2017 ATF Formats Pitch Judging Panel Unveiled

all3media international and Asia TV Forum & Market have revealed the judging panel for the 2017 ATF Formats Pitch.

The panel of industry experts serving as judges this year includes Alan Hodges, the managing director for the Asia Pacific at A+E Networks; Spruce Leong, the head of commissioning for Channel 5 at Mediacorp TV; Stephen Lambert, the CEO of Studio Lambert; Janine Stein, the editorial director at ContentAsia; and Amreet Chahal, sales manager of formats and finished programs for Asia at all3media international.

The ATF Formats Pitch is a platform designed to showcase the best of Asia and expose ideas for export and development both inside and outside the region. It is being backed by all3media international for the second year running and will take place during the Asia Television Forum in Singapore on November 30, 2017.

The 2017 ATF Formats Pitch has received entries from 13 countries, and the number of entries from Asian countries doubled compared to the inaugural event last year. The judges have reviewed more than 50 entries. The creators of five shortlisted formats will be invited to pitch their ideas on stage to the panel of industry experts. The shortlisted formats were selected by Kit Yow, sales manager (APAC) at all3media international; Nick Smith, the senior VP of format production at all3media international; Sabrina Duguet, the executive VP for the Asia Pacific at all3media international; and Laetitia Lamic, the deputy director-general at Coyote (France).

In addition, William Lim, executive producer at XTREME Media and winner of the inaugural competition in 2016, will join all3media international’s Duguet for an onstage interview to discuss his experience. His winning format Hit It is currently being filmed in Singapore following its recent commission by Mediacorp Suria.

all3media international’s Smith commented, “We’re very pleased to see such a high-profile panel of experts gathering once again for the latest ATF Formats Pitch. The competition offers a fantastic platform for the Asian television industry’s up-and-coming talents to present their ideas to an international audience in a collaborative and supportive environment. The success of Hit It is a great example of the potential we see coming out of the ATF Formats Pitch; we’ve worked closely with William and the team at XTREME Media during the last 12 months and are looking forward to seeing the first Formats Pitch series on air early next year.”

The winner of the 2017 ATF Formats Pitch will receive S$3,500 ($2,580) in cash to develop the idea, and a S$16,500-value package will be tailor-made to develop the format, in partnership with all3media international, making it pitch-ready for broadcasters.