“We have 55,000 hours of content and a lot of good drama,” she says. And the best trend: “People are investing in drama and premium drama,” she adds.

In addition toThe Bridge, Endemol Shine is co-producingHumansin China in a deal closed by the company’s China managing director, William Tan.

In all, “we’ve had a pretty good year,” Bajpai says.

Scripted drama is trending elsewhere in the region, particularly in India. Korea is close (no details at presstime), Japan could follow in 2019, as could Indonesia and the Philippines. If deals haven’t been announced, Bajpai says conversations about scripted formats are “definitely” increasing.

“There’s definitely an appetite,” she adds. It’s just about meeting commercial requirements.

The biggest sticking point is budgets, which are, for the most part, still significantly lower than in the U.S., and expectations need to be managed. But Bajpai says there’s also a bigger openness to working in Asia and to thinking differently that is boosting business.

Outside ofThe Bridge, commissioned by regional streaming platform Viu, digital services continue to drive sales. These include Hulu Japan, which boughtHumansandThe Tunnel(the U.K./France version of The Bridge). Japan also acquires Scandinavian series.

Bajpai says buyers “are willing to become a little edgier, and offer shows that aren’t easily available elsewhere”. Five years ago, she adds, “I wouldn’t have been able to put those in my forecast”.

Big Brotheris also alive and well in India and the Philippines, with new seasons likely to incorporate AI and other tech that has been refreshing the series in other parts of the world.

Perhaps her biggest surprise was demand forBlack Mirrorbefore the show went to Netflix. “The first season has the prime minister doing something inappropriate with a pig and I screened it and I was thinking, ‘how am I ever going to sell this?’, ‘How am I supposed to pitch this?’

“One market changed it for me and that was China. I remember I was sitting in my office in Hong Kong, and I got a call about rights toBlack Mirror. Then there was a bidding war and eventually Youku picked it up and it was a great success... people still ask me when the rights will open up”. And yes, in case you’re wondering, the prime minister and the pig episode wentout uncensored in China.

Published in ContentAsia's Issue Five 2018, 4 October 2018