NATPE, Realscreen Summit to Shutter, Citing Market Consolidation

Brunico Communications will shutter its U.S. television events business in 2027, including its NATPE conventions as well as its Kidscreen and Reelscreen Summits.

The events organizer cited media content budgets and market consolidation as the primary reasons for shutting down the events programs. Brunico will shift its focus to its publications, including Realscreen, Kidscreen, Playback and Strategy.

The company also noted that it will continue the Banff World Media Festival, which will take place June 14 to 17. The Realscreen team will continue operations, covering the daily news and its awards coverage.

Additionally, Reelscreen’s former publisher and executive director of NATPE Claire Macdonald will depart Brunico after 13 years. Kidscreen publisher Jocelyn Christie will also exit the company.

“I have worked with some of the brightest minds in the business and I’ve witnessed great resilience and creativity over the years as the industry weathers change,” Macdonald said. “I wish nothing but the best for my colleagues and the industry as a whole as it transforms.”

Brunico called the U.S. events shut down a “difficulty, but necessary devision.”

“This decision was deeply considered and stemmed from the market consolidation that continues to progress and have structural impacts on the content production business,” Brunico Communications president and CEO Russell Goldstein said in a statement.

Brunico acquired NATPE — the National Association of Television Programming Executives — in 2023 after the organization declared bankruptcy post-pandemic. The communications company purchased NATPE Global, NATPE Budapest, NATPE Streaming+ and the Brandon Tartikoff Legacy Awards.

Before picking up the operating rights to the Banff World Media Festival in 2016, Brunico ran the Realscreen Summit and Kidscreen Summit conferences in the U.S.

While the company’s Kidscreen Awards and Realscreen Awards will also continue, the Realscreen and Kidscreen Summits will not. The summits were paired events with Brunico’s still existing trade publications.

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