Russia’s capital will host the Key Buyers Event from October 25 to 27. Key film buyers, representatives of leading distributors, international TV channels, media companies and VOD platforms will come to Moscow to get acquainted with new Russian films, series and animations. The event is organized by Expocontent and supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Over 40 companies from 25 countries of Europe, Asia, Latin America and the USA have confirmed their participation in the Key Buyers Event. These are leading content distributors covering over 60 countries worldwide.

Among the delegates are Hulu, Globo TV, APC Kids, Wild Bunch, Canal+, Beta Film, Koch Media, BF Distribution, Mediaset Italy, Mediaset Spain, GO-N International, Tencent and others. The list of invitees includes companies that are interested in the Russian market and purchase Russian content.

The agenda is packed with exclusive presentations and screenings, world premieres of films, series and animations, business negotiations, as well as meetings with key players of the Russian market.

The main events are to be held in The Ritz-Carlton Hotel and Moscow Cinema.

Vladimir Medinsky, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation said: “The export potential of Russian film industry has grown, the quality of content has increased. The projects that are interesting for international audience are a steady trend: Russia is in the Top 10 world exporters of scripted formats (films and series). The Key Buyers Event gives an opportunity to build a dialogue with foreign partners on a new level and show that we are open for collaboration. We have developed a large-scale program to support film industry. In particular, a system of regional rebates is already launched. We expect the rebate system to work on a federal scale as early as this year. Our plans are to make this forum an annual event and we are sure it will be a large effective platform for professionals from all over the world.”

Evgeniya Markova, Director for Industry Relations, Expocontent, said: “The idea of the forum arose after we analyzed the industry’s most urgent demands. After meetings with key market players, it became clear that one of the most pressing issues is the absence of the regular home event where all industry representatives can deal with international buyers and producers. The Ministry of Culture expressed the understanding of the industry’s needs and supported the idea. They know that it is necessary to develop internationally in order to at least catch up with world’s leading players, and in the future – to be among the leaders. This is also important both for building up the industry’s commercial potential and for creating a decent image of the country on the world stage.”

The General Partner of the Key Buyers Event is Central Partnership (a part of Gazprom-Media Holding), the largest distributor of TV and movie rights in Russia and a leader in the field of motion picture production. The company currently holds rights to over 700 pictures. It sold the rights to Russian films to more than 154 countries.

Vadim Vereshchagin, CEO, Central Partnership,” We have always supported the idea of such an industrial platform in Russia, and we are glad that the Ministry of Culture and Expocontent Company with the direct participation of all key market player, have implemented this initiative. Central Partnership effectively cooperates with almost all foreign delegates of this forum, and we are pleased to become an official partner of the Key Buyers Event. We believe that the new communication format will draw additional attention to our content, and in the future, the pool of foreign manufacturers and buyers participating in the forum will expand. Such an effective tool for promoting Russian content abroad will undoubtedly give a new impulse for improving its quality.”

Moscow Export Center is a special Partner of the evening program and Welcome Gala dinner.

Kirill Ilichev, CEO, Moscow Export Center:” The Key Buyers Event is a unique opportunity to introduce a Russian capital to international content distributors. Some companies like Chinese Tencent not only purchase content but also produce it and it is important for us to show Moscow as a great location for filming. At the forum, we will also make a presentation of Moscow content producers and their production facilities. This is important for the development of potential coproduction with foreign partners.”

Among the special partners of the Key Buyers Event 2019 are also the following Russian companies: CTB Film Company, Art Pictures, Wizart, Planeta Inform, Riki Group, All Media, Yellow, Black &White, Star Media, Mars Media, Metrafilms.