Kingdom’s film industry expands presence at Cannes festival
The 77th Cannes Film Festival had plenty of opportunities to offer and business deals to seal, for the government, local filmmakers and production companies alike.
While the government expects more from this year’s festival than the 3.8 billion baht grossed from last year’s edition, the companies joining the Thai booth showcasing local films and promoting tourists at the festival, from May 14 to 25, found a raft of new business opportunities.
What made this year’s festival even more special to the Ministry of Culture was that it served as a global stage for promoting Thailand’s soft power featured in the Thai films showcased at the festival, said Yupha Taweewattanakitborvon, permanent secretary for culture.
“Content created in Thailand has now made its way to the international market and received a warm welcome,” she said, citing impressive feedback given to Thai films shown at Cannes.
As last year’s festival brought to Thailand’s film industry well over 3.8 million baht, this year’s edition is expected to bring no less than that, she said, adding the film industry is one of the most productive industries in terms of income generation and job creation.
That 3.8 billion baht figure was the total amount of international investments received in Thailand’s film industry connected to the 2023 film festival, said Arrun Boonchai, permanent secretary for tourism and sports.
Twelve film-making companies and one film association joined the government at Cannes this year, he said.
They were M Studio, Sahamongkol Film International, BrandThink, Neramitnung Film, GDH559, YGGDRAZIL Group, Night Edge Pictures, Benetone Films, Hollywood (Thailand), Kantana Motion Pictures, Halo Productions, Right Beyond and Thai Association of Boys Love Content.
As for the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, it presents ideal filming locations to filmmakers at the festival every year, attracting them to visit Thailand, said Mr Arrun.
As a result of last year’s Cannes, the ministry attracted more than 20 companies which spent more than 3 billion baht shooting films in Thailand.
Year after year, the trade value of Thai film screening rights to international buyers has been on the rise, he said.
The trade value rose from 4.6 billion baht in 2022 to 6.7 billion baht last year, he said, adding the total trade value of Thai film screening rights could grow by 10% to around 7.5 billion baht this year.
For BrandThink, an advertising agency which has expanded its business to cover films in the past few years, this was the second year the company had an opportunity to showcase its work at Cannes, said Thammaporn Dharamadhat, director of IP development and sales marketing of BrandThink.
Meeting people in the industry from all over the world visiting the festival has given BrandThink a clearer picture of its position in the global film industry, in addition to the opportunity to meet potential buyers of its works, she said.
BrandThink this year showcased two films and is about to start working on five more after obtaining fresh marketing ideas and making connections with partners at the festival. “The Thai film industry has much more room for development and growth,” she said.
Having appeared at Cannes 10 times already, Right Beyond has moved from buying the right to screen international films in Thailand to selling works produced in Thailand, said Aichitha Prichvongwaikull, the company’s deputy managing director.
“This time our films have been sold to buyers from Russia and Latin America, which are both new markets for Thai films,” she said. “Cannes is the world’s largest marketplace where high-quality clients with high buying power shop.”
Beginning with Asia, the company has since expanded its target to more markets including Spain and Germany, she said. Most recently, it has begun talks with some clients from Pakistan.
Source – Bangkok News
