L.A. Screenings: Confusion Over Dates, Sequence.

If you're confused about this year's L.A. Screenings dates, you're nor alone. The buyers are confused; the independent distributors are confused; the hotels' reservation staff is confused; and we at Video Age are confused.

Originally, the dates were set for June 1-11, with MGM screening on May 31 for the Latins through Osvaldo Barzelatto of Chile's RTL. Subsequently, a memo dated February 9, 1999 from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) set the dates (and the screenings order) from May 30 to June 4 for the Latins' screening. This meant that the Canadians, as usual, would descend upon Los Angeles a few days earlier and the Europeans would arrive a few days later.

This latest schedule however, remained in place no longer than two weeks before Paramount first changed its Latin slot from June 4 to May 26. Warner Bros. followed suit with a change from June 1 to May 24; Fox retroscheduled its screening from June 2 to May 25, and so on. The race to screen first was on!

This caused NBC (which is not a member of the MPAA) to strategically move from the original May 30 screening to the afternoon of May 23. This was followed by Chile's RTL jump From May 31 to the morning of May 23.

Thus, the latest Latin schedule seems to be the following (see below and checkout our L.A. Screenings Web page for any updates): www.videoageinternation.com:

May 22      Worldvision
May 23 a.m. MGM (RTL)
May 23 p.m. NBC
May 24      Warner Bros.
May 24      CBS (every morning
            through May 28)
May 24 p.m. Disney/ABC
            (plus May 25, 26, 27 p.m.)
May 25      Fox
May 26      Columbia TriStar
May 27      Universal
May 28      Paramount

With this year's schedule, the Canadians will be in town more or less at the same times as the Latins. The Europeans come to town starting May 23 and the rest will arrive well before the Memorial Day weekend (Memorial Day is a U.S. holiday celebrated on Monday, May 31).

Since the studios are not screening during the holiday, the time could benefit the independent distributors who will have the attention of all of the buyers (who are normally not affected by the American celebration).

For all practical purposes, the screenings will now be over by June 4.

This year's confusion can be attributed to two factors. First, three studios (Fox, Warner Bros. and Columbia) reportedly made the decision to screen after the Memorial Day weekend without consulting the other studios. The second factor was the earlier-than-expected network announcement dates (listed below)

May 17 NBC
May 18 ABC
May 18 The WB
May 19 CBS
May 20 Fox
May 21 UPN

Subsequently, the MPAA tried to put the screenings sequence to a vote, but it failed to create an orderly selection. The MPAA intervention into the L.A. Screenings marks the first involvement of the studio association -- a development which is not universally appreciated, given the jealousy in which some studios guard their screenings schedule and their affinity for the unstructured process.

The MPAA members met last month to vote on the 2000 L.A. Screenings' schedule.

Curiously, the confusion this year over scheduling also plagued the unrelated network affiliate meetings, some of which changed locations at a very late date.

In any case, to meet the increased demands upon both buyers and distributors alike during this years' screenings, Video Age, in partnership with CEO Meetings and Conferences, will be offering a complementary shuttle service between the following hotels: Century Plaza, Park Hyatt, Beverly Hilton, Westwood Marquis and Sunset Marquis. (Again, check out Video Age's Web site for more detailed information.)

In addition to this service, Video Age will maintain information desks at the Park Hyatt, Westwood Marquis and Sunset Marquis. At the Century Plaza, we will have a hospitality suite.

As often indicated in the calendar page of The Hollywood Reporter and other professional trade journals, Video Age remains the source for any updates and information about the L.A. Screenings.