ATF 2007 generates a record US$62.7 million worth of deals

12 December 2007

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Singapore: The 8th edition of the Asia Television Forum (ATF) closed on Nov 30 with deals totaling a record US$62.7 million sealed, surpassing ATF 2006’s US$47.1 million mark by 33%.
Singapore's Character Farm and distributor Six-Six-Eight licensed Katakune, a CGI animated series about a silkworm, to Japan's Hi Corporation to bring the character to mobile platforms. Six-Six-Eight also sold the series to China’s CCTV and 22 territories in the Middle East.
Korea's Iconix Entertainment sold animation series Pororo the Little Penguin to Italy’s RAI TV, Spain’s Cartoon Network, Al-Jazeera's Children’s Channel in the Middle East, and Mexico’s Televisa. The show is a joint production between Iconix, Korean production company Ocon, educational network EBS and telco Hanaro Telecom.
Disney-ABC International Television Asia Pacific clinched drama and comedy series deals with 13 broadcasters in the region, along with its first Southeast Asian agreement on The View and Good Morning America.
Singapore-based Scrawl Studios' Milly Molly was pre-sold to Australia's ABC, Canada's TV Ontario, Portugal's Aquaris & Auqris (Radiotelev) and Hong Kong's ATV World. The co-production between Scrawl and Australia's Beyond Distribution was previously sold to Nickelodeon Australia and deals are pending with Finland's YLE, Norway's NRK and France's TPS Jeunesse.
Also, Singapore's Mediafreaks Cartoon closed deals worth $2.6 million to co-produce The PuPu Squad with US and Malaysia-based Rocket Fish Studios and Sedo Dog with Malaysia's Omens Studio.
Singapore production house Big Communications also inked an agreement to team up with South Korean character design shop Sieun Design to bring the latter’s brands to TV.
Upside Down Entertainment sealed a US$10 million deal with US-based financing partner Cinema Solutions, Inc. to fund two feature films to be filmed in Singapore for the international market.
Organizers are expecting an additional US$60 million worth of deals to be generated over the next year as buyers and sellers finalize negotiations that began at the 3-day market.
Overall, ATF 2007 saw delegates from more than 500 companies across 50 countries in attendance. Especially noteworthy was the debut of 140 companies at the event, as well as strong participation from China, Taiwan, Thailand, and South Korea which was led by three agencies including Korean Broadcasting Institute, Seoul Animation Centre and Digital Cultural Contents Industry. In addition, Malaysia led a national pavilion to ATF for the first time.