The 21st Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), Asia’s leading entertainment content and conference, capped off the first week of its digital edition – ATF Online+, with 2,320 unique attendees from 60 countries and regions as of 4 December 2020. The platform is available on-demand until 28 February 2021.
ATF Online+ kicked off with an Opening Ceremony at the new state-of-the-art Hybrid Broadcast Studio located in Marina Bay Sands, Singapore on 1 December 2020. Mr S Iswaran, Minister for Communications and Information, Singapore officiated the launch in front of a physical audience of key industry players. The event was concurrently streamed live to a global audience watching via ATF Online+ and on Facebook. The ceremony was followed by a fireside chat between the Minister and Mr. Steven Chia, Presenter/Senior Editor of Channel News Asia, on the future of the media and entertainment industry, where he mentioned how companies need to create a wider variety of content, and the opportunities the Asian media market presents.
Business as usual at ATF Online+, with new connections made and deals announced
ATF Online+ 2020 saw 1,215 companies and 15 official pavilions participating, with 4,156 programmes presented on the platform. The first official four-days also saw more than 15,500 meetings arranged, underpinning ATF’s importance as a platform to facilitate business dealings. The meetings will continue until 28 February 2021.
ATF also continues to be a key year-end market where deals are sealed, with a host of partnerships and deals announced during the ATF week. Some of the announcements made during the week came from 7 Steps Production, iQiyi, ITV Studios, Mediacorp, Nippon TV, TechStorm and WarnerMedia.
141 industry experts delivered insights at ATF Online+ sessions
This year’s conference saw a refreshed programme schedule, specifically tailored for the global online audience. Segmented into five broad areas that cut across 1 to 4 December, each component focused on bite-sized discussions specific to the various pillars within the industry.
Mornings with Industry Leaders – Decision makers from the media, telecoms and entertainment industry took centre stage in the morning, sharing insights and thought-leadership on navigating the tides ahead and staying relevant amidst the changes. Top executives who participated in the fireside chats included Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 Global, Priya Dogra, President, WarnerMedia EMEA & Asia (excl. China), Dr Michael Gryseels, President, True Digital Group and Jacques du Puy, CEO, CANAL+ International.
Lunchtime Buying – Key buyers took over the lunch hour sessions to give an insiders’ viewpoints and perspective on today’s buying strategies. Some of the panellists included Daphne Yang, CEO, CatchPlay, Maarten Meijs, President Global Entertainment, ITV Studios, Chao Gan, Vice President, Youku, Alibaba Media & Entertainment Group and Agustinus Bagus Abimanyu, Head of International Acquisition 3 TV, MNC Media, sharing strategies in the dramas, formats, kids and docs spaces.
Coffee Hour Content Showcase – This segment saw top sellers from China, Japan, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan and Turkey showcasing the latest entertainment content and industry updates, together with a spread of scripted and unscripted formats opened for contracts for the industry.
Production Afternoons – Format experts, creative leaders and decision makers took the afternoon to address issues and present user cases to advance production capabilities in the industry. Some of the speaker that took the virtual stage include Seo Hye-jin, Executive Director, TV Chosun, Yi Seung-jun, Founder, Director & Producer, Bluebird Pictures and Evelina Lye, Head of Regional Marketing, Media Partnerships APAC Entertainment, News & Sports, Facebook.
Southeast Asian Film Financing Forum (SAFF Forum) – The annual film-focused forum rounded off the four-day event with discussions on Southeast Asian partnership in media – cutting across content, connectivity, and capability. Among those who took part were as Abhi Rastogi, CEO & Founder, 108 Media, Elliot Renton, Senior Director & Head of APAC, Grabyo and Rashid Karim, CEO, Iskandar Malaysia Studios.
Active Engagements and Feedback from the Industry
Attendees were actively involved in the digital journey, and generous in communicating feedback of the platform, which included the following:
– Francesca Ibanez, CEO, CESCA Films: The organization has been really good, the cost was not high and the online platform worked. Was very easy to use. Easy to make contacts, that for a seller is of utmost importance.
– Carl D-Broughton, Producer, Manque: After crippling lockdowns and the global industry coming to a standstill, the online ATF was quite the godsend! The pricing was fair, the matching system worked well and the chat/messaging function made communicating easy. I confess to missing most of the conferences, but there’s the ‘catch-up’ option and, with the system available until the end of February, I’m still able to make new connections. In fact, given how these events usually end when everyone goes home, this ability to reach out for several weeks afterwards may yet prove to be crucial.
– Harry Kyoungwon, Manager, Gyeonggi Content Agency: Despite the Covid-19 pandemic, ATF Online+ has successfully linked content and media professionals with an easy and stable platform. With this platform, exhibitors could easily learn how to communicate with buyers and manage their video meetings. Hope to visit real Singapore next year!
– Shenthil Ranie, Vice President, Inflight Inc Pte Ltd: It was seamless experience to connect with potential companies and especially the My Schedule functionality was very useful.
– Kanji Kazahaya, Seller, Culture Connect Co., Ltd.: ATF is always one of the most important markets to meet key persons. Although it was challenging during a pandemic, the organiser has successfully created a decent online platform.
– Eugene Venkovsky, Sales Director, Open Alliance Media: ATF+ platform really works. Better than real meetings. So many effective meetings past few days.
– Rachel Wong, Assistant Commissioning Editor, Mediacorp: I really like the interface. It’s really easy to navigate.
Yeow Hui Leng, Group Project Director of ATF said, “We invited the industry to join our discussions on ‘Prelude to 2021’, the theme for ATF Online+ 2020. We are encouraged by the industry’s response, which shows the eagerness to engage towards a positive 2021. It also underscores the trust they placed on ATF to partner them to deliver the right leads and platform to continue doing so.”
Under the umbrella of Singapore Media Festival, the next edition of ATF and ScreenSingapore is slated to return 1 to 3 December 2021.
About Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) 2020
Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) – the region’s leading entertainment content event – is the platform of calibre to acquire knowledge, network, buy, sell, finance, distribute and co-produce across all platforms. It is the premier stage in Asia to engage with the entertainment industry’s top players from around the world. It’s where the best minds meet and the future of Asia’s content is shaped.
ATF facilitates opportunities to discover vital trends, crucial statistics and significant foresight particularly in TV’s digital, kids and formats arenas. Its business match-making programme open doors to new connections in the region. With over 5,700 international buyers and sellers from more than 60 countries and regions, ATF presents valuable business prospects for top- of-the-line benefits. For more information, please visit www.asiatvforum.com
About ScreenSingapore 2020
ScreenSingapore – Southeast Asia’s definitive marketplace for filmmakers, producers, distributors, financiers and film buyers to explore co-production opportunities, seek financing, make deals and learn about the changing film landscape.
In 2020, ScreenSingapore will once again host the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market and Conference, in partnership with the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA) and Ties That Bind: Asia/Europe Producers Workshop (TTB) to connect promising filmmakers and producers from Southeast Asia and Europe with international co-producing partners, festival programmers, distributors, commissioners, and financiers. For more information, please visit www.screensingapore.com.sg
About Reed Exhibitions (RX)
Reed Exhibitions is a leading global event organiser, with more than 500 events in 30 countries. In 2019, Reed Exhibitions brought together more than 7m event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed Exhibitions’ events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 38 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of RELX, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries. For more information, please visit www.reedexpo.com
About the Singapore Media Festival (SMF)
The Singapore Media Festival, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority, is one of Asia’s leading international media events, where the industry meets to discover the latest trends, talents and content in Asia for film, TV and digital media. Taking place from 26 November to 6 December 2020, the Singapore Media Festival brings together the Asian Academy Creative Awards (AAA), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore, and Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). SuperGamerFest will also be held in conjunction with SMF. For more information about the Singapore Media Festival, please visit www.imda.gov.sg/sgmediafest.
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