MIP Asia: what the buyers want.

Documentaries top the list

Once again, it's time for distributors from the U.S. and the rest of the world to trek to Hong Kong and try to make the Asian connection. The third annual MIP Asia will be held December 5-7 and will feature an upgraded Buyers Club and additional translators for the buyers. Special stands will be devoted to national associations from Singapore and Korea (at press time Indonesian and Malaysian stands were also in the works).

This year's MIP Asia will include MIP Asia Licensing, a new offspring market devoted to licensing and merchandising. The show is expected to draw property owners and agents, manufacturers and distributors, all of them looking to target the lucrative Asian market. MIP Asia's expansion into licensing seems like a natural move: market organizers report that Southeast Asia is the licensing industry's fastest-growing market, generating $24 billion (Japan accounts for half of that figure) yearly and ranking second after the U.S. in licensing revenues.

Last year's MIP Asia drew 2,300 attendees and 311 exhibiting companies from 54 countries. At press time, 146 exhibitors from 31 countries had already signed on for this year's market.

What are Asian attendees looking for at MIP Asia? Video Age interviewed a number of Asian buyers on that subject and on their favorable or unfavorable impressions of the young market.

"MIP Asia is a good place to exchange program ideas and capture the television trends," said Jessica Lu, who handles program planning and promotion for The Broadcasting Development Fund in Taiwan, adding that the market played a significant role in her company's development of overseas business. She feels that MIP Asia should change venues each year. Lu will be looking to acquire documentaries and programs on ecology, ancient cultures and the arts. Chen Hu of the Beijing Television Station of China said that he is interested in acquiring business programming and shows on science and technology, environmental protection and health. He expressed displeasure at the rise in MIP Asia registration fees.

Ray Yuen, assistant manager of Program Acquisitions for Hong Kong's Wharf Cable, wasn't the only Asian buyer to complain that the market draws too few sellers. Since MIP Asia is so close to MIPCOM, Yuen said, "It serves as a PR exercise more than an actual buying exercise." However, he will be looking to buy documentaries as well as sports, cooking and children's programs. Tad Omiya of TransWorld Associates in Japan also feels that MIP Asia is too close to MIPCOM; he will be looking to acquire documentaries and children's programs. Mack Perryman, vp of Programming and Promotion for HBO Asia, will be seeking first-run theatrical and made-for-TV movies in the action, suspense and horror genres; he will also be on the lookout for unique specials. Perryman praised MIP Asia, saying that its small size facilitates in-depth conversations with distributors: "As a company we would like to get to know the people we are doing business with, and the slower pace helps with that."

From South Korea, SBS Productions' Se-Ung Kim voiced his interest in animated series, documentaries, MOWs and "blockbuster" feature films. Kim said he'd like to see major American studios like Warner Bros. and Paramount attend MIP Asia, and he feels that the market itself should be extended to four days. Vini Luciano, programs acquisition manager for the Associated Broadcasting Company in the Philippines, said that MIP Asia offers a chance to meet with major film suppliers and independent distributors, which is particularly important if one doesn't attend MIPCOM. Because MIP Asia is a smaller market, Luciano added, programs like the animated series and specials that she hopes to purchase can be acquired at lower costs.

Avinash Jumani of India's Worldwide Entertainment Group will attend MIP Asia as both a buyer and a seller of feature films. "What we like about MIP Asia," he said,"is that this market covers the entire Far East, and we meet many new TV stations who usually cannot attend the markets in Cannes or Las Vegas." Attaphon Na Bangxang of Thailand's IBC is also "quite content with the market."At MIP Asia, one can follow up on deals that weren't completed at MIPCOM, he said, as well as assess the quality of the stream of new product from China, Taiwan, Korea and Japan. IBC will seek animation, series, specials and movies at the market.

Dramas are the program of choice for Haniza Taufik of HVD Entertainment in Malaysia, who praised Hong Kong's central location and amenities. Added Taufik: "MIP Asia holds a lot of potential for small and medium sized content producers. Asia is so huge, one can never know what's available." Tedja Judhono of Indonesia's Pt. Arvisco Entertainment expects to buy Asian films, Latin telenovelas, cartoons, dramas, comedies and documentaries at the market. Judhono expressed doubt about the treatment of MIP Asia participants once Hong Kong is returned to China. Another Indonesian buyer, Indriena Basarah of Pt. Surya Citra Televisi, feels that Hong Kong is too expensive a venue, and she worries that major distributors are slowly pulling out of the market.

Are American distributors losing interest in traveling halfway around the world to attend MIP Asia? Gavin Reardon of MTM agreed that, for larger distributors, attendance doesn't make sense. But MTM - which will be at MIP Asia with its drama series The Cape and The Pretender as well as several game show formats - attends enthusiastically, savoring the chance to meet buyers in one place instead of having to travel all over Asia. "There's an ease to it, a facility to it," Reardon said. "I think it's going to be a viable market."

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Maura Schwartz, vp of RWI Enterprises (pictured below with Russell Watkins), offered her thoughts on which areas in Asia are hot now, and which are not:

"As most of our products are TV movies, from our point of view the best markets for these are Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.These regions buy the most and they are very competitive ... in that they pay more for product.

"Areas that have gone up and down are Hong Kong and Taiwan because they are very Chinese-oriented and there are not a lot of time slots for Western product. Free TV in Taiwan [has] a small budget for Western product. Now that cable is more popular, the cable stations air the Western product. "What I mean by up and down is that a few years ago, Taiwan was a good market, although cable stations do buy now. Hong Kong, in my opinion, is not a good market for Western product because Wharf Cable doesn't have a channel geared toward primetime Western product. The two terrestrial stations each have a Chinese channel and an English channel. ... They show product predominantly from the majors, mostly theatricals. The English channel shows documentaries because they think [their] audience is an A-type audience."