Pembridge Partner Hugh Mason was today a guest speaker at the Media Financing Forum, held as part of the Asia Media Festival, the region's leading media industry event. The event, held in Singapore's Shangri-La Hotel, attracted delegates from around the world.
Hugh Mason said: "With the traditional models of content funding challenged in many world regions, producers and developers are looking for alternatives to fund their projects. Pembridge encourages content makers to look again at their business models and move beyond thinking of themselves first and foremost as selling 'creativity for hire' and instead to look at their position in the complete value chain that ultimately leads to consumers."
Mason inspired content producers that, by thinking of what they do as a "cross platform business" rather than a project, and planning commercial strategy alongside creative ideas, they could be well placed to build sustainable and ultimately valuable businesses. That value was the key to attracting investment and achieving growth.
By way of example, Mason suggested that delegates consider three specific possible strategies for success:
- Avoid making feature films for theatrical release first. Instead, make stories for DVD or mobile and sell them through another channel, with alternative finance from a brand. When established, then make the movie.
- Develop animation characters through greetings cards first. Then make moving image animations later when the value of the characters is proved and trade finance is more available.
- Create projects that fulfil a need for a client’s need, keeping the rights for commercial exploitation later once someone else has paid for the ‘shop window’
Skill in media financing will become a key element in Singapore's future, with the island stating its ambition to become the Media Hub for South East Asia.
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