DISCOP West Asia Opens with a Bang & a New Home

ISTANBUL: As of today, DISCOP West Asia has registered a total of 788 delegates and 426 companies, up from the final total of 612 delegates representing 343 companies at the 2012 event.

Patrick Zuchowicki, DISCOP’s general manager, told World Screen Newsflash, "many of the new players present this year are independent producers, especially from Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, looking for co-productıon and sales," adding, "despite the upheavals of the Arab Spring, production within the region continues to increase, with about 120 new drama series produced in 2012. So, when peace returns, there will be an explosion of production in the region."

This regional potential was underlined both by the announcement, made March 4 at a reception at the French Consulate in Istanbul by Reed MIDEM representative Samira Haddi, that MIP 2014 will designate Turkey as the ‘country of honor,’ and Zuchowicki’s announcement Tuesday that DISCOP West Asia 2014 will move to 3,000-square-feet of purpose-built exhibition space at the Istanbul Exhibition and Convention Centre, and that this increased space is already 25-percent sold.

DISCOP West Asia is expanding in other ways, too. DISCOPRO, which has been a feature in one way or another of many DISCOP markets, has now been formalized into a separate event within the market, in which, says Zuchowicki, "meetings will coalesce around projects rather than companies." At the end of the market’s first day the new move was close to producing success with Serbia’s RTV reportedly close to a deal with India’s Madhu Entertainment for funding of Poisons, a documentary series looking at history’s great poisoners. 

Mathieu Bejot, the executive director of the French trade body TVFI, told World Screen Newsflash that, "DISCOP West Asia is important not only for selling but also for getting to know the regional players, not all of which attend MIPTV or MIPCOM. In fact," he went on, "we have discontinued our regional showcases because we see everyone we need to see at DISCOP and our own Le Rendez-vous in September in Biarritz."

These comments were echoed by Televisa director of sales Mario Castro, who said, "not only is DISCOP West Asia a great way to meet all the regional channels and producers but it also, of course, offers a great focus on Turkey, as well as provıdıng a good run into MIPTV."