Istanbul, Turkey ( October 16, 2019 ) -

DCS Events, organisers of the Emerging Cinema Markets Conference at the Grand Tarabya Hotel in Istanbul (19th – 21st November) have announced further details of the dedicated Africa sessions and speakers at the conference.

Africa is the world’s second largest and second most-populous continent. It covers 6% of Earth’s total surface area and 20% of its land area. With 1.3 billion people and a median age of 19.7 years as of 9 th October 2019 (and set to double by 2050), it accounts for 16.72% of the world’s human population, but currently a nominal amount of the global box office:

Africa is the last major landmass on earth where significant growth in cinema box office sales is achievable

Africa is 3x bigger and has 4 x more population than US

However there are only 1,414 Screens on African Continent vs 40,759 US screens

By 2050 as much as 40 per cent of the population in the world could be African, and the continent already has the second largest population on earth

The Big Picture have focused on twenty of the fifty-four African countries with significant prospects for growth and a current population of 961m people

421 million of these are English speaking; 193 million French; 188 million are Arabic and 60 million speak Portuguese

There is only 1 screen per 1 million people Africa currently

Just 1 IMAX screen per 93 million people

There is potential for 1billion admissions annually

8,000 new screens, projectors and sound systems with 1 million new seats in 1,825 cinemas

To Generate US$4.7bn Box Office annually

With 70% of worldwide economic growth is forecast in Emerging Markets, ECM2019 will explore opportunities, the challenges (including technical and political) and how cinema suppliers, operators and producers can grow their businesses across the continent.

Rob Arthur, Founder and Director of DCS Events and Senior Consultant at The Big Picture says, “Cinema in Africa is the new frontier. It is critically important that the industry stakeholders work as a team to best manage the growth opportunities cross the continent.

#ECMIstanbul and the community of Emerging Market Pioneers – exhibitors, distributors and suppliers – will be in Istanbul working with each other in order to learn about the latest developments within the industry and improve management skills in order to provide the structures required to manage international class cinemas successfully”.

Rob Arthur continued, “Transparency, Integrity, Trust and Compliance are key areas which will enable the development of cinemas in Emerging Markets”.

The Emerging Market Pioneers recognise the extent of the challenges as well as the opportunities, such as government policies, piracy, technology standards, theatrical release practices, international trade practices and the lack of highly valued relationships within the industry at large – Challenges which are shared by counterparts across other Emerging Markets.

Keynote speaker, Arturo Guillén, SVP & Global Managing Director, Comscore Movies says, “Movie going keeps growing year after year globally. But this growth is even more so internationally. The Emerging Cinema Markets is a perfect opportunity to focus in places with untapped audiences and great appetite to enjoy the cinema experience, sometimes for the first time.”

Moses Babatope, Co-Founder, Group ED/MD FilmOne FilmHouse Cinemas and FilmOne Distribution and Production, Nigeria added, “As a key player in one of the most dynamic emerging cinema markets, we always look forward to sharing our insights. The Nigerian (West African) market is growing rapidly from a very small base, so we believe that there is still huge potential for expansion and opportunities for filmmakers, exhibitors and other players across the industry. The Emerging Cinema Market conference gives us a great platform to articulate this potential to interested parties.”

ECM2019 is a platform for the Emerging Cinema Markets to meet the International Stakeholders who are able to share in depth their knowledge and experience and key speakers on the Africa programme include:

Hon. (Sen) Monica Mutsvangwa, Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services of Zimbabwe

Olayemi Anyanechi, Managing Partner, Sefton Fross

Moses Babatope, Co-Founder, Group CEO, Filmhouse Cinemas

Susanna Hermida Barbato, Executive Director, NOS Audiovisuais

Alessandra Pavan Bernacchi, Sr. Manager, Theater Development, Europe and Africa, IMAX Corporation

Olivier Dock, International Film Adviser

Jean-Marie Dura, NXNW Management & Conseils

Paul Higginson, Consultant (former EVP Twentieth Century Fox EMEA)

SVP Global Managing Director, Comscore Movies

Lucy Jones Executive Director ComScore, Inc.

Sarah Lewthwaite, Managing Director & Senior Vice President, EMEA, Movio

Kene Mkparu, Group President/Chief Executive Officer, KOMWORLD

Luis Roberedo Mota, Director, NOS Lusomundo Cinemas, Moçambique and Portugal

Jared Murray-Bruce, Executive Director, Silverbird Group

Patrick von Sychowski, Editor, Celluloid Junkie

About ECM19
This event is being organised by Digital Cinema Solutions Events (DCS Events) – an independent events company to the cinema industry. The event will be held at the Grand Tarabya Hotel in Istanbul on 19 th – 21 st November 2019. Industry professionals Rob Arthur, Julie Harriss and Dan Harriss formed DCS Events in 2018. Full conference details and tickets are available at www.ecm19.com