FILMART Online Opens March 15

The Hong Kong International Film and TV Market | Online (FILMART Online) will run as a virtual event from March 15 to 18.

Organized by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), FILMART Online will feature a wide range of film and TV productions and connect major players from the global film and TV industries, creating new business opportunities through a unique online platform. This year’s event will also feature a lineup of industry experts speaking in a series of webinars, analyzing market trends and industry development in the post-pandemic era. The speakers will include representatives from such companies as Facebook, Tencent’s WeTV and iflix, Indian OTT platform Eros Now, WarnerMedia, Hunan TV and iQIYI.

FILMART Online will bring together around 600 exhibitors and more than 6,000 industry representatives. A number of Hong Kong film companies, including Edko Films Limited, Emperor Motion Pictures, Golden Scene Company Limited, Mandarin Entertainment, Media Asia Film, Mega-Vision Project Workshop, Mei Ah Entertainment Group, One Cool Film Production, PCCW Media Limited, Sil-Metropole Organisation, Sun Entertainment, TVBI and Universe Films Distribution, will participate in the event. Other exhibitors include film companies from Mainland China, Southeast Asia, Japan, Korea, Europe and America, together with first-time participants from Czechia, Fiji and Luxembourg, releasing and promoting more than 2,000 film and TV productions in total.

Also being held from March 15 to 17 is the Hong Kong-Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF). Highlighting its ongoing efforts to create business exchange opportunities for film workers, HAF will exhibit 28 film projects in the development stage and 20 work-in-progress film projects.

Further, FILMART Online provides exhibitors with a dedicated website through which they can showcase company information and details of their productions, allowing authorized buyers to enjoy previews through the use of digital rights management (DRM) encryption and digital watermarking technologies. The platform also employs big data and artificial intelligence technology to provide an advanced search function that enables buyers to easily locate suitable titles.

Online business matching sessions will be organized during the event, promoting trade and cooperation by putting together lists of suitable exhibitors that match buyers’ specific needs. Buyers can also take advantage of the platform’s built-in video conferencing and SMS features to connect with buyers around the world. FILMART Online will host a number of webinars covering a range of themes and topics relevant to the industry, delivered by such speakers as Saurabh Doshi, director of entertainment partnerships for the Asia-Pacific at Facebook; Kaichen Li, head of WeTV and iflix at Tencent; and Ali Hussein, CEO of Eros Now.

Other speakers will include Lester Hu, head of formats and international business at Hunan TV; Sakti Parantean, co-managing director at Fremantle Indonesia; Kuen-bum Lee, director of global business at Munhwa Broadcasting Corp; Janine Stein, editorial director at ContentAsia; Kuek Yu-Chuang, VP for international business at iQIYI; David Simonsen, senior VP of business and digital distribution for Asia at WarnerMedia; Kazufumi Nagasawa, managing director chief content officer at Hulu Japan; Ruby Chen, co-founder and CEO at CNEX; Rudy Buttingnol, president and CEO at Knowledge Network Corporation; and Vikram Channa, VP and head of content and products for East and Southeast Asia at Discovery, Inc.