Participation Up for Asia Media Festival

SINGAPORE, October 31:
This year’s Asia Media Festival (AMF), to be held in Singapore from November 14
to December 4, has announced that some 5,400 participants are set to attend, a
16-percent increase from last year.

The total number of
entries received across the different events—including the Promax/BDA
Awards—has also increased by some 6 percent.

Hosted by the Media
Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore and organized by Reed Exhibitions, in
collaboration with key industry partners, AMF 2007 encompasses various aspects
of the media business—from media financing to the creation, production and
distribution of content across TV, film, animation, documentaries and mobile
broadcasting.

For the first time, the
inaugural Asia Factual Forum and Apollo Awards will be held in conjunction with
the Festival. The three-day Asia Factual Forum (AFF) is designed to showcase
content in the documentary genre. Filmmaker Ruby Yang, whose documentary The
Blood of Yingzhou District won the
79th Academy Award for best documentary short subject, will be sharing her
experience in creating factual content with international appeal and resonance.
Discovery Channel, National Geographic, FremantleMedia Asia, AETN, BBC Global
Channels and The History Channel are slated to participate in the AFF.

The AMF will also include
the Asia Television Forum (ATF), the Asia Animation Conference (AAN), the Asia
Film Market and Conference (AFMC), the Asian Festival of 1st Films (AFFF), the
Asian Television Awards (ATA), the Media Financing Forum (MFF) and Promax/BDA
Asia.

More than 1,350 entries
will vie for the Asian Television Awards, which is into its twelfth year, while
the selection committee at the Asian Festival of 1st Films will
nominate 32 finalists from more than 500 entries. Similarly, some 420 entries
have been received for the Apollo Awards, and another 1,400 entries will
compete for Promax/BDA Awards, which recognize excellence in on-air promotion,
branding and advertising.

Participants at ATF
include CBS Paramount International Television, Disney-ABC International
Television, Lionsgate and NBC Universal Television Distribution. Australia,
France, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain and Taiwan will be leading
national pavilions to ATF.

In addition, regional
buyers like China’s Beijing TV, India’s Zee Entertainment, South Korea’s KBS,
Malaysia’s ASTRO, Thailand’s Bangkok Broadcasting & TV Co., Indonesia’s PT
Surya Citra Televisi, Cambodia Television Network, Associated Broadcasting
Company in the Philippines and Al Jazeera Documentary Channel in Qatar, will
also be attending the market.

More than $47 million
worth of deals were concluded at last year’s AMF, surpassing 2005's $33 million
by some 42 percent.

Running parallel to the
trade events at AMF 2007, about 20 public events and activities, under MDA’s
MediAction! campaign, will be held over the next two months to inspire
Singaporeans to discover the possibilities that media can offer for work,
learning and play.

“Asia Media Festival is
designed to be aligned with market needs and the latest industry trends,” said
Dr Christopher Chia, the CEO of the MDA. “This year’s event is no exception as
we see a strong focus on industry hot topics, such as content protection and
sports programming, drawing interest among participants and speakers alike.
Compelling media content transcends global boundaries, and in an industry where
cross-continent collaborations are shaping the way media professionals work,
Singapore, as an East-West gateway will continue to grow in importance.”

—By Irene Lew