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Pre-MIPTV Edition
WWW.WORLDSCREEN.COM
THE MAGAZINE OF INTERNATIONAL MEDIA • MARCH 2018
Special Reports: Trends in Drama & Formats Interviews: Lionsgate’s Sandra Stern / MarVista’s Fernando Szew / Calinos’s Firat Gulgen
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CONTENTS
MARCH 2018/PRE-MIPTV EDITION DEPARTMENTS WORLD VIEW By Anna Carugati.
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UPFRONTS New content on the market.
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IN THE NEWS Lionsgate’s Sandra Stern.
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SPOTLIGHT MarVista’s Fernando Szew.
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FOCUS ON Calinos’s Firat Gulgen.
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WORLD’S END In the stars.
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Publisher Ricardo Seguin Guise Group Editorial Director Anna Carugati Editor Mansha Daswani Executive Editor Kristin Brzoznowski Managing Editor Joanna Padovano Tong
22 SPECIAL REPORTS
12 DRAMATIC ENTRANCE Leading distributors discuss the latest trends in the thriving drama business around the globe.
18 TUNED TO TRAVEL A look at the current state of the format business and the genres that are in demand.
Associate Editor Sara Alessi Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Elizabeth Bowen-Tombari Associate Editor, Spanish-Language Publications Rafael Blanco Editorial Assistant, Spanish-Language Publications Jessica Ávila Contributing Editor Elizabeth Guider Production & Design Director Victor L. Cuevas Online Director Simon Weaver Art Director Phyllis Q. Busell
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Senior Sales & Marketing Manager Dana Mattison Sales & Marketing Coordinator Nathalia Lopez Business Affairs Manager Andrea Moreno Contributing Writers Steve Clarke Andy Fry Jane Marlow Joanna Stephens Jay Stuart David Wood Copy Editor Marina Chao
Ricardo Seguin Guise President
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Anna Carugati Executive VP Mansha Daswani Associate Publisher & VP of Strategic Development
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WORLD VIEW
BY ANNA CARUGATI
What Time Tells Us As we live each day, balancing myriad chores and responsibilities, we often don’t have time to grasp the full import of what’s happening in the world. When I read about recent history, whether Watergate, the fall of the Berlin Wall or the first Gulf War, I’m often asking, Why didn’t I know that—was it not reported or was I not paying attention? Fast-forward to today, and even though we are living through it, we can’t yet know what the consequences will be of the populist movements in Europe, Latin America, the U.S. and elsewhere. As the saying goes, only time will tell. But for those of us following the Trump administration, and its impact on America and the rest of the world, some factors are already apparent. The accepted norms for presidential behavior and communication have been drastically swept aside. Trump is the ultimate disruptor. I guess, given the world we live in, that’s not so unusual; so much has been disrupted in our daily lives—think Amazon’s impact on the retail business, SVOD platforms on linear channels, cell phones on landline phones and even point-and-shoot cameras. We are in a constant state of flux; people have always been, it’s just that now the rate of disruption is much faster. But Trump as disruptor-inchief is concerning, to say the least. It’s not that we haven’t questioned the thinking behind presidents’ policies in the past—the war in Iraq is one example. But with the current occupant of the White House, concern or disagreement has transmuted into disbelief and fear. It’s now pretty clear that Trump considers the White House to be the ultimate reality show. The irony is that the man whose brand was bolstered by The Apprentice is now being attacked by a protégée of his own making from that very show, Omarosa Manigault Newman. Omarosa participated in three seasons of The Apprentice, earning the reputation of America’s most famous reality TV villain. She was also on Celebrity Apprentice, where she infamously poured wine on fellow contestant Piers Morgan’s head. She got herself a job in the Trump administration as director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison. That a TV personality would hold this position is not unusual. During the Obama administration, Kal Penn, who had starred in House and Harold & Kumar, served as associate director for the Office of Public Engagement. But Omarosa is no longer working in the White House; she was reportedly fired by Chief of Staff John Kelly. It wasn’t long before she was cast in Celebrity Big Brother and, during her weeks on the show, dished all sorts of secrets about goings-on in the White House to her housemates: from a female staffer sleeping around with everybody to Vice President Mike Pence thinking Jesus
There will be more of a balance between hit
dramas and standout unscripted shows.
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tells him what to say to how aggressive Trump’s immigration policy is to how worried she is about his tweets and that the future of America is not going to be OK. Is there any truth to her confessions? Omarosa is a master at manipulating the media to her advantage. What I find concerning is the answer that the White House’s principal deputy press secretary, Raj Shah, gave to a reporter’s question about Omarosa’s firing: “Omarosa was fired three times on The Apprentice, and this was the fourth time we let her go.” So there is a conflating of the White House and a reality show? It would be ironic if Omarosa tarnished the Trump brand, especially among his followers, who may not believe “fake news” reports but instead find credible nuggets of information from a reality show. Who knows? Again, only time will tell. But the Omarosa saga is a testament to the strength of reality television. Not that any reality show ever set out to change the course of politics, but reality television certainly changed the history of television. Remember Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? It had been decades since a game show had been a runaway hit in prime time. And Expedition Robinson was adapted as Survivor and is still on the air today, as is Big Brother. These shows have staying power because, for many, many viewers, reality is more interesting than fiction. This adage is buzzing around the TV industry as many wonder if the high cost of drama can be maintained; and, as premium drama becomes more niche, will it be able to draw large audiences? We examine trends in drama in a feature in this issue. In a second feature, we look at how unscripted entertainment formats have been steadily gathering steam. There is no question that singing, dancing, cooking, dating or endurance competitions, or clever game shows or social experiments, are tailor-made for linear channels and often live viewing. They are also perfect vehicles for advertisers. At the same time, drama continues to draw loyal viewers. We speak to Lionsgate’s Sandra Stern, who talks about the company’s broad slate of scripted shows, made possible in large part by a diverse range of writers. We also hear from MarVista Entertainment’s Fernando Szew, who remains committed to scripted, whether long-running series or films, and Calinos’s Firat Gulgen, who discusses the appeal of Turkish content. Drama will continue to hook viewers who relate to characters and become intrigued by storylines. I just think there will be more of a balance between hit dramas and standout unscripted shows. Our disrupted television landscape can certainly accommodate both—as time has already told us.
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UPFRONTS Cross
CJ E&M Cross / Bad Guys: Vile City / Love at First Song Revenge is at the center of the drama series Cross, which tells the story of a young man who becomes a doctor not to save lives, but to avenge his father’s death. CJ E&M’s drama slate also features Bad Guys: Vile City. In the series, “it’s the bad guys who chase the worse ones,” says Jangho Seo, the general manager of the global content business division at CJ E&M. In the formats arena, the company is offering up the hybrid music-dating show Love at First Song, which Seo says is the “first Korean format that has been produced and commissioned outside of Korea first.” At MIPTV, CJ E&M will also present a new non-scripted format titled What Were You Cooking, co-developed with Dry Media, as well as The Line-Up.
“Cross has a twist in the main plot.” —Jangho Seo
Global Agency
The Remix
The Remix / Heritage / Perfect Plan DJs and singers team up to compete for big money and the chance to cut their own album with a famous music label in the live reality show The Remix. Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO of Global Agency, says, “From the first day we presented The Remix to the entertainment content market, we knew that it was a potential worldwide hit.” In the format Heritage, contestants live with a rich widow who decides which individual is worthy of being heir to her fortune. Pinto calls Heritage a “first of its kind format full of entertainment and fun.” There is also Perfect Plan, an adaptation of a Korean drama from the producer behind the hit Mother. “It is a thrilling drama that keeps the audience alive and alert with its storyline, fiction and acting,” Pinto says.
“The Remix is an extraordinary format offering a visual feast to the audience.”
—Izzet Pinto
GMA Worldwide
Stay with Me
Heart and Soul / The Stepdaughters / Stay with Me When their parents marry, two women become stepsisters and fight over fame, fortune, family and love in the drama The Stepdaughters. GMA Worldwide’s slate also features the prime-time drama Heart and Soul, which tells the story of fraternal twins Criselda and Crisanta. When Criselda dies, Crisanta can still see her sister’s spirit. However, “the bond between sisters will be put to the test when they fight for one man’s love,” says Manuel Paolo Laurena, the company’s senior sales manager. Stay with Me, about a young wife who struggles to keep her family together after being infected with HIV, is the latest drama in GMA Worldwide’s portfolio. “Regardless of cultural background or economic class, the audience will enjoy stories that they can relate to,” Laurena says.
“These dramas tell stories that focus on real-life experiences, show strong family connections, and portray love and romance.” —Manuel Paolo Laurena 6 WORLD SCREEN 3/18
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The Pit
Inter Medya The Pit / Broken Wings / Money Monster After pre-launching The Pit at DISCOP Dubai, Inter Medya is presenting the new drama from Ay Yapim at MIPTV. “It depicts the story of a young man named Yamaç, who comes from an influential family ruling over Çukur, a neighborhood in Istanbul,” explains Can Okan, the founder and CEO of Inter Medya. Yamaç is torn between love, his family and his neighborhood and has “no idea that his life is never going to be the same when he has to go back to Çukur to become the head of the family,” Okan notes. The company’s catalog also includes Broken Wings, which Okan describes as a “precious family drama with a unique scenario.” Money Monster, meanwhile, is a game-show format that has “turned out to be extremely popular,” Okan says. “This quiz show is a perfect combination of intelligence, speed and talent.”
“We always try to provide our customers not only a wide range of genres but also high-quality examples of each genre.” —Can Okan
Red Arrow Studios International Squinters / Code to Love / Man’s First Friend A commuter comedy for ABC Australia, Squinters features a cast led by Oscar nominee Jacki Weaver and Tim Minchin. The show follows “the trials and tribulations of five carloads of travelers in the peak-hour morning commute, and again on their drive home,” says Henrik Pabst, the president of Red Arrow Studios International. The company is also offering up Code to Love, a Danish social-experiment format in which a country’s happiest couples are surveyed to understand what makes their relationships so successful. “Using this data and advanced computer technology, we construct the nation’s ‘code to love’—a unique algorithm that can be applied to match singles,” says Pabst. Then there is Man’s First Friend, a new 4K prime-time documentary event that explores the special connection between humans and dogs.
Squinters
“At MIPTV, Red Arrow Studios International is focused on delivering a wide cross-section of programming that covers all genres.” —Henrik Pabst
Series Mania April 27-May 5; Lille, France This year marks the ninth edition of Series Mania and is the first in its new home in Lille, France. “The elements that have made Series Mania such a success will be amplified in Lille,” says Laurence Herszberg, founder and general director of Series Mania. “It will be a popular and highly entertaining public festival, open to as wide an audience as possible, offering star-studded lineups and all underscored by a major industry sidebar: the European Project and Talent Forum,” which will take place from May 2 to 4 at the congress center Lille Grand Palais. The festival is introducing a number of new features, including SeriesLAB, a presentation of nine European earlystage projects that participated in a training program organized by the TorinoFilmLab, and the Series Mania Writers Campus, a workshop for 20 emerging TV drama writers in Europe.
Series Mania
“Professional attendees from all over the world already know that Series Mania is the place in Europe where they can find the best projects in development.”
—Laurence Herszberg
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Sky Vision Revolution / Lose Weight for Good / Pacific with Sam Neill The competitive entertainment show Revolution features a “thrill-packed war on wheels over a jaw-dropping, purposebuilt course,” says Barnaby Shingleton, the director of entertainment and factual at Sky Vision. “We’re looking forward to providing buyers with a production solution to allow them to maintain the scale and excitement of the Sky original.” Another highlight is Lose Weight for Good, in which chef Tom Kerridge helps struggling dieters slim down with easy, low-calorie recipes. “Lose Weight for Good combines cooking with real lifestyle information about how to lose weight permanently, delivered by someone who’s actually done it,” says Shingleton. There is also Pacific with Sam Neill, which sees the Jurassic Park alum present a series marking the 250th anniversary of Captain James Cook’s first journey to the Pacific region.
Pacific with Sam Neill
“Our main focus is ensuring that regardless of broadcaster or platform, Sky Vision will have something distinctive and unique to offer.” —Barnaby Shingleton
ZDF Enterprises
The Bureau of Magical Things
Ku’damm 59 / The Bureau of Magical Things / The Story of Europe The sequel to the hit Ku’damm 56: Rebel with a Cause, Ku’damm 59 is a three-parter from the ZDFE.drama catalog set in Berlin during 1959. ZDF Enterprises is showcasing the series alongside The Bureau of Magical Things, a live-action children’s show from the makers of H2O—Just Add Water and Mako Mermaids. The Bureau of Magical Things “follows the adventures of Kyra, a regular teenage girl who acquires magical powers when caught in a clash between an elf and a fairy,” says Fred Burcksen, the company’s president and CEO. “When she uncovers a threat to both the magical and human worlds, she must unite fairies, elves and humans to save them all.” Also being presented is The Story of Europe, a factual program chronicling the continent’s progression in culture, religion, exploration, technology and politics.
“We are the largest distributor of German-language programs, a valued co-production partner and a major investor in audiovisual content.”
—Fred Burcksen
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ZDF Enterprises’ Ku’damm 59.
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Mansha Daswani hears from several leading distributors about the latest trends in the thriving drama business. e are still in a new golden age of drama, but the bigger story for many executives involved in the scripted business is that we are deep into the era of niche, fragmented viewing. Live sports may still be able to command mass viewership, but for drama series, the chances of having a big, broadaudience global hit are starting to wane. “Market segmentation is picking up speed, primarily driven by the streaming platforms,” observes Robert Franke, the VP of drama at ZDF Enterprises. “Even smaller shows tend to find an audience now. That is great, but also kind of scary. People in our industry are used to selling their flagships to hundreds of territories. Now you have all these smaller shows popping up like mushrooms. People call it the golden age of television. In my mind, it’s the golden age of fragmentation.” The upside for many is that pretty much any concept is on the table. “We are only limited by the ideas that we come up with,” says Paul Buccieri, the president of A+E Studios and A+E Networks Portfolio Group. “In today’s marketplace, the opportunity is immense, pipelines need to be fueled with excellent content, and we intend to accommodate.” Indeed, A+E Studios is not just producing for its sister Lifetime and HISTORY businesses. “Our first priority is to super-serve our brands,” Buccieri says. “But we have taken a very methodical approach and over the last 14 months have sold quite a big number of shows with top-tier talent outside of our networks.”
TALENT FIRST But it’s not enough to just have a good idea. The key, Buccieri notes, is being associated with high-caliber talent. “More than a strategy, it’s a philosophy,” he says. “You want to have ease of transaction; you want to have a place where the creatives feel empowered and
supported. That’s starting to shine through here. We have projects with Jenji Kohan—right before she went into her Netflix deal—Greg Berlanti, Robert Zemeckis, Jon Favreau. If they have a good experience, that then translates throughout the community, and we are able to attract more talent. That’s our approach. Having been on the producing side, I know how much I wanted a studio, a support system, to back me. We’re trying to do that for producers who are coming to us.” At FremantleMedia, Christian Vesper, executive VP and creative director of global drama, observes, “A good idea with a good writer attached always stands a good chance” of succeeding. But being affiliated with prominent names or known IP always helps. The current FremantleMedia drama slate includes My Brilliant Friend, based on the first in the Elena Ferrante Neapolitan Novels four-part book series, which is being produced by Wildside in Italy for Rai and HBO; the book- and film-based Picnic at Hanging Rock for Foxtel in Australia; and The Miracle. The latter, for Sky Italia, is “based on an original story and written by and partly directed by Niccolò Ammaniti, one of the most important literary fiction writers in Italy right now,” Vesper notes. The company also recently announced that it is working with filmmaker Michael Haneke. “He is one of the great auteurs,” Vesper says. “We continue to work with Paolo Sorrentino, and we’re about to launch a few more projects with other filmmakers who have won Palme d’Ors.” For Leona Connell, the director of sales at Sky Vision, “it’s all about having a great series that has some unique selling points and great marketability. Everyone out there is looking for strong narratives, great scripts and great talent that will help broadcasters and platforms market the shows and help them build their own brands.” Françoise Guyonnet, executive managing director of TV series at STUDIOCANAL, 3/18 WORLD SCREEN 13
expresses a similar perspective when she says, “First of all, a drama must have a truly engaging narrative and a storyline that resonates with viewers wherever they are. Secondly, audiences are now so used to seeing the highest production values and talent on their screens, we just cannot let standards slip.”
CRIME PAYS With its goal of delivering distinctive, innovative content, STUDIOCANAL arrives at MIPTV with Crime Time, a thriller produced for the STUDIO+ international mobile app. In its original format, the show spanned three seasons of 10-minute episodes. “The series is now available in a re-edited version of 4x1-hour, which STUDIOCANAL is distributing in Europe. This crossover between digital and traditional sounds very interesting to us,” Guyonnet says. The crime and thriller genre remains a lucrative one, with STUDIOCANAL also showcasing NOX, a Canal+ original, starring acclaimed French actress Nathalie Baye. However, Guyonnet adds, “One of the recent global trends that we have seen is the exploration of the family unit in different ways through dramatic and innovative narratives. Complex family relationships are particularly of interest at the moment and we are delighted to have two brand-new drama series, Come Home and Ride Upon the Storm seasons one and two, that reflect this important trend.” ZDFE.drama’s Franke reports that amid audience fragmentation, “It’s important to become more diverse in the titles we’re adding to our catalog. There are smaller shows with great premises for niche audiences and you have to find these viewers out there. It’s harder and harder to generate these worldwide hits. People are more selective and they are watching things that cater to their needs. In that regard, we are diversifying our portfolio. We have been very strong in the past in crime and romance, but now we see there’s a growing
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A Canal+ Creation Originale, NOX is a new six-part crime thriller—set in Paris and starring Nathalie Baye—that is being co-distributed by STUDIOCANAL and Gaumont. Knightfall, SIX and UnREAL. “There are so many opportunities out there. With our ambition to grow, we want to get even more scale than our platforms allow us to have. We’ve been quietly amassing a nice portfolio. We source projects too. We’ll say we want to go into a specific genre or area. We’ll say we want to go after certain book rights. And then we attach a writer. Or we go after a story or article we
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Things, which came out of left field. It was unique. That’s what people want. It’s always the conversation on this side of the business: what is going to work and where are the edges of what is new and interesting?” A+E’s Buccieri says that it comes down to giving “great writers and producers the freedom to tell the stories they want to tell,” as the company has done with recent successes like
Sky Vision has also been broadening its slate. In addition to Sky-commissioned series in its portfolio—such as the buddy cop dramedy Bulletproof; Save Me, starring Lennie James; the Benedict Cumberbatch-led Showtime copro Patrick Melrose; and the best-sellingbook-based A Discovery of Witches—the outfit is showcasing its first Australian series, Goalpost Pictures’ military-themed Fighting Season for Foxtel. The company is also representing some non-English-language shows, among them Movistar+’s The Plague and Sky Deutschland’s Acht Tage. FremantleMedia’s Vesper cautions against just being reactive to apparent gaps in the market. “The minute you start saying what everyone is looking for, it changes,” Vesper quips. “The SVODs want projects to come to them set up already with talent. With those projects, IP helps, or a well-known writer or director who people trust. And if you happen to have a big piece of casting talent, all the better. That makes it easier to set up. But the challenge we have as distributors and producers is how to push the conversation toward new ideas. Those are the things that seem to pop, ultimately. Look at something like Stranger
Benedict Cumberbatch stars in Sky Vision’s Patrick Melrose, which is set to air on Sky Atlantic and Showtime.
demand for elevated genre ideas, things blending into each other, and there’s even more flexibility in what channels want. We will continue to have our very strong Scandinavian production lineup, but we will also look into smaller topics now. We’re broadening our corridor of what we take in.”
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found about an interesting, unique world, and then we’ll source talent and writers to see if it fits with their passion.” Buccieri is also excited about the prospects of collaborating with platforms outside of the U.S. “I think there are wonderful, talented storytellers from all over the world and I want to be in business with them. Look at what we’ve done with Knightfall—that whole show is scripted out of the U.K., with U.K. talent. But to be clear, while the U.K. is a wonderful territory for great talent, there are so many other places that are exciting to work with. The Netherlands, Germany, France. We’re trying to mine great stories from all over the world.”
NEW SOURCES As is ZDFE.drama, Franke reports, with the company expanding outside of its traditional strengths in German and Scandinavian scripted series. “We’ve added a lot of Belgian shows. The whole ecosystem in Belgium resembles Scandinavia. It’s a small territory, so they have to co-produce. There is more openness to creating something that doesn’t only do well on the home turf. Also, there are more internationally marketable programs coming out of the big territories. Germany is a good example—Ku’damm now has a chance to travel the world. That is not always true for our breadand-butter business like these early evening German shows, which we sell very successfully to a handful of territories but we have a hard time selling to the U.S. Ku’damm can travel everywhere because of the narrative quality and the production values. Italian content had
a reputation for being slow-paced and not very sexy. We have Maltese, which is super successful. It represents a new generation of film and TV makers driven to produce exciting new stuff.”
CROSSING BORDERS Next up for ZDFE.drama is exploring opportunities in the U.S. “We teamed up with a couple of handpicked U.S. producers,” Franke says. “The first show out of development is One Bad Apple with Gavin and Rebecca Scott. Paul Johnson from Tuvalu is producing it for us. It’s unique for us because we haven’t done anything like this in the past. There are two more shows in the pipeline with U.S. producers. Like everybody else, we’re investing at an earlier stage, taking more risks, and becoming more involved in the creative side to make sure we get something that we can really sell. We also co-produce and we help finance.” Distributors are also spending more time crafting windowing strategies on their shows in order to fully exploit them globally. “Our broadcast and OTT partners are putting a lot of marketing resources behind these drama series to help build their platform or brand out,” says Sky Vision’s Connell. “As a result, distributors are left wondering if we’ll be in a position to sell the shows we’ve invested in beyond the first window because they’ve been strongly marketed as belonging to a certain channel or platform in a territory. But it’s clear to us that great content can sell. On lots of our dramas, we’re just on the first window. But on
Riviera, for example, which launched last summer—so it’s still very young in its life cycle—we’re already moving onto second windows. In America, we did a deal with Ovation after Sundance Now, so that’s two windows already. In Africa, we were able to do a first window on SVOD with iflix, followed by a second window with BBC First. If it’s the right content— great writing, great production values, fantastic talent on and off screen—there are opportunities for further windows. We as distributors work very hard to optimize those windows. We have to put a lot of thought into the strategy of each program to ensure that we leave as many opportunities as possible to then optimize those windows when the time comes.” ZDFE.drama’s Franke notes that there is no one-size-fits-all approach to selling drama today. “We determine who are the most likely candidates to greenlight [a project], and we try to get feedback as early as possible. And then work out a strategy together with them. If you go to a large SVOD platform and they turn something into an original show, there isn’t much windowing you can do. You have to ask yourself, is it the right thing to do for the show? It might be, and sometimes you have to say no, this is not what I want, we are aiming for a different type of exposure and we’d rather sell it off one by one. It’s always weighing the strategic value of a deal versus the commercial value. We talk to our producers and ask them, what are you expecting from us, besides the money? That might be exposure or festival success or whatever, and then we craft a windowing strategy that reflects that.”
Commissioned by Foxtel in Australia, FremantleMedia’s Picnic at Hanging Rock series was acquired by Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and BBC in the U.K., among others. 16 WORLD SCREEN 3/18
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CJ E&M’s Shadow Singer.
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A range of distributors weigh in on the current state of the format market and what genres are trending. By Kristin Brzoznowski hile much of the buzz across the TV landscape as of late has been centered on scripted programming—notably the dizzying number of dramas and when “peak TV” may actually peak—unscripted entertainment has been steadily gathering steam. Format producers and distributors have had to up their game in the face of all this high-quality scripted fare, tasked with bringing to the market concepts that are fresh enough to engage audiences yet have the reliability broadcasters are looking for. That’s a tall order to fill, but it’s one that is bringing about a wave of creativity that’s invigorating the format business. “Scripted has been the dominant segment for the last three to five years, but even in the past 12 months, there has been an increase in people focusing again on formats,” says Harry Gamsu, VP of non-scripted at Red Arrow Studios International. “The business is in a state of growth. We’re seeing a real demand from a lot of buyers right now for fresh new ideas.” Lisa Perrin, the CEO of creative networks at Endemol Shine Group, agrees that while the drama bubble has yet to burst, “the format market is buoyant—people want to buy!” She says, “It’s encouraging to see more entertainment and more entertainment formats coming into the market and succeeding. There is an appetite from broadcasters, not just in the linear space but in the SVOD space as well, to take risks. They are genuinely hunting for the next big hit, be it entertainment or factual.” Nevertheless, many of the stalwart entertainment shows, some of which originated more than a decade ago, are still working
well. The Endemol Shine catalog is home to a number of megahit formats, the likes of MasterChef and Big Brother, which continue to be recommissioned and shore up new markets, in addition to spawning successful spin-offs. “Our super brands are still immensely popular,” says Perrin. “Forty series of MasterChef aired last year in over 25 territories. MasterChef: The Professionals was BBC Two’s most popular program of 2017, beating drama and everything else. There is no doubt that people know what they like and they return to it.”
HERE TO ENTERTAIN As longstanding entertainment behemoths, as well as high-profile scripted series, continue to hold onto prime-time slots on many channels around the globe, formats that can be broadcast across the week during daytime and access prime time have seen an uptick in commissioning. “Daily stripped shows are performing well,” says Izzet Pinto, founder and CEO of Global Agency, pointing to genres such as cooking and style as being in demand. “Shopping Monsters has been a big hit in many territories. Right now, our second style-based format, My Style Rocks, is also getting a lot of attention and is performing very well. In Romania, more than 200 episodes have been on air. In Greece, close to 100 episodes have aired, and now they are going for a second season. It will be starting in Mexico soon. For us, daily shows have been selling best in the last few years. “For prime time, I always believe in talent shows,” Pinto continues. “But for a long time now, people have been looking for a big 3/18 WORLD SCREEN 19
prime-time show with a good twist.” He believes The Remix, a live music reality show that pairs up DJs and singers to remix songs, has the right ingredients to deliver. The format has been ordered by Amazon Prime Video as an original in India, where it is launching in March as a ten-episode show. “It has been the biggest production ever in India for a music talent show, not only quality-wise but also in terms of budget,” Pinto explains. “With the Indian version, we will relaunch the format at MIPTV. I’m optimistic that it will receive good interest because people have been looking for a new prime-time hit.” Jin Woo Hwang, the head of formats and global content development at CJ E&M, also reports that interest in studio-based entertainment remains high around the globe. He has noticed, though, some differentiating factors between what was hot ten or so years ago in this space and what’s in demand today. The current trend is for shows that are “faster, lighter and easily recognizable,” according to Hwang. CJ E&M has launched the music entertainment show Shadow Singer, which gives undiscovered vocalists the chance to shine under the guise of a celebrity clone. The company has also seen interest in Youn’s Kitchen, a reality entertainment series that features celebrities traveling to tourist destinations to open a restaurant, and Love at First Song, a hybrid music-dating show. While the concepts of the three titles differ, “these formats possess a common denominator: empathy,” Hwang says. “Our efforts to differentiate familiar ideas by injecting empathic emotions—such as relaxation,
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The feel-good show Old People ’s Home for 4 Year Olds is one of several social-experiment formats in the Red Arrow Studios International catalog. enjoyment, good feelings and warmth—are not only providing a new approach for Korean viewers but also for international viewers, like with our format Better Late Than Never (Grandpas Over Flowers) on NBC.” Similarly, Endemol Shine’s Perrin is seeing strong demand for shows that are more heartwarming in nature. “There’s a real sense that people want to feel good when they watch television—it’s palpable. There’s been a resurgence of feel-good TV, as people want to escape when they watch television nowadays.”
purchasing a home. “It’s our most successful new format in terms of commissions,” says Gamsu. He acknowledges that certain types of formats—like dating, game shows and talent—are perennially popular, “but what we’re seeing now is an emergence of sub-genres, social experiments being one of those. There are themes like ‘young and old’ (Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds is an example of that) or
the use of technology in formats (our new show Code to Love sees dating algorithms match people) or playing detective. You’ve got the big, broad, evergreen genres that are still very popular, but now there are more niche, specialist sub-genres happening within those.” Overall, says Gamsu, “buyers want fresh ideas, but with a track record,” which is why social experiments and other shows that turn
FEELING GOOD The company has seen a number of successful adaptations for the studio-based game show The Wall, which has aired in both access prime and prime time, including in the U.S. “Proof and point, that’s a feel-good entertainment show that does very well,” Perrin says. “That, for us, is brilliant. It’s played in different slots and is very adaptable. A lot of the formats that travel widely are the ones that have the ability to adapt and be scaled up or down in budget, as well as be played in different slots.” From the Red Arrow catalog, Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds is a feel-good format that has recently sold into a raft of territories, including France, Spain, the Netherlands, Sweden and Australia. The social experiment attempts to improve the health and wellbeing of elderly people in retirement communities by bringing them together with a group of preschool children. On the back of the resounding worldwide success of its social-experiment format Married at First Sight, the company last year brought to the market Buying Blind. Like Married, Buying Blind watches as participants entrust a key life decision to experts—this time, it’s
With stripped formats being in demand, Global Agency is seeing interest in the daily series My Style Rocks. 20 WORLD SCREEN 3/18
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the dial up a notch on tried-and-tested concepts are working well. “As the EPG is getting more crowded and viewers have so many different places to go for content, the titles that are louder, noisier, can keep the viewers engaged and create their own buzz to stand out are hugely successful,” he adds. “The two camps are: the classic, old-school revival shows, which people love and feel warm toward because they know the brands, and the new, quirkier, ‘Oh my god, did you see last night’s episode?’ type of formats.” The latter is a bit harder to get buyers to take a chance on, though.
SAFETY DANCE “Certain territories are always going to be more skeptical than others and will always want proof of concept before you take your format to them,” says Endemol Shine’s Perrin. The company recently launched the brandnew singing contest All Together Now on BBC One, and its success has led to some key sales. “It’s a big entertainment studio show, so God bless the BBC and God bless the U.K. for still taking a chance on paper formats for us to be able to launch shows there.” All it takes is one country to successfully test a concept for others to quickly follow suit, triggering a domino effect. But how can producers and distributors get formats over that initial hurdle with risk-averse broadcasters? “Nowadays, the parties that are the first on board will usually ask for IP share,” which would bring them a share in the profits as long as the format sells worldwide, says Global Agency’s Pinto. “Many companies are accepting it, even though for Global Agency it’s not our preferred way to work.” Red Arrow, meanwhile, brings together the best ideas from its group of companies and third parties each year to identify the two or three early-stage concepts that it believes have the strongest potential for getting commissioned and picked up to series. “It is difficult trying to define that,” admits Gamsu. “We work very closely with production companies and channels in key launch markets; you have to look at where formats get launched and where people are willing to take a risk. It’s still Benelux, Scandinavia, Australia and the U.K.—this is where we focus most of our energy on bringing fresh, new ideas. We have ten U.S. companies also constantly pitching and getting commissions as well.” Buyers playing it safe or requiring a track record presents a challenge, but so does simply getting noticed nowadays, says Gamsu. With so many ideas and established brands out there that broadcasters know can pull in an audience, it’s increasingly difficult to break through.
Endemol Shine’s game show The Wall has aired in both access-prime and prime-time slots. Endemol Shine’s Perrin has noticed that in the current marketplace, formats are also traveling at a slower rate. In the early days of MasterChef, a show that reached 50-plus territories was considered a big success, “now it’s more like 10 or 15 markets and that’s a hit,” she says. “You don’t get a reach like you used to that quickly anymore.”
SHAKE IT UP “More formats are entering the market, but from the sheer amount of choice, many are failing to gain the international traction they did before,” Perrin continues. “Buyers are playing it slightly safe, revisiting old titles that they know. And also, with the SVODs coming into the market, everybody’s waiting to see how it’s going to work, what they’re going to go for and if it’s going to disrupt the format market like it did the drama market.” Indeed, the entrance of digital players to the format fray is certain to shake things up as they dip their toes further into this space. “It’s a different model; instead of it being a slow global rollout, over multiple territories, you sell to a platform that 3/18 WORLD SCREEN 21
will dispense your global hit potentially in one fell swoop, and people would be able to binge on it,” says Perrin. “I don’t think it’s going to be suitable for all types of formats, but it is for some.” With global launches becoming more of a reality thanks to streaming platforms, CJ E&M’s Hwang is excited by the prospects of what he calls a “pan-worldwide format”—a single show done in multiple languages and aired around the world. He also sees opportunities on the horizon for more co-productions and co-developments to take place and for brand-led formats. “People are looking for franchise brands,” notes Global Agency’s Pinto. “For that reason, I am optimistic about our format The Legend,” a singing talent show that lets the contestants decide their destinies. Pinto is also optimistic about the outlook for the format business as a whole. “In major territories, there hasn’t been a drop in ad sales for TV, and now digital platforms are getting so big—when you add these two together, overall it makes the entertainment business stronger. That is one of the biggest advantages that the industry has right now.”
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IN THE NEWS
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Lionsgate, the independent studio behind such groundbreaking hits as Mad Men and Orange Is the New Black, remains committed to its mission of attracting new and diverse voices and catering to underserved audiences on all platforms. Sandra Stern is the president of Lionsgate’s television group. Among her numerous responsibilities, she is charged with seeking new production and financing strategies. As Stern tells World Screen, she has long been a proponent of finding international partners for projects and forging lasting relationships with talent. She also talks about new shows in the pipeline, the working relationship with Starz and the many benefits of casting a wide net when looking for storytellers. WS: How has Lionsgate Television’s development and production changed since the Starz acquisition? STERN: It’s been a subtle change. We’ve been very careful to preserve the autonomy of our respective creative processes, though we operate under a single ownership structure. We’ve also continued to be a platform-agnostic supplier that produces and sells shows to everyone. We always try to pair the right show with the right network. But there are certain benefits we can achieve from the fact that Lionsgate and Starz are part of a single integrated company. We have regular phone calls and meetings with Starz, and this collaboration gives us increased awareness of what works for them and what they’re looking for, so we can target our development for them more strategically. The Rook and The Continental, our first shows with Starz since the acquisition, are part of a deep slate of projects we’re beginning to develop with them. But they also continue to develop their own premium content. We run our business and they run theirs, but we have a very nice synergy, and we’re enjoying it. WS: Lionsgate has long-standing relationships, which are key, aren’t they? STERN: Yes, those relationships are our bread and butter. Right after the Starz acquisition, I ran into John Landgraf [the CEO of FX Networks and FX Productions] and he said, “So, I guess we’re only going to get the shows Starz doesn’t want.” I said, “No, you’re going to get the shows that are right for FX, and hopefully you’ll keep buying from us.” It’s not to anyone’s advantage to put the wrong show on a network. Audiences tell you what they want, and we listen to them. Lionsgate and Starz both happen to be focused on delivering premium content for underserved audiences, a strategy that works well for both of us. Starz’s new show Vida targets Latino and LGBTQ audiences. They’re also programming for African-American and female audiences. Starz programming has a particular feel. They do a good job of defining their brand and knowing what resonates with their core demos. When we’re developing for them, we think, “Ah!
That’s Starz.” The Continental, the John Wick-inspired series, feels like it can play on Starz, whereas The Kingkiller Chronicle was a better fit for Showtime. So being platform-agnostic and finding the right network for our shows is a smart way to grow our business. WS: How are you piecing together financing in today’s landscape? STERN: The new financing models have made the domestic market and after-market a little bit more challenging. The commissioning networks need more rights in order to reach their audiences. That puts a lot more pressure on the domestic marketplace and makes SVOD sales a little more challenging. Syndication is almost non-existent unless you’ve got a particular kind of network show. The EST [electronic sellthrough] market has been partially subsumed within SVOD. The domestic marketplace is no longer the well to which you can go for success. So we’re looking at soft money. We’re looking at partnerships. We partnered with Liberty Global on The Rook, our show for Starz, which was a great thing from a synergy perspective since we’re all part of the same big family. They are looking to expand their footprint in originals and this is a great big noisy project for them. When the Liberty Global deal came along I was able to say, “OK, great; I can get the kind of cast I might not have been able to get otherwise. We can take a little more time on the scripts. We can do a better job with the sci-fi elements.” The deal allowed us to increase our budget and monetize the show a different way. It was a nice arrangement for all of us, and I look forward to doing more business with Liberty Global. We’re shooting The Rook in London, the writers are British, the executive producer is British, and we’ll have an almost exclusively European cast. By shooting in London, we qualify [as European] content and for soft money out of Europe, and we’ve already gotten a very positive response from international buyers. WS: How have OTTs changed the landscape? STERN: I’m teaching a class at UCLA and when I talk about OTT, my topic is: “Opportunity, or Are We Eating Our Young?” I think the answer is both. In some respects, OTT offers a great opportunity. Netflix, Amazon and Hulu are doing some of the best work in television, and now Apple and Facebook are coming into the market as well. They’re creating opportunities for interesting, high-end, innovative programming. The OTT business model allows you not to be in deficit, they’re great places to work, and they have great respect for the creative process. On the other hand, even though we’re a content production company, we’re also very much a distribution company. And in the OTT landscape, you’re giving your child to somebody else to raise. The distribution 3/18 WORLD SCREEN 23
By Anna Carugati
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days it’s no longer enough to come up with a good idea. Talent and business partnerships are the driver—you need a good idea and great people who can execute it from development to production and distribution.
The Starz original Vida, distributed by Lionsgate, targets Latino and LGBTQ audiences.
is taken over by Netflix or Amazon, at least for a very long period of time, across their worldwide footprint. Jim Packer [Lionsgate’s president of worldwide television and digital distribution] and his team are very adept at carving out windows, making sure that all of our shows are shown to every possible viewer, in some fashion, for some period of time, everywhere. Not everyone subscribes to Netflix or Amazon, and as much as they are expanding greatly in the international marketplace, I want my show to be seen by a lot of people in a lot of ways. Frankly, I want to be able to monetize it in a lot of ways. Do I think that OTTs are going to swallow us all up? No. I look at our business as a portfolio business. They’re part of that portfolio, albeit a very important part, as are cable and network. In fact, Lionsgate is going back to network television. In the past, we haven’t typically developed for network, but as we’ve gotten larger, more successful and better funded, we can go back and dip our toes in the network market. OTT represents one of many opportunities. WS: Will you continue to forge talent partnerships? STERN: We pride ourselves on being a talentfriendly and partner-friendly studio. We seek out the most creative people and offer them a supportive and collaborative work environment, creative autonomy and opportunities across our film, television, Starz and digital platforms. There are no silos separating our businesses. We also have several production deals and continue to partner with other studios and networks. Working with other production companies allows us to increase the scope of our content and we foster these relationships with win-win business models. These
WS: How wide of a net are you casting when looking for storytellers, actors or directors? How important is diversity? STERN: Diversity is important. It’s less about actively looking for diverse talent and largely about simply being open to it. This is a pet issue for me. I would argue that you don’t have to look that hard for diverse talent; all you have to do is be open to it and to sometimes take a chance on people who have not had opportunities. Women are there. Latinos are there. African Americans are there. You just need to let them in the door. And I think that’s what we have done at Lionsgate. On Weeds, half of our writing staff was female. Many of our directors are female and that continued on Orange Is the New Black. We look for the best directors for the material, and they are often women and other underrepresented minorities. They may not necessarily have had the same opportunities as white men. They may not come in with the same resumé. That doesn’t mean they don’t have the talent. So we look beyond the resumé and look at the talent, and in doing so, we find a lot of women and other minorities. Dear White People is the poster child for what Lionsgate has been able to do with that approach. We did the film with Justin Simien, who was a little-known talent at the time. It was his first movie, and he was brilliant. When we adapted it as a series, it was Justin’s voice, an AfricanAmerican gay male, and we paired him with a well-known, experienced, African-American female showrunner, Yvette Lee Bowser, and it’s been a brilliant partnership. I look at that and I’m proud of how organic the process was. We picked the right talent for the right project.
Lionsgate’s sales catalog includes the Starz-BBC co-pro Howards End.
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SPOTLIGHT
By Anna Carugati The independent studio MarVista Entertainment produces, acquires and distributes film and television programming. Founded in 2003, MarVista has built up a library of more than 2,500 hours. It has become an established co-production partner for outlets such as Disney Channel, Disney XD, Nickelodeon, Lifetime and Hallmark, and has also begun producing outside of North America. Alongside thrillers, horror and family-oriented films, MarVista is active in scripted TV series and is moving into short-form video for digital platforms. CEO Fernando Szew sees continued demand for quality content, even with all the consolidation and disruption taking place in the media landscape. WS: Would you give us an overview of the range of product that MarVista is producing, acquiring or distributing? SZEW: MarVista has been expanding into multiple content spaces as of late. Our movie pipeline continues to increase, and we are delving into adult-targeted and kids’ scripted series. We are still one of the premier suppliers of movies to the global marketplace, down the chain from theatrical to the digital business, transactional subscription and linear television. Our product spans across all genres, from kids’ and family content to co-viewing titles, romantic comedies, thrillers and disaster and action-adventure programs. Holiday films continue to be huge successes for us and are increasingly in demand. We’ve also ventured into more content within the horror genre. As we continue to deliver more stories from varied voices, that expands our business further with the plethora of distribution platforms. So, it’s an exciting time for MarVista to be at the intersection of developing, producing and distributing content. WS: Tell us about the movies that you’re producing outside of the U.S. SZEW: For productions outside of the U.S., our partnerships are varied. Our decisions may be based on a location we want when the story demands and commands specificity. We’re shooting a charming romance movie in Ireland, and we recently produced a thriller in Eastern Europe. We chose to shoot in those locations as they offered certain looks we wanted to achieve, and the environments drive the quality of the films. At times we’ll work outside of the U.S. as a result of partnerships with production entities, studios or broadcasters. We’ve had a very successful run producing location-based movies in Colombia with our friends at Caracol. WS: Do TV movies remain an important element for broadcasters and channels around the world? SZEW: Yes, and I like to distinguish between calling them TV movies [as opposed to just movies]. It’s really just the movie as a unitary form that allows broadcasters 26 WORLD SCREEN 3/18
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to have the flexibility to create a slot or a strand and stunt in and around genres such as holidays, casts, themes. So, it just becomes a staple. Having a movie strategy, not only for broadcasters but also for platforms, becomes one of the main ingredients for success. They’re interchangeable and allow for a lot of flexibility for programmers and schedulers. WS: What new projects does MarVista have on offer? SZEW: We will be offering a brand-new slate of primarily thriller movies, which perform well for us in virtually all territories. Top of the slate is Twisted Tenant, starring actor and musician James Maslow. It’s a story about a girl who returns home from college to find her mother has rented out a room in their house to a killer. We also have a unique thriller set in the art world called Paint by Murder, which features the protagonist Kate Miller, played by Alexxis Lemire, who finds herself thrust into the middle of the highstakes auction world of priceless art. There is a lot of action and intrigue as she unravels a deadly conspiracy. A third title that highlights our roster of approximately ten movies is A Deadly Cocktail, which is a cautionary tale of a young woman who must infiltrate the L.A. nightlife scene in order to track down her sister’s killer. WS: With all the consolidation in the industry, what are the advantages of being smaller and more nimble? SZEW: We treat consolidation as an opportunity. It points to a healthy marketplace while some of the much larger entities are gearing up for whatever the future may bring and the shattering of traditional models. We are smaller, nimble and innovative—we really do believe that we’re an ever-evolving company! Even though we’ve been in business going on 15 years now, we’ve transformed several times over, and I would say we’re now in phase four of MarVista. We are constantly looking at how we can expand our business. WS: MarVista is also involved in TV series. SZEW: Our commitment to scripted series development has really had the greatest impact on our business over the last 18 months or so, and we’ve been successful at it. We are coming off a run with BET where we produced with John Singleton a ten-episode series called Rebel. We are very excited to be in business with Netflix on an original kids’ comedy series called Best.Worst.Weekend.Ever., with Jeremy Garelick as the showrunner and an executive producer. We have also partnered with Global Road Entertainment to develop, produce and take to market the first King Kong live-action series, which we are already seeing a huge appetite for, and it promises to be a big, big series for us. Above and beyond that, we’re actively in conversations on
quite a few other shows that we’ve developed through our relationships and our investment in the area. 2018 will definitely be another banner year where MarVista makes major strides into the scripted series business. WS: As you look forward 12 to 24 months, what opportunities for growth do you see for your businesses? SZEW: Our core movie business continues to expand year after year. We are now producing and distributing approximately 60 movies each year. We value our partners, most of them being broadcasters, and the work that we’ve done with them, and we are working very hard to continue to evolve our relationships. I believe we’re getting noticed more and more as being a user-friendly company that can deliver quality content on time and at the right budget. An area that will be keeping us very busy for the next 12 to 18 months is scripted series development and production. Not only with the series that I mentioned previously but also various projects that are in development and that we’re taking out to current buyers and new partners. We continue to be energized by what is happening with the different platforms that we’re working with on multiple fronts. We do have a lot of different opportunities that we’re working on, but it’s not just on the traditional content side and with established platforms such as Netflix, Apple and Facebook. We’re also making innovative partnerships with smaller, niche players for targeted content, potentially on the short-form side. Additionally, we’re talking with what used to be called “influencers,” not just on the digital side, but also looking at converging talent from different aspects of pop culture into storytelling, including music artists and stars. We have quite a lot of initiatives that will allow MarVista to continue to grow the business and our reputation of being a talent-friendly place, a professional place that can bring stories to life and one that can work with and across different platforms, while at the same time being very globally minded. 3/18 WORLD SCREEN 27
Thriller movies like Twisted Tenant are a key part of the MarVista catalog.
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FOCUS ON
WS: In which markets are you finding new opportunities? GULGEN: Currently the LatAm market is the fastest growing one in terms of demand. On the other hand, I believe that in the near future, we will see a bigger interest for Turkish content in the Far East region, Africa and, starting with Spain, it will spread to Western Europe. WS: Are you seeing interest in local adaptations of Turkish dramas as well? GULGEN: A lot of countries have started doing remakes of Turkish dramas. The best Turkish series were made between 2004 and 2010. The series made during that period were not shot in HD, so a good way to sell these stories is by [offering] them as formats for local adaptations. We are in the process of negotiating with a number of countries for some of our titles. WS: Is co-production becoming an area of interest? GULGEN: Calinos Entertainment is not a production company but rather an investor and distributor. There are some channels and companies abroad that we are currently in talks with for feature films and TV series; however, the production will be carried out by the producers we work with and we will be in charge of project development, finance
FIRAT GULGEN CALINOS By Kristin Brzoznowski
With the sale of Wild Heart (Deli Yürek) into Kazakhstan in 2001, Calinos Entertainment was an early player in the now booming Turkish drama export sector. While the company’s catalog does include feature films, Turkish series have remained the key pillar of its international-sales business, which is seeing new traction in Latin America, Asia and the Middle East. Firat Gulgen, the chairman of Calinos Holding, tells World Screen about the value of having offices in both the U.S. and Istanbul as it looks to further its alliances around the world. WS: Are classic Turkish dramas, with traditional storylines, still what sells best for Calinos Entertainment? GULGEN: Classical dramas are still the most sought-after stories—with patriarchal values, love triangles, family drama and unsolvable dilemmas. The conflict between good and evil, younger and older generations and an unshakable foundation of respect for one another, with love usually taking a central place in overthrowing all obstacles and differences in social and moral aspects, are the main elements that constitute a successful Turkish series. Simple stories, in which the viewers can empathize with the characters, are the ones that last. However, recently we have seen some shifts in audiences’ viewing habits, which have made it difficult to predict the ratings and know whether a certain title will be successful or not, as many are cut short due to low ratings. This has also affected the international sales. For instance, a good cast is usually a factor for presales, but locally, some productions are discontinued despite their successful casts, which results in a decrease in content that [can be] distributed abroad. 28 WORLD SCREEN 3/18
and distribution. At present, we are developing projects in Latin America, India and China. WS: Why has maintaining an office in the U.S. been important for Calinos? GULGEN: Calinos Entertainment was set up in Santa Monica, California, in 1997. At that time, most of our work was with the CIS countries and Turkey. Given the time difference, it was better to work from this region, so we moved our office to Istanbul. But now, Calinos’s field of operation has reached around 100 countries, from the Far East to Latin America to the Middle East and the Balkans. As we are planning to invest in co-productions, we decided to reopen our U.S. office and use the advantages it comes with. If our projects go according to plan, we will hopefully see our U.S. office take part in many exciting projects and new investments. WS: What will you be focusing on for the year ahead? GULGEN: Our focus for the next couple of years, apart from distribution, will be to create new content with international partners. We are currently working on a budget for the next five years. The methods of content distribution change all the time. When I started this business, we could only sell to free-TV channels; now, 20 years later, we have players like Netflix and Amazon, and their growth is significant. Big telecom companies want to go into this space, offering their clients content on mobile phones. Even if distribution channels change, there is one thing that will never change, and that is the fact that good content is king, and we are going to work on developing first-rate content with our partners.
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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 I party with Kris Jenner? Every day, papers, magazines and websites 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 pro phetic. 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.
Gwyneth Paltrow
Sally Field
Sarah Silverman
Kris Jenner
GWYNETH PALTROW
SARAH SILVERMAN
Global distinction: Hollywood actress & lifestyle guru. Sign: Libra (b. September 27, 1972) Significant date: February 2, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The slender star comes under fire
Global distinction: American funny girl. Sign: Sagittarius (b. December 1, 1970) Significant date: February 5, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The comedienne announces her
after her lifestyle website, goop, publishes an article about “achieving your leanest livable weight.” The post, which comes out during Eating Disorder Awareness Week, sparks negative reactions on social media, with one user posting, “How about encouraging women and girls to be a healthy weight?” and another writing, “Aka, how to be as thin as possible without dying.” Horoscope: “Colleagues seek your advice and regard what you say as important, credible and worthwhile. Remain accessible and don’t be too remote or distant.” (astrosofa.com)
separation from actor Michael Sheen, unaware that she is breaking the news on her soon-to-be ex’s birthday. “I just realized I posted our breakup tweet on his actual birthday and I can’t believe what a dick I am,” she tweets afterwards. “Can u believe it?? He said I wasn’t THOUGHTFUL.” Horoscope: “You are having some strong ideas this week, but before you go telling everyone about them, timing is everything and so is your delivery.” (girlfriend.com.au)
KRIS JENNER MELANIA TRUMP Global distinction: Model turned U.S. First Lady. Sign: Taurus (b. April 26, 1970) Significant date: February 17, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The wife of U.S. President Donald Trump takes to Twitter to promote Random Acts of Kindness Day, in a tweet meant to “encourage everyone to test the power of kindness.” She writes, “It’s an opportunity to teach our children the importance of taking care of one another.” A flood of respondents hit back suggesting she give the message to her husband instead. “Don’t tell us, tell Donald, who would rather insult people than help,” one user writes. Horoscope: “Doing what seems right may backfire today, as your assessment of people and situations could be off target.” (washingtonpost.com)
Global distinction: Kardashian matriarch. Sign: Scorpio (b. November 5, 1955) Significant date: February 4, 2018 Noteworthy activity: While attending a Super Bowl party at model Chrissy Teigen’s house, the reality TV personality/businesswoman accidentally falls into a coffee table, breaking it in the process. Teigen documents the aftermath on Snapchat: “If anyone’s in the market for a slightly used table, the Kris Jenner just fell into it,” she says. “This is where I did a faceplant,” Jenner chimes in, pointing to Teigen’s beige couch. “This is also very valuable.” Horoscope: “Mindlessness will lead to real-world consequences. Pay attention to your surroundings and physical environment.” (symbolicliving.com)
WILL SMITH SALLY FIELD Global distinction: Oscar winner. Sign: Scorpio (b. November 6, 1946) Significant date: February 16, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The actress tries to play matchmaker for her son, Sam Greisman, who told her he has a crush on Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon. Greisman tweets a screenshot of a text she sent him about the athlete that reads: “Sam…he’s insanely pretty. Find a way….” Field ups the ante by tagging Rippon in her retweet. Horoscope: “Don’t be pushy with a relative this week. It’s okay to give your opinion, but don’t go overboard.” (truemoonastrology.com) 30 WORLD SCREEN 3/18
Global distinction: The Fresh Prince. Sign: Libra (b. September 25, 1968) Significant date: February 12, 2018 Noteworthy activity: The 49-year-old actor posts a video of him singing along to the Spanish-language hit “La Bamba.” Internet trolls proceed to accuse Smith of not knowing all the words, prompting him to upload another video in which he belts out every lyric to the song correctly and with exaggerated pronunciation. Horoscope: “You know what they say—haters gonna hate. But don’t worry, as long as you keep a cool head and focus on your own awesomeness, you will come out on top.” (betches.com)
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