The sixth edition of the DISCOP Johannesburg entertainment content market wrapped up recently with a record 1506 attendees from 81 countries including 37 Sub-Saharan African nations. National and regional pavilions hosted delegates from Germany, this year’s Guest Country, France, the USA, China, Francophone Africa, and the Middle East.

Meetings and business were the overall focus of DISCOP Johannesburg, and many distribution and co-production deals were reported in market aisles that remained busy until the very end. This year, international buyers who were in attendance were very, very serious about looking at content “Made in Africa’ and non-African content distributors and producers felt more competition coming from African content distributors and producers who are offering content that is more affordable, with better production values, and with dubbed versions in English, French, Portuguese and Swahili more readily available.

In fact, DISCOP Johannesburg 2017 saw a 50% jump in the number companies selling content “Made In Africa” in comparison to last year, with many companies from the continent – including IROKO, AFOREVO, RTI, and DIFFA – confirming significant deals.

“During these three days, all signs pointed to intensifying competition between distribution platforms hungry for content. For the first time, sellers had more leverage and ended up with better deals.’ says Sheryl NAVARRO, DISCOP’s head of customers relations, who adds, “Competition is also growing between global entertainment brands who dominated the marketplace until now, and homegrown content rapidly catching up on quality and cross-border potential.’

A robust and well-attended conference and workshop programme dubbed NextGen showcased 35 sessions and 82 international speakers. The programme provided delegates with direct access to information on alternative distribution and funding opportunities; virtual reality content production, co-production opportunities with Francophone Africa and the USA, and many other subjects.

Adding two new conference, knowledge transfer and pitching programs in partnership with major players, DISCORE aimed at musical industry executives seeking to establish stronger relations with the film, television and online content industries, and DISCOMICS aimed at the animation and video game industries, will also help us expand our footprint of independent entertainment content creators from Africa.

Additionally, he goes on to explain that, “In Johannesburg and Abidjan a few months ago, a consensus emerged among attendees who stressed the importance of developing stronger regional ties. Therefore, we are embarking on a 2-year plan that will strengthen DISCOP’s leading position on the Continent, deepen the market’s reach into strategic Sub-Saharan African regions and expand our reach across converging entertainment content sectors.’

Kindly visit http://www.discop.com for more information.