3 September 2014: Finding great big characters and shouting loudly enough about new and fabulous ideas are the biggest challenges formats producers and distributors face in Asia at the moment. And then there's money, talent and local values... The feature has been adapted from ContentAsia's first Formats Outlook, published for the ContentAsia Summit. The Formats Outlook 2015 is part of ContentAsia's year-round focus on all aspects of content in Asia. In-depth analysis will be enhanced through 2015 with a dedicated formats' platform online, in print and face-to-face. Please contact [email protected] if you would like a copy of ContentAsia's Formats Outlook 2015.MoneySo what’s new, except maybe in China, although few will say this is so. Across the region, acquisition and commissioning execs are laser focused on keeping distributors realistic about local industry practices and rates; sustainable license fees is the rallying cry of many a broadcaster committed to original production and to keeping licensing costs down. Production budgets for regional shows aren’t growing as fast as many producers would like, and, at least for formats going out across different markets, sponsors aren’t leaping on board as eagerly as broad- casters wish they would. Emergency tops-up to prevent shows from falling over are still fresh in the regional industry’s mind, and caution rules. Most formats are only commissioned once sponsorship is locked in, and for many the gap between what is and what they need is just too large to risk. Evidence of the pressure under which all parties operate is the pixilated tissue box of a non sponsored tissue brand in an early episode of Asia’s Next Top Model season two.The funding gap is probably Asia’s biggest challenge in getting formats on air, especially the bigger, more expensive ones. The issue is not new – and it’s not likely to go away in 2015.Asia’s formats-related advertising/sponsorship scenario seems brightest in China, where season two of The Voice of China set a new advertising record of more than US$600,000 for a 150-second spot, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Global entertainment and media outlook 2014 2018. The exclusive naming rights for I am a Singer 2014 was sold for something like US$39 million. There’s a big “but” to China’s format competition mania, however – tighter regulations. Current controls limit reality TV competition programmes a year to 10 across the country, and satellite broadcasters are restricted to airing one foreign format TV programme annually, and only outside prime time (7.30pm-10pm). Whatever the argument about price, rights holders stress that there’s a format for every price point, and that there’s a lot that can be done for less. This is provided expectations are properly managed, particularly in smaller territories with budgets that don’t stretch across all the elements of the original format. Many producers are aware of their budget limitations, and say they cut their cloth accordingly.TalentAsia’s talent pool may be growing, but by many accounts there’s a long way to go. Commissioning editors in Asia still say it’s a challenge to find production houses familiar with reality formats. Local teams, well aware of the advantage that in-depth domestic insights give them, are working hard to narrow the creative and technical knowledge gap between local and international productions. Much public and private money is going into training and knowledge transfer. Shine International says its biggest challenge across its shows is the gap in local skill sets with international standards, and maintaining or raising the bar to meet international production qualities. This is, however, “an improving situation with continuous development and extended consultancies and time spent with original format producers”, Shine execs say.Culture & local valuesDrama format owners put adapting story lines to accommodate local culture at the top of their list of challenges. Xavier Aristimun?o, Telemundo Internacional’s senior vice president, international business development and digital media talks about keeping in mind “customs, religion, and traditions, while maintaining the structure so distinctive of a Latin American telenovela”.The biggest challenge for cooking format The Taste, which premiered on China’s CCTV-2 in November last year, was the difference in culinary heritage in China and the West. This meant the set had to be adapted accordingly, for example to include woks instead of frying pans and pots. Filming angles also had to be reworked to accommodate different equipment, producers say.The challenge isn’t smaller when distance is shorter, and Asian producers say adapting titles from within the region can also be difficult. For instance, the biggest challenge in producing the Malaysian version of Japanese action/ adventure/special effect drama series Ryujin Mabuyer was adding local values and relevance, says Malaysian production house Digital Vision’s business development director Lim Siu Min.Adapted from ContentAsia's Formats Outlook 2015, published for the ContentAsia Summit in September. Issue Three 2014