Videoage International January 2020

20 January 2020 V I D E O A G E T hat the recently concluded DISCOP Johan- nesburg in South Africa was problematic goes without saying. And while in Joburg for DISCOP, VideoAge wanted to understand the reasons behind this crisis, so we spoke with DIS- COP chief Patrick Zuchowicki to get his take on the criticism he faced. Zuchowicki, a veteran organizer of TV markets in developing regions, attributed the decrease in participation mostly to the conflict in dates with MIP Cancun, caused by Reed MIDEM moving its event to conflict with his after DISCOP had already committed to the third week of November. He then explained that the slips in efficiency on the organizers’ part were due to a reduction in staff, a consequence of the 25 percent loss of revenues caused by the aforementioned decrease in attendance. Zuchowicki hopes to solve these problems with a drastic change of dates. In 2020, DISCOP Johannesburg will be held July 29-31. He explained this choice by saying that holding the event in July — a time of year much less crowded with markets and showcases — will attract more executives, and leverage and establish synergies with the growing DISCOP Abidjan event — his second African market, scheduled for May. In addition, the earlier date will (hopefully) mean that acquisition budgets will be less depleted, and that more sales can happen. Finally, Zuchowicki reassured participants that this year’s inadequate and faulty database will be replaced with an efficient new platform that will work year-round. The eighth annual edition of DISCOP Johan- nesburg took place November 20-22 (the same exact dates as MIP Cancun in Mexico). About 115 distribution companies attended the Africa- centric trade show, and over 700 participants came from 59 countries. The event was housed on the lower level of the Sandton Convention Centre — instead of the main floor where the action usually takes place — because the main floor was occupied this time around by the International Consumer Electronics Expo. Panels and master classes were also held on the lower level, in a space called the Main Theatre, which allowed participants to quickly transfer from the market aisles to the talk zone. In addition to stands andpavilions—fromSouth Africa, the U.S., France, the U.K., and China— the exhibiting floor housed viewing boxes and a new “WeMeetLounge,” an area with meeting tables. Themore intimate layoutof themarket, however, was viewed positively by most participants, even though, as already indicated, mixed feelings were registered about this year’s event. Mario Castro of Mexico’s Televisa, a company that traditionally exhibits in Johannesburg with one of the show’s largest stands, was pleased with the outcome of his company’s participation. Castro noted that he had “many meetings and appreciated the opportunity to connect with [Televisa’s] African clients.” From Turkey, Calinos’ Ebru Mercan also said she had a full schedule of meetings with African buyers, “all of whom showed up,” she pointed out. But some other distributors were not as pleased. In addition to the visible reduction in the number of participants, there were some issues with the relocation and re-sizing of stands due to the new layout. ABS-CBN’s Laarni J. Yu from the Philippines, for example, was assigned a different stand number and location at the last minute and had to reroute her appointments. Yu also wasn’t happy with the lack of a prompt response from market organizers to her requests for assistance. Global Agency’s Miroslav Radojevic of Turkey, who has been supporting the DISCOP markets for years, lamented a lack of efficiency on the organizers’ part, as well. In addition, themarket’s newdatabase, DISCOP CLUB, was another sore point this year. It was very difficult to navigate compared to earlier versions, and didn’t make it easy to connect with buyers or schedule meetings. Despite all this, the aisles of the exhibition floor looked reasonably busy, and although some companies registered fewer appointments compared to last year, several distributors said that coming to DISCOP was still worthwhile in order to meet with African clients and potential clients who normally don’t travel much outside of their countries. Plus, several international distributors took the opportunity to visit local stations and operators in Johannesburg in the days prior to the market, as well as during the event. Televisa’s Castro visited MultiChoice, Showmax, and Fox; Entertainment Studios’ Tom Devlin arrived a week earlier for in- office meetings with buyers. On the conference front, panels were well- attended and featured a variety of experts, with a large audience of African producers eager to acquire insight on how to best target distributors and streaming platforms, as well as how to access financing opportunities. The Africa Channel (TAC) sponsored some of the conferences, including “Exporting African Content,” which was held on the first morning of the market. Its panel included TAC’s Narendra Reddy andBrendanGabriel, CôteOuest’s Bernard Azria, Netflix’s Ben Amadasun, Discovery’s Henry Windridge, Cactus Tree’s Liz Levenson, and Fox Studios’ Reena Singh. Panelists addressed the topic of how to best transform localized productions into global vehicles, how to leverage Africa’s unique stories, and learning to compete with the large companies that populate the industry outside the African continent. If Côte Ouest’s Azria expressed his skepticism on the current status and expertise of Africa’s operators, TAC’s Narendra Reddy offered a more positive view and was hopeful for the future development of Africa’s own distribution platforms. In an on-site interview, Reddy explained to VideoAge that his involvement in the conference side of DISCOP and the TAC sponsorship was due to a desire to expand the educational aspect of the event. He would have liked to see these sessions opened to African students and operators outside of the badged attendees. He also emphasized the need for more vision and investments in order to rectify the current decline of the trade show. The second and third days of the market presented sessions on the challenges of content monetization, African animation, and how to stop fake news, plus master classes on development, copyright, and dubbing. Day Three also featured the grand finale of the Pan-African Animation du Monde Pitching Competition, which was held in association with the Annecy Animation Festival, a collaboration that started three years ago. Market Under Siege By Sellers, Internal Issues, And Competitors DISCOP Joburg Review Calinos’ Ebru Mercan The Africa Channel’s Narendra Reddy, Kellen McDowell, and Brendan Gabriel (l. to r.) Record TV’s Delmar Andrade and Edson Mendes