2017 Taipei TV Content Trade and Venture Matching Conference Grandly Opens

(Taiwan TB News Network / Reporter Chen Yicheng) Organized by the Film, Television and Pop Music Industry Bureau of the Ministry of Culture, the "2017 Taipei TV Content Trade and Venture Matching Conference" officially opened on the 27th at the Taipei Dynasty Hotel. This annual grand event for Taiwan's international television copyright trading will run for three days until September 29. Deputy Minister Li Lianquan of the Ministry of Culture attended the "Opening Tea Reception" and jointly launched the event with buyers from three countries - Mr. Robert Seraki Matsebe, representative of the Republic of South Africa; Yulia Savin Kova from Russia, Phyoe Thiri Mon from Myanmar, and Maria Teresa Osorio from Colombia, all visiting Taiwan for the first time - along with Chen Yuxiu, Chairman of Taiwan Broadcasting System.

At the 2017 Taipei TV Content Trade and Venture Matching Conference, Deputy Minister Li Lianquan of the Ministry of Culture stated that the film and television industry is an important strategic industry for the nation. In recent years, the Ministry of Culture's television subsidy funding has grown by nearly 1.5 times, and the Forward-Looking Infrastructure Plan has allocated 4 billion yuan for the infrastructure and incentives of film and television content, strengthening content innovation and cross-domain cooperation guidance measures, establishing an investment, financing and professional collaboration office to diagnose and match investments for young (new) entrepreneurs' proposals and finances, while coordinating with the National Communications Commission and the Intellectual Property Office of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to address piracy issues; in cooperation with the Financial Supervisory Commission, three banks - Cooperative Bank, Taiwan Business Bank, and Hua Nan Bank - are currently serving as basic financing banks.

In addition, it is also cooperating with the NCC to establish a big data integration mechanism for cable TV, wireless TV, MOD and OTT, gradually promoting value-added use of data, assisting OTT operators in forming a grand alliance, promoting cooperation among all parties in overseas markets, bringing Taiwan content abroad, and giving television content a larger overseas market.

The Film, Television and Pop Music Industry Bureau of the Ministry of Culture stated that this year a total of international television content buyers from 22 countries/regions came to Taiwan to participate, among which nine countries - the Philippines, Cambodia, Myanmar, Russia, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Panama - visited Taiwan for the first time.

In addition, the 2017 Taipei TV Content Trade and Venture Matching Conference also invited buyers from Japan, South Korea and Southeast Asia who have long paid attention to Taiwan television content, as well as buyers from Europe and Central and South America who have shown great interest in Asian television works in recent years; the number of Southeast Asian buyers increased significantly to 45%.

The Film, Television and Pop Music Industry Bureau of the Ministry of Culture stated that this year, for the first time, the bureau guided industry operators to form a delegation to participate in the Moscow World Content Market (World Content Market-Moscow), which received a favorable response. Therefore, JSC CTC MEDIA, which operates 35 television channels across Russia and Kazakhstan, specially came to Taiwan to negotiate copyright purchases.

The Film and Television Bureau stated that this year's exhibition also set up for the first time a "Promotional Display Area and Proposal Matching Area for Works Shortlisted for Domestic and International Awards from 2016 to 2017 and Young (New) Television Content Entrepreneurs," in order to increase the exposure of young creative teams and works and attract buyer attention.

At the 2017 Taipei TV Content Trade and Venture Matching Conference, this year's exhibition featured domestic television channels, production companies, animation companies, documentaries, and young (new) entrepreneurs, with a total of 58 companies and 305 works participating. Through the online matching appointment system, each participant could book an average of at least 16 sessions with international buyers, conducting face-to-face negotiations in independent and comfortable "deal negotiation rooms," strengthening connections with the market and giving Taiwan's outstanding television content works more opportunities to leap onto the international stage.

In addition, to match original IP, a Chinese-language publishing area was set up, and AR and VR technology companies were brought in to participate, strengthening the innovative application of new technology and content. Furthermore, to channel capital into the television content industry, domestic venture capital companies were invited to join, bringing the total to 74 domestic exhibitors. At the same time, to help publicize local attractions and market local tourism and cultural features, co-production centers from various county and city governments were invited to participate.

The Film, Television and Pop Music Industry Bureau pointed out that in addition to business transaction matching, an "International Television Industry Forum" was also held. The first session invited Yu-Chuang KUEK, Managing Director of Netflix Asia-Pacific, to speak on "New Trends in Media Content Innovation and Cross-Platform Operations"; the second session invited Bo ZHANG, Asia-Pacific representative of France's Eurodata TV Worldwide, to speak on "Big Data Analysis of Television Trends in the Asia-Pacific Region and Forward-Looking Opportunities for Cross-National Cooperation"; the third session invited Luo Faping, Chairman of Xinsheng Group, Lu Yangzheng, Vice President of the Taiwan Academy of Banking and Finance, and Wu Jinjia, Manager of Taiwan Financial Asset Service Company, to speak on "Dialogue Between Film and Television and Finance — Television Content Rating and Intangible Asset Evaluation." The content was extremely exciting and helpful for domestic industry players to grasp international professional knowledge, the latest industry trends, and exchange opinions.

At the opening tea reception of the "2017 Taipei TV Content Trade and Venture Matching Conference," Deputy Minister Li Lianquan also presented the "106th Year Continuing Drama Overseas Public Broadcasting and Public Transmission Award" to Sanlih E-Television Co., Ltd. and Taiwan Television Enterprise Ltd. The entire opening tea reception was extraordinarily lively.