The fourth run of MIP-Asia is set to go Dec. 4-6 in Hong Kong with eight Canadian stands booked as of Playback press time. The number is relatively unchanged from last year’s nine booths, reflecting a hung jury on the benefits of participating in the market.

Some returning Canadian companies – in particular animation cos – indicate they are beginning to reap the rewards of a presence at the market while others continue to find the costs far outweigh projected sales opportunities.

This year’s Canuck contingent includes ChumCity International, Nelvana, Atlantis Releasing, Cinar Films, Alliance, Films Transit International, Malofilm/Behaviour Distribution, Ocean Group, Pacific Coast Public Television Association, Pixcom, Rogers Broadcasting, Telefilm and new participants Great North Releasing and Vancouver’s Crescent Park Communications.

Great North’s catalogue had previously been represented in the Asian market by Atlantis Releasing, but with the recent restructuring and addition of drama and kids’ product to its lineup, Great North Releasing managing director Sandra Green says the company decided it could no longer ignore the Asian market.

‘We decided to take the risk. The deals are becoming more significant and we decided to move in now and make inroads into the market before it really takes off. In the long run it should pay off.’

Copro opportunities

Nelvana plans to expand its coproduction ventures into Asia and scouting for leads is top of its agenda at the market, says London office director Roderico Piza.

As new animation studios crop up in Japan, Korea and the Philippines, governments are setting up incentives to increase indigenous production and placing local content quotas on tv stations. In territories where international coproduction treaties with Canada are secured, coventures are accepted as local content, says Perry, and Nelvana plans to tap into these incentives through coproductions with local animation studios.

Nelvana has penetrated the Singapore market for the first time this year, with 15 deals signed, and sales to Indonesia are up 33% over last year. The company is also finding opportunities in the Philippines, where broadcasters such as gma and abs-cbn carry English-language signals and have numerous slots for animated programming.

With 13 new eps of The Rez bringing the series total to 19 and yet without an Asian sale, Accolade Releasing will be pushing the property at MIP-Asia, says director of sales Natalie Vinet. Paragon did not attend the market last year but the company is seeing sales to Asia rise and is scouting ways to capitalize on that market. Although the trip may not translate into sales, Vinet views the market as an information-gathering session to stay on top of trends and make new contacts among smaller buyers.

Vinet is currently working on a sale of Kratts’ Creatures into China and warns that distributors have to tread carefully in the territory. ‘It’s a bit like Latin America five years ago,’ she says. ‘You have to be careful who you do business with, research the market and figure out who the legitimate players are. You have to make sure the companies you work with will live through the agreements and pay the monies due.’

Maximizing revenue in China

Cinar’s Louis Fournier, vp distribution and marketing, says to maximize your revenue out of China you need to have a strong, reliable partner.

‘The best strategy is to do some form of syndication and barter, and that means finding advertisers and going station by station and market by market to sell to the broadcasters. This requires an extensive setup and presence. To maximize revenue it’s important to find a strong, reliable partner rather than selling your best shows piecemeal.’

Fournier identifies the most promising area of Asia in the growing economies of the South East, dubbed the Little Tigers – the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand – where significant market expansion is underway. Numerous free tv broadcasters are getting into production and coproduction with distribution and licensing in mind, as well as setting up infrastructures to exploit ancillary rights.

Based on the 25-year-old u.k. property, Cinar is looking to close deals in the u.k., Australia and New Zealand on its new 13 10-minute stop-animation preschool series The Wombles. Only segments were ready for mip-tv so the finished package will be pushed at MIP-Asia. Canadian, u.s. and Asian rights are available.

Increasingly, Asian animation service companies are seeking expansion into broadcasting, distribution and owning copyright in projects. Broadcasters, says Fournier, are also branching out into production such as animation, picking up stakes in animation companies and distribution, and becoming involved in program content for use in their territories. Broadcasters moving into the new arena include mbc and sbs in Korea, kbs in the Philippines, and abs-cbn in Malaysia.

With a high-output indigenous animation industry (over 90% of broadcast content is domestically produced), Japan remains a tough market to break. Fournier notes that there are few slots for kids’ programming and it is difficult to compete with the homegrown product, especially with most of the animation based on Manga, Japanese comic books with a particular style rooted in Japanese culture.

Prices flat

Although Asian territories are buying more foreign product, Canadians are grumbling that prices remain flat and distribs are waiting to see how the unstable currency situation plays out on the tv programming front.

Prices vary from $500 a half-hour in Malaysia and Singapore; $700 per half-hour in Taiwan; $7,00 to $1,000 in Hong Kong. Depending on the company dealt with, prices in China vary from $500 to $1,500. Japan can also range from $15,000 to $50,000 or more for a half-hour. Korea averages $1,000 to $2,000.

At Alliance International Television, vp sales Guy Petty says in the past foreign agents such as Malaysian-based Juitaviden and Southern Star handled a majority of Asian territories, but as opportunities in Asia have increased the company is seeking more direct business. Petty says the territory is playing a bigger role in Alliance’s business, with successful sales of Northern Lights, Family of Cops and ReBoot into the territory.

Overall totals for MIP-Asia attendance as of Nov. 19 show 198 stands booked, 297 exhibiting companies, and 600 program buyers. Of the exhibiting companies, 134 hail from the Asia-Pacific region. Last year’s final count for the region was 169.

The presence of Chinese buyers has been stepped up, with 101 buyers from 48 companies represented over last year’s final total of 72 buyers from 36 companies. But Japanese support of MIP-Asia appears to be decreasing. A total of 120 buyers participated in ’96 but only 68 had registered as of Nov. 19.

The u.s. accounted for 38 stands and 50 exhibitors last year; ’97 numbers so far show 32 stands and 47 exhibitors.