The real deal
With Japanese and further big regional sales companies set to be out in force at this year’s Asian Film Market in Busan, Liz Shackleton looks at its effectiveness as a place to buy and sell international projects
come to Busan this year,” Nam explains. Among the first companies to sign up were leading Japanese studios Shochiku, Toho, Toei and Kadokawa. The market is also expecting greater
The Asian Film Market is moving to a new home at BEXCO
tent market — the Asian Film Market — should also receive a makeover and a new home. The event, which enters its sixth edi-
A
tion this year, is moving from the Sea- cloud Hotel, in the Haeundae district of Busan, to the Busan Exhibition and Convention Centre (BEXCO) in Cen- tum City. The new venue will also host the Asian Project Market, also previ- ously in the Seacloud, and the BIFCOM locations tradeshow, previously held in Haeundae’s Novotel Ambassador Hotel. Market screenings will take place in the CGV and Lotte multiplexes, just across the street. “BEXCO is a 10-minute walk from
Busan Cinema Center and only five minutes from CGV and Lotte,” explains Asian Film Market general manager Nam Dong-chul. He adds that most of the sales companies and other exhibi- tors will be accommodated at the Cen- tum Hotel, just a few minutes walk from BEXCO. Some will stay at hotels in Haeundae, where many of the evening parties will be held. The change should give the six-year-
old market some room to breath — the Seacloud, while close to the beach, is not a large hotel — and the market has started to expand in the last two years.
n 28 Screen International October 2011
s the Busan International Film Festival has undergone so many changes, it is only fitting its con-
It also brings all of BIFF’s various industry platforms to a central location, a move that is being cautiously wel- comed by sales agents. “We hope the new venue will create a
centralised hub and provide a more effi- cient service for exhibitors and buyers,” says Virginia Leung, sales chief at Hong Kong-based Distribution Workshop. “The new venue looks impressive and I’m looking forward to the market.” Stephen Kelliher of the UK’s Bank-
side Films adds: “It will be a different experience with the change of venue, but one which should enable the mar- ket to build on previous successes.” Though it took a few years to find its
niche in a crowded autumn market and festival calendar, the Asian Film Market has registered a big uptick in business and companies attending at the last two editions. In 2010, the number of partici- pating companies increased by 44%, and judging by early bird registrations, the market is in line for a similar rise in attendance this year. Nam says he is particularly encour-
aged by a more than 100% increase in the number of sales companies from Japan, despite the close timing of the TIFFCOM market, which takes place in Tokyo a few weeks later. “The Japanese sales companies told
me they were interested in attending because they expect many buyers to
participation from the US and Europe this year. In previous years, US sales companies have accounted for only 3%-4% of the total — with US sellers focusing on the American Film Market in November — but more are starting to pay attention to Busan. First-time US attendees this year include Lakeshore Entertainment, Voltage, Cinema Man- agement Group, The Little Film Com- pany and Multivisionnaire. European sales companies mostly
attend under the European Film Pro- motion (EFP) umbrella, though Spain’s Latido has decided to take its own booth this year. Thanks to EFP’s strong presence, European participation has accounted for around 30% of the total in the last few years. “It’s a very important market for us
‘The Japanese were interested because they expect many
buyers this year’ Nam Dong-chul, Asian Film Market
because we are able to meet a variety of buyers that we don’t see at the Euro- pean markets,” says TrustNordisk’s Nicolai Korsgaard, who has attended every edition of the Asian Film Market. “We do good business there, especially on our genre titles.” Maren Kroymann from Germany’s
M-Appeal adds that she always manages to wrap a few deals in Busan: “It’s important for us that besides the Korean buyers, the attendance by Japanese, Tai- wanese and other regional buyers remains high or is even increasing.” The market will also be organising
an online screening service for the sec- ond time this year. Around 40-50 mar- ket titles and 100-150 titles from the BIFF line-up are expected to be regis- tered for the service. “We’re also talking to [online plat-
forms] Festival Scope and Cinando about ways to collaborate on screenings of market and festival titles,” says Nam. The online screening service will also
present some of the previous work of the film-makers selected for this year’s Asian Project Market. n
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