The Asian Film Market has announced participants and events for its upcoming sophomore edition - including the launch of Co-production PRO, a new international financing event.

So far 76 sales companies have signed up for booths, with buyers and sellers including Celluloid Dreams, The Weinstein Company, CJ Entertainment, Showbox, Lotte, Gaga Communications, Huayi Brothers, Edko Films, the British Film Institute, Arri, Film New Zealand, NHK, Gaumont and MK2.

Under the umbrella of the Asian Film Market, PPP will celebrate its 10th anniversary this year with its previously announced line-up including projects from Bahman Ghobadi, Fruit Chan and Wang Xiaoshuai.

Co-production PRO is to differentiate itself from the PPP projects market, which focuses mainly on arthouse and independent films, by welcoming big-budget and commercial films as well.

Japan 's Avex Group Holdings, Korea 's SM Entertainment and CJ Entertainment, China 's J.A. Media and Endgame Entertainment from the US will hold pitching and presentation sessions.

The Co-prod PRO event will also include conferences on copyrights and ancillary rights issues in China, and case studies of technical cooperation and production services in Asia.

Also as part of the Asian Film Market, BIFCOM will hold its locations and production services convention, with a focus on 3D cinema for the internet and games as well as theatrical.

The second Star Summit Asia, showcasing talent from around the region with conferences and events, will announce its stars in mid-September. Major Asian talent management companies such as Sidus HQ, Avex and HoriPro will be participating.

Advisors and consultants to the Asian Film Market include Jerome Paillard, executive director of the Cannes Market; Shan Dongbing, vice president of Polybona Films in China; Fortissimo Films' Wouter Barendrecht, and Park Sunghea, who holds two top executive positions at iHQ and is a board member of the Korea Entertainment Management Association.

The Asian Film Market will run Oct 8-11 during the 12th Pusan International Film Festival. Main venues will be at the Grand Hotel on Haeundae beach and the Primus cinema for market screenings.

Addressing last year's issue of elevator back-ups, the Grand Hotel is to provide two direct-stop elevators that operate solely between the lobby and the main sales office floors.

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