BICM2026 pulled more than 600 participants and 1,200 one-on-one meetings to Bangkok, and signed regional pacts with markets in the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan and Vietnam.
The Bangkok International Content Market wrapped its first edition this month having generated an estimated THB2.2 billion ($65.5 million) in business value over three days of scheduled deal-making and co-production discussions.
BICM2026 ran at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, organized by the Creative Economy Agency under the wider Thailand Content Market 2026 banner. More than 600 participants attended, including content companies, production studios, distributors and streaming platforms from Thailand and abroad, across sessions on film, television series and production services.
Where the money moved
The market’s central business matching program produced upwards of 1,200 one-on-one meetings between content owners and buyers. The resulting deals covered licensing, adaptation-rights acquisitions and international co-production agreements.
BICM2026 also locked in formal ties with QCinema International Film Festival in the Philippines, JAFF Market in Indonesia, Taiwan Creative Content Fest and the Danang Asian Film Festival in Vietnam. CEA presented those partnerships as part of a strategy to make Thailand the entry point to an ASEAN audience of more than 700 million people.
Pitching winners
A pitching competition backed by White Light Studio, Kantana Sound Studio, Gear Head and QCinema drew more than 55 production-ready projects.
The $10,000 Asian Project Pitching prize went to Taiwan’s “Honey Milk,” a feature directed by Chien Yu Lin and produced by Man Yin Tseng. Two Thai projects picked up $5,000 grants: Woottidanai Intarakaset’s “The Mining,” written by Chanikarn Opaspimoltum, took the Thai Project Pitching award, while “The Kindness of Miss Ari,” produced by Pinyada Poommek and written by Chalermpong Udomsilp, won the Thai Story Pitching prize.
Forums and workshops reported strong attendance, with the best-attended sessions covering regional content formats, foreign production incentives and government support for domestic Thai filmmaking.
What participants and organizers said
Nalina Chayasombat, executive producer at Jungka Studio, which took part in the business matching program, said the market worked as a bridge to creators and potential partners the company could realistically collaborate with. Jungka isn’t just hunting for projects, she added, but for new working methods and creative teams capable of growing and reaching wider audiences. She described the event as opening up collaboration prospects and space to develop business models suited to future demand.
CEA executive director Chakrit Pichyangkul argued the first edition proved a dedicated marketplace was the piece Thailand’s content ecosystem had been missing. Putting buyers, investors and creators on one platform in Thailand and seeing actual agreements come out of it, he said, demonstrates the commercial potential of Thai content. His stated aim is to build BICM into an annual fixture that helps Thai creators shift from contract production to owning high-value intellectual property, with the longer objective of making Thailand Asia’s content hub.
CEA has confirmed a second edition, building on the partnerships and deal flow established this year.