India’s WAVES Bazaar Heads To MIPCOM; Turkey’s Inter Medya Making Micro-Drama; London Korean Film Festival Sets Lineup — Global Briefs

EXCLUSIVE: Making WAVES At MIPCOM

India’s WAVES Bazaar is setting up stall at MIPCOM. The online platform and India-based summit was established to link-up buyers and seller from across the entertainment business, including film, TV and videogames. It will be a first-time exhibitor at MIPCOM, the biggest international TV market of the year. A delegation from India’s Consulate General in Marseille will be in Cannes to support the WAVES initiative. Niraj Kumar, Director of TV Broadcasting at the Indian Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and Vikram Singh Malik, Director of WAVES OTT, will also be in Cannes. The first WAVES summit took place this May and organizers have been on the road since promoting the event and the platform at industry gatherings including the Toronto and Busan Film Festivals, and the recently-concluded Iberseries confab in Madrid. Kumar said: “We are extremely pleased to be attending MIPCOM to launch WAVES Bazaar as the bridge between India’s media and entertainment sector and global markets, particularly in Europe. Our aim is to show India’s creative diversity across television, films, animation, gaming, music and immersive media.” 

London Korean Film Festival Sets Anniversary Line-Up

Kim Jong-kwan’s Frosted Window will be the Gala world premiere at the twentieth edition of the London Korean Film Festival in November. Woo Min-ho’s Harbin will be the Festival closer, and Kang Hyoung-chul’s superhero comedy Hi-Five will have a special screening. The event runs November 5 through 18 and takes place at the BFI Southbank, Ciné Lumière and ICA London venues. The Festival is launching a LKFF Audience Award this year, giving festival-goers the chance to vote for their favorite film. Seunghye Sun, Director, Korean Cultural Centre UK said: “As we celebrate the London Korean Film Festival, I am reminded of a phrase that guides my reflections on Korean aesthetics: all that is called is love. At its heart, cinema embodies this truth by offering us not only stories but a deeper understanding of the wide spectrum of the human condition. From tender lyricism to profound historical narratives, Korean film reveals how love, in its many forms, binds us to one another and to the world we share.”

Inter Medya Moves Into Micro-Drama

Inter Medya is joining the micro-drama party. The Turkish producer and distributor said it is now in production on its first – and as yet unnamed – vertical drama series. It added that it will work up its own titles as well as distribute micro-dramas produced by third parties. Typically, micro-dramas have played on dedicated apps before moving to other online platforms in later windows. The move into making dramas in the micro format figures for Inter Medya because a lot of the series in the micro-drama world are telenovela-esque, with dramatic and soapy arcs and a large number of episodes, and Inter Medya is well-versed in the traditional long form of the telenovela. The Turkish company said it “aims to build a diverse slate of premium vertical dramas and position Inter Medya as a key global partner for platforms seeking high-quality, mobile-first content.”