7,000 International Participants Attend FILMART Online

Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), the HKTDC Hong Kong International Film and TV Market | Online (FILMART Online) attracted nearly 7,000 industry participants from 81 countries and regions over four days, with the release and promotion of some 2,200 film and television productions. Having become more familiar with doing business through online platforms, exhibitors and buyers used the online meeting function at FILMART Online to participate in more than 2,000 meetings.

The four-day event FILMART Online concluded successfully today. Nearly 7,000 participants were engaged and more than 2,000 business-matching meetings held, facilitating cooperation between exhibitors and global buyers. The multifunctional FILMART Online platform will remain open until 18 May.

Kaichen Li, Head of WeTV and iflix at Tencent, said that how well content is received does not necessarily stem from a big production and famous cast, but rather from the appeal of story, the quality of the script and the chemistry between the cast.

As COVID-19 begins to ease, there is concern about whether the trend for "at home" entertainment will lead to continued growth in the number of users on over-the-top (OTT) platforms. David Simonsen, SVP of WarnerMedia (top, right), said that the impact of the pandemic was just accelerating the changes in a highly competitive market, in which quality local, regional and global companies are competing in the same space to expand their audiences.

Running from 15 to 18 March, FILMART Online saw a total of 27 online events staged, including nine conferences. Speaking on the first day of the event, Saurabh Doshi, Head of Entertainment Partnerships, APAC at Facebook, said that about one in four people globally created and uploaded videos to social media during the pandemic. "This was huge among millennials aged 25-34 years old, and the behaviour was even more true in Southeast Asia, where 66% created or interacted with videos on social media and messaging platforms during the first half of 2020," Mr Doshi said.

Kaichen Li, Head of Tencent's WeTV and iflix, shared about the development of over-the-top (OTT) programming. "We have spotted early signs of an upward trend for Chinese and Thai content," he said. "For Chinese content, it's not only the costume dramas but also modern dramas that have resonated well with the Asian audience. We believe that we are going to see a continued boom in Asian local content."

Ali Hussein, CEO of OTT platform Eros Now, said that the streaming media business should not focus on purely being transactional. Rather, it should seek to identify the culture for each brand, which is very important once brands start working at a slightly higher level. He explained that Eros Now will launch English-language services in the second half of 2021, in addition to its content with ErosSTX. The company is also working with other content providers across the globe which will give it a more widespread network and allow it to optimise its customer base.

The FILMART Online platform will remain open until 18 May. During this period, industry members can continue to make use of the different features of the platform to connect with exhibitors and buyers and also review the content of previous events.

FILMART Online website: https://event.hktdc.com/fair/hkfilmart-en

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