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SINGAPORE:
There were quite a few producers in attendance at a detailed
afternoon session at BroadCast Asia, which looked at the area
of co-production.
Asian
producers who want to create formats and shows that travel
across the region need not look further than American Idol.
That show is seen in many countries. Why? Because it is simple
and easy to relate with.
That
was the key point made by Asian Food Channel MD programming
and acquisitions Maria Brown. For content to travel it has
to be vibrant, interesting and speak to the audience. In the
case of lifestyle content in particular, it is important that
the content not shout loudly about the place it is from.
One
problem that stands in the way of pan regional formats and
content being created in Asia is the fact that the quality
of content varies from country to country. "One must
get the basics right. It must show a universal story. For
instance someone might be opening a restaurant. In this case
people no matter where they are will be keen to know whether
it succeeds or fails." She mentioned the fact that Canadian
firms package their products well for different platforms.
They also properly clear music rights. That is why the Asian
Food Channel does so much business with it.
Producers
also need to be flexible if they want products to travel regionally.
She says that often if a broadcaster wants things to be speeded
up a bit, the production house hesitates. On the broadcasting
front free television needs to work with cable firms to carve
out a broadcasting window. In the long run a price war is
not good not even for the producer. In the short run a producer
might get a high price. But in the long the war will remove
potential buyers for his/her product.
Singapore's
Association of the Independent Television Association Production
Companies president Tony Chow offered a perspective of his
country. He notes that Singapore wants to be a global media
city. It wants content ownership and IP rights rather than
just be a service provider. "We have done co-productions
in the areas of animation, factual courtesy with Discovery
and NGC and kids content. We want to develop ourselves as
a true co-producer who brings creative inputs to the table
besides just money.
"The
MDA has been working actively in that direction.
Singapore realises that being involved with co-productions
will help us reach out to a global marketplace. Singapore
is also looking to work with producers from other South East
Asian countries. That is because in Singapore the window of
funding for independent Singaporean firms is small. We cannot
only rely on the government for funding. For overseas firms
doing co-productions with Singapore will open doors to other
countries like China to an extent which everybody says is
hard to break into."
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