ATF & ScreenSingapore 2013 Prove Successful

SINGAPORE: The 14th edition of Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and the third edition of ScreenSingapore, both of which wrapped up on Friday, December 6, boasted strong market attendance and a record number of international delegations.

This year's concurrent events saw the participation of 16 international delegations for the first time ever, with new representations from Russia, South Korea and Indonesia. Attendance, which was up 10 percent, comprised 1,179 companies from more than 60 countries around the globe. Among the many highlights were the world debut of Firestorm and the Southeast Asian premiere of The Nightingale.

Kamal Jain, the CEO and managing director of Superfine Films in India, remarked: "ATF and ScreenSingapore is promising and attractive for content sellers and buyers. As a regular attendee, the market is getting busier every year with new promising business ventures, opportunities and sheer representation of content."

Seo Jang Ho, the head of international sales and acquisitions at CJ E&M Media in South Korea, said: "ATF is a growing and vibrant market. We witnessed increased traffic at our booth this year, and were kept busy with back-to-back meetings all day. The show is well-timed, and attracts many Southeast Asian buyers who may not necessarily visit other major international events."

Tuija Snellman, the head of sales and marketing for The Finnish Broadcasting Company, noted: "I first visited ATF last year to understand how the market worked. With a good impression of the well-organized market, I made a decision to exhibit this year. After these three hectic days, my decision has proven to be right. We have met many broadcasters, VOD buyers, distributors, channels and companies that we would never have met in Cannes. Indeed, ATF is the gateway for our Finnish audiovisual content for the region."

Changiz Hasani, the general director of IRIB Media Trade in Iran, stated: "We are going to distribute our programs with one of the main distributors in China. Having secured this deal at ATF 2013, we look forward to being part of ATF 2014."

Hazrul Hisyam Hassan, the business development director and co-founder of CreaTVtoon in Malaysia, commented: "For a new company like ours, ATF is my second international market this year and we are looking for buyers and opportunities. TVT Productions from U.K. came by our booth and after viewing our content, was excited and interested to be our distributor. They were even offering to co-produce for the second season. We'll definitely be back next year."

Joe Chang, the president of Ambassador Theatres in Taiwan, added: "This is one of the best conferences for Asia."

New additions this year included The ATF Animation Lab and MIPACADEMY.

Irwan Junaidy, partner of Malaysia's R & D Studio, which pitched to The Walt Disney Company, said: "For a small and new studio like ours, the ATF Animation Lab gave us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet, network and beyond that, understand the kind of content [they] wanted. Furthermore, we are now on [their] radar and we have even scheduled appointments for future meet-ups. We have also met with Nickelodeon and Turner during the networking sessions and it all seems rather promising."

Suriana Selamat, senior producer for Singapore's Screenbox, added: "MIPACADEMY is the must-attend platform to learn about the best formats in Asia!"

Next year's ATF and ScreenSingapore will once again be held in December. Eighty percent of the showroom for 2014 has already been booked.