ATF Sets Expansion Plans

SINGAPORE: Anne de Kerckhove, director of Reed MIDEM’s entertainment division, was in Singapore today to announce the organization’s investment in enhancing the Asia TV Forum, with plans to work closely with its sister office in Singapore, Reed Exhibitions, to bolster the conference program, introduce new networking and content showcases and increase the presence of creators and digital media executives.

"Asia is at an incredible time in its history in terms of TV and media," said de Kerckhove at a press conference at ATF. "At Reed MIDEM [organizers of MIPTV and MIPCOM], we see Asia as incredibly strategically important, and we want to play a big big role with our team mates at ATF." De Kerckhove noted the strength of the trading show floor, but added, "There’s a bigger ecosystem in the TV business that starts with the creator producer, the person that has an idea, that meets a production company, that meets its financier, that meets its technology platform that meets its broadcaster. What we want to do at ATF over the next few years is bring that full ecosystem together, to foster the dialogues, the partnerships, the networking that will lead to bigger innovation, bigger ideas, more creativity."

"We’re going to invest massively into ATF," she continued. "We’re going to put together a complex and diverse learning and conference program, a full set of workshops and learning experiences, a whole series of new awards and competitions. We’re incredibly excited about this investment into ATF."

Michelle Lim, general manager of Reed Exhibitions Singapore, said it was time for ATF to "leapfrog into the next decade and see what we can do to take it to the next level so that all of us can benefit as a whole." With an "even deeper, more strategic alliance with Reed MIDEM, we would like to be able to accelerate growth [in the region’s entertainment business] and champion Asian innovation."

Hui Leng Yeow, ATF project director at Reed Exhibitions, went into more detail on plans for ATF 2012, which will feature a co-production forum, a spotlight on Asian animation and a conference program that incorporates leaders from the digital and social media spheres.