Liza Foreman

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By Liza Foreman 
 
It seems that TIFFCOM, the market arm of the Tokyo International Film Festival (October 23-31, 2010), is not the highest-grossing film market in Asia for nothing.

Drawing in  all of the major players from the Asian industry and a handful of key European companies, this year’s market took place in a luxurious high-rise building, offering fabulous views of Tokyo, perfect organization and just the right mix of business and pleasure. 
With a bustling scene at the four-day event (October 25-28, 2010), which included several social networking opportunities, a co-production platform and a full program of seminars, TIFFCOM’s head Mika Morishita was happy with this year’s results. 
“We have been told that films, TV and animation all sold well, and buyers, this year, ranged from Thailand, Brunei, India and Malaysia. Exhibitors said that more buyers showed interest and were positive about buying contents,” said Morishita. 
As per Morishita, deals were struck far and wide, showing that TIFFCOM is a marketplace not only for films but also TV programs, animation, digital contents and publishing. Kodansha, a major Japanese publishing company, ran a booth for the first time with a view to se selling screen rights of their mangas and comic books. After meetings with Korean Broadcasters and other Asian producers, deals are now closing for several of their properties to be filmed. “TIFFCOM is thus valued as a cross media multi-market,” said Morishita. 
In terms of new developments at the market, she added: “The main purpose of the event is to promote as many contracts as possible, and to provide opportunities of networking. Under the theme of the TIFFCOM 2010, ‘providing as much gathering place as possible,’ we opened for the first time a DVD library, increased market screening rooms, and opened the marketplace one hour earlier for all participants’ convenience this year.” 
The final numbers for TIFFCOM 2010 are as follows: 
 
➢ Number of Exhibitors : 222 (212) up percent on 2009 
➢ National Pavillions : Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, The Phillippines, Malaysia 
➢ Number of Exhibitors Countries /Regions : 21 ( 18) 
➢ Country Breakdown: Korea, China, Thailand 
➢ Number of New Exhibitors from Overseas : 40 
➢ Number of New Exhibitors from Domestic : 14 
➢ Countries participating for the first time: Denmark, Iran, Singapore 
 
Visitors 
➢ Total Number of Visitors : 21095 (20185) 4% up on 2009 
➢ Number of Registrations : 4162( 4037) 3% up on 2009 
➢ Registration from 55 Countries/Regions ( 47) plus 5 on 2009