JP Bommel: “The added value of The Bahamas is enormous for many reasons”

It is a busy week for the National Association of Television Program Executives (NATPE). While the organization celebrates the return of NATPE Budapest as an in-person event, the announcement of the move of its flagship January market from Miami to The Bahamas took the industry by surprise.

In Budapest things are going well: the physical return of the event after three years generated a lot of excitement, with around 150 exhibitors and over 350 buyers, according to the organizers. International studios such as A+E Networks, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, and Paramount Global are present in Budapest, not only exhibiting, but also holding screenings at the Intercontinental Hotel and local theaters.

“We are very pleased with the show because we feel that we supported the region by being in Budapest offering the opportunity for people to meet again. That is really important to them, and they are really excited about it, as it is an affordable and easy destination. Budapest really connects the three dots of NATPE: content, networking and monetization,”  JP Bommel, President and CEO of NATPE, told Señal News during the event.

“One of the things I hear the most is that, compared to some other events, this is a relaxed market, with really good networking and discussions. Many of NATPE Budapest’s attendees cannot afford to go to LA Screenings, so we bring LA Screenings to them. We have all the big studios from the United States, and they bring the content they showed a couple of months ago in Los Angeles. For global distributors, this is an important market because it covers the region, and for the regional distributors it is a great opportunity because they can connect with global companies for co-productions. We are convinced this is the right location, and we are definitely coming back next year,”  JP Bommel added.

●  MOVING TO THE BAHAMAS IN JANUARY

While NATPE Budapest was taking place, NATPE announced the move of its flagship international content marketplace and conference to the Baha Mar Resort and Convention Center in Nassau, The Bahamas. The annual conference will again be the first major international content industry event of the year, taking place on January 17-19, 2023.

Under the theme “Content, Networking and Monetization,” the program will include thought leadership sessions and curated networking meetings with top programming decision makers and executives spanning content production, distribution, marketing, advertising, finance, and data. Networks and streaming platforms, local and global broadcasters, media buyers, and investors will come together for three days of top-level discourse about moving the industry forward, sourcing deals and networking.

“We did probably the most comprehensive research we have ever done about where we needed to go. We wanted three main things: accessibility, affordability, and to keep being a global event. First of all, we needed to be on the East Coast, in a place where people can be outside and also in a location that can host everybody. We have a complex business model. You cannot just choose a hotel; our clients are really specific about their needs,”  the President and CEO of NATPE explained.

“The second thing we took into account is affordability and cost-efficiency to avoid the extremely rapid rise in costs of Miami overall, ant the third thing was how to make the event global. The Bahamas connected all those dots. The added value is enormous for many reasons. For example, there are many more rooms at the hotel. With 40 restaurants, private pools, small clubs, and an amazing convention center, there are hundreds of networking opportunities,”  JP Bommel added.

While he is proud of the success of the latest edition of NATPE Budapest, which concludes this Friday, June 30, JP Bommel is already thinking about the future and, although he knows the pandemic marked a before and after in the industry, he is optimistic about what is coming next. “We are not trying to recreate 2019. We are almost living in 2023. The business, regarding of the pandemic, has changed. And with that change came many opportunities, but also challenges,”  he concluded.

By Diego Alfagemez and Federico Marzullo