H'W'D LAYING LOW AT MIP ASIA
Some 150 Asian/Pacific companies have signed up for stands, a 26% increase on last year; some 650 TV execs listed as buyers are also registered. The Hollywood majors, with the exception of MCA Television Intl., are all skipping the event.
Said Reed Midem Organization chairman Xavier Roy: "We always expected the event to be a meeting of international program sellers and Asian buyers, but we have been taken by surprise by the fact that local program sellers are using the market to sell in their own region."
Among the 338 exhibiting companies from 52 countries, no fewer than 45 are from Japan, and Roy noted sizable contingents from South Korea and Singapore.
''Of course I would like to have the majors at Mip Asia,'' said Roy, ''but every company has its own strategy, and many of the Americans have offices in the region. Don't forget that for many years the majors did not attend Mip or Mipcom.''
Figures from the Midem organizers indicate that U.S. exhibitors will number only 50 or so, down from the 89 who set up booths during the second edition.
At sister trade shows Mip and Mipcom in Cannes, the Yank contingent is typically the heftiest, accounting for between 25% and 33% of all standholders.
While top U.S. TV execs all claim that they believe in the longterm prospects for the Far Eastern TV market, most are carping that the cash extractable nowadays is still quite negligible.
Media analysts reckon that of the $3 billion that U.S. suppliers rake in annually from sales of movies and TV shows to TV outlets abroad, only a few million currently comes from the Far East.
As one veteran international exec put it, "If you add up all annual sales to Southeast Asia, it doesn't even match a key sale to France."
"I've looked at the list (of attendees) and I've decided that we won't go this year," said Paul Talbot, president-CEO of the Fremantle Corp.
Talbot's New York-based company has just finished what is believed to be the first TV series produced in China by a U.S. company for the Chinese market - a sort of "Galloping Gourmet" Chinese-style, toplining Martin Yan, well-known Stateside for his "Yan Can Cook" show.
One of Fremantle's execs, Dianbo Xie, is Chinese-born and attended the recent Shanghai TV Festival, a venue that Talbot says many Chinese TV buyers do go to.
Another key distribber, WorldVision Enterprises exec VP and chief operating officer Bert Cohen, told Daily Variety that his company will skip this edition of Mip Asia, the last before the hand-over to the mainland Chinese government next July: "The market simply isn't at the point yet that Mipcom was when it started. We have to keep expenses under control."
Wait-and-see approach
DreamWorks' top international exec, Hal Richardson, said that his fledgling studio would wait until next year before focusing on the Far East - and perhaps attending Mip Asia.
"We're still mopping up free and pay TV deals for our product in western Europe and elsewhere. I think it's premature for us to take on the Asian region just yet."
Jim McNamara, president of worldwide distribution for MCA TV, says his division will be attending the market: "We're hopeful we'll do some business. A lot is happening in Japan right now. Everyone's frame of reference is Mip or Mipcom, and things just aren't like that in the Far East."
Similarly, execs such as Saban Intl. president Stan Golden and MTM president of distribution Chuck Larsen believe there's much to be gained by continuing to support the event.
"There have been some disappointments among those who thought China and India would develop more quickly," Golden said. "However, if they're carefully managed, there's a fair amount of revenue to be made."
Saban recently clinched a deal with a unit of South Korea's Hyundai, and Golden intends to further talks with that entity about supplying shows to cable television there. He is also hopeful that more Japanese buyers will be on hand.
Smaller U.S. companies say they're attending in order to take advantage of growing demand for western shows in newly commercialized territories.
Thunder Ridge, an L.A.-based film production/distribbery with well-established ties to China, will be sharing a stand with its Singapore-based partner, Fairmont Intl.
'Eunuch' unveiling
Thunder Ridge founder and CEO Anthony De Chirico says he thinks a Mip Asia presence will be "useful for doing business with a number of clients in the Pacific Rim." His company will unveil in Hong Kong "The Last Eunuch," a period piece shot in Mandarin about the last castrated man who rose to power under the last emperor of China. Thunder Ridge and Fairmont, a leading distributor in the Pacific Rim, will formalize their new partnership during the market.
Mip Asia attendees will also have the chance to attend two seminars devoted to the licensing biz - ''Beginners Guide to Licensing'' (Dec. 5) and ''Licensing: Maximizing Revenues from Television Programming'' (Dec. 6).
One key question that Roy will answer during this week's Mip Asia is exactly where the event will take place in 1997 - the year that the British hand Hong Kong back to China. While there has been speculation that the market might find a new venue, it now seems likely that Roy will opt to stay in Hong Kong.
