ContentAsia Summit:
The Social Distance Edition
27-28 August 2020
The annual CONTENTASIA SUMMIT, the leading conference for the premium video entertainment industry in Asia, takes place on 27-28 August
We’re going for a virtual world that will run live across two days, with two conference tracks from the JKN Global Media Auditorium and the ContentAsia Awards Theatre, video from The Viu Screening Room, people to meet and talk to, studios to visit on our Exhibition Floor, and information you can access live or download from our Resource Centre and Video Vault.
Plus the inaugural ContentAsia Awards on the evening of Friday, 28 August. More info at www.contentasiaawards.com
The ContentAsia Summit World will be open 24/7 for a month after the live event, with sessions on-demand, reports, data, insights and a wealth of intelligence to fill delegates' virtual "swag bag". Plus there is animated entry experience; at this stage of the pandemic, we reckon it's a good time to bring on the gimmicks. And we could, so we did.
The Theme: Spread The Love
This year's ContentAsia Summit plays against a backdrop of all things unprecedented – the highest engagement with video entertainment in history, the most disrupted business and production environment anyone can remember, the speediest uptake of digital services ever, crushing volumes of user data, the crashing end of some streaming dreams, the beginning of an epic battle between global giants and the new wave of regional streamers in Asia, and a content arms race for Asian stories that is already putting local studios under enormous pressure to deliver.
Our theme this year is SPREAD THE LOVE because after the past six months and what could be a brutal next six or more, we’re all having to tap new ways of making things happen... and that means a new age of collaboration, co-development, co-production and whatever other sharing we can load into the conversation to drive opportunities. The ultimate aim is to drive take up of and engagement with content in Asia.
A NEW WORLD ORDER
A new streaming order is emerging in Asia. Disney+ has four Asia-Pac markets up and running, with Indonesia launching on 5 September. Chinese streamers Tencent and iQiyi have big bold regional ambitions. Viu is fighting a good fight, with a strong hold on Korean titles and fresh eyes on local output. WarnerMedia's HBO Go is expanding its Asia footprint, powered among other IP by HBO Max titles and carefully chosen investments in North Asia. Netflix remains committed to local originals, with India and Korea on fire and great expectations from the new Southeast Asia leadership. And then there are all the domestic platforms, underpinned by deep ties to home-grown storytelling and decades of engagement with local audiences. This year's Summit agenda talks to regional and domestic content leaders about their footholds in the new world order.
THAILAND: A RE-INCARNATION
Thailand's domestic content energy has exploded beyond previous highs, driven by a rationalisation of the digital terrestrial environment into fewer more powerful players; a mix of new attention from Chinese streaming giants Tencent/WeTV and iQiyi plus fresh leadership and focus from Viu and Netflix; a successful effort by Line TV to differentiate a video offering; increasingly ambitious local producers with an eye on international partnerships for their IP; through-the-roof social media; and strong local broadcasters, including BEC World/Channel 3, which continues to push regional and international profile for its home-grown IP.
CONTENT'S FORMATS OUTLOOK
The latest – and biggest ever – edition of ContentAsia's Formats Outlook will be released at the ContentAsia Summit, looking at leaders and laggards for the last three years, tracking changes and trends, and charting who's ahead (or not) this year so far.
DISTRIBUTION: THE PANDEMIC INFLUENCE
THE MAKING OF...
Conversations with filmmakers, from blockbuster theatrical movies in Indonesia; to prime-time drama in India, Indonesia, Thailand and Pakistan; to high-end scripted adaptations; to short-form films in Malaysia and the UAE. This series digs into inspiration and execution, storytelling and creative challenges and solutions facing producers, directors, creators and writers right now.
THE GAME..
The video games universe is not short of staggering user, engagement and revenue numbers. The big question for the broader entertainment industry is what the new opportunities might be and then finding a credible way into the hearts of gamers. This series talks to companies operating in the space where the two worlds intersect, and looks at the experiences, the learning, the opportunities, and the expectations for the future.
