DISCOP East Gears Up for Brisk Business

PARIS: The 17th edition of DISCOP East has already signed up more than 1,200 participants for the three-day event, which will take place at the Sofitel Atrium Hotel in Budapest from June 17 to 19.

The event will be preceded by a one day DISCOPRO conference, which will focus on co-production opportunities within Central and Eastern Europe. This year’s DISCOPRO will include a workshop on the production of archival-based news segments and documentaries, and a pitching session promoting a selection of ten projects. DISCOPRO is co-sponsored by the European Commission, Directorate-General Communication and Bavaria Media.

DISCOP East will also feature a conference titled "How to Turn Blocks of Airtime into Gold," featuring speakers such as Ross Biggam, the president of Association of Commercial Televisions in Europe, and Michel Gregoire, the president of the Association of Television and Radio Sales Houses. The session will feature industry experts discussing the growth of airtime selling-blocks filled with infomercials, poker tournaments and appeals for charitable donations, and how these paid-for programs now occupy a growing portion of the late-evening slots on TV stations, which are using them as alternative revenue streams for their air-time.

Social functions at the event include the Telenovela Gala Evening, hosted by Dori Media, and the Danube Boat Party, hosted by HBO Central Europe.

Patrick Jucaud, the managing director of DISCOP East 09, commented, “We are very pleased so see our delegate attendance continue to rise and anticipate more than 350 international vendors and 1,000 buyers will join us in June. Many new thematic channels have launched across Central and Eastern European region and, despite the current economic environment, programmers are still investing in content and original production and co-production in order to strengthen their channel’s brand and position in this crowded market.”

Philipp Kreuzer, the head of production finance and co-production for Bavaria Media, added, "Bavaria Media’s mother company Bavaria Film is involved in national and international productions. It is encouraging to see the local production boom in the emerging CEE markets continue and we look forward to meeting potential partners, discussing programming ideas and discovering new trends at DISCOP East and DISCOPRO."