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EDITORIAL/PUBLISHER

Keen Whye Lee Publisher

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Dear Reader,

Thank you for picking up the latest issue of Television Asia Plus!

Things are truly ramping up in the world of television. Borders are blurring as streaming services continue to produce big budget shows across all over the world. It’s truly an exciting time and television networks are pushing the standards and budgets of what it means to producer and air a show on primetime.

On this issue’s cover and cover story is GMA 7’s upcoming series, Voltes V: Legacy from the Philippines. Which is based on a popular anime series from Japan. We get insight from GMA First Vice President and Head of Post Production, Paul Ticzon, regarding the series’ special effects, sound editing, and more. The show is a big bet for the Philippine network, effectively being one of the most expensive shows to be produced in the country. Will the show be a success, and could it pave the way for more big budget series in the country?

For our first feature story, we get a glimpse between series production in the Philippines and Korea through the eyes of veteran Filipino actor Nico Antonio. Just how similar are television productions or could they be farther apart that we think?

Our final feature story recalls the recent panel organized by Studio 76, “More Than Just Stories.” The panel was held in Singapore with professionals from the global film and television industry for a timely, energetic, and pointed discussion on the state of the global content creation and production industry today.

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iQIYI’s original drama Why Try To Change Me Now selected for Berlinale Series

Banijay Rights takes Marie Antoinette worldwide BTS star j-hope to debut highly anticipated documentary j-hope IN THE BOX on Disney+

Viewers across the world are invited to watch in wonder as j-hope of BTS brings it all and does it all in j-hope IN THE BOX, a behind the scenes documentary special showcasing the creation of his first solo album, on Disney+.

iQIYI has announced that original Chinese series Why Try To Change Me Now has been selected for the Berlinale Series section of the 73rd Berlin International Film Festival, making it the first Chinese language drama series to be chosen for this section. As a selected series, it will also be competing for the inaugural Berlinale Series Award. Why Try To Change Me Now features a team of top-notch creators of modern Chinese cinema, including Yinan Diao as Executive Producer, Dalei Zhang as the Director and Writer, with the story adopted from Xuetao Shuang’s novel Moses On the Plain. Headlined by Zijian Dong, the series stars a stellar cast such as Qing Hai, Tian Qiu, Baoshi Dong and more.

Yinan Diao had previously clinched the prestigious Golden Bear award for the Best Picture at 2014 Berlinale with his previous directorial work Black Coal, Thin Ice. Writer-Director Dalei Zhang’s debut film The Summer Is Gone was the Best Feature Film winner at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards

Wang Xiaohui, Chief Content Officer at iQIYI, shared: “The show has rewritten history for our industry bagging nomination as the first Chinese language drama series from the world’s leading film festival and awards. As one of our key content directions, we strive to revamp the storytelling to shed light on the lives of the small fry against the macro environment. This is a recognition given to modern Chinese drama by the international community, and a testament to iQIYI’s continued commitment to creativity and innovation. I hope that more outstanding works from Chinese entertainment can continue to be seen by the world.”

Starring j-hope of the 21st century pop icons BTS, j-hope IN THE BOX, a documentary special produced by HYBE, follows the international music sensation every step of the way as he works to release his first-ever solo album – Jack In The Box. Over the course of the documentary, viewers will be given a never-before-seen look at the creative challenges faced during the album’s preparation process, as well as front row seats to j-hope’s 2022 Lollapalooza performance and the album’s listening party.

Disney+ viewers can also enjoy BTS: PERMISSION TO DANCE ON STAGE

– LA, an exclusive cinematic 4K concert film featuring BTS’ live performance at Los Angeles’ Sofi Stadium in November 2021; and IN THE SOOP : Friendcation – an original travel reality show with a star-studded cast including V of BTS, Itaewon Class’ Park Seojun, Parasite star Choi Wooshik, Park Hyungsik (Soundtrack #1), and Peakboy as the five friends venture off on a surprise trip and enjoy a variety of fun leisure activities together.

Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of content powerhouse Banijay, announced further landmark sales of historical drama Marie Antoinette

Produced by Banijay Studios France, CAPA Drama and Les Gens, this CANAL+ Creation Originale eightpart series – created and written by Deborah Davis (The Favourite) –has been acquired by Antenna Plus (Ant1+) in Greece, Ceska Televize in the Czech Republic, DIRECTV in Latin America and Canada’s national public broadcaster CBC/RadioCanada for CBC Gem (English) and ICI Télé and ICI Tou.tv (French). Meanwhile, RTÉ in Ireland, Sky Italia, Radio & Television Slovakia – RTVS and Viaplay across all Nordic and Baltic countries and the Netherlands, have all acquired the drama. These agreements follow previous sales of Marie Antoinette to BBC First in Australia, PBS Distribution in the US, and BBC Two and iPlayer in the UK, which reported consolidated viewing figures of 2.1 million for its premiere last month

Marie Antoinette tells the story of the incredibly modern and avantgarde young queen, played by Emilia Schüle, with Louis Cunningham as the Dauphin of France, Louis XVI. The series is produced by Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan for CAPA Drama, Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, and Christophe Toulemonde for Les Gens. Filming took place in many prestigious historical places including the Châteaux of Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Lésigny, Champs, Voisins, and in the emblematic studios of Bry-sur-Marne.

Mediacorp’s Indian drama series Naam returns for a second season

Leading French KIDCOS APC Kids and TeamTO partner on action-comedy series

Jade Armor

Two French powerhouses, APC Kids, part of leading co-production and distribution group APC Studios, and leading content creator TeamTO, have joined forces on the new actionadventure comedy series Jade Armor. The partnership will see APC Kids distribute the series worldwide, excluding the Americas and China.

Media Ranch announces two new Korean format deals marks first collaboration

Mediacorp’s enthralling Indian drama series Naam, produced by 360 Entertainment Productions, returns with Naam 2 and is now available on meWATCH and Mediacorp Drama YouTube channel. Starring Stephen Zechariah, Vikneswary Se, Alawdin Ali, and Abbdul Kather, the second season will follow the story of band members from One Music one year after their reunion with more twists and turns than its first season. The ten-episode series will unravel the intriguing story of murder, mystery and thriller.

In this season, One Music will return to Singapore after their successful world tours and record-breaking singles and albums. Tragedy befalls when the band faces a huge blow. This eventually forces One Music to uncover the dark truths amongst their bandmates and spark off a series of astonishing revelations.

Fans of the series can look forward to the reprisal of their favourite characters Shiva, Sethu, Malar and Arjun, played by T Suriavelan, Puravalan Narayanasamy, Dhivyah Raveen and Devarajan Varadarajan respectively. But that’s not all! This season will also see new faces, such as singer-songwriter Shabir Tabare Alam as Vettaiyan, as well as homegrown talents Shruthi Nair, Mohammad Baharudin, Jabu Deen Faruk, and Prakash Arasu as Azhagi, Chandru, Raana and Vishal respectively.

Produced by TeamTO with France Télévisions, the 26 x 26’ stars a strong, kung-fun-loving female central character aimed at a 6 to 10 year old audience. The series has also been picked up by Warner Bros. Discovery for HBO Max and Cartoon Network (EMEA), France Télévisions (France), Super RTL (Germany), ABC (Australia) and CBC (Canada). Jade Armor debuted on France Télévisions’ Okoo last September and Super RTL’s toggo. de in November with excellent ratings out of the gate. The legendary Jade Armor is a mythical superhero, and now it is Lan Jun’s turn to be Jade Armor.

Jade Armor’s talented all-female creative team is led by multi-awardwinning executive producer Corinne Kouper, supported by showrunner and co-creator, Chloé Miller; head writer, MJ Offen; French story editor, Ghyslaine Pujol, and co-developer, Mary Bredin. Based on a concept by M Pongo Kuo, Jade Armor is entirely produced in TeamTO’s state of the art animation studios in France.

Media Ranch’s President & Founder Sophie Ferron announced that Media Ranch now represents Wonwoo Park’s shingle DiTurn on two new formats: Round Table, a proven singing game-show format created by Park that was a hit in Korea on KBS 2; and, Love Maze, is cocreated by Park and Something Special CEO Jin Woo Hwang, who introduced the parties. This is the first deal between Media Ranch and DiTurn, with the goal to build a collection of IP by leading format creator Park. Park is the original creator of global mega hit The Masked Singer and Lotto Singer.

Media Ranch and Something Special continue their successful collaboration, which has already seen four other formats go to market over the last two years. Hwang, former head of Formats at CJE&M and current Chairman of the KFA (Korean Format Association – a division of KOCCA), produced hit shows Better Late Than Never aka Grandpas Over Flowers which enjoyed 2 successful seasons on NBC in the U.S.

Love Maze is a unique matchmaking game show where – for the first time in format history – a single elaborate maze stands in the way of two people falling in love. Round Table is a hilarious proven game show where celebrity contestants without any singing skills must sing to win!

Head of Content and Storytelling at Media Ranch, Philip Kalin-Hajdu, will lead development on both formats

Prime Video revives fan-favourite murder mystery drama Nuit Blanche for season two

Plus in Canada. Season One will also be available on Prime Video

Filled with even more paranoia and intrigue, Season Two continues to follow the Hébert family in two time frames, one in the present as they investigate the murder of the family’s matriarch, plus the family’s past, this time set in the 1980s. Leading the cast is esteemed actress, host, singer, France Castel, who reprises her role as LouLou Hébert. Further details on casting to be announced at a later date.

Global video streaming service Prime Video announces the return of the fanfavourite scripted drama and murder mystery, Nuit Blanche (8×60). A first in Canada, Prime Video partners with Séries Plus, a specialty channel owned by Canadian media company

Corus Entertainment, to revive the popular drama. The second season begins production this summer with Quebec’s Pixcom. At launch, Season Two of Nuit Blanche will be exclusively available on Prime Video and later on television with Séries

Produced by Pixcom in association with Amazon Studios and Séries Plus, the series is executive produced by Nicola Merola, Charles Lafortune, and Sylvie Desrochers and produced by Nathalie Cecyre. The creator and writer for the show is Julie Hivon (Alertes)

Bomanbridge Media sends award-winning kids-live action Dino Dana to Japanese broadcaster NHK Japan

NHK Japan has picked up Canadian live-action series Dino Dana, produced by Sinking Ship Entertainment (Odd Squad, Endlings) for Amazon Prime and

TVO Kids. This sale brings season one of the hybrid CGI franchise to Japanese television for the first time. Dino Dana premiered on NHK E (E-Tele) last 13 February 2023.

Bomanbridge has previously licensed the successful series to other key Asian platforms including Korea’s Coupang, Malaysia’s Astro, Thailand’s Thai Public Broadcasting, Philippines’s GMA, and more recently to Chinese streamer Youku. A hit show with kids and families worldwide, Dino Dana follows the adventures of a young palaeontologist as she discovers the wonders of dinosaurs. With its blend of live-action and animation, “Dino Dana” has captured the imaginations of audiences around the globe and has become one of the most sought-after children’s programs in international markets. The series has won three Daytime Emmy Awards, including Outstanding Performer in a Children’s, Family Viewing or Special Class Program.

Winsing Animation unveiled a slate of new animations at HKFilmart

operating the in-person trade event in three years for the first time, the quest for the market’s recovery is accelerating. Winsing seizes the chance to grow and expand in animation production during the hard times. Accordingly, in this four-day film and TV rights market, Winsing prepared a content-rich lineup, with more than ten titles of new animated series and films to release. Taking the lead is the latest animated feature film of the GG Bond Racing franchise, Racing 72H, a highly anticipated family film set to premiere in theatre this year.

progress animation titles that target different age groups at HKFILMART, particularly exquisite youth-oriented 3D-animated series regarding genres of fantasy adventure, mecha action, cyber conception, handpainted-style sitcoms, and Chinese traditional culture and myths.

Winsing Animation was at Asia’s leading entertainment content marketplace – HK International Film and TV Market (HKFILMART)

– last March 13-16 and unveiled its upcoming slate of new animations in Guangdong Pavilion. With the return of HKFILMART

In addition to the well-known animated series of Winsing’s flagship IP referring to GG Bond and GOGOBUS, in parallel with ‘Team S.T.E.A.M.!’ which aired on Hong Kong VIU TV last February 27, Winsing unveiled multiple work-in-

In addition to the well-known animated series of Winsing’s flagship IP referring to GG Bond and GOGOBUS, in parallel with ‘Team S.T.E.A.M.!’ which aired on Hong Kong VIU TV last February 27, Winsing unveiled multiple work-inprogress animation titles that target different age groups at HKFILMART, particularly exquisite youth-oriented 3D-animated series regarding genres of fantasy adventure, mecha action, cyber conception, handpainted-style sitcoms, and Chinese traditional culture and myths.

BBC Studios licenses Doctor Foster format to Nippon TV in Japan

the lead character, Yoko Makabe, is played by acclaimed actress Izumi Inamori, her husband, Makabe Kota, is played by actor Hisashi Yoshizawa and Kota’s adulterous partner, Rio Sakura, is played by actress Mio Yuki.

At its annual showcase event, BBC Studios and Nippon TV, Japan’s leading media and entertainment company, announced a new scripted format agreement that will see gripping psychological drama Doctor Foster remade for the Japanese audience. The Japanese adaptation will broadcast from 7 April on NTV. Originally written by Mike Bartlett and produced by Drama Republic, the BAFTA award-winning series centres around a trusted doctor whose life implodes when she suspects her husband of having an affair. In the Japanese adaptation

Doctor Foster has already been successfully adapted in markets such as South Korea, France, Turkey, the Philippines and Indonesia. In South Korea the format (known locally as The World of the Married) was the country’s highest-rated drama in cable TV history when it was broadcast in 2020.

The agreement with Nippon TV was brokered on behalf of BBC Studios by Gayatri Singh, Senior Sales Manager for formats in Asia.

Nippon TV announces comedy series Ariyoshi Assists to stream globally on Netflix

Having captured the Annual Individual Viewer Ratings Triple Crown title for the 12th consecutive year in 2022 and currently celebrating its 70th Anniversary, Nippon TV announced that the company has finalized a deal with Netflix to produce a new Netflix comedy series Ariyoshi Assists (approx. 30-60 min. episodes). This deal marks the first time that Nippon TV will produce a show exclusively for a global streamer which will not air nor stream on Nippon TV. Ariyoshi Assists, which is filmed in Japan in the Japanese language, will stream globally on Netflix in over 190 countries on March 14, 2023. There will be 10 episodes in the series which will be sub-titled for viewers around the world.

Ariyoshi Assists is set to star Hiroiki Ariyoshi, one of the most famous and popular hosts in Japanese TV today, who will assist 10 guest hosts, including artists and professional athletes, who will each host their own episode. Every episode is built around a unique concept and format catered to highlight the special talents of the hosts. Experienced comedians, including both veterans and up-and-comers, participate and attempt to conquer the various segments proposed by the hosts, all while trying to land jokes about the absurd set-ups that Ariyoshi suddenly throws at them. This variety series promises to deliver maximum passion and unpredictable moments. The series’ creators and show runners will be Kazuaki Hashimoto and Toshiyuki Yokozawa, creators of the TV entertainment/variety shows Ariyoshi no Kabe and Ariyoshi Zemi, both airing weekly on primetime on Nippon TV and its network stations.

GoQuest Media Licenses Dramas TO SVOD Platform VOYO Bulgaria

content is one of the pillars of the service, especially content produced in our neighboring countries. It always brings a huge amount of interest and generates great viewership. Our market expertise helps us to select content that suits our local needs best.”

Global independent content distributor GoQuest Media has finalized sales for three captivating series from its growing portfolio of dramas. bTV Media Group’s digital platform VOYO Bulgaria has acquired the SVOD rights to the award-winning and gripping crime thriller Rats (6 x 55’), the Serbian spy thriller Civil Servant

(36 x 50’) and the romantic drama Secrets of the Grapevine (74 x 50’).

Commenting on the deals Anjela Georgieva, Foreign Acquisition Manager at VOYO Bulgaria said, “VOYO BG operates only in Bulgaria, allowing us to focus our acquisitions only on content that is preferred by our local audience. European

“We’ve kicked off the new year by extending our relationship with VOYO into a new region. While Rats and Civil Servant continue to reach new audiences, we couldn’t be more excited for Secrets of the Grapevine making its debut in the international markets through VOYO Bulgaria. With this, we continue keeping our promise of introducing the best of international content to new audiences worldwide” added Jimmy George, VP Sales & Acquisitions at GoQuest Media.