Co-creators Barbara Ciarlantini and Mary Schwartz came to New Orleans to present The Handy Girls, a combined live-action/animation show based on The Handy Girls Can Fix It! book published by Random House in 1984. © Handy Girls, Inc

ShoPro Entertainment, of Japan, had a formable presence near the entrance of the floor with their latest hit animated series, Hamtaro. John Easum, vice president of licensing and sales, feels that NATPE is becoming a “grand L.A. Screening.” “More business is done on the road in the U.S.,” he said. “But ShoPro will always do NATPE, even though it costs more. It is a way to introduce our executives to everyone.”

Colorland’s Louis Sek is a veteran of both NATPE and MIP and is committed to attend all of them in the future. The Chairman/CEO of the Chinese production company had a booth for the first time to present his original properties. “As a production service you don’t need a stand,” said Sek. For him the decision to have a booth was an economic one. “NATPE is much more reasonably priced. Even if you make one good contact then it is worth it,” he said. Though he wasn’t booked back-to-back with meetings, he was meeting new “friends” and gathering information just by being in the booth. “Some say that NATPE has lost its focus. It doesn’t need a focus. It is a great place for the industry to meet and exchange and build new relationships.”

Building new relationships was the focus of Louis Sek's visit to NATPE. Sek, Chairman/CEO of the Chinese company Colorland Animation, co-produced the Christmas movie In Search of Santa (right), and is currently in discussions with international distributors. Photo courtesy of Colorland Animation; In Search of Santa © 2003 Colorland Animation/Tundra Productions.

Another seasoned floor dweller was Mark Bannon of Wreckless Abandon Studios. Following December’s airing of their NBC special, A Freezerburnt Christmas, Bannon, CEO/executive producer, was introducing Animation Content, his new marketing company for concept representation. He was surprised by the change at this year’s show. “Ironically, I have had the best meetings I have ever had,” he said. “I hope that NATPE settles itself out. We meet people you never would have a chance to meet otherwise, here on the floor.”

Barry Ward had much stronger feelings about the direction NATPE should take. “NATPE is an essential North American market and should be positioned as such,” said the president of the Vancouver-based Bardel Entertainment. “Indies like Bardel can’t afford to go to two European markets a year,” he said. He even suggested that NATPE go face-to-face with MIP-TV by scheduling NATPE at the same time and persuading the majors to stay home.