Let's run back over 10th anniversary KYIV MEDIA WEEK 2020

During 14-hours on air, 14 events were held: panel discussions, presentations and inspirational talks. Six internationally renowned analytical agencies prepared and presented researches and reviews of media markets from Asia to Latin America, exclusively for KMW Global Marathon. 50 representatives from leading international media companies from 23 countries shared their unique experience with the KMW audience. The most recent of annual forums, this year broke all past records: nearly 3,000 participants from 52 countries had registered to join the online event.


KYIV MEDIA WEEK is organized by the Media Resources Management company, supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, as well its general partner, TV channel "Ukraine".

KYIV MEDIA WEEK Global Marathon
September 14

The forum program started with an analytical review of the Ukrainian media industry, key events, cases and the latest indicators from the forum partner Media Business Reports (MBR), a leading Ukrainian informational and analytical publication on the media business and audiovisual industry. The first block of the panel discussion "In Creativity We Trust. How to Build a Sustainable Ecosystem of AV Business in Ukraine" was participated by Oleksandr Tkachenko, Minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine; Victoria Yarmoshchuk, founder of KMW and CEO of FILM.UA Group; Eugene Bondarenko, Director of Media Group Ukraine; Ivan Shestakov, director of Strategic Development of MEGOGO. Anastasia Rakhmanina, Editor-in-Chief of MBR moderated the discussion. The speakers discussed topical issues regarding the prospects for the development of the Ukrainian media industry, ways to unite all the players in a single development strategy and ways to build an effective system of relations between them. They also focused on an important aspect of shaping Ukraine's successful value proposition for the global market.

The round-the-world marathon began with an overview of the Asian region. Key analytical indicators and a selection of the most illustrative cases from South Korea, China and Vietnam were presented at the forum by K7 Media, an international media consulting company and long-term Knowlegde Partner of KYIV MEDIA WEEK. The section included a panel discussion on the COVID-19 crisis, its impact on market performance and the general shift in the cinema and television sectors. Marissa Hanafi, Director of Content and OTT, POPS Worldwide (Vietnam and Thailand); JinWoo Hwang, Founder, President and Executive Producer, SOMETHING SPECIAL (South Korea); and Miao Mi, Director of Research, Houghton Street Media(China) spoke exclusively for the KMW Global Marathon audience about the ways leading media market players are adapting their business models to new realities and how they are now building collaborations with other countries. The discussion was moderated by Michelle Lin, a distinguished expert, head of the Asia and Pacific Department at K7 Media, with extensive experience in researching formats, multi-genre programs and studying the specifics of regional markets.

The third part of the program was the star inspiration talk "2020: The New Golden Age of Unscripted Formats" with Nathalie Wogue, an international expert on entertainment formats and media strategies, Former Head of Development at Fremantle France, Global VP Formats at IMG Entertainment. running her own company, she has consulted for such world giants as ABC Studios, Fox, Canal+, and RTL. The interviewer of the talk was Maria Chiara Duranti, founder and CEO of leading Italian publication FormatBiz, which has been covering news about television formats, TV markets and the TV industry in general – both Italian and international – since 2009.

Next in the focus of attention were the media markets of Eastern Europe. The partner of the section was the well-known international research company Glance, which specialises in the study of particular insights about audiovisual content in general and the behavioural trends of viewers. The latest analytical review of the region exclusively for the KMW audience was presented by Avril Blondelot, Head of Content Insight at Glance – Mediametrie (France), and the section curator and moderator of the panel discussion was Simeon Mirzayantz, International Sales Manager in charge of Central & Eastern Europe at Glance – Mediametrie. The discussion of the Eastern European content market was joined by Petr Horký, Czech documentary filmmaker; Anna Iwinska-Nowak, Head of AVOD and SVOD Analytics at Poland's national broadcaster TVN; Dan Becerescu, Head of Development & Long Term Strategy of the Romanian TV channel Pro TV; and Alaa Elabasy, Senior Sales Manager at Turkish media company Madd Entertainment.

The next topic in the KMW Global Marathon program was "Global Content Trends" by the co-founders of the Swiss analytical company, The Wit, Virginia Mouseler and Bertrand Villegas, which focused on the most interesting issues of the international media market, outlined the most significant projects and trends of 2020, and voiced their forecasts for its future development. The discussion presented exclusive research prepared by The Wit specifically for the KMW Global Marathon.

Central and Western Europe and the United Kingdom became the next region for review in the forum. The section examined the impact of the pandemic on the five largest media markets – Great Britain, Germany, Spain, Italy, France, as well as the countries in the Northern European region. Thanks to the latest research and insider information from the international analytical company Ampere Analysis, the KMW Global Marathon participants learned how content producers successfully find alternative ways to work during quarantine, continuing to shoot new shows, series and formats and bring them to local and international markets. At the invitation of Guy Bisson, Research Director of Ampere Analysis and a leading TV market analyst, the following experts joined the discussion: Lucas Green, Head of Content for Banijay Group, the largest international content producer with more than 120 companies worldwide; Florian Kamhuber, Executive Producer and writer of the leading German media company NEUESUPER; and Filippa Wallestam, Chief Content Officer of Nordic Entertainment Group (NENT), a Northern European media company with 30 production studios.

Inspirational Talk with Yutaro Kojima, a Creative Director with over 20 years of experience in the key media companies of the world, such as Facebook, Y&R New York, Dentsu Y&R Tokyo, and Saatchi & Saatchi London. Yutaro focused on actual issues, which are of the high demand of all those, who are involved in content creation – the approaches to attract the attention of the audience in the background of a highly competitive media market. He brought up the helpful concepts that allow to create a unique AV content and win the hearts of the target audience.

The next major thematic unit was an analytical review and panel discussion, focusing on the US and Canadian media industries, organized in partnership with C21 Media, a world-renowned media publication. The North American section was curated by Ed Waller, Editorial Director at C21 Media and a journalist for the national British publications The Guardian, The Independent and The Sunday Times. The section focuses on North American market trends, the impact of Covid-19 on the TV industry in terms of production and international content distribution, SVOD growth, and the role of the Black Lives Matter movement. The discussion was attended by Marc Berman, Founder and Director of the leading analytical publication Programming Insider, David Smyth, media consultant (former vice president and managing director of 20th Century Fox, head of acquisitions at Sky 1), Brad Adgate, media consultant (former SVP of research at Horizon Media).

Another inspirational talk program of the KMW Global Marathon was dedicated to the connection of new technologies and art, including audiovisual. The star guest of the forum, Tupac Martir, spoke about the nature of creativity and the place of innovation; how VR, AR, holograms, artificial intelligence are becoming tools for creativity and how artists are inventing new technologies. On the example of his project "Cosmos Within Us", which was presented at the Venice Film Festival, Tupac outlined new opportunities for creators for the future, which would provide viewers and participants with unique experiences. The interviewer was Andriy Babkin, a creative producer of projects in the field of communications and entertainment events.

The final block of the KMW Global Marathon was the presentation of the section "Latin America: a Land of Opportunities: The Evolution from an Only-Telenovela Producer to a Full Content Provider" Prensario International, one of the most influential international informational and media consulting companies, presented the region's achievements at the world media market. Five top managers of the companies – leading players in the region's media market – presented their flagship projects and shared their experience of doing business in Latin America. Among them: Manuel Marti, Head of fiction Latin America; Fremantle (Mexico), Patricia Jasin, VP, TV Azteca International (Mexico), Estefania Arteaga, International Sales Director, Asia, Caracol International (Colombia), Elena Antonini, Sales and Co-production Director, Europe; Viacom CBS International Studios (Argentina), and Esperanza Garay, CEO, Mega Global Entertainment (Chile/USA). The experts focused on the dynamics of the region, its main advantages, commercial trends and global business, as well as new genres (formats, factual, movies), digital ventures, and the talents behind and in front of the screen, which have received international recognition. The speakers also spoke on how to remain relevant in a highly competitive market for content production, even in difficult times. The section was moderated by Fabricio Ferrara, international business director of Prensario.

At the end of the busy day, a solemn online celebration took place for all participants of KMW Global Marathon – celebrating KMW's 10th anniversary.

KYIV MEDIA WEEK Special
September 15

The media community from all over the globe had an opportunity to join the discussion "European take: who's shaping new rules of the media business reality?", organized with the support of the European Union. Among the participants were Jan Salling (Denmark), head of BBC Studios Nordic Format & Productions; founder and CEO of Missing Link Media; and Andreas Weise (Germany), head of ZDF-Landesstudioleiter Sachsen-Anhalt, a political commentator for the Heute Journal. The discussion was moderated by Yevhen Hlibovytskyi, Long-term strategies expert, Supervisory board member of National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine (Ukraine). The speakers tried to identify the new roles of different media, which today model the picture of the future on both individual and global levels.

Also as a part of KMW Special, there was a panel discussion "News, fakes, manipulations, and the place of positive information in news programs" – answers to acute questions of the current information space were sought by participants Oksana Dykhnich (ICTV, Ukraine); Peter Pomerantsev (LSE, UK); Eva Cukier (NRC, the Netherlands); and moderator Pavlo Novikov (Radio NV, Ukraine). During the conversation, the participants considered the ways of presenting information in news and information programs and analyzed the program policy of TV channels and other media in the context of new world realities. The section is organized with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The discussion "Content that matters. Success stories and prospects of Ukrainian AV industry" was also supported by USAID. Representatives of socially significant Ukrainian projects, who were pioneers in the audiovisual industry and achieved significant success with viewers, public attention to the issues raised, as well as high ratings, shared their professional experience. Among those representatives, were, Olena Kanishevska, Director of the Department of Production of Television Programs on TV Channel "Ukraine" (The Brave Squad TV series); Oleksiy Gladushevskyy, Creative Producer of Starlight Originals Content (First Swallows TV series, Novy Channel); Natalka Vorozhbyt, screenwriter (To Catch the Kaidash TV series, STB); and Roman Lukin, creative producer of TET TV channel (Eurodirector, TV series). The conversation was moderated by Vira Kostenko-Kuznetsova, Head of the Media Department of Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative. The speakers focused on the importance of truly deep content against the pursuit of profit and fame in the national media industry.

KMW Special participants had the opportunity to learn about the unique opportunities for international cooperation with the support of the Canadian Embassy in Ukraine and Ukrainian Motion Picture Association (UMPA). During the star inspiration talk "VFX and animation in Canada. Opportunities for co-production". The speakers of the section were leading Canadian VFX professionals, who worked on legendary Netflix, Marvel, and Disney blockbusters: Neishaw Ali – founder and president of SPIN VFX – a leading international company for the production of visual effects, which worked with projects Game of Thrones, Fargo, Stranger Things and other; Wesley Sewell – the winner of The Lumiere Award VFX supervisor of the global Marvel blockbusters: Iron Man, The Avengers and Thor and other projects. The session was moderated by Egor Borschevsky, CEO of POSTMODERN Digital, a leading Ukrainian CG& VFX company that is a part of the FILM.UA Group. Given the limited opportunities for international cooperation within the audiovisual industry and pending ratification of the agreement on the joint production of audiovisual works between Ukraine and Canada, the discussion on cooperation in animation and visual effects has become very relevant for all the participants.