LA Screenings 2025, the event where Hollywood studios introduced their new series and films to worldwide buyers, has finished this week after 6 days of ‘major’ presentations. An outcome? There are many, but most of them move to the same direction: content market is under deep changes, with strong optimization of costs, staff and deployments. Though, it has healthy future, with the social media -Youtube, Tiktok, etc.- and the new tech devices as a great fresh landscape to develop.

The attendance to LA this year experienced a strong reduction of attendees per company, with iconic channels that didn’t come. If 10 years ago there were 1500 worldwide buyers attending LA, now they have been about 650/700. Why? With the local production growth and the quality product that now may come from any origin, the core of content business moves from Hollywood studios to a multi-target scenario. Many buyers cannot come, and the event providers must update themselves, get more flexible, add new areas, to push their business.

The ‘major’ studios today generate exclusive series for its own SVODs, product for third parties, ‘direct to series’ projects for US networks, so there is less sole content to sell, and we see less pilots in most of the studios. But at the same time, there is strong local product to add, unscripted options, podcasts, interactive apps, tech services, etc.

In genres, we’ve seen two main trends at the studios offering: above all, ‘Crime’ fever, with all its options: true crime, procedurals, etc.; and also, franchise extensions, with spin-off, prequels, etc. of known brands. Buyers ask for innovation, but they like security. Other tips are the rise of Horror genre in series, and the return of comedies and good vives stories, as a reaction from so ‘dark’ predominant proposals. The curious thing is that when you ask buyers, especially European ones, they require mostly the same every year: broadcasters, free TV alike series, procedurals, dramas, true crime, etc. OTT platforms, all kinds of products but especially premium series that turn to event programming.

So, the best formula to surpass these so taught times, both for events and players, is to evolve, to expand, to segment, but at the same time respecting the historic basics. Two examples of successful evolution: the vertical microseries, that Reelshort has posted to the world, with one minute chapters to air on cells and social media; and the live streaming channels, that provide variety shows with influencers as panelists, that soon catch advertisers looking for sure segmentation and to be on ‘the new thing’.

The big challenges of the content industry are to monetize the projects on Youtube, to produce and to program at Tiktok, Instagram, which are devouring the advertising pies. We can say these social media are the new free TV, because they are massive and the user, passive, faces the spots. It is always good to share eggs in different baskets -part traditional and part innovative issues- and then to keep moving forward, letting many tips to accommodate themselves alone.

What do buyers look for?
Tarmo Kivikallio, head of content, YLE, Finland: ‘We look for good stories but not crime, which is present everywhere nowadays. It is too much’. Berengere Terouanne, head of acquisitions, M6 France: ‘We’d love to find innovative series, but they are hard to see, both in plots and shooting. We remember ‘Spartacus’, for instance, that kicked the table of premium series some years ago’.

Evert van der Vert, VP programming EMEA, Disney+, global: ‘We are looking for all kinds of contents. The new segments as sports or live shows, are opportunities to expand the audience’. Polly Scates, head of acquisitions, Channel 4, UK: ‘Procedurals, big international releases, true crime realities, which are a twist of the crime move’. Mila Mayi, head of acquisitions, RTVE, Spain: ‘Quality fictions, that surprise the audiences. Our broadcaster has a line that we must feed progressively’.

Eduardo Arias, VP international acquisitions and partnerships, Pluto TV, global: ‘We look for episodic series with a large volume of episodes, procedurals, realities, niche sports’. Red Spencer, acquisitions director, Tubi: ‘Feature films, action films especially’. Mette Ernst Gravesen, acquisitions manager, TV2 Denmark: ‘We are broadcasters that have added a streaming service, so we look good series for streamers’.

Eva Dzurovcinova, acquisitions manager, STV Slovakia: ‘We’d like to see crime series, procedurals, fictions specific for free TV. The studios are handling less product the last years’. Gregoire Delarue, acquisitions director, TF1 France: ‘In LA, good US dramas’. Nico Nulens, head of video broadcast operations, DGP Belgium: ‘Good dramas and procedurals, but it is difficult to choose when you see just trailers, not pilots’. José Fragoso, RTP1, Portugal: ‘Series, films, formats to produce’.

Ruediger Boess, acquisitions manager, Constantin Germany: ‘At Paramount we liked the comedy, ‘DMVA’, because it is a spin-off and fresh. At NBCUniversal, ‘Amadeus’, with the iconic character. Amazon MGM has series with big budget, as ‘Citadel’t’. Henrik Palm, head of acquisitions, SVT Sweden: ‘We’d like to see series with good vives, no so dark stories’. Avi Himatsinghani, CEO, Rewind Networks (Singapore): ‘We have to feed 4 segmented channels: classic films, blockbusters from 15 years in the past, current cinema hits, entertainment’.

Nicolás Smirnoff y Francisco Ferreyra

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