Focus is growing in terms of the numbers and the satisfaction expressed by the participants and is looking towards Italy that ranks third as a place of interest to members of the trade in terms of services and locations for setting productions.
This is attested by a survey carried out by Fusion Insight and Strategy, an independent company specialized in market research according to which the international London meeting dedicated to locations is the most highly rated trade show in Europe for the simplicity and the ease of making purchases in the stands, as well as a market leader in the United Kingdom.

Jean-Frédéric Garcia, the director of the trade show, is very proud of this.
In fact in the past year alone the show has witnessed a 40% increase in participants, reaching a total of 1604: “we are really happy with the progress the show has made in these 3 years! It is only 3 years old and people are seeing us as market leaders because there is no other show like us in Europe: it is a purely networking place of high value”.
Following the success of the third edition, work has already started on preparing the fourth one to be held on 4th and 5th December at the Business Design Centre in Islington, London.

And while it is still too early to go into the details of the program, Jean-Frédéric Garcia already has some clear ideas also thanks to the valuable suggestions revealed by the participants in the survey:
“People ask for more talks, more networking, therefore we will continue with the conferences and I would like to have a more international advisory board.”

Despite the high number of countries represented (61), including lots of new entries (Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Hawaii, Moscow Film Commission, all four Scandinavian countries), and a strengthened Spanish and French presence, the professionals at Focus (especially the producers, 85% British and 15% international) want to see greater variety in the offering of international locations.
And Italy is first in line.
Garcia continues: “the participants were very specific about the countries, in some cases even the regions and people they would like to meet. 15% of visitors (British producers especially) said they want to see Italy represented at Focus, they want to know more about Italy, they want to meet Italian services and locations to come shoot in Italy. Italy was the third most requested country along with some US states, South Africa and China. And London, naturally: even though we are right there you can never get enough of it!”

Another concept that matters a lot to Focus is sustainability: “we want the show to be as green as possible and for it to set an example, so we will be boosting the “green zone”, the space reserved for companies that are committed in various ways to reducing the polluting impact of audiovisual productions which was inaugurated last year with the support of BAFTA’s AdGreen and Albert (the carbon calculator).
The industry is changing and we think it is important to showcase this evolution towards a greater environmental awareness”.
An important feature for everyone involved in locations: “Historically, shooting on location has always been very polluting, but we can compensate this with different solutions, in the materials, in the softwares. We have to do our best to keep the locations as clean and beautiful as possible.”

Focus’ program has been developed with the consultancy of the major British audiovisual industry companies such as the British Film Institute, the British Film Commission, Pact, the Advertising Producers Association, the Production Managers Association, Creative Skillset, Animation UK, Games London and Women in Film and TV.