Basic Lead to Launch Two Additional DISCOP Markets

Basic Lead has unveiled plans to roll out two new DISCOP markets by the end of 2019, one based in Zanzibar and the other in Lagos.

DISCOP Zanzibar will be held in 2018 with a focus on East Africa’s independent film, television and digital content production sectors. DISCOP Zanzibar is partnering with the Zanzibar International Film Festival (ZIFF), which is about to hold its 20th edition. The inaugural DISCOP Zanzibar will take place during ZIFF 2018. DISCOP Lagos, slated for 2019, will center on Nigeria, one of the world’s most promising entertainment single-market ecosystems. More information about these two markets will be made available at a press conference that will be held on October 27, the last day of the Johannesburg edition of DISCOP. With the new markets, DISCOP will represent 75 percent of the world’s population.

ZIFF’s festival director, Fabrizio Colombo, said, “As ZIFF celebrates its 20th anniversary, we could not be more excited to partner with DISCOP, the most respected name in African content markets. This partnership is an important milestone for the development of the East African multiplatform entertainment content production industries, and will be instrumental in driving this often-neglected market forward. DISCOP Zanzibar will be a unique event, as unique as the island of Zanzibar itself.”

“Movies and TV programs have always been part of the fabric of the countries we cover with DISCOP,” said Patrick Zuchowicki, the founder of DISCOP. “What is changing is the ability for broadcasters, pay-TV platforms, mobile operators and on-demand video services to monetize the consumption of entertainment content, and for local producers to feed an immense appetite for homegrown entertainment. These countries will represent in the next five years 35 percent of global wholesale licensing revenues derived primarily from intra-regional trade. By then and with five DISCOP markets a year, we expect to draw 6,000 delegates, three times more than we do now.”