Singapore Media Festival puts creators next to TV buyers in December
Singapore will put online creators on the same bill as television executives this December.
The Singapore Media Festival, hosted by Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), will run Dec. 1-5 and launch a new Asia Creator Summit alongside its established television market, Variety reported.
The two strands will anchor the festival. The Asia TV Forum & Market, a market where shows and formats are bought and sold, returns. The Creator Summit joins it. Together they form the 2026 festival, themed "The Heart of the World's Stories." The 2026 outing is the festival's 13th edition, according to IMDA.
The Creator Summit runs Dec. 4-5 at Marina Bay Sands. Its banner is "Create. Monetize. Scale." The programme lists more than 20 sessions, including keynotes, panels and master classes. It was curated by Generation Experience (GenXP) with Monica Khan, founder and CEO of Creator Revolution.
Money is attached. Bloomr.SG's "Creator Lab" will award up to SGD100,000 ($78,000) for creator-focused ideas, with calls for proposals opening in early November. Mandarin Oriental, Singapore will run a Creator Pitch Challenge tied to its 40th anniversary as part of the summit.
The other strand is familiar ground. The Asia TV Forum & Market, organised by RX Global, returns to Marina Bay Sands on Dec. 1-4 for its 27th edition. Organisers expect more than 5,000 participants from 60 countries and regions. Its opening-day Leaders' Dialogue is themed "The Attention Economy."
Artificial intelligence gets its own space. ATF will add a strand titled "The AI Era | Entertainment Reimagined," pairing a dedicated programme with a zone focused on AI, content creation, intellectual property rights and regulation. ATF will also host the final round of AI Hackathon 2026, backed by Yoywow Space and Visify.
Last year's festival drew more than 55,000 industry leaders, creator-preneurs and fans over 12 days, according to IMDA.
What makes this stand out is the booking. Creators who usually count views and brand deals will work the same venue as buyers who count episodes and broadcast slots. For viewers at home, that mix decides what gets pitched, funded and finished.
