{"id":5363,"date":"2013-08-31T15:51:08","date_gmt":"2013-08-31T18:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tvmasmagazine.com\/?p=5363"},"modified":"2015-03-17T19:03:41","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T18:03:41","slug":"english-summit-focuses-on-telenovelas-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/2013\/08\/31\/english-summit-focuses-on-telenovelas-future\/","title":{"rendered":"Summit Focuses on Telenovelas\u2019 Future"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>http:\/\/www.videoageinternational.com\/articles\/2011\/12\/cumbre.htm<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The talk was about telenovelas and where they\u2019re heading, and the hope was that the genre would continue to be the main programming staple of the Latin networks well into the future.<br \/>\nThat\u2019s how the ninth annual <em>Cumbre Mundial de la Industria de la Telenovela y Series de Ficci\u00f3n<\/em>, or <em>Telenovela Summit<\/em>, began and ended early last month at the JW Marriott in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n<p>Organized by the indomitable Amanda Ospina, publisher and editor of the Miami-based <em>TV Mas<\/em> magazine, the <em>Cumbre<\/em> registered some 150 Latin TV executives from the U.S., Latin America and Europe.<\/p>\n<p>Over a three-day period, some 33 panelists touched on subjects such as licensing and merchandising, Hispanic (Spanish-language viewers in the U.S.) audiences, acquisitions and scriptwriting, among other topics. Disney\u2019s Leonardo Aranguibel spoke about co-productions and adaptations in Latin America, Telemundo Network\u2019s Leonor Sotillo touched on the subject of Web channels, Ecuavisa\u2019s Ana Cecilia Alvarado discussed the power of drama series in Ecuador, Telefutura\u2019s German Perez-Nahim moderated a seminar on various business models and Latin Media\u2019s Jose Escalante presided over talks about production and content supply. An entire day was devoted to scriptwriting, and Cuban-born, Miami-based Delia Fiallo, one of Latin America\u2019s most well known telenovela writers, received an award for a prolific career.<\/p>\n<p>Televisa\u2019s Martha Zavaleta offered an artistic view of telenovelas at the event, illustrating the need for new actors in the TV sector by comparing a star to a leader. \u201cNowadays the work schedules of the top actors are absurd and the stars cannot keep up with the pace. This is why the industry needs more stars,\u201d she explained. Zavaleta also pointed out that, at times, TV stars lose their leadership roles due to an awkward attitude or troublesome circumstances. Over time, some actors become too passionate on camera, appearing unnatural and unbelievable, she said.<\/p>\n<p>Venevision\u2019s Cesar Diaz explained the changing world of international content distribution, touching on the challenges facing telenovela sales internationally. After Europe \u2014 first Western Europe and later Eastern Europe \u2014 then moving to countries such as Romania and Russia, telenovela sales boomed in Asia, especially during the 1990s. Nevertheless, each territory in the region presented its own unique challenge, since, for example, kissing couldn\u2019t be shown in India, and in Indonesia no violence is allowed on screen. Today\u2019s challenge, according to Diaz, is represented by territories such as Italy, Turkey and Greece. As far as Africa is concerned, the continent is a Babel of languages, key channels are government-controlled and there are too few commercial TV outlets.<\/p>\n<p>Peruvian TV director Dan Relayze Gerhardt illustrated the Peruvian experience with telenovela production that began in 1959. \u201cDuring the initial period,\u201d explained Gerhardt, \u201cthey became very popular, but later their popularity declined. Today, however, the Peruvian public is rediscovering the genre and stations are broadcasting up to five telenovelas per day.\u201d<br \/>\nMexican TV director Jorge Rios Villanuevas pointed out that those who publicly say that they only watch news and sports are, in reality, all telenovela viewers.<\/p>\n<p>But telenovelas weren\u2019t the only topic being discussed at the event. At times, the equally interesting conversations fell outside the scheduled program. For example MGM Networks\u2019 Marcelo Coltro spoke about <em>En Busca De La Nueva Diva,<\/em> a reality show that searches for the next diva or <em>estrella<\/em> (star).<\/p>\n<p>The <em>Cumbre<\/em> is a creation out of the fertile mind of <em>TV Mas<\/em>\u2019 Amanda Ospina, who tenaciously and, at times single-handedly, managed to bring it to its ninth edition. The <em>Cumbre<\/em> began in 2003 right here in Miami, in the very same location where the 2011 edition was held. After its inaugural year, it took place in Spain (two years in Madrid and two in Barcelona); Buenos Aires, Argentina; Bogot\u00e1, Colombia, and in 2010 it was held in Lima, Per\u00fa. This year, the <em>Cumbre<\/em> returned to its birthplace in Miami where, curiously, it honored the same person whom it honored in 2003. The awards were cleverly dubbed \u201cThe Delia Fiallo Awards.\u201d Participants witnessed a very heartwarming and emotional ceremony recognizing this living giant of the telenovela industry.<\/p>\n<p>Although it\u2019s a relatively small event in comparison to other markets such as NATPE, the <em>Cumbre<\/em> brings to light new challenges facing Latin America\u2019s most celebrated serialized dramas and offers top-level Latin TV industry executives the unique opportunity to mingle in a cozy environment \u2014 a rare treat despite their close proximity to one another.<\/p>\n<p>Ospina, a former telenovela actor-turned-publisher, is not known for her meticulous organizational skills, and even though each <em>Cumbre<\/em> is often considered the result of a miracle, the fact remains that her devotion and dedication to the Latin American TV industry \u2014 and telenovelas in particular \u2014 are well appreciated by participants and sponsors alike. Many may at first resent her persistent sales pitches, but ultimately they relent and let Ospina be Ospina, helping her <em>Cumbre<\/em> succeed.<\/p>\n<p>VideoAge has never been involved in <em>Cumbre<\/em>\u2019s event structure or organization, but over the years it\u2019s been one of the few international TV trade publications to give Ospina its support, reporting on the summit\u2019s outcomes.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>http:\/\/www.videoageinternational.com\/articles\/2011\/12\/cumbre.htm The talk was about telenovelas and where they\u2019re heading, and the hope was that the genre would continue to <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/2013\/08\/31\/english-summit-focuses-on-telenovelas-future\/\">&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-festival"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5363","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5363"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5363\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5463,"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5363\/revisions\/5463"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tvmasmagazine.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}