The role of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology will continue to be vital in shaping the future of the Asian film and content sectors with experts urging industry leaders to embrace the change to stay on top of their game, a Hong Kong summit heard on March 18.

In his welcome remarks at the Asia Content Business Summit (ACBS) Working Group Meeting, Wilfred Wong Ying-wai, chairman of the Hong Kong Film Development Council, said that AI is going to "speed up development" and "unite Asia" across multiple languages as content becomes accessible to a broader audience.

Wong noted that in the past, content had to be dubbed, but now with the help of AI, subtitles have been made easily accessible on-demand.

"Second, we have to look at how to distribute. The movie business is a streaming platform. (We) have to be one step ahead. Otherwise, we are just following trends," said Wong, as he also encouraged current industry leaders to share their knowledge and "pass the sword to the next generation".

Fred Wang Cheung-yue, chairman of Hong Kong-based pan-Asia movie services group Salon Film, encouraged attendees to "take new ideas" on the use of technology and AI in movie production from the ACBS event, where speakers from Japan, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines also gave presentations on trends and initiatives in their respective countries.

Dato Kamil Othman, chairman of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia, said his organization had prioritized the training of film producers, with special attention paid to understanding legal issues such as copyright.

Malaysia has no problems with sending films overseas and a new generation of successful movie professionals are emerging, he said. The main challenges they encounter are internal industry mechanisms, using AI and difficulties working on co-productions, he added.

"Talent is already there. We just need a good proposition to move forward," said Kamil, as he also urged the audience to "not be afraid of AI" as it "is not a trend, but a tool and humans are still part of it".

In Japan's content industry, digitalization had also changed the content industry completely, according to Norihiko Saeki, director of the culture and creation industries division under Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI).

He said Japanese overseas content sales are set to achieve a market size of 20 trillion yen ($6.7 billion) by 2033, under the "New Cool Japan Strategy" adopted in 2024. METI set up 100 action plans this year in consultation with Japanese content industry leaders in order to hit that target, he added.

He also said they have a "Shooting with Japan Program" agreement with China and Italy, which gives an incentive grant of 1 billion yen.

Novie Riyadi, chief operating officer at Indonesian animation and post-production company Mocca Studio said Indonesia's game industry has grown rapidly, driven by government support that helped firms there become "early adopters of AI".

He said there were 156 animation companies in Indonesia in 2020 and expects the number to have tripled by now. Among these companies' successes has been the animated children's show Baby Zu, he added, which was created to help parents with children who were slow learning to speak.

In the Philippines, Liza Dino-Seguerra, executive director of the Quezon City Film Commission, said over 120 Filipino films were produced and released in 2023 -- a notable rebound following the COVID-19 pandemic.  

"Streaming has become the dominant force shaping how content is produced, distributed and consumed," said Dino-Seguerra, who is also former chairperson of the Film Development Council of the Philippines.

She said international collaborations are also on the rise because of producers' constant participation in international events and markets, allowing Filipino stories to reach a global audience. Her organization is looking to partner with companies in the Middle East and North Africa region, and Latin America, she added.

Sirisak Koshpasharin, vice chairman of Thailand's National Federation of Motion Pictures and Contents Associations, said content streaming in Thailand is also a growing market.

He put the spotlight on "movie tourism" as many films have been shot in Thailand, bringing with them tourists. Japan topped the list of countries where film producers came from to shoot in Thailand, he said, followed by India, the United States, the Republic of Korea and China. Upgraded government film incentives introduced in December last year, increasing a cash rebate on movie production from 20 percent to 30 percent, had also encouraged the industry, he added.

"All the big players in the market come to Thailand, but the best spender is Hong Kong," said Koshpasharin. Last year alone, 490 projects shot in Thailand, generating 6.5 billion Baht ($194 million). Two of the most notable movies filmed there include Jurassic World 4, and Alien: Earth.

Fred Chong, group CEO of WebTVAsia and award-winning Malaysian musician, said AI "has a face now", and is capable of taking on real celebrities. The digital human market, he said, is expected to reach $440 billion by 2031.

When asked what steps his company has taken to fight scams, Chong said on the sidelines of the ACBS summit that content owners need to fight for their own content.

"If you are not the content owner, you cannot stop illegal uploads. So, it's the same thing with AI. We talk about deepfake, we talk about illegal use of the face of a famous person. The original owner of the face has to copyright their intellectual property," said Chong.

Later on Tuesday a signing ceremony was held for the joint launch of Zheng He's Voyages to the West by parties from Malaysia, China including Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia. Zheng, a Chinese explorer and admiral dated hundreds of years ago, is credited for leading the largest fleet in the world then on seven voyages of exploration from Asia to Africa.

Saudi World of Sounds and Visions Company President Abdullah Al Muheisen, also a Saudi pioneering filmmaker and director, inked a deal with Fred Wang of Salon Films.