Los Angeles Screenings Independents 2024 closed a different edition, with a slow pace, logical given the context of the industry, but which, even with caution, continues to focus on telenovelas, series and formats that the audience demands.

*By Luis Cabrera and Fernando Moreno, from Los Angeles, California

An event slower than usual, but which still satisfied the exhibitors who worked hard on their meeting agenda, is the reading of the 2024 edition of Los Angeles Screenings, held at the Fairmont Century Plaza in the Californian city.

The Fairmont, a hotel with excellent features but high costs for an industry that tightens its belt, had an impact on the dynamics of the event: a large number of attendees decided to stay outside its facilities, which denied the lobby its usual dynamic, the one that provides spontaneity to networking in this type of market.

In parallel, current events in the industry also had an impact, both in the call and in the talks that were given among the attendees. The future of content production and distribution, after the change in platform strategies, was one of the topics most discussed by participants.

In this context, formats are the content most demanded by buyers, whether studio shows or local adaptations of famous content.

“We are here (at LA Screenings) looking for quite a few formats, long-duration container programs, some reaching up to four hours. We look for simple things that are not very expensive to produce and they have to be popular formats, nothing that is too complex for the audience to understand and that they are simple things,” said Goyo García, manager of Content Sales & Acquisitions at SBT. .

Globo is betting on this, which is expanding its strategy in the sale of formats with a catalog that few others can match: “We have powerful series and telenovelas, with stories that bring everything that the audience is looking for, to connect and feel part of the story. We believe in this differential of our content to reach the US market and start there with good possibilities”, Isadora Filpi, director of Content Distribution and Associations, Business Development at Globo.

In the same line, All3media Internationa presents, within its also vast library, titles such as Lovers Or Liars?, which Yari Torres, VP of Sales for Latam and US Hispanic at All3Media International, detailed as a “fun format” in which “four couples in front of a celebrity jury and of these four couples, there is only one who is actually a couple in real life.”

In a similar vein, Caracol – as well as Globo – is betting on remakes of successful titles, such as New Rich, New Poor; Pedro, el escamoso, and titles such as Escupiré sobre sus tumbas.

Miniseries and rating leaders

Kanal D International was present in Los Angeles at a great time, thanks to the success of Secret of Pearls, which after 15 episodes continues to be the leader in its slot. Added to this is the upcoming release of Family Burden (working title), from the same producer of the successful Three Sisters.

Inter Medya, for its part, continues to innovate by completing its catalog of traditional dramas with international co-productions and high-level miniseries: “One of them is called No hay mañana,” explained Beatriz Cea Okan, VP and director of Sales and Acquisitions at Inter Medya , “With two very popular actors in LatAm, Halit Ergenç and Tuba Büyüküstün, protagonists of 1001 Nights and Kara Para Ask.”

Also within premium content, Movistar Plus+ brought titles such as the comedy Muertos S.L., the action series Marbella and the investigative series Segunda muerte to the market, awaiting more spectacular premieres in the coming months.

RCN, meanwhile, presented an important dramatic offering to the market, with titles such as the novel Rojo carmesí; Rigo, the series about the life of Rigoberto Urán; and Ana de nadie, among many others. It is also celebrating the success of La casa de los famosos: “An experiment that we did together with ViX and it has been fabulous in terms of screens and social networks,” explained Eugenia Vélez, VP Programming and Marketing at RCN TV. “[Together with Rigo they form] a duo that helps us be number one and two in the Colombian ranking.”

The same goes for feature films, with VIP2000 celebrating the excellent reception their film, Padres, will premiere next month on Lifetime.

The last day ended with a cocktail party hosted by WAWA at the Fairmont Hotel patio, with great attendance.

The activity continues in Los Angeles with the screenings of the majors – it begins tomorrow with Paramount, accompanied, in the afternoon, by the Telefilms event at the Fairmont – something that maintains the attention of the industry in the Californian city, although the structure of events, with so many days between activities, each year makes it more difficult to justify the expense of travel and accommodation for buyers.

LA Screenings Independents did not confirm the date of its 2025 edition yet.