“The world has changed over the past two years, and the entertainment industry has changed tremendously,” says Peggie Liu, associate director of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the organizer of Hong Kong Filmart. As is now extremely familiar to the industry, arguably the biggest beneficiaries of the changes brought about by the pandemic are international, regional and local streaming services across the globe. In 2020, the subscription video industry in the Asia-Pacific region saw revenue jump 34%. In the key growth region of Southeast Asia, more than 10 million new subscribers signed up for SVOD services in the second quarter of 2021 alone, according to research by regional consultancy Media Partners Asia.

It is therefore only fitting that the upcoming Hong Kong Filmart, which will be held from March 14 to 17, focuses on OTT and streaming platforms as one of its highlights. “It’s a market trend we’ve noticed,” Liu said. The Hollywood Reporter. “That’s why we reached out to more OTT platforms and TV networks, because many networks today have their own streaming platforms. This will be one of our directions in the future. Many big international streamers also attended Filmart as buyers, but they don’t like drawing attention to themselves.OTT and streaming will also be key topics in EntertainmentPlus, Filmart’s rebranded seminar series.

One of the TV networks exhibiting at Filmart is Mono Streaming in Thailand. Thailand saw significant SVOD growth in 2021. The country accounted for 75% of new Southeast Asian subscriptions for Disney+ in Q3 2021, and overall SVOD subscriptions in Thailand were up 16% from Q3. previous to reach 11.3 million during the end point. It’s an increasingly competitive market with local and foreign players vying for a piece of the pie.

“We compete with major international streamers by having Thai dubbing for all titles, which is our strength. In addition, we also have selective exclusive content that we choose for our audience,” says Sirirat Kositanont, assistant vice president of Mono Streaming Co., which has its own streaming platform in Thailand called MonoMax, and pushes the title romantic. OM! in love with me with James Jirayu and Bow Maylada at Filmart this year. Both content producer and distributor, it broadcasts its own content on its platform, available only in Thailand, and also resells the rights to major international players. “We have had our own platform since 2013 – at that time there weren’t many players yet,” says Kositanont. “Nowadays, as the OTT market recovers, there are more players for consumers to choose from. We believe that every content deserves a chance to travel, customers should be able to watch content in the most convenient way, that’s why we have licensed various titles to different platforms – only a limited number are exclusive to our own platform.

The rise of online streaming is something of a double-edged sword for traditional cable networks in Asia. For Sanlih E TV Co., Taiwan’s largest cable television network, which has been exhibiting at Filmart since 2005, international streamers are generating revenue but at the same time shrinking their viewership, says Vivian Hsieh, Senior Vice President of Media Department. international affairs of Sanlih. “In terms of revenue, online streaming platforms are our partners,” she says. “We need them to buy our content to increase our reach and increase our return. But they also compete with us for audience; they affect our audience. streaming may have purchased exclusive rights to a product, so we cannot purchase rights.”

However, the online and offline audience can complement each other and provide an outlet for niche content to thrive. “If a show is popular on TV, it will generally perform well on OTT platforms as well,” Hsieh said. “While for niche genres, like BL [boys’ love] dramas or hip hop music shows, even when the television audience was not as expected, it could become very popular on online platforms. Cable television has been widely used in Taiwan since the 1990s, making the public sensitive to the pay-TV format. They are also accustomed to a multitude of choices and are not tied to a program schedule established by the station. This habit connects online and offline viewing: “Some audiences may see a series halfway through TV and then go online to watch it from the beginning,” Hsieh adds. Sanlih works with major international broadcasters on the licensing of dramas and variety shows, but hopes to work with them on the development and production of new programs in the future – something the company expects to do. chat with Filmart broadcasters.

The popularity of online platforms is also changing the way content creators create. “The line between feature films and episodic series has blurred,” says Jacqueline W. Liu, producer and co-founder of Taiwan’s Each Other Films, responsible for the Golden Horse Awards. little big women (2020), which was released on Netflix internationally in 2021. “It was a trend that started about a decade ago in the United States, but is also becoming more prominent in Asia.” Although it previously produced mainly high-profile feature films, Each Other Films is launching the first season of the 13-episode comedy series. Show On: An influencer’s rise to fame at the Filmart market this year.

“We are no longer confined by limits of length, schedule and geographic space with streaming content,” adds Tiffany Chen, producer and co-founder of Each Other Films. “We are now putting the choice of content in the hands of the public with streaming. For production companies, this is a very exciting development, as we can instantly hear audience reactions and content discussions. The original intention of Each Other Films was based on our curiosity for the world and communication with the public. Thus, being able to know the reactions of the public as soon as they watch something brings us closer to them. »

The way movie sales are conducted has also been transformed, insiders say. “In the past, content licensing was done through a distributor,” Liu says. “But with the rise of streamers, producers can bypass the distributor to deal directly with the streaming platform.”

“Online rights via VOD have gotten stronger,” adds Amy Iamphungphorn, international sales manager at Five Star Production in Thailand, which is focusing on the horror sequel. pee nak 3 at FilmArt. The previous two episodes of the Pee Nak franchise are already available on Netflix. “All local and international SVOD platform operators are interested in our content, and we hope that at Filmart 2022 we can pre-sell pee nak 3 to even more countries.