Five months to go until Asia’s annual FILMART content expo, and organisers are ready to showcase the best Hong Kong has to offer, and say they are expecting demand from streamers to continue to drive business on the market floor.

Once a year, Hong Kong plays host to a programming celebration, under the FILMART banner, which draws the content industry from around the world to the home of iconic Chinese series ranging from Chow Yun Fat’s 1980 class The Bund and Journey to the West with Dicky Cheung as monkey king Shuen Ng-hung to last year’s top-rating dramas, Forensic, Airport Strikers and Death by Zero.

Always at the centre of the activities, along with increasingly confident mainland Chinese producers and an ever expanding roster of players from Korea, Japan and Southeast Asia, the Special Administrative Region’s broadcast crown jewel – Television Broadcasts Ltd (TVB) – lays on its characteristic feast of drama, variety and documentary programming during the four-day event. 

For all that has changed as a result of the pandemic, support for FILMART remains strong, says TVB, a long-term exhibitor that successfully migrated its participation to FILMART Online.

At the top of the agenda are drama, variety and the quest for co-production partnerships. “As usual, TVB will focus on promoting drama and variety production and seek opportunities for co-production deals with all overseas investors and new media platforms,” says Sherman Lee, controller, international business for TVB’s international division, TVBI Company Limited (TVBI). 

With operations in more than 200 countries and regions, TVBI’s focus nevertheless continues to be expanding its business domain, which covers streaming service, TVB Anywhere; linear TV channels and programme licensing; mainland China business; pay-TV operations; and international advertising and promotion. 

TVBI, which also participates as a buyer at FILMART, will be shopping for western movies, documentaries, drama from mainland China and Thailand, and game show formats for its global/local streaming services, MyTV Super and TVB Anywhere. Essentially, “any content with high production value and suitable for a family audience,” Lee says.

In common with the rest of the industry, TVBI has in the past 18 months seen in-home consumption soar along with an across-the-board rise in demand for rights. At the same time, unstable economic realities have depressed budgets.

This is consistent with FILMART Online’s report for the 2021 four-day virtual event held in March. FILMART Online, organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), reported an increase in the number of buyers from OTT/streaming platforms, including Astro from Malaysia, Disney, India’s MX Player and South Korea’s Watcha along with regional and global streamers such as mainland Chinese global streamer iQiyi, Netflix, Viu and Taiwan’s Catchplay+. 

FILMART Online 2021 closed with about 8,000 participants from 81 countries and regions. Close to 2,600 business matching meetings were held, providing a platform for release and promotion of 2,100+ film and television productions to potential buyers from around the world. 677 exhibitors from 46 countries and regions participated.

• The 26th FILMART will be held on 14 to 17 March 2022. 

Published in ContentAsia October 2021 Magazine | Brought to you by FILMART