The 5th annual Realscreen West conference, held in early June at Santa Monica’s Fairmont Miramar Hotel is quickly rivaling its East Coast flagship event as the place to be at the cutting-edge of unscripted/reality television.
For two content-packed days, Realscreen attracted a record 900 attendees, including top-level speakers, up a whopping 50% from last year, when about 600 people participated.
Network executives, producers and program strategists shared their insights in a plethora of conference sessions that took place in ballrooms on two levels of the hotel, which occupies a prime spot on a bluff overlooking the Pacific.
Attendees heard from some of the top people in the world of reality including Thom Beers, CEO of Freemantle Media North America, Dan Cutforth of Magic Elves Productions, Gail Berman of BermanBraun, Darren Campo of truTV, Eric Schotz of LMNO Productions, Daniel Cabillo of Telemundo Network, Sandra Smester of Univision Networks, Mariana Flynn of TLC, Steven Lerner of HGTV and DIY Network, Colin Whelan of Syfy, Noah Pollack of Lifetime Networks, David Ellenberg of TBS and TNT, Jonathan Murray of Bunim/Murray Productions, ChrisCoelen of Kinetic Content and Cori Abraham of Oxygen.
Participants can also sign up to meet mentors and experts to facilitate business ventures in unscripted entertainment and there were a series of roundtables with executives from various networks.
In yet another sign that reality television is achieving more prominence– if not domination– there was much discussion about the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences recent establishment of a Reality Peer Group and what effect it may have in determining the Emmys Awards handed out in the Reality and Reality Competition categories.
In a session called Prop Shops, BermanBraun cofounder Gail Berman noted how “American Idol” had irrevocably altered the television landscape.
“It changed the way our community works, changed the fate of the Fox Broadcasting Company, and had a tremendous meaning for the country post 9/11,” she said, adding that it was ridiculous that AI has never won an Emmy.
Realscreen gives out its own awards, which were held in a festive setting on the lawn at hotel, capping off the conference by lauding those who are demonstrating the best in the business . A number of trophies were handed out in categories including lifestyle, nonfiction, reality, digital and branded content, competition, docu-reality, Web series and multi platform.
A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” and “Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide” (PBS) were among the big winners, each taking home four prizes.
Producer Bertram Van Munser (“The Amazing Race”) was honored with the Hall of Fame award for his more than four decades developing and producing quality unscripted content.
“I am humbled and also eager to continue creating non-scripted TV for fans around the world,” he said.
