After three very active days, the 2022 edition of ATF closed yesterday with very good outcome. The last day as usually happens, was calmer both in people traffic and activities, but no less productive for many participants. The companies that remained active on Friday kept good meeting schedules and many buyers could be seen from one side to other till almost the last minute.

One of the sessions of the last day was particularly interesting: Top Asian Buyers, with three of the most important OTTs in Asia: Aaron Mascarenhas, AVP, Content Acquisitions & Partnerships, MX Player; Jaehee Hong, VP, Content Acquisition & Partnerships, Rakuten Viki; Kim Hongki, Acquisition & Distribution Group Leader, Wavve.

The three agreed on the relevance that the content must have, they not only look at the artistic part or the results they obtained in their first windows, but also on the need for the story to adjust to the needs of the audience. 'It is a whole; one looks for relevant content, but if it does not adjust to the taste of the audience, having it in the catalog is of little use’.

Another interesting point that was highlighted in the talk is the need for original content. Today, 50% of Netflix content is original, so the Asian OTT platforms need to have exclusive content in different targets to push the audiences to their slates.

Later in the day, there was the announcement of Atf Animation Pitch 2022 winner, where Hossein Valian, director of “Hey Days” at Rahrang Studio/ Türkiye, received a check for $3,500 to help developing the project. Perhaps the most interesting thing was the advice he received from the jury, about how to improve the product, to make it more relevant in different markets. ‘Be glocal’, they said, ‘combining local authenticity with global tips that make it travel better to any territory’.

Animation was one of the great drivers of the convention, as it is known that the Asian market is a great consumer of animation, but above all a great generator of animated content for both children and adults, worldwide. This year in particular we’ve seen a super wide offer from different companies and countries. Many of them were born as niche companies generating content only for digital platforms, and today their content can be found in the main networks around the world.

Two trends that have grown in recent times: on one hand, the undoubtedly proliferation of all kinds of content for children, from animation to factual to gameshows and even special formats for children. And, on the other hand, the extension of the BL content offer in markets that at first sight are believed to be very conservative. Undoubtedly, ATF 2022 was a very rich convention to attend.

Domingo Vassellati, from Singapore

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