TIFFCOM, the contents market that takes place alongside Tokyo Worldwide Movie Competition (TIFF), had a tricky experience through the pandemic, shifting on-line in 2020 and solely managing to return again as a bodily occasion for the primary time final 12 months.
However with a brand new dwelling on the Tokyo Metropolitan Industrial Commerce Heart in Hamamatsucho, the market appears to be discovering its ft in a crowded autumn pageant season, partially due to the world’s renewed curiosity in Japanese movie, TV and anime content material.
With Japan-set collection similar to Shogun and Tokyo Vice additionally drawing audiences globally, and mainland China, as soon as the large draw within the area, turning into much less outward-looking, the worldwide trade is turning into rather more open to collaborating with Japan.
And the curiosity is reciprocated as a youthful era of Japanese filmmakers and producers are difficult long-held perceptions that their native trade is insular and sluggish shifting. More and more, Japanese authorities organisations are additionally supporting worldwide collaboration via initiatives similar to a new 50% areas incentive, which has been utilized by productions together with Tokyo Vice, Searchlight Footage’ Rental Household and Bollywood movie One Day, produced by Aamir Khan.
Now that it’s again as an in-person occasion, TIFFCOM is aiming to facilitate this rising trade between Japan and different worldwide content material industries. “The home audiovisual content material market in Japan has largely recovered to pre-pandemic ranges, primarily due to robust animation movies and collection, however there may be an growing want to supply content material with a world market in thoughts,” says TIFFCOM CEO Yasushi Shiina.
He provides that finally 12 months’s TIFFCOM, round two thirds of customer registrations, together with patrons, have been from abroad, with vital contingents travelling from Europe, South Korea, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Whereas the variety of members is anticipated to be across the identical this 12 months, the market has greater than doubled the variety of seminars, which have a concentrate on the “abroad methods of Japan and different Asian international locations, providing useful data to assist form future enterprise methods,” Shiina says.
TIFFCOM CEO Yasushi Shiina
Among the many packed seminars line-up are periods on how Japanese anime has reached worldwide markets; case research on the export methods of three Japanese broadcasting and programming firms; and a masterclass with Tokyo Vice producer Alex Boden, held as a part of the annual MPA/DHU/TIFFCOM Pitching Contest.
As well as, the Korean Movie Council (KOFIC) and Seoul Movie Fee will speak concerning the funding out there to overseas productions planning to shoot in Korea or arrange worldwide co-productions with Korean firms; China’s Highway Footage will share insights on the distribution of Japanese content material within the big mainland China market; and a bunch of Thai producers and broadcasters will speak concerning the worldwide success of Thailand’s BL (boy’s love) style.
TIFFCOM will even be marking the signing of the long-awaited Japan-Italy co-production settlement with a case examine on Italian co-production, in addition to a pitching session for tasks from Italian and Asian producers. Italy is barely the second nation that Japan has signed a co-production treaty with, following mainland China (though it additionally has a standard assertion of coverage with Canada).
Italy will even catch the attention of this 12 months’s Tokyo Hole Financing Market (TGFM), the place 5 Italian co-production tasks can be offered, together with 15 different movie and animation tasks which have no less than 60% funding in place and include Asian components.
“The return to an in-person format final 12 months led to a major improve within the participation of producers and buyers. Simply as co-production movies are the norm in Europe, we hope to see extra collaboration amongst filmmakers throughout Asian international locations, fostering the expansion of co-productions in Asia,” Shiina says.
Among the many function movies being offered at TGFM are Sompot Chidgasornpongse’s 9 Temples To Heaven, produced by Apichatpong Weerasethakul; Pen-ek Ratanaruang’s Morte Cucina, and Mariko Tetsuya’s Japan-Taiwan-US co-production Earlier than Anybody Else.
Launched for the primary time final 12 months, Tokyo Story Market is one other main strand of TIFFCOM, aiming to construct bridges between worldwide producers and Japanese e book, manga and different kinds of publishers.
“Japan is a treasure trove of unique works, similar to manga, novels and light-weight novels, that are in excessive demand amongst producers. Subsequently, we felt it was crucial to offer a platform for Japanese publishers to take part,” Shiina explains.
“Many publishers discovered it useful to immediately have interaction with abroad producers they don’t often work together with, and so they have requested that the Tokyo Story Market proceed.”
Whereas TIFFCOM is rising, Shiina concedes that it’s a busy time of 12 months for trade professionals, with Busan’s Asian Contents and Movie Market (ACFM) lately concluded in South Korea and the American Movie Market (AFM) kicking off in Las Vegas subsequent week. However he provides that sustaining shut ties with Tokyo Worldwide Movie Competition is vital, so there are not any plans to vary the market’s schedule independently. The occasion’s new dwelling can also be proving common with members and is comfortably near TIFF’s new venues within the stylish Ginza and Hibiya districts.
“There are movie festivals and markets being held someplace world wide each month of the 12 months,” says Shiina, acknowledging the impossibility of carving out an unique time slot. “We’ll simply work in the direction of guaranteeing that each TIFF and TIFFCOM are acknowledged as important occasions and are at all times marked on the annual calendars of trade professionals each in Japan and abroad.”
TIFFCOM is going down October 30-November 1, whereas the pageant opened on October 28 and runs till November 6.
