From 5 to 7 November, DISCOP Africa will connect African producers with
international brands which increasingly see the continent as an untapped source of
opportunity.
An expected 1 500 delegates made up of content distributers, buyers and producers
from Africa and international territories will come together to experience Africa’s
largest multi-platform content market, conference and networking hub, held at the
Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
Patrick Zuchowicki, CEO of Basic Lead, the agency responsible for running the
DISCOP markets, says the event’s core focus has remained the same since its
inception 30 years ago; to deliver valuable business opportunities to producers.
“At this stage of development in the African marketplace, it is super important to
feed the development of new platforms and to have producers and buyers co-operate with each other to sell content,’ says Zuchowicki.
“We have a growing number of producers and a growing number of platforms which
have emerged since the last DISCOP Africa and in terms of the attending content
distributors, there are new global brands which now see Africa as having a very
important strategic role within content. We also see more attending companies from
France as we’ve made a big effort this year to bring together TV stations and
platforms from French-speaking Africa.’
As part of this initiative to highlight the fast-growing importance of French-speaking
TV content production and distribution industries in Africa, DISCOP Africa 2014 will
host the Ivory Coast as its guest country.
South Africa in focus
Zuchowicki says the 20 Years of Television in South Africa: What’s Next two-day
summit will inform attendees about co-production and distribution of content made
in Africa, and spark some vibrant debate around digital migration.
“The intention behind the conference is to create a platform where we can have
people with conflicting point of views expressing themselves,’ says Zuchowicki, who
believes South Africa has a lot of experience and information to offer other
countries.
He explains: “We try to bring forth the fact that if you want to do business in Africa,
whether from Africa or outside of Africa, you need to better understand issues not
just relating to South Africa but to the overall digital switchover process.’ As
Zuchowicki believes there are still many questions which remain unanswered, the
conference will allow attendees to hear directly from key players involved in the
transition.
Though focussed on these two themes, the conference will include 60 speakers and
a mix of topics which developed as a result of key conversations with people in
South Africa, Nigeria and French-speaking Africa.
Pitching competition
Unlike previous years, the 2014 pitching competition will take place over one day,
on Friday 7 November. With all workshops scheduled to run on Wednesday and
Thursday, producers can now attend and participate in the competition without
missing out on any other valuable sessions.
In addition to the standard documentaries, formats and TV series genres, this year
will also include animation projects. “From a product point of view we think this is a
genre which could benefit those with a cross-cultural background,’ says Zuchowicki.
“We also acknowledge that in French-speaking Africa and South Africa there are
strong animation companies, with a lot of developing animation producers. When
we did a post-mortem survey after last year’s DISCOP, many producers requested
an animation category – so that’s what we did.’
In each of the four categories, five participants will be selected to pitch their
projects to a viewing audience and panel of seasoned industry judges, who will be
looking for stand-out ideas and well thought out pitches.
Serving on the DISCOPRO jury this year are: Marguerite Abouet, Damiano
Malchiodi, Peter Gird, Alain Modot, Charles Povey, Gabriel Brendan, Helga Palmer,
Molefi Lebone, Michelle Ashley Garforth-Venter, Han Gao, Aletta Alberts, Miki Mori,
Ahmadou Bakayoko, Baddy Dega Gnama, Don Edkins, Michel Rodrigue, Justin
Scroggie, Joao Ribeiro, Anthony Silverston, Ben Amadasun, Saira Sow, Denise
Mwende and Wangeci Murage.
Interactive workshops
Ensuring young producers have every opportunity to enhance their careers, the
DISCOPRO workshops are designed to create an informative and interactive
environment between them and mentors already immersed in the industry.
Bringing together 500 producers, writers, commissioning, co-production and
programming executives, sales agents and investors, the workshop programme
presents a range of relevant subjects. Topics include: writing distribution contracts,
video news coverage, branded entertainment, science fiction and cross-media
storytelling. Endemol Africa, Rapid Blue, the South African Broadcasting Corporation
(SABC) and the African Sports Network are a few of the many participating
DISCOPRO mentors.
Further to this, DISCOP Africa prides itself on initiating and facilitating meetings
with producers through its matchmaking programme, a system which has been
adapted with the advancement of technology.
Zuchowicki maintains that he evaluates the success of DISCOP not by the number of
attending delegates but by the amount of beneficial connections and meetings which
take place over the three-day period.
“It’s a very good yardstick for us,’ he says, and explains: “The only way to
maximise meeting opportunities and to make sure they make sense is to have 12
people dedicated to that support in Johannesburg – making phone calls, validating
databases, readjusting agendas. I want to be sure that a young producer, who has
never had the opportunity in the past, has a chance to meet with players like
MultiChoice Nigeria and Canal Plus.’
For more information about DISCOPRO and DISCOP Africa, visit:
www.discopafrica.com.
