“We don’t want numerous content material, we simply want a lot of actually good content material,” Kelvin Yau, President of Asia Pacific and Advertising and marketing iQIYI, concluded when quizzed on his firm’s editorial technique throughout a keynote session on streaming this morning at Filmart in Hong Kong.
Yau took half within the keynote alongside fellow streaming heads Marianne Lee, Chief of Content material Acquisition and Growth at Viu, Jessica Kam-Engle, Government VP and Enterprise Head at CreAsia Studio, and Winradit Kolasastraseni, President of Digital Media at True Digital Group.
The session was chaired by Asia Video Business Affiliation CEO Louis Boswell, who started the session by noting that iQIYI, which launched in 2010 as a tech firm earlier than transferring into content material manufacturing, was now worthwhile after hitting the black in 2023.
“It’s about placing the correct assets in the correct locations,” Yau stated. “It goes again to the entire level of being disciplined, and we needed to make numerous very tough selections 4 years in the past to get profitability.”
Yau added that iQIYI had seven of the ten high drama collection in Mainland China in 2023, and the corporate discovered that 80% of its earnings that 12 months was generated from these seven reveals.
Yau’s enthusiasm for the native market was shared by Lee, who, later within the session, stated the Asian market is experiencing what she described as an unprecedented interval of progress and improvement.
“In Asia, we’re on the up and up,” Lee stated. “We’ve by no means been so excessive.”
Lee stated Viu, which launched in 2015, has produced round 25 authentic initiatives in areas throughout Asia, together with Korea, Thailand, and Indonesia. Lee highlighted one particular undertaking throughout the keynote titled Non-public Bodyguard, a teen drama from Indonesia that she stated finest displayed the power of native streaming manufacturing.
“We solely launched with three episodes, and it’s now the number-one present. However it has additionally helped us drive our youthful obtain figures. The Viu app is now the number-one downloaded app within the Indonesian app retailer,” she stated.
“After you have good content material you possibly can actually drive viewership. That’s our precept.”
Lee continued to say that proper now the romance style is taking part in properly with audiences on Viu. However the firm’s work, she added, has largely been formed by the social make-up of its viewers throughout a number of areas.
“Our viewers in Southeast Asia is sort of younger. The median age in Indonesia is about 29, and within the Philippines is about 25. So we strive to verify the content material we purchase and fee suits that.”
Bespoke commissioning was a technique additionally highlighted by Kam-Engle, who not too long ago joined Banijay-backed CreAsia Studio after holding exec positions at Disney APAC and HBO Asia.
“I’m primarily based in Hong Kong, however the firm will probably be the place the markets are. And the principle markets will probably be Southeast Asia, particularly Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines,” she stated.
Highlighting developments she has recognized not too long ago amongst audiences and patrons, Kam-Engle stated she believes the consequences of a number of darkish COVID years are nonetheless being felt available in the market.
“The previous few years have been robust. Most international locations simply obtained out of COVID. Folks are actually tending to have a look at issues which can be lighter and provides some hope and escapism. Issues which can be too heavy might not essentially be what individuals search for,” she stated.
The one buzzy market on the lips of business folks right here at Filmart is Thailand. The nation’s present second within the solar was at all times on the playing cards, based on Kolasastraseni of the Bangkok-based True Digital Group.
“Thailand has at all times been up there on the very high in relation to artistic abilities,” Kolasastraseni stated. “What we’ve realized over the previous few years is we by no means actually had correct funding from the federal government or the non-public sector.”
One other progress level highlighted by the panel was synthetic intelligence, which Yau described as a “big” sport changer for iQIYI’s content material manufacturing and advertising and marketing efforts, whereas Lee stated the expertise may additionally assist democratize the presentation of content material throughout the globe.
“I personally stay up for a time once we can use AI for dubbing. The expertise remains to be on the early stage, however with time, I’m positive we are going to see developments,” Lee stated.
Filmart runs March 11 – 14.
