By Leo Byrne, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The RioContentMarket, an international event focused on multi-platform content production for Brazil’s television and digital media industry, is set to begin today (Wednesday, February 20th) and run until February 22nd at the Windsor Hotel in Barra. This year over 1,500 representatives of the audio-visual and media sectors from 29 different countries will attend.
The rapidly growing event which is organized by the Brazilian Association of Independent TV Producers (ABPI-TV), is only in its third iteration yet is already the largest gathering of its kind in South America.
“The event brings together mobile and broadcast executives, programmers, creators and producers to submit ideas, business models and relevant cases to the development of partnerships and co-productions in the fastest growing industries in the world: technology, information and entertainment,” Mrs. Carla Esmeralda, Director at Esmeralda Produções which organizes the RioContentMarket told The Rio Times.
The event consists of speeches on a wide variety of topics pertaining to the media industry, while also acting as a general forum for audio-visual sector. “The RioContentMarket presents keynotes, panels, pitching sessions, business rounds, one to one meetings and the Transmedia Lab, which this year will focus on TV series,” Esmeralda continued.
Even though it is a relatively new event, its prominence in the media landscape is already well established. Former audio-visual secretary from the Ministry of Culture Ana Paula Dourado Santana said that the event was a ‘milestone’ and that “[this] social participation and the government will together build a plan to develop this sector. It is the moment when we realize the potential of our [audio-visual] industry.”
This year participants in the Rio Content Market will hear speeches from various media luminaries. Jonathan Mildenhall, Coca-Cola’s Vice-President of Excellence in Global Content, will speak on the relationship between brands and content developers.
Other notable speakers include Álvaro Paes de Barros, Youtube’s head of content for South America and Sven Schaeffner, FIFA’s TV director.
The current audio-visual secretary Leopoldo Nunes will also use the opportunity to present the new guidelines for its secretariat in 2013.
This edition of the RioContentMarket will also have an additional focus on sports media and programming. “One of the big innovations will be the exclusive hall for sports, events and interactive content that will include TV channels from Brazilian soccer teams such as Corinthians, and Flamengo. [As well as] panels with various sports channels, including ESPN,” Esmeralda added.
One of the event’s most important features is the Transmedia Lab, a workshop where filmmakers and producers introduce potential TV projects. “At the Lab, companies have the opportunity to present projects that have international potential and are available for acquisition, investment and/or development,” Esmeralda told The Rio Times.
This year there will be thirty such exhibits, ten from overseas and twenty Brazilian, spanning a variety of genres from documentaries to animation and children’s programs. Selected projects will undergo training with various experts from the audio-visual market. Among them former president of FOX Television Studios, Emiliano Calemzuk and Luke Ryan who was a studio executive at New Line Cinema, Paramount Pictures and MGM.
Most of all the RioContentMarket hopes to build on previous success by creating a platform for the Brazilian audio-visual and media industries to do business. “We expect the next edition of the event to monetize projects and content, negotiate and close deals with buyers and sellers in the global content marketplace,” Esmeralda explains.
What: RioContentMarket
When: Wednesday, February 20th – Friday, February 22nd, 2013
Where: Windsor Barra Hotel, Av. Lúcio Costa, 2,630 Barra da Tijuca