KYIV MEDIA WEEK 2021 завершено – підсумки у фактах і цифрах
For eleven years in a row, the KYIV MEDIA WEEK international forum brings together media representatives from around the world in Kyiv to discuss burning industry issues, share new ideas and plans for the future.
2021 is no exception – on September 14-15, the media consulting company Media Resources Management (MRM), which organizes the forum, gathered 300 main players of Ukrainian media market at Hyatt Regency Kyiv and 70 experts from 15 countries to talk about reloading media business in the “new normality”. The two-day program included 18 sessions: 10 panel discussions, presentations of 5 analytical studies, 2 special reports, a screening of trendy shows, and a party.
The events of the forum were broadcast live on the Media Business Reports (MBR) analytical portal for free. This way, over 3,000 viewers from 37 countries joined KMW.
In October this year, all registered participants will receive KMW White Paper 2021 – the final document, including analytical reviews and research of the Ukrainian market conducted by Media Business Reports specifically for KMW: Analytics of Ukrainian TV series; TV viewing trends. The structure of Ukrainian television broadcasting in 2020 by the broadcast content type; Ukrainian broadcasters’ wishlist; Film production. What does the state spend money on and what is the profit; Ukrainian VoD market: dynamics, trends, ability to produce original content.
Forum program overview:
The events of the forum were broadcast live on the Media Business Reports (MBR) analytical portal for free. This way, over 3,000 viewers from 37 countries joined KMW.
In October this year, all registered participants will receive KMW White Paper 2021 – the final document, including analytical reviews and research of the Ukrainian market conducted by Media Business Reports specifically for KMW: Analytics of Ukrainian TV series; TV viewing trends. The structure of Ukrainian television broadcasting in 2020 by the broadcast content type; Ukrainian broadcasters’ wishlist; Film production. What does the state spend money on and what is the profit; Ukrainian VoD market: dynamics, trends, ability to produce original content.
Forum program overview:
On September 14, the forum was opened by an inaugural discussion-press conference “Media Business. Reload”. Oleksandr Tkachenko, minister of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, Steen Nørlov, head of Office, Representative of the Secretary-General of the Council of Europe on the coordination of cooperation programs of the Council of Europe (Denmark), Maryna Kuderchuk, head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency, Mykola Chernotytskyi, head of UA:PBC management board (Ukraine), took part in the first block of the session. Andriy Kulikov, media expert, co-founder of «Hromadske Radio» (Ukraine), moderated the discussion.
Speakers of the second block: Sergey Sozanovsky, co-founder of FILM.UA Group, Alexander Bogutsky, CEO at StarLightMedia, Yevhen Bondarenko, CEO at Media Group Ukraine, Yaroslav Pakholchuk, COO at 1+1 media, Julia Trybushna, CEO at OLL.TV and Xtra TV (Ukraine), Roman Romanchuk, CEO at Multiplex cinema chain. Moderator – Victoria Yarmoshchuk, CEO at FILM.UA Group, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Motion Picture Association.
Following the press conference, KMW’s longtime partner, international media consultancy K7 Media from the UK, represented by communication manager David Ciaramella, shared with the audience exclusive insights about the global content industry and a screening of the most promising TV shows.
The next big thematic block was Ukrainian and global series production. With the support of the Ukraine TV channel, three sessions dedicated to this topic were held.
During the Series Production in Ukraine panel discussion, Artem Vakalyuk (head of the analytical department of the media consulting company MRM) presented the results of a large-scale study – Analytics of Ukrainian TV Series, conducted by Media Business Reports (MBR), the conclusions of which will also be included in the KMW White Paper 2021.
During the Series Production in Ukraine panel discussion, Artem Vakalyuk (head of the analytical department of the media consulting company MRM) presented the results of a large-scale study – Analytics of Ukrainian TV Series, conducted by Media Business Reports (MBR), the conclusions of which will also be included in the KMW White Paper 2021.
The speakers of the discussion panel spoke about the challenges and achievements of the Ukrainian series industry – Natalia Strybuk, chief producer at Ukraine TV Channel Scripted Content Production Department, Kateryna Sheveliuk, head of TV series production at STB TV channel, Iryna Kostyuk, producer at FILM.UA Group and a member of the European Film Academy, Daria Leygonie-Fialko, TV producer, media manager, now general producer, and founder of SPACE Production.
The topic was continued during an international discussion Come Together! Eastern European Drama, which brought together representatives of the creative sector of series production from the Czech Republic, Croatia, Poland, and Ukraine. The speakers talked about strengthening regional cooperation and uniting the efforts of drama content producers in Eastern Europe to gain their share in the international market.
Kamila Zlatušková, founder and CEO of Serial Killer international festival (Czech Republic), presented an overview of the most successful series in the region and moderated the discussion, which was attended by – Nebojsa Taraba, CEO (producer & partner), Drugi Plan (Croatia), Wiktor Piątkowski, screenwriter, producer, BAHAMA FILMS (Poland), Olesya Lukyanenko, creative producer, FILM.UA Group (Ukraine), Iryna Chernyak, director of TV Content Sales Department at Media Group Ukraine, director of Content Acquisition at Ukraine TV channel.
The series production development needs systematic state support – effective international practices in this direction were shared by KMW special guest Ilann Girard (France), co-founder and CEO of OLFFI. It is the world's largest unique database of public funds and incentives for content producers, with more than 1,000 programs in 95 countries. In his report on Public Funding for Drama Series in Europe, the expert spoke about how European governments support television content producers.
The next thematic block of KMW 2021 demonstrated the trends of actively developing Video on Demand-services in Ukraine and the world. This series of sessions began with an analytical report and discussion VOD Landscape: the New Dynamics, conducted in partnership with the international consulting company Glance Mediametrie (France) and with the support of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine. Glace representatives: Siméon Mirzayantz(international sales manager) and his colleague Cécile Bertrand (international research manager) presented a comprehensive overview of the global VoD market. Representatives of European local streamers joined the discussion: Mezen Dannawi, manager of NPO Start, BVoD service of the broadcaster NPO (Holland), and Anna Iwinska-Nowak, head of customer insight at TVN Digital S.A, for the BVoD service Player.pl of the broadcaster TVN (Poland).
A special guest of the forum Randall Broman made a report on The perspective of distribution in the context of a booming VoD market, organized in partnership with La Fabrique des Formats (France). The expert spoke about the prospects of content distribution in the context of the rapid growth of the VoD market; he also presented a new international educational program Audiovisual Distribution Training (ADT), aimed at training distributors – professionals strategically important for the qualitative ecosystem of audiovisual turnover. Learn more about the program at the link: https://lafabriquedesformats.fr/fr/audiovisual-distribution-training
The thematic block was completed by a presentation of the first in Ukraine comprehensive analytical review of Ukrainian VoDs: Dynamics, Trends, Readiness to Create Originals, prepared by Media Business Reports (MBR), and a panel discussion of the same name. Sergey Sozanovsky, co-founder of FILM.UA Group, moderated the conversation between the representatives of the largest Ukrainian VoD services: Ivan Shestakov, chief innovation officer at MEGOGO, Anastasia Ryzhenko, head of media content at Volia, Yulia Trybushna, CEO at OLL.TV and Xtra TV, Fedor Grechaninov, CSO at Media Group Ukraine, and Alexander Rezunov, CEO at SWEET.TV. The experts discussed the competition in the VoD industry in Ukraine, shared their views on the legislative side of the issue, talked about the need to consolidate efforts in the development of the VoD market in Ukraine, and expressed their expectations for the future.
Another session dedicated to the latest trends in the media sphere, prepared with the support of the European Union Delegation to Ukraine, was a panel discussion on the Innovative Technologies in the Work of EU News Broadcasters: Advantages and Risks. Participants of the discussion: Kati Bremme, deputy director at the innovation department of France Télévisions (France), Jochen Spangenberg, deputy head of research & cooperation projects/innovation manager at Deutsche Welle (Germany), Olle Zachrison, head of digital news strategy & deputy news commissioner at Swedish Radio (SR) (Sweden).
Volodymyr Yermolenko, director of analytics at Internews Ukraine and UkraineWorld.org editor-in-chief, moderated the discussion. During the conversation, the experts focused on the prospects, risks, and ethical issues of using artificial intelligence and other innovative technologies in the work of broadcasters, in particular in their fight against news fakes and misinformation.
A separate thematic block on the Ukrainian media industry at KMW was presented by three sessions from Content Ukraine on Demand series, organized by the MRM team in partnership with one of the greatest and most respected international media resources in the AV industry – C21 Media (UK). Content Ukraine on Demand became the first large-scale project that comprehensively presented the potential of Ukraine in the film and television production industry at the global level – 10 discussions with major market players are presented on C21 Media. In addition, all offline KMW members received a special bonus – free access to the Pro version of the C21 Media website for 3 months.
A separate thematic block on the Ukrainian media industry at KMW was presented by three sessions from Content Ukraine on Demand series, organized by the MRM team in partnership with one of the greatest and most respected international media resources in the AV industry – C21 Media (UK). Content Ukraine on Demand became the first large-scale project that comprehensively presented the potential of Ukraine in the film and television production industry at the global level – 10 discussions with major market players are presented on C21 Media. In addition, all offline KMW members received a special bonus – free access to the Pro version of the C21 Media website for 3 months.
At the first panel discussion from Content Ukraine on Demand series Ukrainian Broadcasters – Dmitry Troitsky, director of the broadcast, StarLightMedia, Maksym Kryvytskyi, head of the TV business, general producer, 1+1 TV Channel, Nariman Huseinov, director of the broadcast, distribution, and development, FILM.UA Broadcasting, Victoria Korogod, director, Ukraine TV Channel, outlined the most noticeable changes in the media business over the past year and shared their experience in organizing the production process during the pandemic.
Speakers of the Evolving Ukrainian Drama session: Tala Prystaetska, scriptwriter, showrunner, creative producer, StarLightMedia, Eugen Tunick, scriptwriter, showrunner, producer, StarLightMedia, Natalya Strybuk, scripted content production, Ukraine TV Channel, Olesya Lukyanenko, creative producer, FILM. UA Group talked about the special features of Ukrainian scripts and plots that win over foreign audiences, discussed current issues of Ukrainian content producers in establishing international cooperation, and the ways to further develop the national drama.
The final session, prepared in partnership with C21 Media, was a discussion on New Co-production and Distribution Models. Kateryna Vyshnevska, head of development and co-productions, FILM.UA Group, Nicola Soderlund, managing partner, Eccho Rights, Iryna Chernyak, director of sales MGU, director of acquisitions, Ukraine TV Channel, Antoine Derroja, head of development, APC Studios, talked about new models of co-production and distribution of Ukrainian content to other countries, and the changes in the attitude of foreign TV channels and services to be pitched projects from Ukraine. They talked about their practices of establishing international co-productions and the lessons from the experience of other countries on the way to exporting content.
Next, KMW focuses on socially important content. The US Agency for International Development (USAID) is a partner of the next two sessions dedicated to this topic. The theme of both discussions stems from a major project established in Ukraine in 2018 – the competition for creators of socially important content PITCH UA and the new Educational Platform PITCH UA, implemented by MRM with the support of the Transformation Communications Activity project (TCA, funded by USAID).
Special KMW guest David Levine, whose career is connected to such projects as Sharp Objects, Westworld, True Detective, Game of Thrones, and True Blood, shared his insights with the participants during The Power of Storytelling in Global Drama Hits interview. The expert spoke about changes that the drama production industry has undergone over the past year, and about the new values that it has brought. He also noted that content is a powerful tool that can change society for the better and make the world a more comfortable place to live in, especially now that humanity faces global challenges.
The keynote discussion on the role of socially important content in shaping positive change in society – Popularity, Profitability and True Effectiveness of Socially Important Content was opened by Marc Ellingstad, acting deputy director of the USAID Mission to Ukraine and Belarus (USA).
Jan Maxa, director, Content and New Media, Czech TV, Anastasia Shteinhauz, managing director of the ICTV TV Channel (Ukraine), Yaroslav Lodygin, member of the managing board, Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine – joined the discussion. A special speech was given by Jared Milrad, an award-winning entrepreneur, filmmaker, and lifelong advocate for social change who has been featured on the global stage.
The forum participants also watched a screening of the latest Trendy shows of 2021 of various types and genres by the best production and distribution companies from around the world. This session is a traditional part of the official program of the forum and is prepared specifically for the event by the Media Resources Management team. A selection of more than thirty trendy non-gaming projects was presented to KMW guests by Paul Liniewicz, communications manager at MRM.
Also at this year’s KMW 2nd Canada-Ukraine CoProduction Meetings and Conference, organized by the Ukrainian Motion Picture Association and the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine, was launched. The project started with a discussion Treat it Right: Starting a Canada-Ukraine Co-Production Treaty Project, which was attended by experts from both sides: Susan King, Telefilm Canada (Canada), Maryna Kuderchuk, Ukrainian, State Film Agency (Ukraine), Louise O'Brien-Moran, Manitoba Film & Music (Canada), Kateryna Vyshnevska, FILM.UA Group (Ukraine), Gavin Reardon, Incendo (Canada).
Sarolta Csete, Canadian Media Producers Association (Canada) moderated the discussion. In the future, the II Conference will organize several events aimed at establishing collaborations between producers from Ukraine and Canada – pitching projects from both sides will result in individual meetings for producers with potential partners. The call for applications starts this week and will last one month – from September 24 to October 24. Learn more at the website: https://ucancoproduce.com.
The final KMW 2021 session was organized in partnership with Small World International. The Sensational, Shocking Secrets of Global Format Success panel discussion, led by Tim Crescenti, head of Small World International (USA), was attended by experts from around the world: Paul Gilbert, SVP of international formats at ViacomCBS Global Distribution Group, Lisette van Diepen, acquisitions executive at Brot and Butter Entertainment (Germany), Markus Sterky, content strategist at SVT and television committee chair for the European Broadcasting Union (Sweden), Chiara Duranti, the Formatbiz founder (Italy), and Ed Waller, the editorial director at C21 Media (UK).
The experts’ positive mood and their readiness for new collaborations passed to the forum participants even though they were thousands of kilometers from our capital. According to the experts, Ukraine has great potential to become a new territory-exporter of creativity and ideas for the global format market.
In parallel with the main program of KMW, the second day of the forum began with the Film Commissions of Ukraine: Features, Development Perspectives, Effective Models of Cooperation within the Film Industry of the Country, and Benefits for the Development of the Regional Economics conference, organized with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency and in partnership with Ukrainian Motion Picture Association.
In parallel with the main program of KMW, the second day of the forum began with the Film Commissions of Ukraine: Features, Development Perspectives, Effective Models of Cooperation within the Film Industry of the Country, and Benefits for the Development of the Regional Economics conference, organized with the support of Ukrainian State Film Agency and in partnership with Ukrainian Motion Picture Association.
Speakers of the first block of the event: Maryna Kuderchuk, head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency, Victoria Yarmoshchuk, executive director of the Ukrainian Motion Picture Association, Dmytro Sukhanov, head of the Ukrainian Film Industry Association, Leonid Bytsyura, head of the Association of Film Commissions of Ukraine, Oksana Chornobryvtseva, head of the Henichesk Film Commission, and Viktor Shevchenko, head of the Association of Location Managers of Ukraine. The event was aimed at promoting the prospects of cooperation with film producers among local authorities and announcing government initiatives to support such cooperation.
Alexandra Luetkens, representative of the Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein Film Commission (Germany) joined the second block of the event. This was followed by a discussion of the key insights of the speech among all the participants. The conversation was moderated by Anna Volkova, Head of International Projects at the Ukrainian Motion Picture Association (UMPA).
The chain of medical laboratories Synevo took care of KMW participants’ safety. They provided free rapid testing on Covid-19 prior to the forum and at the event venue.
We are grateful to all the partners, speakers, and forum participants who joined us.
See you at KMW 2022!
