FILMART & EntertainmentPulse Kick Off

FILMART, which opens today, is welcoming some 750 exhibitors from over 25 countries and regions and more than 30 regional pavilions.

This includes first-time exhibitors from Hubei, Indonesia and Macau.

The Thai Ministry of Culture set up a dedicated Thai Pavilion and organized Thai Day on the first day of FILMART. To strengthen bilateral trade ties, the HKTDC and the Department of International Trade Promotion (DITP) of the Thai Ministry of Commerce signed an MoU.

This year’s exhibition sees a significant presence of exhibitors from Mainland China, including Alibaba Culture Entertainment and bilibili, participating for the first time. Other exhibitors include Huace, iQIYI, Shanghai Youhug Media and Tencent.

Exhibitors from Hong Kong, such as Media Asia, Emperor Motion Pictures, Edko Films, Golden Scene, Mandarin Motion Picture, One Cool Pictures, PCCW Media and Universe Films set up booths to showcase their upcoming projects.

Additionally, the Hong Kong Design Institute held the opening ceremony of its virtual production studio and announced it will set up Hong Kong’s largest virtual production training center in Shaw Studios. First-time participant Hong Kong Baptist University is showcasing the latest AI, visualization and human-machine interaction technologies applied in film creation.

FILMART has partnered with Votion Studios, a Hong Kong-based creative tech company, to set up a virtual production studio at the event, marking the first time such a studio has been featured at FILMART.

Running through March 14, FILMART will showcase some 30 sessions of various events with an aim to foster knowledge exchange and facilitate connections, including press conferences, project showcases, seminars, networking events and more.

The inaugural Rhythm of Martial Arts Music Concert kicked things off, led by Music Director Dr. Mui Kwong Chiu. The concert highlighted the talents of six film music composers: Richard Yuan, Peter Kam, Punk Chan, Leon Ko, Julian Chan and Lam Kwan-fai. Popstars Deep Ng and Edmond Tong delivered performances of theme songs from classic Hong Kong films. The event also featured a special guest appearance by Thai film composer Terdsak Janpan.

At the third EntertainmentPulse, global industry leaders will discuss a range of topics, including Hong Kong-Europe-Asia co-productions, development of streaming, globalization of Chinese and ASEAN content as well as generative AI content.

The forum kicks off with the Dialogue with Pioneers: Prospects of AI Generative in the Entertainment Industry, featuring Wang Yu, magazine editor of The Chinese Film Market and film producer; Fu Binxing, president of Huace Film & TV; and Chen Jihong, partner at Zhong Lun Law Firm. The panel explores how the industry can seize and leverage the opportunities brought by AI-generated content as well as address challenges related to core business integration, copyright protection and infringement, R&D and talent investment.

Louis Boswell, CEO of Asia Video Industry Association, is in discussion with Kelvin Yau, VP of international business department of iQIYI, and Winradit Kolasastraseni, president of True Digital Group’s Digital Media Department, about the latest developments and opportunities of the D2C model of streaming platforms.

The session Meeting of Brilliance: A Dialogue between Two Generations of Filmmakers on Hong Kong Movies features film critic Thomas Shin, Fly Me to the Moon director Sasha Chuk and film producer Stanley Kwan as well as Dust to Dust producer Soi Cheang and director Jonathan Li, representing two generations of Hong Kong film.