The Tokyo International Film Festival’s TIFFCOM market has sold out its exhibition space early this year, according to managing director Ikeda Kaori, in a fresh sign of the growing global appetite for Japanese content. More Japanese producers are now using the Tokyo market to find partners while their projects are still in development.
TIFFCOM (Credits: Variety)
Last year’s edition drew more than 4,600 industry professionals from 46 countries and regions, with attendance rising 13%. Ikeda credits global interest in Japanese content for part of that growth, as buyers and producers increasingly look to Japan for stories that can travel internationally.
Japanese Producers Use TIFFCOM to Find Partners Early
The shift toward earlier deal-making is a key part of the market’s growth. Rather than arriving with finished films, more Japanese producers are bringing projects to TIFFCOM while they are still in development, using the market to line up co-production partners, financing, and distribution before cameras roll.
That approach reflects a broader change in how Japanese content reaches the world. With streaming platforms and international buyers hungry for Japanese film and television, the Tokyo market has become a place where deals are seeded early, not just closed at the end.
TIFFCOM Growth Reflects Global Demand for Japanese Content
The sellout of exhibition space underlines how crowded the market has become. As attendance climbs and more countries are represented, TIFFCOM’s role as Asia’s key content marketplace continues to grow, and Japanese producers are at the centre of that expansion.
For the Japanese industry, the message is clear: the world is coming to Tokyo, and producers who bring their projects early are best placed to take advantage of it.
Also Read: Tokyo Vice Producer and Netflix Executive Urge Japan to Reform Its Production Incentive and Tokyo Jury President Rolf de Heer on FIAPF’s New A-List
Source: Variety — read the full story there.
