Amazia Looms Large as ATF Opens in Singapore

SINGAPORE, November 28: As
the Asia TV Forum (ATF) opened in Singapore today, the topic of discussion for
many distributors was which event to attend next year; the ATF at the larger
Suntec venue, or Reed MIDEM’s new multiplatform conference and exhibition,
Amazia, in Hong Kong.

Organizers of both events
are at ATF looking to sign up participants for their respective markets. Many
international content owners, speaking off the record with World Screen
Newsflash today, expressed
reservations about attending both, and several are taking a wait-and-see
approach before deciding.

Nonetheless, ATF’s
organizers were upbeat at the opening ceremony this morning. Dr. Lee Boon Yang,
Singapore’s Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts, and Michelle
Lim, the general manager of Reed Exhibitions for Singapore and Malaysia, opened
the event with expectations for a strong market, citing healthy increases in
attendance and continued growth in the value of deals conducted at the seventh
annual event.

Deals worth some $47
million were closed at the ATF last year; that is projected to rise to almost
$60 million this year, with more than 4,700 participants from some 50 countries
in attendance. Looking ahead, Lim noted the symbolism of the “lucky number 8”
in Asia, with the eighth edition of the ATF due to be held at a larger venue,
the Suntec Convention Center, in December of next year, offering a “suite-style
exhibition concept.”

Dr. Lee Boon Yang,
meanwhile, cited continued growth in the export of content from Asia to
international audiences. “There is a tremendous potential to create content
which appeals to global audiences while encapsulating the new spirit, dynamism
and confidence of Asia,” he said, “We are indeed seeing the emergence of what
may be called New Asia Media. We are also witnessing growing international
interest to launch made-for-the-world co-productions inspired by ideas from
Asia.”

Lee also cited the growing
number of agreements between Singapore and international markets to facilitate
the export of local content. “We are interested in forging more co-production
agreements with like-minded countries. We also hope that trade participants
attending AMF (Asia Media Festival) will make good use of this opportunity to
build win-win business partnerships.”

Distributors were also
feeling upbeat as the market opened, with fairly heavy buyer traffic today,
despite the monsoon rains that descended upon the island nation this afternoon.
Owners of non-studio fare, in particular, are seeing an upswing in demand for
their content as Asian broadcasters attempt to gear up for a possible dearth of
network fare amid the writers’ strike in the U.S.

—By Mansha Daswani