PARIS… NEW YORK: new

wave in television markets

Nancy Smith is president of Smith Marshall Inc., a Toronto-based communications consultancy firm.

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Parochial, that was the word that came up again and again. The French are too well-mannered to have applied that term to their valued guests, but the Americans continually referred to themselves and their market as ‘parochial,’ and therefore, rarely interested in programming that is not produced in the u.s., for u.s. audiences.

The site of the meeting was New York City, where more than 100 participants gathered for parisÉnew york, a French television showcase designed to underline the willingness of the French community to extend itself to America.

Sandwiched between mip-asia and natpe (not to mention Christmas and New Year celebrations) parisÉnew york was an ambitious first attempt by the French television industry to introduce its leading companies and executives to key players in the u.s. industry, within an environment as elegant and relaxed as only the French can make it.

The arrival of natpe Jan. 23-26 in Las Vegas signals the first international mega-market for the television industry in 1995. Working with little lead time and a mid-December date, the greatest challenge for the organizers of the parisÉnew york showcase was to attract likely buyers, sellers and partners from two countries to New York, prior to the frenzy of the massive international markets.

Invitations to the u.s. industry went out in November, and I was asked late in the month to attempt to gain some Canadian participation, or at the very least, feedback from members of the Canadian television industry as to their interest in attending such a showcase.

The format for parisÉnew york included three tiers of activity in the form of panels and presentations, screenings, and individual meetings.

Director of the project, Kirsten Beck of Beck Videotech in New York, noted: ‘This is the first time the television exporting industry of an entire country has traveled to the u.s. en masse to present itself to the buying community, thanks to the efforts of the sponsors of the event, the French Cultural Services of the French Embassy, TV France International, uspa, cnc, and Procirep.

In his opening remarks at the showcase, Jacques Peskine, president of the uspa, the association representing French independent producers, commented that to some ‘the French industry is considered over-regulated and even incomprehensible, but it is not necessarily so.’

The following two and a half days focused on proving Peskine’s point. Discussions revolved around the importance of building close relationships in the deal-making process, as well as difficulties with dubbing, subtitling, pacing, financing, company policies and government regulations.

From my perspective, Robert Nadur, ceo of Dune in France, reinforced the challenges the French and Canadian television industry share in building a domestic and international industry.

Said Nadur: ‘The definition of French production is always coproduction because we need money each time we go to produce. Companies are too poor to finance alone.’

The difficulty, he said, is ‘each country becomes more local as the world becomes more global.’

The audience was made up of 25% French participants and 75% u.s. This provided me a great opportunity as a Canadian to listen and learn as not only the French, but the Americans walked us through their acquisition and coproduction needs and policies, and provided insight and introductions to individual services, personnel, and corporate cultures, within organizations as diverse as Turner and mca, and TF1 and Pathe.

Highlights for me included a presentation by fx, Fox’s new general-entertainment, basic cable offering with its innovative programming and production techniques, using ‘no studios,’ but an apartment, complete with pets. fx has done no coproduction yet, but is working on a ‘very confidential’ project right now with Canada’s Alliance Communications.

James Dowaliby of International Family Channel may have been the most negative speaker from a Canadian point of view, as he told us Family Channel ‘ground their teeth on Canadian production. Five years ago everything was a Canadian coproduction. We now go directly to the Europeans as coproduction partners. I hate treaties, and have difficulty with Canadian rules and Canadian casts. It is easier to coproduce when not working through Canadians.

‘Creative now drives production where it once was the deal. With more of our own money in, we have more flexibility, and enough experience, to bypass Nelvana,’ said Dowaliby.

TF1’s Catherine Comte and Gedeon’s Stephane Milliere challenged the American audience’s stereotype of the French industry as being locked in to what some u.s. panelists described as programming that is ‘intellectually too ambitious, metaphysical, and symbolic,’ with their progressive, fast-paced, television-generation approach to business and production.

Richard Lorber of Fox Lorber reinforced their position by allowing that ‘many buyers are more conservative than their viewers.’

Philip Fehrle of Jones Entertainment reminded everyone that ‘Americans have a poor reputation about being sensitive to other’s needs. Coproduction too often means cofinancing where they don’t want input, just dollars. It is an issue of trust and relationships.’

Was the showcase a success? Does it pave the way for the mini-market of the future? Possibly.

As industry players find it increasingly difficult to build relationships and make deals at the mega-markets, parisÉnew york provided an intimate setting where people could talk, learn, ask questions the next day and have access to each other in a way that would not otherwise be possible.

Canada’s Pierre Roy, president and ceo of Premier Choix, and the lone Canadian presenter on the agenda, ‘loved the market. It allowed me to meet new companies and pay attention to companies I would not have the time to know otherwise. Small is beautiful.’

Roy believes ‘you must know the French and Europeans a long time to do business, where in North America you do business fast.’ He would attend again.

The French industry is now pondering its next steps in regard to the value of the showcase and the possibility of presenting it in Canada alone, or incorporating the North American industry effectively into a New York meeting.

One area that must be addressed is the lack of participation by some of the large French television companies that had originally pledged to take part, possibly due to the dates and short lead time.

parisÉnew york was one of the most valuable markets I have ever attended. The Mark Hotel provided an elegant backdrop, and the atmosphere during formal and social settings was friendly, warm and conducive to building the kind of relationships everyone agreed were necessary in a global environment.

I saw the launch strategies of new services like a&e’s History Channel, and tci’s Encore, the fascinating research conducted by The Discovery Channel (u.s.) to better serve its audiences and advertisers, heard the wonderful wisdom of Pat Mitchell from Turner, and shared fine meals and interesting stories with new friends from the u.s. and France.

As you dig out your track shoes so you can make it around natpe consider this: wouldn’t it be nice to spend two and a half days, in an elegant setting, with the key players from the u.s. and French television industry, putting together your next program acquisition or coproduction? Mini-markets sound great to me.