DISCOP Joburg “Recalibrates” with Event Moving to July

The eighth edition of DISCOP Johannesburg wrapped up with lower attendance than the previous year, leading to some changes in the 2020 edition.

There were 976 delegates from 68 countries, down from 1,155 delegates in 2018. This included 194 content buyers and 216 content producers from Africa and 281 international content distributors.

The organizers are now planning to hold the three-day content market and co-production forum at the end of July. The next edition of DISCOP Johannesburg will take place from July 29 to 31, 2020. The change of dates will also bring DISCOP Abidjan, held May 27 to 29, closer to DISCOP Johannesburg—aiming to help forge stronger ties between content producers, buyers and sellers from Francophone and Anglophone Africa.

“In July, content buyers still have money to spend for the current year. Budgets are much tighter at the end of November and negotiations always slow down before the holiday season,” said Patrick Zuchowicki, president of DISCOP. “October and November are also very busy months with MIPCOM, MIP Cancun and the American Film Market pulling a lot of resources out of global content distributors.”