Upfront News and Views: Much Ado About Freeform

Venue Spring Studios located a few blocks from the Holland Tunnel entrance last used in this manner for Conde Nast Entertainment39s NewFront showcase last spring Situated several floors above street level the space was large and largely white in color including the chairs walls and stage The stage itself featuring a runway and rectangular screen ran 77 feet long by 11 feet high Show talent sat in a comfy open greenroom at one corner with a bar serving prepresentation drinks The wall opposite the stage offered a view of nearby surroundings and the Hudson River By show time the room was SRO in the back and on the sides Grade 4 JacksPresentation At last year39s ABC Family Upfront executives promised to draw quotbecomersquot into their viewer tent as in Millennials between the ages of 12 and 34 who are experiencing mileposts in their lives from first date to first child quotThat audience is hard to reachquot acknowledged Freeform Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing Laura Nathanson quotIn our short time as Freeform we reach them in massesquot With 31 million unique viewers each month so far this year the network is fast becoming quotthe young adult brand of parent Disneyquot declared Freeform President Tom Ascheim pictured above The aim from here on Cultivate loyalty among diverse Millennials who are sociallyconnected techsavvy and have an open outlook on life quotThis group of young people consider themselves the force to transform the worldquot Ascheim noted How to reach them A wider net of firstrun programs simultaneous linearonlinesmart TVdevicemobile distribution and offnet outreach starting with quotFreedom Festquot an annual musiccomedypop culture outdoor festival kicking off later this year A kinetic wave of widescreen graphics and video clips supplemented the remarks Grade 4 JacksNews Freeform39s first expansion level involves three new series this summer amp8220Guiltamp8221 sister becomes prime suspect of her roommate39s murder premiering June 13 amp8220Dead of Summeramp8221 terror spree at a midAmerica campground debuting June 28 and amp8220Cheer Squadamp8221 unscripted profile of a championship cheerleader team set to begin August 22 For winter 2017 at least two more series will launch amp8220Beyondamp8221 a conspiracy drama involving a 20something who wakes up from a 12year coma and amp8220The Letteramp8221 unscripted look at four young women amp8220Famous in Loveamp8221 Bella Thorne as a college student turned movie star and amp8220Cloak and Daggeramp8221 interracial superhero romance based on the popular Marvel comic characters could join the winter 2017 lineup as could amp8220Issuesamp8221 a New Yorkproduced drama fashioned on Cosmopolitan editorinchief Joanna Coles She will be an executive producer For the first time latenight will become an outlet for originals Two candidates there amp8220Later Bitchesamp8221 a young female group talk show and amp8220Aliceamp8221 a weekly anthology of shortform series An extensive series development slate for 2017 and beyond includes amp8220Huntedamp8221 a mystery with Mila Kunis among the executive producers amp8220Loneamp8221 a survivalr drama from McG amp8220Misfitsamp8221 an adaptation of the hit British series from amp8220Gossip Girlamp8221 creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage amp8220New Peopleamp8221 a dramedy about transgender individuals and amp8220Risingamp8221 a Latina comingofage drama with Selena Gomez as coexecutive producer Also in the hopper several madeforTV films including amp8220Greek The Reunionamp8221 and amp8220Snapshotamp8221 a look back at pop culture milestones from the last 20 years produced in association with ESPN Films Grade 45 JacksHosts Ascheim Nathanson and company handled their hosting duties ends well albeit with a bobble here and there Ascheim even had a Marco Rubio moment reaching into the audience for a water bottle to get a sip in Grade 3 JacksStar Time A trio known as The Freeformers opened and closed the presentation with a mix of rap and song Best moments burts of improv to a human beatbox extolling the virtues of multiplatform bingewatching Big Data and fragmentation The casts of Freeform39s monster successamp160quotPretty Little Liarsquot pictured at top and new hitamp160quotShadowhuntersquot pictured above were on hand tooamp160A shout out also to the offrunway voice with this preshow reminder for attendees quotStop all the texting stop all the tweeting show39s going to start so go find the seatingquot Grade 35 JacksCuisine Best chowdown The dim sum buffet and for the second time this season pulled pork sandwiches on glazed donuts this one with relish on top Worst chowdown Pretzels heavy on the taste and the stomach As tasty as most of the food was the food stations themselves were small and situated in room corners resulting to big lines In contrast the bar in each room was way too big How often does that happen Grades 3 Jacks for the food 15 Jacks for the environmentamp160 Note Cuisine grades do not impact the overall Jacks ratingOverall Grade 4 Jacksamp160 Flashy splashy full of kinetic vigor without going overboard plus chockfull of news about new network contentA quick review of our Jacks scale5 Jacks Excellent4 Jacks Very Good3 Jacks Good2 Jacks Fair1 Jack Poor0 Jacks Don39t go thereNext up Azteca America our first Spanishlanguage player this seasonUntil the next time stay well and stay tunedThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageMyersBizNet management or associated bloggers

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Upfront News and Views: Much Ado About Freeform

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Upfront News and Views: Much Ado About Freeform

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