 LATAM | DISTRIBUTION |
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| Pedro Leda: "VOD Is Here to Stay and Grow" |
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The president of Ledafilms spoke to ttv about the distributor's new international projects and shared his outlook on the current distribution windows.
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At the last LA Screenings -May 15 through the 23 in Los Angeles- distribution company Ledafilms held its traditional screening together with Paramount, which this year celebrated its 100th anniversary. The first part of the event was devoted to the major's new projects: "Paramount always has high-budget content. They're movies that cost up to US$ 200 million," said Pedro Leda, president of Ledafilms, to ttv. "Last year it was the major with the highest box office gross; over US$ 5.1 billion in the US alone. It's a privilege for us to work with them," said the executive.
INDEPENDENT PRODUCT
Meanwhile, Ledafilms presented its catalog of independent products such as the miniseries Continuum, produced by Graham King. "It's a miniseries with a lot of technology. It was embraced by clients and we already had six offers from different companies," he said. In addition, the company presented the miniseries World Without End, based on Ken Follett's book, produced by Ridley Scott. "Clients today seek to stand out with these types of events. They're exceptional productions that broadcasters can promote in a special way depending on its timeslot, and also sell to their advertisers," he said.
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En materia de películas cinematográficas, Ledafilms cada año cuenta con un mayor portafolio de títulos. "Tenemos cuatro personas que recorren todos los mercados grandes como Berlín, Cannes, Toronto o el American Film Market negociando y comprando películas de cine que luego vendemos los derechos para transaccionales de internet, premium pay, basic pay, y free TV, por supuesto", señala Leda.
Más allá de las miniseries y películas, Ledafilms cuenta con dos productos excepcionales dirigidos a un target familiar e infantil. Estos son las series animadas Bondi Band (52 x 12’) y Barça Toons. La primera es producida en Argentina en asociación con el Grupo Exim. "Juntos formamos la empresa BondiBand en Miami que va a explotar los derechos mundiales", explicó el ejecutivo. Y añadió: "Disney XD la va a estrenar en junio porque además estuvo muy involucrada desde su creación". Además, ambas compañías tiene a Mondo TV como socio para la distribución en Europa, Medio Oriente y África. Actualmente, "estamos negociando en Estados Unidos, Australia y Asia", comentó Leda. Por su parte, la serie Barça Toons fue adquirida por Ledafilms. "El club de fútbol Barcelona ha decidido producir una serie de dibujo animado infantil utilizando a sus jugadores como personajes. Está causando un impacto muy fuerte en nuestros clientes. Estamos preparando un lanzamiento muy grande para finales de año o principios del año próximo", adelantó el ejecutivo.
UN MERCADO EN TRASNFORMACIÓN. Actualmente, el ejecutivo con más de 40 años en la industria televisiva observa un fuerte incremento en la demanda de las plataformas digitales. "Vemos que el negocio del VOD por suscripción o transaccional está aquí para quedarse y para crecer. No es una moda pasajera porque está íntimamente ligado con la tecnología", subrayó. "América Latina en este momento tiene una situación particular porque está en una situación económica mucho mejor que la que tuvo mucho tiempo salvo algún caso aislado. Todos los ojos hoy en día están puestos en América Latina", añadió.
Sin embargo, el ejecutivo advierte que la penetración de banda ancha en América Latina todavía es muy pequeña. "Quizá es buena en Brasil, México o Argentina, pero el promedio del continente no llega al 15 por ciento", sostuvo. "El espacio para crecer de estas plataformas es muy grande. También son empresas muy poderosas y en muchos casos ya tienen inversiones. Resulta que hoy hay compañías que tienen 10 o 15 millones de abonados a teléfonos inteligentes que tienen pantallas y permiten visualizar una programación. Estas plataformas están en pleno desarrollo y tienen un gran campo de crecimiento y son parte fundamental de nuestro negocio", subrayó.
En este contexto, donde el negocio del empaquetamiento y consumo del contenido audiovisual se encuentran atravesando una profunda transformación, se puede vislumbrar ciertos movimientos en la industria. "Yo creo que hay gente que va a perder. No sé quién. Pero alguien va a perder. Se va a atomizar mucho la inversión publicitaria y hay algunos que tendrán que cambiar de estrategia", comentó Leda. Aunque advirtió: "No creo que afecte tanto a la televisión abierta porque esta está muy vinculada a la producción local pero de todas maneras la publicidad va a ser un problema porque las agencias publicitarias ya están destinando el dinero a otras plataformas".
As far as feature films go, Ledafilms has an assorted content catalog every year. "We have four people who go to every main market, such as Berlin, Cannes, Toronto and the American Film Market, negotiating and acquiring movies which we then sell the rights to: transactional for online, premium pay, basic pay and Free TV," he said.
In addition to miniseries and movies, Ledafilms currently has two special animated products: Bondi Band (52 x 12') and Barça Toons. The first is produced in Argentina with Exim: "Together, we created the company BondiBand in Miami to manage the international rights," he said. "Disney XD will premiere it in June and was very involved in its creation." Both companies have Monto TV as a partner to distribute it in Europe, Middle East and Africa. Currently, "we are negotiating with the US, Australia and Asia," he said. Meawhile, Barça Toons was acquired by Ledafilms. "The Barcelona Football club has decided to produce an animated series with its players as the main characters using their players as characters. It's causing a strong impact in our clients. We are preparing a big premiere for the end of 2013," he said.
AN EVOLVING MARKET
The executive -who has over 40 years working in the industry- believes there's currently an increase in the demand for digital platforms. "We see the subscription or transactional VOD business is here to stay and will continue to grow. It's not a trend since it's very much related to technology. Latin America's economic situation is much more promising than it's been in a long time. All eyes are currently set on Latin America," he said.
Yet, the executive also believes broadband penetration in Latin America is still very small. "It might be good in Brazil, Mexico and Argentina, but the region's average doesn't reach 15%. The potential for growth in these platforms is extremely large. They are also powerful companies and in most cases, they already have investors. It turns out nowadays companies have 10 or 15 million subscribers with smartphones that allow them to watch the programming. These platforms are developing fast and are a key part of our business," he said.
In this context, where the content production and distribution business is going through a deep transformation, one can notice clear changes in the industry: "I believe there are people who will loose out. I don't know who. But someone will be affected. Ad spend will be much more focused and I believe some players will have to change their strategies. I don't think it will affect broadcast TV that much, since it has great amounts of local production; but ad sales will still be a problem since ad agencies are already devoting money to these new platforms," he concluded.
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Where Everything Grows
