London Screenings: Russian, Ukrainian Buyers Pull Out, But Week of Events Kicks Off in Stride (EXCLUSIVE)
Manori Ravindran International EditorIn 2020, one of the first indications that all wasn’t right for a global TV industry just waking up to the threat of COVID was the Chinese delegation of buyers pulling out of the BBC Studios Showcase.As revealed by Variety on Feb. 5, 2020, around 20 Chinese companies skipped the early February event due to travel bans in place for parts of China following the coronavirus outbreak, whose death toll had just surpassed that of SARS.Two years later, world events are again affecting London Screenings. Several senior distribution sources have told Variety that most representatives from Russian streamers, broadcasters and distributors, as well as Ukrainian media companies, have canceled their trips to the U.K.