional broadcasters, and when it comes to movies they are very focused on certain genres,” explains Gene George, the executive VP of worldwide distribution for Starz Worldwide. “A lot of it is because they don’t get this product from the deals they have with the studios, and that is where we come in—we fill the gaps for them.” In producing and acquiring movies for distribution, Starz focuses on three main areas. The first, George says, is “the action disaster films, which have a strong family component to them—usually a family is in jeopardy or in a situation where they are tested. They then overcome their obstacles and there is a positive ending.” He continues, “The second category is female thrillers, which comes out of the demand in Europe for the type of movies that fit into Lifetime. The third category is the holiday movies, mostly Christmas titles.”
In recent years, a number of additional cable channels have started airing original movies. Besides Nickelodeon and Disney Channel with movie slots for the tween and teen crowd, Syfy offers science-fiction films and newcomers ION Television and UP (Uplifting Entertainment) are also programming films.
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE “Because there is so much diversity within television channels, we like having one or two things for everybody,” says Scott Jones, the president of Artist View Entertainment. “If Disney Channel comes in, we like to have one or two things for them. If an action or horror or scifi channel comes in, we’d like to always have one or two things to pitch to them as well.” The importance of having enough product to satisfy numerous channels’ needs stems from Jones’s experience owning video stores. “Ever since I started Artist View, we have always had a wide variety of genres,” he says. “The reason I made sure of that over the last 23 years is because of my years as a video-store owner. We were constantly buying new titles for different genres, thinking, Oh we need a new horror film for the horror section, or we need a new comedy for the comedy section. I was very fortunate to recognize that it’s entertainment and everybody has different tastes. You can’t please everybody, but you can have a nice brushstroke and have a little bit of everything.”
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American Cinema International (ACI) has carved a particularly successful niche with family-oriented movies. Titles to fill the “afternoon female slot of family entertainment is not what the majors are offering,” says Chevonne O’Shaughnessy, ACI’s president. “I want to provide that place where mom, dad, grandma, grandpa can all sit down and watch a movie together.” Among ACI’s recent titles in this genre are Wish You Well, based on a novel by David Baldacci; The Reckoning, the last of three movies based on books by Beverly Lewis; and the Ultimate Legacy, completing a trilogy based on novels by Jim Stovall.
LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE One of Lightning Entertainment’s new movies is the thriller Ask Me Anything starring Britt Robertson, who has one of the lead roles in Disney’s upcoming Tomorrowland, opposite George Clooney. “We try to get the actors who are starring in the big tentpoles, like Britt,” says Ken DuBow, the executive VP and general manager of Lightning Entertainment. “She is about to break out as an actress with Tomorrowland. If she is going to be the next emerging star, we want to get there a little bit before everyone else does.” TV movies made for U.S. outlets are also finding audiences overseas. “The Eastern European market is constantly growing; there seems to be greater demand there,” says Starz’s George. “We are doing a lot
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Starz Worldwide has done particularly well with TV-movie thrillers, including Eyewitness, about a mother/daughter rafting trip that turns deadly. in Latin America and we are actually doing quite a lot in Africa.” MarVista has also seen considerable activity in Africa. “Broadcasters there are acquiring quite a bit of content, which is very good to see,” says Szew. There is so much activity in Africa that the American Film Market (AFM) has organized a roundtable called African CoProductions: The Possibilities and the Challenges. “What we are seeing in Africa is an acceleration in their urbanization,” says Jonathan Wolf, the executive VP of the Independent Film & Television Alliance and managing director of the AFM. “This is leading to a growth in the middle class, which of course, for those who make films, is leading to more eyeballs looking at screens. While a lot of people are focused on China as the next gold rush, we also see that Africa, though the pace won’t be the same as it is in China, is going to be an area of continued long-term growth.”
There have been some territories around the world, like Italy, France and Spain, which have long held regular slots for TV movies. Even now with the economic troubles these countries are experiencing, the demand for TV movies remains strong. “We have seen some pushback in Italy—it’s gotten a little more challenging there—but France and Spain, with the right content, are still as competitive as ever,” says Starz’s George. Among Starz’s new movies are the thrillers Secret Past, about an investigative reporter teaming up with a combat vet-turned-private eye to solve a mystery, and Eyewitness, about a mother/daughter rafting trip that becomes extremely perilous. Other offerings include the Christmas movie The Holiday Tree and the sci-fi film Impact Earth. “Generally, the international market is robust as long as you have the content that people are seeking,” says Nat Abraham, the
president of distribution at Breakthrough Entertainment. “The challenge for producers, always, is to stay on the edge of the content that keeps viewers glued [to the screen]. That’s really the environment we are in. We’ve got to create engaging content that people want to come back to over and over again.”
THE RIGHT STUFF One of the reasons Starz continues to conduct good TV-movie business is that George asks his international buyers what subject matter is of interest to their audiences. “We do find out from our broadcast partners what they are looking for,” he says. “A specific example was Stolen Child, [which we developed after] talking to a broadcaster in France who told us they were looking for an adoption thriller. We talked to our Spanish partner and our Italian partner and they concurred that that would be a good topic to explore in a
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thriller. We went back and developed the property and had the movie at the next TV market. We are very responsive to the market’s needs. We try to react to the market and turn these products around so our buyers can use them. That is a big part of our strategy.” This is also a significant part of MarVista’s strategy. “We try as much as possible to work with U.S. partners on some of the creative elements of the movies we produce and acquire to make sure they will also appeal to international broadcasters,” says Szew. “International distribution is at the core of our business, and we even solicit information and ideas from international partners for development purposes.” The fact is that for some cashstrapped broadcasters in these economically challenged countries, a TV movie remains a costefficient investment. “It’s greatly efficient,” enthuses Szew. “It is an established, sound
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business in three particular countries [France, Italy and Spain]. But for us it’s a much more dynamic business, and we are not just dependent on the Southern European marketplace. A Disney Channel movie is very different from a Lifetime movie, a Hallmark movie or a Syfy movie. We treat each one of these very differently. The buyers of these movies are sometimes the same and sometimes different, and each piece of content has a different strategy as to where it best fits and where it is distributed. Again, this was not necessarily the case 15 to 20 years ago. Today, ‘the right kind of movie’ shifts over time as well.” The right kind of movie is not just the traditional TV movie. MarVista, in fact, has branched out and produced a horror movie for theatrical release, Satanic. “Where we continue to do well, and are very thankful for the success we have had, is in pay TV,” says Artist View’s Jones. “That is a place where there is still a real need for independent programming. The free-TV
Family-oriented movies are a sweet spot for American Cinema International, which represents Wish You Well with Ellen Burstyn. world is very tricky these days. There is still a lot of local programming being made and a lot of traditional movie slots are now being taken up by hour-
long reality shows. If you have the right titles, the TV stations won’t hesitate to pay you well for them, but you really have to have the right product.” Two of Artist View’s new titles are A Dark Reflection, based on a true story about an undercover news reporter who finds out that certain planes have technical problems and the air on board is not as clean as the passengers think it is, and the war movie The Last Rescue.
DVD DOLLARS
TV movies and independent features, among them Max and Me, represent a growing part of the Breakthrough Entertainment catalogue.
Among the many shifts producers and distributors of original movies have had to adapt to is the slow decline of the DVD market. “The DVD business is very difficult,” says Jones. “We are constantly fighting piracy. There are some territories where there basically is no DVD business and there are some where it is quite strong. “When Blockbuster and Hollywood Video were healthy, if you got them to take their maximum order for an independent picture, together they would buy about 38,000 DVDs,” Jones continues. “Today, with Redbox, an average strong order for an independent title is about 35,000 units. I find that very interesting because what
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it tells me is that the market is still very similar, it’s just that the model has changed dramatically.” Like Artist View, most of Lightning Entertainment’s DVD business is also primarily in the U.S. “Our DVD business is a U.S. business,” says DuBow. “It remains pretty strong because through Walmart and Redbox there still is a hard-disc business, and through Netflix and iTunes a VOD business. But there is less of a broadcast business. I came out of the U.S. syndication business. Ten years ago I would have syndicated our movies, but now I can’t syndicate any of them. There has been that shift, but we are still releasing a lot of things straight to DVD in the U.S. and around the world; there are still a number of countries—Germany, the Benelux—where DVD release is still strong. In the U.K. there are too many distributors, but the business in terms of total dollars is strong. Those countries have good DVD businesses, so if you have the right film it sells.” A question looming over the independent film industry is whether revenues from digital platforms will start to replace the loss of DVD revenue. Artist View’s Jones, for the moment, is
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Lightning touts a host of films that star well-known talents, such as Now Add Honey, a romantic comedy led by Arrested Development’s Portia de Rossi. skeptical. “The number of nonlinear platforms is greater than the actual revenue from them,” he says. “At this point I can’t say that the digital platform revenue is in any way replacing the old DVD revenue.” But again, for the right product, digital platforms have already started to provide distribution opportunities. “It is still the early days, but we are seeing some great results,” says MarVista’s Szew. “Not everything works the same for all the platforms, so each movie is approached with a bit of a different strategy. We’re seeing good success in certain genres when it comes to digital, which in a sense is not vastly different from what happened in the DVD era as well. From a macro perspective, everybody talks about how DVD was huge, and it was for some, but not every genre worked on DVD and not every movie was generating a lot of revenue.” A key is extracting the best value from each movie. At Starz,
George’s division works with Mara Winokur, the senior VP of digital at Starz Digital Media. She explains that most of the traditional TV movies, for the moment, sell to traditional linear channels better than to digital platforms. “There is one exception to the TV-movies rule— holiday films are in demand. Those sell very well. The Netflixes of the world love them,” says Winokur. While the bulk of what Winokur is selling to digital platforms is Starz’s original series, there is potential for more original movie sales. “We are seeing an emergence in a lot of territories of digital players who are interested in getting a lot of content, particularly because Netflix isn’t there yet. TV movies are somewhat valuable to those players, but the flip side is that they are all effectively start-up companies that don’t have a lot of money. I don’t think we’ve come up with a situation where one of these digital platforms is going to
pay more for TV movies than one of the traditional broadcasters, but it will be interesting to see where it is in a couple of years. Historically, we’ve seen that everybody starts with the most valuable content and then as they develop a bigger subscriber base and have more money, they can become more nuanced and start expanding their offering. Talk to us in two years and Gene [George] will be saying, Yeah, Mara took all of my movies for her digital clients!”
WINDOWS OF OPPORTUNITY Windowing product effectively is becoming more critical with every new screen. In any given territory, DVD sales and other ancillary revenues, which could be second windows or transactional digital like iTunes, are largely dependent on the initial exposure of the movie. Distributors want to ensure that even if that first sale in a given territory makes less money in the short term, the future windowing will ensure a long tail of revenue.
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But not all players in all territories are willing to window product. “In a lot of countries it is a business that is in its infancy and remains mired by government regulation,” says Lightning’s DuBow. “You have a number of Western European countries where the theater owners have enough leverage with the government that they won’t let the windows between their release and other releases shrink. You can’t do the same type of releases that have become so popular here in the U.S., like ultra VOD where it is basically day-anddate [with the theatrical release of a movie]. You can do it in the U.K. to some extent, but in France, Germany, Italy and Spain you cannot. These are big countries and there are wide separations between theatrical release and other windows. What this does is open up the opportunity for films to be pirated.” While there are still challenges to be faced, the right product tailored to the right channel, linear or nonlinear, is the key to success in the original movie business.
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WS_1114_SZEW_SPREAD_WSN_1207_IN THE NEWS 10/21/14 4:31 PM Page 1
SPOTLIGHT
MARVISTA’S
FERNANDO SZEW By Anna Carugati
Since it was founded in 2003, MarVista Entertainment has grown into a leading producer and global distributor of original movies and television series. Founding partner and CEO Fernando Szew has guided the company’s content strategy. The resulting track record of quality movies has led to coproduction alliances with major channels, including Lifetime, Hallmark Channel, Nickelodeon and Disney Channel. At the same time, because of its distribution expertise, MarVista has been able to gather ongoing feedback from international buyers. This input proves quite valuable by helping ensure that the movies MarVista produces and acquires have international appeal. Szew is now building on these successes by expanding the company’s production of TV series and launching a division dedicated to providing content to digital platforms.
WS: What has fueled the growth of your TV-movie slate? SZEW: It’s an area MarVista has been focused on for a long time. Furthermore, as we raised capital in 2011, it was with a plan in place that allowed us to hire more people, in particular on the creative side. We also reached out to the creative community at large to make sure that everybody understood that we were going to be very focused on long-form content. In macro terms, there has also been growth in that area and we caught the wave at the right time. There was a moment in time, especially during the crisis of 2008 and 2009, when it seemed like the bottom was falling out of many parts of the TV industry, including movies, and we managed to stay in the game. As things turned around internationally and [in the U.S.], we wanted to be more active. We are now either acquiring or producing approximately 40 movies per year for distribution to the international marketplace. Also, the proliferation of the digital business has contributed significantly to our growth. As such, and in order to further capture that growth, we are very excited to have recently launched MarVista Digital Entertainment to digitally distribute movies to the growing digital footprint.
WS: What channels are you working with in the U.S.? SZEW: In no particular order, we are very active with Lifetime, Hallmark, the Disney channels, Syfy, Nickelodeon and other new partners such as ION and UP. Lifetime [recently] successfully premiered two MarVista-produced movies: The Brittany Murphy Story and The Assault. Hallmark has recently announced the development of two movies with us and our partners at Two 4 The Money Media and EveryWhere Studios based on best-selling books by Karen Kingsbury, and we just released internationally several Hallmark original movies, including When Sparks Fly, Nine Lives of Christmas and Northpole. We have a teen comedy movie with Disney XD called Pants on Fire. WS: Internationally, you’ve had long-term relationships with broadcasters. Do you get feedback from them that helps inform the movies you produce and acquire? SZEW: Absolutely, more than ever. We are very, very active internationally with our distribution footprint, and what continues to differentiate us is that we work with international buyers to understand their needs and how their audiences respond. We try as much as possible to work with U.S. partners on some of the creative elements of the movies we produce and acquire to make sure they will also appeal to international broadcasters. International distribution is at the core of our business, and we even solicit information and ideas from international partners for development purposes. WS: What movie genres are in demand nowadays? SZEW: Thrillers and action movies are still in demand. There is no longer direct-to-video. Now there is digital or
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A number of MarVista's titles have aired on the Lifetime channel in the U.S., including The Brittany Murphy Story. a more limited theatrical release within the thriller and action genres. Romantic comedies in some slots around the world do really well. Separately, we are now launching in the international market The Brittany Murphy Story. The movie is more of a behind-the-scenes biopic, and that genre tends to also appeal to broadcasters. There is a consistent demand for Christmas and holiday fare in some markets, and we have been a solid supplier of this genre. WS: Are you starting to see digital revenues supplement any losses in DVD business? SZEW: There is certainly growth within the broad area of digital platforms. With MarVista Digital Entertainment, we have a slate of content on a monthly basis going directly to all the platforms. We’re seeing good success in certain genres when it comes to digital, which in a sense is not vastly different from what happened in the DVD era as well. From a macro perspective, everybody talks about how DVD was huge, and it was for some, but not every genre worked on DVD and not every movie was generating a lot of revenue. Now, digital offers opportunities to get closer to the consumer and to have much more targeted strategies. It requires more work and thoughtfulness, but we feel that we are closer to the consumer and thus can influence getting a movie to an audience that can rent or acquire it, and enable them to view it from the comfort of their home or on a mobile device. The dynamics are great. WS: What kinds of content are you offering to digital platforms? SZEW: Our first slate went out in August, and our promise to the platforms is one of variety of content; we have included teen movies, romantic comedies, thrillers, action and even some documentaries and music specials. We have great partnerships with all the main platforms and have a dedicated team for acquisitions for our digital divi-
sion. We are also doing some projects on the production side with digital distribution very much in mind. WS: What are the other areas of growth at MarVista? SZEW: We are making a large investment in the scriptedseries business, not just by adding to the development and creative team here, but also in the content and IP that we are optioning and creating in-house. Like we did when we focused on the long-form business, MarVista is making a statement to the creative community at large that we are serious players for the long term when it comes to scripted series. As such, we already have some very interesting creative partnerships in place that we will be announcing soon. This is a good area of growth and a heavy investment by us. And the other area of growth, as I mentioned, is digital. It is very robust; we are very happy with our early results. And, last but not least, we are very excited to have partnered with Circle of Confusion, which produces The Walking Dead, on a new movie, Satanic. For the first time, MarVista is going to produce a horror movie, and we are fortunate enough to be working with Magnet Releasing, Magnolia Pictures’ label, for the distribution. This is another area of growth for us—not just the horror genre, but the theatrical-production business overall. We are taking advantage of a bottom-up approach among the creative talent that we are working with and giving them the freedom to push the envelope with us. As such, we are collectively pushing the company in many different directions, and I am very supportive of that approach. I love the journey, and I’m supportive of the people that we have relationships with and of the key talent we have both in-house and at our trusted partners out of house. Satanic has been announced, and we have other theatrical movies on the horizon. As I said, lines are blurring and distribution is shifting; it’s an exciting time for the business.
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IN THE NEWS
BREAKTHROUGH’S
NAT ABRAHAM WS: Are you looking to make more acquisitions? ABRAHAM: We are constantly looking for complementary ways to grow. There are other companies out there that are either doing things in our space or in spaces we want to get into. If a company is a strategic fit, we will obviously look at that opportunity as well. It’s definitely something we have our eye on.
WS: What kind of films do you focus on? ABRAHAM: Our main focus is films that cater to the entire family—a lot of talking-dog movies, which keep everyone amused! But we are also increasingly getting into the genre area with a whole team that is dedicated to horror and suspense thriller films. We’ve had some good success with them. We are also looking at feature documentaries. We just had a very successful screening at TIFF [Toronto International Film Festival] of one of our documentaries called The Culture High. We also have female-skewing movies as well as romance, mystery, suspense and female-oriented miniseries.
By Anna Carugati
One of Canada’s leading television production and distribution companies, Breakthrough Entertainment has a catalogue of some 3,000 half-hours of programming that span drama and comedy series, family fare and children’s animation, factual programming and documentaries, TV movies and feature films. The company is active in sales, presales and co-productions; it produces its own product as well as acquires from third parties. Earlier this year, in a move to bolster its film division, Breakthrough acquired Joker Films. Nat Abraham, the president of distribution, talks about further growth opportunities for Breakthrough. WS: Has the acquisition of Joker Films, and appointing its founder Tim Brown as executive VP of feature films at Breakthrough, changed your feature-film strategy? ABRAHAM: We were already in the film business prior to Tim joining us. We accelerated the growth of that division very quickly by bringing Tim on board because he has a lot of experience, not just in selling films but also in producing them. He has been very successful with family-oriented films that are now part of our catalogue. He’s also very good at reading scripts that are submitted to us. We’ve got a production crew that works on our films in various locations. It’s been a well-oiled machine since he joined us.
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WS: Are digital platforms opening up new opportunities? ABRAHAM: Absolutely. We recently produced a series with Hulu starring Eva Longoria called Mother Up! That was a brand-new opportunity that didn’t exist before. Netflix is commissioning a lot of product from a lot of distributors. These digital platforms are [proving to be] as strong as traditional linear channels. They are certainly not to be ignored; in fact, they are to be embraced as opportunities. We [also] do a lot of program extensions like games and apps that go along with our conventional TV shows. That is a whole area of growth for our company, and we are very well established with our game development and webisodes. WS: What balance do you try to strike between what you produce, co-produce and acquire? ABRAHAM: There is not a particular strategy. It just so happens that Breakthrough is a very well-known producer, but it’s also a very well-known distributor. There are a lot of independent producers who approach us with their projects, whether they are completed, are close to completion or need help to be completed. We get involved in financing. We get involved in distribution. We get involved in all aspects of helping a great project come to life, whether it’s our own or an independent producer’s. WS: What has driven Breakthrough’s success in children’s programming? ABRAHAM: I think our success is driven just by producing shows that get ratings for networks. Buyers keep coming back for more because they know we have the team that can deliver those kinds of shows. We have been very fortunate in that most of our shows have performed quite well and have had additional seasons ordered. It’s all about just getting shows made that will drive ratings for the networks.
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2014 CONTENT T
By Mansha Daswani
At MIPCOM’s Acquisition Superpanel: What Do Buyers Want? session moderated by World Screen’s Anna Carugati, programmers from ITV, SundanceTV, Globo and the Australian SVOD service StreamCo offered up valuable insight into their content wish lists, windowing and more. The panel featured the 2014 World Screen Content Trendsetter Award honorees, presented in association with Reed MIDEM: Sasha Breslau, the head of acquired series at ITV; Paulo Mendes, the director of acquisitions at TV Globo; Les Sampson, the head of acquisitions at StreamCo; and Christian Vesper, the senior VP of scripted programming and current at SundanceTV. Sampson is buying about 10,000 hours of content for StreamCo, a joint venture between Nine and Fairfax Media that will be launching soon. Vesper is largely acquiring and developing high-end drama for U.S. pay-TV channel SundanceTV, which rolls out about three original scripted productions a year and three or four original co-pros and the occasional acquisition. Mendes heads up acquisitions for Brazilian free-to-air giant Globo. Breslau’s remit
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covers the main ITV channel, as well as the digital services, which includes the recently launched ITVBe. One of the first issues discussed was output deals. Globo’s Mendes said he has pacts with a number of studios. Breslau, meanwhile, said ITV has not entered into an output deal with the U.S. studios for years. “Now we cherry pick, which works quite well.” All four panelists were then asked about their content needs. StreamCo’s Sampson said he and his team are close to finalizing the acquisition of 10,000 hours of content for the Australian VOD service. “The last few hundred hours will be quite niche content. We’ve got most of our movie deals in place. We’ve got all our kids’ content. Now it’s down to finding something which is marketable and has a point of difference. We are looking at first-run drama, both from Europe and America.” SundanceTV’s Vesper wants a new limited drama series for the spring, and another, preferably a co-pro, for the end of 2015. “I’m looking for other co-production opportunities. We’ve been primarily English language, but we are
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TRENDSETTERS But we won’t be buying a lot of those. A lot of [the acquired rights are] non-exclusive.” “Catch-up is fundamental to all the deals we do,” ITV’s Breslau said. “Operating purely in the linear space just doesn’t work for the way TV is consumed these days. For us, it’s really important that we get catch-up [rights]. Catch-up is really essential.” The panelists were then asked about their pre-buy and co-pro efforts. “We expect a lot for our contribution [to a show],” Vesper said. “Typically we get involved once there is a pilot and once the local broadcaster has come on as a majority financier. We try to affect casting and we do stay across all of the scripts. We’re very active in noting them. It’s a big market and we’re a small channel. Since we don’t have a million swings at bat, we have to make sure whatever we do reflects what we think our audience wants. With The Honorable Woman, for example, one of the key conditions was that the lead be an actress of some stature. The producers brought in Maggie Gyllenhaal. [That move] did exactly what we expected it to do—an enormous amount of heavy lifting in terms of the marketing and promotion.” Next up on the panel agenda was piloting versus going straight to series. “We currently go straight to series—it doesn’t financially make sense for us to pilot,” Vesper said. “That money can be put into the series.” Episode counts were also discussed, with the U.S. still largely making 22 episodes for network dramas and most European companies remaining in the 8- to 12-episode range. “For ITV, short-run limited series are better for us, given the commitments we have in terms of commissioned programming, news and entertainment,” Breslau said. “Committing 22 weeks to something is quite tough. It’s helpful to have those 10- to 12-episode series on the main channel. It’s a different story on the digital channels.” The session ended with Carugati asking about the programmers’ wish lists. Breslau said, “We’d love another comedy for ITV2. On the drama side, the main channel is a tough nut to crack in terms of acquired content because our homegrown drama is so successful and gets such good audiences. We are looking for something that would work on the main channel next year. It needs to be quality, highend drama that is rich and textured and will appeal to a mainstream audience.” Sampson is eyeing first-run European and American drama “at a cost-effective price.” SundanceTV’s Vesper added, “We’d love to find the next big drama from a Korean director or a Latin American director or writer that is character-driven and exciting and really starts pushing the boundaries of what American audiences have seen.”
From left, World Screen’s Anna Carugati, Globo’s Paulo Mendes, StreamCo’s Les Sampson, ITV’s Sasha Breslau, SundanceTV’s Christian Vesper and Reed MIDEM’s Laurine Garaude.
involved in the second season of Les Revenants and had great success with the first. We’re very keen to explore other territories outside Western Europe and the U.S.” Sampson is also acquiring non-English-language titles for StreamCo. Breslau noted that ITV tried this a few years ago with the Danish series Those Who Kill. “It worked pretty reasonably, but as a strategy, our audience is best served by English-language content.” Breslau recently acquired Scorpion for ITV2 and said she’s very open to comedy and further drama for the channel. “They need to be big, broad, mainstream [titles]. For ITVBe, I will absolutely be looking for more femaleskewed glossy reality series. For ITV4, I’m looking for male-skewing factual entertainment.” Carugati asked the panelists about their negotiations with content owners for nonlinear rights. “We are looking for both exclusive first-run content and also the non-exclusive library content,” said StreamCo’s Sampson. “If we are very passionate about a title, we can buy all rights—free to air and DTT and AVOD and SVOD.
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ONE-ON-ONE
undanceTV was first launched as Sundance Channel in 1996 by Robert Redford. Redford had founded the Sundance Institute in 1981, out of which grew the Sundance Film Festival, the annual gathering that presents the best in independent films. Redford wanted to showcase the festival’s original and risk-taking storytelling to a broader audience, so he partnered with other media companies to form the Sundance Channel.
Although ownership of the channel has changed—for years it was owned by Rainbow Media, and today it is part of AMC Networks—its commitment to finding and showcasing singular voices has remained constant. In its early years it was a movie channel only, but in the early 2000s management started adding original programming, most of it factual and reality content. Sarah Barnett joined the channel from the BBC, where she first worked in London as a director and producer, and then at BBC America as VP of on-air. At Sundance, Barnett started as VP of marketing, then was promoted to executive VP and general manager; she was named president and general manager in 2013. Barnett transformed the channel into a multiplatform brand, spearheaded the move into original scripted programming and oversaw the rebranding to SundanceTV earlier this year. Her efforts have been met with much critical acclaim. The channel’s first original production, the miniseries Carlos, won a Golden Globe, and the subsequent miniseries Top of the Lake and Restless earned ten Primetime Emmy nominations. Plus, Elisabeth Moss won a Golden Globe for her work on Top of the Lake, which was a co-production with the BBC. Alongside original series, SundanceTV continues to be a home for independent films and airs boutique movies as well as classics, with strands such as 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die, Thriller Fridays and Way Back Wednesday. In the last few years it has also become more than a U.S. brand, with AMC Networks International securing carriage for Sundance Channel across the globe. At a point in time when so much feature-film talent, both in front of and behind the camera, is working for the large screen and the small screen, SundanceTV benefits from being in a singular position at the intersection of film and television. Barnett talks to World Screen about celebrating, sourcing and nurturing original storytelling from the channel’s unique perspective.
SARAH BARNETT SundanceTV
By Anna Carugati
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WS: How did your originalproduction strategy come about? BARNETT: SundanceTV had been doing some pretty cool unscripted work for a while when I got this job leading the channel. Unscripted was going in a very loud, noisy, sort of reality direction and it didn’t feel [like] that was the right direction for Sundance, which had just been bought by AMC Networks, [the parent of] AMC. Mad Men was really taking off when Sundance became part of the family. The more we talked about this, the more we really believed that narrative storytelling was the way forward for this brand. SundanceTV could distinguish itself in the TV world by telling the same kind of bold and daring stories that the Sundance Film Festival has fostered through its birthing of independent film. It obviously took time to get there, but once we decided that was the right route, once we got the investment, we were off and running with this idea of trying to be as remarkable in television as the Sundance Film Festival has been in film. WS: Even though the channel has rebranded, have you remained faithful to Robert Redford’s original mission, which was celebrating creativity? BARNETT: Yes. I would never think to speak for Bob, but he is very supportive of where we are going. One of the things that I am always inspired by, in terms of his body of work and what he continues to do, is that baked into his mission is this idea of change and evolution. And yet he holds really firm to certain unchanging, underlying values, one of which is to seek out distinct storytellers and put their work out there, and that is what we cleave to here. WS: What balance do you seek in the series you air? You’ve had slower storytelling styles with Top of the Lake and Rectify. The New York Times columnist Frank Bruni even wrote about those series, referring to the uniqueness of “Slow TV”.
BARNETT: The Slow TV column was a tremendous tribute to the kind of shows we were doing at that point and may continue to do in some ways. We are not wedded to any particular idea. Often we tend to work with makers who have a very singular vision, and the pace and style of the show are dictated by their vision. Sometimes that can be slow and sometimes, in the case of The Honorable Woman, although it is lingering, there is a lot happening. One Child is a limited series airing in November. It is a very contemporary, very clear-eyed look at China—beautifully shot, it feels almost documentary in its intensity. And next year we are going to be airing Babylon, a Danny Boyle TV project, which is quite funny. The defining thing for us in any project is really less what it’s about, or even how it’s told, but mainly that both of those things are informed by somebody who has a really strong vision in their storytelling. WS: How do you balance the series you wholly own with those you coproduce and acquire? BARNETT: We do seek a balance. We’re not as rigid so as to have percentages. Wholly owning something is its own journey. In that situation you can nurture the piece; we develop a lot, and work with the writers. Co-producing and acquiring have their benefits too, not least the ability to react quite quickly. You can be surprised by something, and have the agility to be somewhat opportunistic. So for SundanceTV right now, certainly from a business model point of view, we see merit in having the flexibility to be able to move between the different ownership structures. WS: Would you give some examples of how you have marketed your originals? BARNETT: Given our background and shared DNA with film, we’ve launched quite a few shows in a way that has really leaned on our film partners. For the miniseries Carlos, we shared windows with IFC Films. We took the first run, but they put it pretty quickly into theaters. That was tremendous and it really helped create buzz about that
Having stepped up its original programming efforts, SundanceTV’s string of hits includes Rectify, The Returned, The Red Road and Top of the Lake.
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The eight-part espionage thriller The Honorable Woman, which stars the feature-film actress Maggie Gyllenhaal, was directed and written by Hugo Blick for the BBC and SundanceTV. property because, if you think about it, Carlos was five-and-a-half hours long, in many languages, and to an American audience was not an obviously commercial property. Yet it really began to brand Sundance in television and it won a Golden Globe. Some of that was helped by the fact that we benefited from the film attention and the film side benefited from the TV attention. It was a step ahead of the conversation and really entered the mainstream discourse around the intersection of film and television. Then Top of the Lake was the first TV project ever to formally screen at the Sundance Film Festival, which was a great platform for that project in particular and for SundanceTV in general. Similarly with Rectify, prior to airing it on our channel, we released all six episodes of season one in two theaters—which was somewhat unusual. They played to packed houses. We also aired the first two episodes on about 18 different independent movie screens throughout the country. We have found some success in going to a place that feels quite logical for a network like SundanceTV and really leveraging the expectations and the positive associations that our audience makes with cinema.
WS: A lot of film talent is moving into television. How are you benefiting from this migration? BARNETT: Talent, talent, talent! That is what is informing this incredible vitality in the medium of TV, along with a few other things that are driven by technology. When I look at the world on SundanceTV, I think about everybody from Olivier Assayas [director of Carlos] to Jane Campion [director of Top of the Lake] to Ray McKinnon [creator of Rectify] who came out of independent filmmaking, to Maggie Gyllenhaal [star of The Honorable Woman] to Aaron Guzikowski [creator and executive producer of The Red Road]. Looking forward, we will have Babylon, directed by Danny Boyle and starring Brit Marling. It doesn’t get more “indie darling” than Danny Boyle and Brit Marling! Talent is moving into television because they are realizing that along with film it’s a tremendous medium in which to tell the kinds of stories they want to tell. I was struck by how Jane Campion talked about the canvas of television and how you can tell a different story in eight hours than the story you tell in two-and-a-half hours. What I love about film talent moving into TV is that they bring some of those executional qualities that make TV so great. They are quite cinematic in terms of how
they think, not only in cinematography but also in casting, editing and scoring, and I think that is to TV’s benefit. WS: Does the channel’s original series strategy impact your choice of films? What kind of movies do you want to offer your viewers? BARNETT: For sure it all goes back to the source. Some of the qualities that we look for in our originals—great storytelling and a somewhat different point of view—we still look for in the films we air. They are either recent small indies like Safety Not Guaranteed, or bigger indies like Black Swan and Sideways. We look for good lead-ins, the stuff of regular linear TV: we try to schedule films leading into our originals that we specifically think are going to let an audience flow from one into the next. But the general film strategy is informed by the same criteria that inform our originals strategy, namely great indie storytelling. WS: How does the channel remain connected to the Sundance Film Festival? BARNETT: Very much the way it always was; there was never any formal connection. The channel grew out of Redford’s mission with the Sundance Institute and the
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Festival came from that. Then he looked around and said, It’s great that there are 40,000 people who come to Park City every year, but how do I get this content to a national audience? And this was at a time that cable was booming. We are all very collegial. We sponsor the Sundance Film Festival, and we are very proud to support that. We are involved with their first Episodic Story Lab, which is a new lab they set up to look at storytelling in the world of television. We’re really nicely aligned in our businesses. Our media are different but we really line up when it comes to the kinds of filters we bring to the work. WS: Is Redford involved in any way in the selection of content for the channel? BARNETT: I absolutely bring him up to speed with what’s going on. He’s a big fan of Rectify and The Honorable Woman. I tap into his expertise where I can. He enjoys having conversations with me and with my head of programming about what we are doing on a bigpicture level and also about specific projects. He still lights up when there is any conversation about content, whether it’s a show that is on air, or whether it’s purely about development. He is, through and through, a content guy.
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WORLD’S END
IN THE STARS Almost every national constitution forbids the establishment of an official state religion. But this secular bent doesn’t stop people from looking to the heavens for answers to life’s most troublesome questions: Will I succeed? Will I find love? Will my butt selfie get sent to the wrong person? Every day, papers and magazines worldwide print horoscopes—projections for people born in a specific month, based on the positions of the stars and planets. While many people rely on these daily, weekly or monthly messages for guidance in their lives, some readers skip over them entirely. The editors of WS recognize that these little pearls of random foresight occasionally prove prophetic. But rather than poring over charts of the zodiac to predict world events, our staff prefers to use past horoscopes in an attempt to legitimize the science. As you can see here, had some of these media figures remembered to consult their horoscopes on significant dates, they could have avoided a few surprises.
Charlie Sheen
Pamela Anderson
Kelly Ripa
Nick Cannon
CHARLIE SHEEN
KELLY RIPA
was assaulted in an examination room is suing the 49-year-old actor. Sheen is accused of violently grabbing at the woman’s chest, among other allegations. The lawsuit claims that the personal assistant and body guard of the troubled star—who was apparently heavily intoxicated at the time—offered the alleged victim $500 as compensation. Horoscope: “Try to control your impulses.... Don’t use being drunk as an excuse for your actions either, buddy.” (wowhoroscope.com)
Show with David Letterman, the petite blonde shares a story about sending her husband a “butt selfie.” She shared the cheeky pic via iCloud, which wound up delivering it to her in-laws as well. “My mother and father-in-law respond from their email and they’re like, ‘Dear Kelly, we are so proud of all your hard work,’ ” she shares. “‘Your exercise classes are really paying off.’ ” Horoscope: “Beware of sharing too much with the wrong people. It may backfire.” (glo.com/horoscopes)
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
NICK CANNON
that Buckingham Palace staff members are bringing casual partners, met over dating apps, back to their living quarters. “There are real and serious security concerns at Buckingham Palace about members of staff use of dating apps such as Tinder, which can be rather sleazy,” a source tells The Daily Mail. “The palace police are particularly unhappy about the number of guests of servants staying overnight, especially when they may have only just met on Tinder.” Horoscope: “You like to know what’s going on in the lives of everyone in the galaxy. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.” (astrology.com)
divorce between the America’s Got Talent host and his diva songstress wife Mariah Carey, Cannon is spotted shirtless on a trip to the gym sporting some fresh ink. His back tattoo that once spelled out “Mariah” is covered up with a large image of Jesus Christ crucified, though a hint of the letter “H” can still be seen. Horoscope: “You need to put to rest a dark secret that you’ve been trying to cover up. The timing is right to just come clean.” (astrology.com)
Global distinction: Hollywood bad boy. Sign: Virgo (b. September 3, 1965) Significant date: September 25, 2014 Noteworthy activity: A dental technician who says she
Global distinction: British monarch. Sign: Taurus (b. April 21, 1926) Significant date: October 3, 2014 Noteworthy activity: Her Majesty is reportedly outraged
PAMELA ANDERSON
Global distinction: Busty blonde. Sign: Cancer (b. July 1, 1967) Significant date: October 2, 2014 Noteworthy activity: The former Baywatch actress suffers a wardrobe malfunction when one of her boobs pops out of her skimpy dress while she is leaving a Los Angeles hotel. A nearby photographer takes a snapshot of the embarrassing mishap, which could have been easily avoided if Anderson thought to wear a bra. Horoscope: “You have a great deal going on inside, but don’t reveal too much by letting it bubble to the surface.” (elkharttruth.com) 34 World Screen 11/14
Global distinction: Daytime TV diva. Sign: Libra (b. October 2, 1970) Significant date: September 24, 2014 Noteworthy activity: During an appearance on Late
Global distinction: Famous husband. Sign: Libra (b. October 8, 1980) Significant date: October 5, 2014 Noteworthy activity: Amid rumors of an impending
SARAH SILVERMAN
Global distinction: Controversial comedienne. Sign: Sagittarius (b. December 1, 1970) Significant date: October 4, 2014 Noteworthy activity: The funny lady stars in a fake trailer for a “sequel” to The Fault in Our Stars—titled The Fault in Our Stars 2: The Ebola in Our Everything— which aired during an episode of Saturday Night Live. Instead of suffering from cancer, Silverman’s character has Ebola, a portrayal that makes some viewers think she is making light of the devastating epidemic. Horoscope: “You may feel a bit mischievous and desire to do something daring! It’s important that you listen to your intuition before actually leaping into anything and before you completely contemplate the situation.” (astroenlightenment.com)
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