Entertainment Expo Hong Kong Kicks Off in Mid-March

29 February 2016 – The 12^th edition of the prestigious Entertainment Expo Hong Kong is set to spring into action on 14 March. The expo continues through 4 April and comprises 10 spectacular events including three founding events: the Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART), the Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF) and the Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation Ceremony (HKFA). There are also seven core events: the Hong Kong–Asia Film Financing Forum (HAF), the Hong Kong Asian-Pop Music Festival (HKAMF), the IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award, ifva (Incubator for Film & Visual Media in Asia Festival), the Asian VFX and Digital Cinema Summit, the Digital Entertainment Summit and TV World International Forum, which is a standalone event for the first time this year.

Guests at today’s press conference included Gregory So, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Hong Kong SAR Government; Margaret Fong, Executive Director, Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC); Terry Lai, Chairman, HKTDC Entertainment Industry Advisory Committee; and Hong Kong Entertainment Ambassador Leon Lai as well as representatives from supporting organisations.

Peggie Liu, Senior Service Promotion Manager, HKTDC, said the expo’s 10 exhilarating events integrate elements from film TV, music and digital entertainment, and generate a lot of attention among the industry and the public each year: “The Expo is a diversified platform. It hosts trade exhibitions, serves as a film-financing marketplace, and stages various conferences and business sessions for industry players. But it also encourages participation from the public in music and film festivals, and a star-dusted award presentation ceremony to honour outstanding achievements in the industry.”

Ms Liu added that after a decade of effort and contributions from different organisers of the various events, the expo has promoted steady development of the entertainment industry, and become a diverse world-class business platform for industry players from around the world. It is the perfect meeting place for promoting productions, discovering talent and doing business. “The expo has become an annual mega event, attracting entertainment industry players all over the world to come to Hong Kong. Just last year alone, the expo attracted more than 120,000 visitors to participate,” Ms Liu said.

Generating citywide participation in the expo
To encourage the general public to be part of Entertainment Expo, the organisers have launched an Entertainment Expo Mobile showroom. On 27 and 28 February, the showroom visited different locations in Central, Causeway Bay, Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui to promote the event and raise awareness among the local community. 

Hong Kong International Film and TV Market (FILMART)
FILMART is one of the founding events of the Entertainment Expo Hong Kong. Now in its 20^th edition, this one-stop trading and networking platform has become one of the world’s most important film markets. This edition of FILMART will take place from 14 to 17 March at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, attracting more than 780 companies from about 35 countries and regions. Other than major film companies in Hong Kong, many exhibitors from the United States, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Canada, Korea, Japan, Singapore, the Philippines, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, and other countries and regions around the world are also setting up pavilions at FILMART to promote local entertainment products. In addition, the Middle East, Cambodia and Macau are also setting up regional pavilions at FILMART for the first time.

This year sees the largest participation from mainland Chinese exhibitors from different provinces and cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shandong, Sichuan, Guangdong and Hangzhou. Chongqing is also setting up its regional pavilion at FILMART for the first time.

Promoting digital entertainment is another highlight of FILMART. Sponsored by CreateHK, the Hong Kong Animation & Digital Entertainment pavilion will bring together more than 30 local digital entertainment companies to showcase the latest services such as 2D/3D animation, digital special effects, mobile Apps, smartphone games, multimedia designs and marketing promotions.

These companies are among 170 digital entertainment exhibitors taking part in the Animation & Digital Entertainment World pavilion, along with companies from countries including France, Italy, Korea, Malaysia and Thailand.

Other attractions of FILMART include screenings, press conferences, business matching meetings and networking activities. To enrich the programme of this year’s FILMART, the organisers will arrange a variety of industry forums in collaboration with different organisations and invite industry leaders in the fields of film, TV, digital entertainment, post production, animation, and music to share their insights. Guest speakers include representatives from LeTV and the filmmakers of Taken and The Bullet Vanishes and of animation works Monster Hunt, One Piece and McDull.

TV World International Forum
Another focus of attention is TV World, which enters its 10^th year with more than 360 exhibitors. Under the theme “Belt & Road Business Opportunities for the Global TV Industry”, leading figures will explore how the Belt and Road Initiative can bring about business opportunities for the TV industry, and share latest market trends.

Hong Kong-Asia Financing Forum (HAF)
The HAF (14-16 March) is an established film-financing platform in Asia that runs concurrently with FILMART. The three-day event provides Asian filmmakers with opportunities to explore co-production ventures for their upcoming projects with top film financiers, producers, bankers, distributors, buyers and decision-makers of film foundations, who will shortlist 25-30 items for the HAF 2016 Projects. This year, the HAF received a record of about 350 applications for the programme. The five Hong Kong projects nominated include Trains in the Night by Best New Director Adam Wong, suspense movie Napping Kid by Amos Why, suspense movie Hypnotize the Jury by well-known actor and producer Tin Kai-man and up-and-coming filmmakers Kenneth Lai and Paul Sze, comedy Vampire Dairy by screenwriter Anthony Yan and Hang Chiu, and The Lady Improper by Tsang Tsui-shan. Lieutenant Yi by singer and first-time director René Liu is among the nominated projects.

Hong Kong International Film Festival (HKIFF)
To movie lovers, the HKIFF is a must-go event. The HKIFF (21 March to 4 April) features screenings of more than 240 films from 66 countries and regions. Sixty three of them are either world, international or Asian premieres. They include opening films Chongqing Hot Pot and Trivisa, and concluding movie Creepy by Kurosawa Kiyoshi.

Hong Kong Film Awards Presentation Ceremony (HKFA)
The 35^th edition of the HKFA will be held on 3 April at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre to present 19 awards to local film professionals in recognition of their outstanding achievements. To celebrate the development of Hong Kong’s film industry over the past century, this year’s ceremony will adopt the theme “Forever Young” and highlight the industry’s innovation, sophistication and ability to constantly reinvent itself to keep up with the times.  

Incubator for Film and Visual Media in Asia (ifva)
Now in its 21^st edition, the ifva is a cradle and a driving force for the promotion of short films and media arts in Hong Kong and Asia. Five finalists from this year’s ifva, held from 25 February to 6 March, will be screened during the expo. This year’s media art exhibition is titled “Surviving the Glass System”. The show focuses on the theme of surveillance, examining how cinema can be a medium about control as much as expression.

Hong Kong Asian-Pop Music Festival (HKAMF)
For the music industry, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Hong Kong Group) Limited (“IFPI Hong Kong Group”) will stage the sixth edition of the HKAMF on 18 March to promote music culture and build a cross-market platform for the music and media industry in Asia. It continues the tradition of inviting music superstars from eight Asian countries/regions, namely Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland, Taiwan, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand to perform and promote cultural interaction. Performing artists include AOA from Korea, w-inds from Japan, F.I.R. from Taiwan and Andy Hui from Hong Kong. Emerging talents from the eight regions will compete for HKAMF 2016 Super Nova Award, including singer Sheldon Lo from Hong Kong. A business forum will be held concurrently to provide a platform for record companies, agencies representatives, concert producers and media representatives to discuss business opportunities, fostering growth in music industry in Asia.

IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award
The 14^th edition of the IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award, which will be held on 29 March, sees leading singers, composers and record companies honoured for their hard work and achievements over the past year. The IFPI Hong Kong Top Sales Music Award is the only award in Hong Kong based on audited sales.

Asian VFX And Digital Cinema Summit
To promote digital entertainment, the 9^th Asian VFX and Digital Cinema Summit will be hosted on 15 March. Speakers from Hong Kong and other Asian countries will share their experience in digital film post-production and shed light on the latest developments in the installation of digital cinema technology, 4K post-production workflow, virtual reality application and 3D special effects production. Special effects experts behind such productions as Mermaid, Keeper of Darkness and The Monkey King 2 will speak on the theme “Special Effects in Films and Format Transformation”.

Digital Entertainment Summit
The sixth edition of the Digital Entertainment Summit (16 March) is jointly presented by the HKTDC and the Hong Kong Digital Entertainment Association. The theme for this year’s forum is: “Expert Dialogues: How to Present Ideas in the Digital Era”.

Fair Website:
Entertainment Expo：http://www.eexpohk.com

Video:
Entertainment Expo Hong Kong 2016

http://www.hktdc.com/info/webcast/v/en/en/1X04CP3U/Entertainment-Expo-Hong-Kong-2016.htm

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About the HKTDC
A statutory body established in 1966, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and services providers. With more than 40 offices globally, including 13 on the Chinese mainland, the HKTDC promotes Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. The HKTDC also organises international exhibitions, conferences and business missions to provide companies, particularly SMEs, with business opportunities on the mainland and in overseas markets, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and digital channels including the media room. For more information, please visit: www.hktdc.com/aboutus.