Writers Strike Dominates Chatter At LA Screenings As Buyers Remain Watchful Of “Fluid” Situation

EXCLUSIVE: International buyers will remain cautious over how the writers’ strike impacts program availability, as the ongoing industrial action dominated chatter at the LA Screenings.

A week of international sales showcases brought hundreds of buyers to LA as the likes of Paramount, Disney, Sony, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros Discovery and Fox screened line and TV line-ups against a backdrop of picket lines at the studio gates.

Before the event, a number of international buyers told us a key issues in negotiations would be what clarity they could get on new shows entering production as the writers’ strike rumbles on — we’re now at nearly a month since it began. The studios acknowledge it’s a “fluid” situation and the topic was top of mind for many on the ground last week.

“The writers’ strike is a factor as some of the shows we saw won’t be able to go into production for a while,” said one European buyer today.

Dan Cohen, Chief Content Licensing Officer at Paramount and President of Republic Pictures, addressed the impact of industrial action directly with buyers last week.

“Some of the programing we’re talking about today is impacted, but a lot of it has completed production,” he said at a Paramount screening. “This remains a fluid situation, but it is our hope that the situation will be resolved swiftly.”

However, optimism remains high among both sides and there’s renewed excitement over the power of licensing. Our European source said it wad “great that everyone was screening,” referencing Fox Entertainment Global’s Screenings debut and the return of Disney for the first time since before the pandemic. They added it was “a solid year, but there was no single breakout hit.”

We hear buyers were especially interested by Disney and the debuting Amazon MGM Studios Distribution offering streaming originals for the first time.

At Disney, which was relatively low key heading into the Screenings, on offer were the likes of Hulu’s Death and Other Details and Culprits, the British original for Disney+’s premium content tier Star+. More traditional fare came in the shape of ABC’s High Potential and CBS’s Tracker.

Value of licensing

The value of international distribution in the era of global streaming services focused on local, original content has been questioned in recent years but Lisa Kramer, President, International TV Licensing at Paramount Global said the LA Screenings proved licensing remained a crucial part of the studios’ business models.

“We have discovered that our position and value to the company in terms of third-party revenue and licensing is as important as it ever was, and in today’s market, is now much more challenging and complicated,” added Kramer. “Television distribution is actually much more interesting than it was 20 years ago. It was relatively simple, sequential distribution back then. Not now.”

Paramount Global was shopping shows such as Elsbeth, Matlock, Poppa’s House, The Turkish Detective, Gold Diggers and Three Women, along with a feature film slate, while newer players such as Amazon MGM Studios Distribution were offering originals such as Prime Video’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and The Grand Tour for the first time.

The debuting Fox Entertainment Global, meanwhile, focused on the soon-to-launch Krapopolis and Grimsburg, and comedy Animal Control, which was just renewed for Season 2.

Fernando Szew, CEO of Fox Entertainment Global and MarVista Entertainment, said the Screenings allowed the company “to drive the messaging that we are ‘open for business’ and are the definitive partner for our global partners with innovative content and a collaborative mindset.”

Fox unveiled its distribution business in September last year with MarVista chief Szew at the helm. The Murdoch family-controlled company hadn’t had a branded international sales arm before that since 2019, when Fox Networks Group Content Distribution was integrated into Disney’s worldwide sales operation after the Mouse House bought Fox’s entertainment assets.