From BBC Studios, Lionsgate to Reliance Entertainment, media industry leaders participated in Blintn's media session held at Asian Leadership Conference.
If there is one industry that has benefited from the COVID-19's lock-down, it is the media industry. The industry, which had been growing steadily prior to the pandemic due to the advent of big streamers and the increasing use of mobile devices, began to accelerate sharply after the outbreak. As a result, the OTT business is seeing unprecedented growth, with more and more competitors entering the market and the rivalry heating up. In line with this trend, the importance of media content became more important than ever.
South Korea is outperforming in this regard. Following the K-pop craze headed by BTS, the high rankings of Korean films and shows on global streaming platforms, and Korean actors and directors winning prestigious Oscars, international media companies are jumping into the Korean market. Korea also appears to be putting a greater emphasis on their media industry.
At the recently held Asian Leadership Conference, which is one of the largest conferences in Korea, four significant media sessions were held. Global media companies such as BBC Studio, Lionsgate, Skydance, and Viu participated and discussed the present and future of the media content industry.
The Asian Leadership Conference (ALC) is a prestigious event that has featured speakers such as Barack Obama, David Cameron, and Reed Hastings, as well as other renowned global political and financial figures. The media sessions in this year's ALC was planned and operated by BLINTN, a content production funding and distribution platform.
The first session focused on the synergetic relationship between OTT and content in the midst of the pandemic. Marc Lorber, SVP of Lionsgate, an American film studio, and Dhruv Sinha, AVP of Reliance Entertainment, an Indian studio, talked about how the media landscape has altered dramatically since the pandemic.
The past, present, and future of Hong Kong content was the topic of the second session. Speakers included Helen So, the lead of Our Hong Kong Foundation, Hong Kong's largest think tank, Lofai Lo, the CEO of Viu TV, and Cora Yim of Sixty Percent Productions. The analysis of the current market in the Hong Kong content industry, as well as the strategy for the future, were discussed in depth.
The third session was held on the topic of whether content will become the gold of the 21st century, with Jun Oh, business head of Skydance, a US production company, Teri Schwartz, former Dean and professor of UCLA TFT, and Patrick Frater of Variety, US media company. In this session, the speakers forecasted if the content could maintain its golden age after COVID and how content will be utilized, transformed, and distributed in the quickly changing market.
In the fourth and final session, we listened to the global strategy of BBC Studios. André Renaud, SVP of BBC Studios participated as a speaker and Rhonda Richford from The Hollywood Reporter was a moderator. They talked about how the BBC became a force in format sales and what the future holds for the global format business.
As Korea became a true battleground for the media market, the four sessions drew a lot of attention from both domestic and international audiences. Blintn, the organizer of the media sessions said "We are grateful to have been able to unite speakers who are leading the media market from all over the world in one spot, and it was a really valuable time to hear their stories full of insight". Also, Blintn added, "we will continue to act as such a bridge for global media professionals to connect and create amazing synergies, and we will do our best to support the development of the B2B sector of the media content industry."
