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The good news for many at this year’s Busan Contents Market (BCM) in Korea’s southern port city was the election of liberal politician Moon Jae-in as the country’s new president.
The not-so-good news was that mainland Chinese presence at the annual show was, as expected, dramatically down because of China’s current freeze on all things Korean. Organisers said Chinese attendance had dropped by about 70% as a result of China’s current Korea freeze over the U.S.-backed THAAD missile defence programme.
The best news from the show floor was that appetites for Korean drama are as high as ever, and the market swarmed with every platform and then some adding titles to their slates.
Meanwhile, buyers and sellers on the floor described the show in the same way they always have: quality time with clients and partners that they don’t have time to hang out with during frenzied international markets.
Much of the talk was about co-production and production partnerships. “Partnerships and sharing was a trend evident at this market,” said Fotini Paraskakis, managing director for Asia of Endemol Shine Group.
The wide range of participants also made an impression.
“There’s a wider variety of clients than there used to be, which is good,” said NBCUniversal formats sales liaison director, Linfield Ng.
First timers this year included Varavuth Jentanakul and Sorayuth Sagrikanandafrom Thailand’s Zense Entertainment, which prioritised co-production discussions at the market.
Keshet International’s Asia sales manager, Kelvin Ko, talked about the open atmosphere and quality discussions at the market.
Flying the flag for mainland Chinese content this year was season two of anti-terrorism drama, Anti-Terrorism Special Forces, from Beijing Jingdu Century Development, which had the China spotlight to itself in a special drama showcase at BCM.
Anti-Terrorism Special Forces centres around a special multi-skilled squad tasked with fighting terrorism. The series is directed by You Xiaogang, who has a third s...
The good news for many at this year’s Busan Contents Market (BCM) in Korea’s southern port city was the election of liberal politician Moon Jae-in as the country’s new president.
The not-so-good news was that mainland Chinese presence at the annual show was, as expected, dramatically down because of China’s current freeze on all things Korean. Organisers said Chinese attendance had dropped by about 70% as a result of China’s current Korea freeze over the U.S.-backed THAAD missile defence programme.
The best news from the show floor was that appetites for Korean drama are as high as ever, and the market swarmed with every platform and then some adding titles to their slates.
Meanwhile, buyers and sellers on the floor described the show in the same way they always have: quality time with clients and partners that they don’t have time to hang out with during frenzied international markets.
Much of the talk was about co-production and production partnerships. “Partnerships and sharing was a trend evident at this market,” said Fotini Paraskakis, managing director for Asia of Endemol Shine Group.
The wide range of participants also made an impression.
“There’s a wider variety of clients than there used to be, which is good,” said NBCUniversal formats sales liaison director, Linfield Ng.
First timers this year included Varavuth Jentanakul and Sorayuth Sagrikanandafrom Thailand’s Zense Entertainment, which prioritised co-production discussions at the market.
Keshet International’s Asia sales manager, Kelvin Ko, talked about the open atmosphere and quality discussions at the market.
Flying the flag for mainland Chinese content this year was season two of anti-terrorism drama, Anti-Terrorism Special Forces, from Beijing Jingdu Century Development, which had the China spotlight to itself in a special drama showcase at BCM.
Anti-Terrorism Special Forces centres around a special multi-skilled squad tasked with fighting terrorism. The series is directed by You Xiaogang, who has a third season in the works.
The 40-episode action drama will air on Jiangsu TV and Shandong TV in August this year, and will stream on online platform iQiyi.
Speaking during the market’s drama showcase, senior vice president Du Hong said while co-operation between Korea and China “is a little wobbly now, I believe Spring will come in the future”.
Busan Contents Market executive committee chairman Koo Jong-Sang described the showcase as “a trailblazer in accelerating cultural exchanges between Korea and China”.
He said a joint committee was being formed to promote Korea-China collaboration.
“It’s rare to see Korea importing Chinese content,” Koo said, adding: “Exchanges of culture should be both ways”.
Published on ContentAsia's eNewsletter 15 May 2017