THE 18th Shanghai Television Festival will be held from June 11 to 15, 2012. With 1.2 billion Chinese TV viewers eager to witness the winners of the prestigious Magnolia Awards and two markets running side by side, the festival is not only an exciting occasion for Chinese TV fans but also an unrivaled networking opportunity for television professionals, investors, and industry executives who want a share in China’s huge TV market.

Poster of The 18th Shanghai TV Festival by Chenyuchen Design/ source: STVF 2012

Four categories will be presented at STVF 2012. They are TV Series, Made-for-television Films, Documentaries, and Animation. Winners in the TV Series unit will be based on the number of votes each nominee receives on Youku.com. Voting will be open until 12 pm on June 14, 2012.

Watch a compilation video of the Best TV Series nominees here.

Joined by renowned artists and experts from both China and abroad, the jury of STVF 2012 will decide on the winners in the remaining three categories. Head of International Co-productions at LIC China Steven Seidenberg and Chinese-Canadian Director Lixin Fan (Last Train Home, 2009) are both jury members in the Documentary section, whereas China’s best-known female director Shaohong Li sits as the jury president in the Made-for-television Film section.

Watch the nominees for Best Animation, Best Documentary, and Best Made-for-television Film.

As a tradition, STVF will hold the International Film & TV Market and the International New Media and Broadcasting Equipment Market as two separate markets. Both will take place from June 12 to 14, 2012 at Shanghai Exhibition Center. Last year, 130 exhibitors signed up for the markets. Projects were broached, and collaborations ensued.

Another highlight of STVF 2012 will be the Asian Animation Project Pitch & Catch (APPC). Cash awards ranging from RMB2, 000 to RMB50, 000 will be given out to excellent Asian animation projects that are still in the development stage.

A screenplay bidding session will also be held by Singapore Media Academy as a special event during Magnolia Forum, which will see industrial heavyweights discuss new trends and developments and other hot topics in today’s TV world. They range from the changing landscape in today’s TV broadcasting to challenges faced by cross-strait collaborations, and to open discussions of the future of China’s animation industry.

Last but not least, STVF 2012 is preceded by one of its own special components, the 5th Shanghai Student Television Festival, which ran from May 23 to 25, 2012 at the Shanghai Institute of Visual Art. Its goal was to encourage creative storytelling using film, video, and animation among contemporary Chinese college students.