This is the sixth year that French companies are attending the Asian Television Forum, Nov. 29- Dec. 1, 2006, at the Shangri-La Hotel in Singapore. Once again, France will have one of the largest exhibitor delegations.
The increase in the number of French participants reflects the expansion of the Asia-Pacific region for exporters to this zone. Sales of French programs to the region were up by more than 34% in 2005 (10% of all sales abroad). Growth was particularly high in China -- sales to China and Hong Kong more than doubled; 3.4 million euros compared with 1.6 million euros in 2004). In Australia and New Zealand, sales rose by 37%, reaching 2.3 million euros, while in Japan, sales stood at 2.24 million euros. Singapore, Thailand and Malaysia were all up in 2005.
On the Asian market, growth was particularly high for animated cartoons, with sales doubling in 2005 compared with 2004, reaching 4.7 million euros.
In collaboration with the French Embassy in Singapore and all of the television attachés for the region, TV France International is hosting an event for Asian acquisition execs to lunch with the French delegation on Nov. 30.
French participants include AB Droits Audiovisuels, Adventure Line Production, Alphanim, Ampersand, Arte France, Artedis, Calt International, Carrère Group, Scérén CNDP, Dargaud Distribution, Europe Images International/M5, Films Distribution, France Télévisions Distribution, Futurikon, M6 DA, Marathon International, Millimages, PolyGram, System TV, Taffy Ent., Télé Images International and Terranoa.
TV France Int'l (www.tvfrance-intl.com
) is an organization promoting French entertainment production around the world. It is comprised of 140 member companies and 20,000 programs. The website has French, English, Spanish, Japanese and Chinese versions.