Screenworks Asia was founded in 2020 as the production subsidiary of Taiwanese distributor, Catchplay. A joint venture with Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), the company has completed two Mandarin-language series – including the 2022 ContentAsia Awards’ Best Asian Comedy for "The Making of an Ordinary Woman II" – one variety show and Indonesian film, "Losmen Melati". Co-produced with Indonesia/Singapore-based Infinite Studios, "Losmen Melati" releases theatrically in Malaysia on 6 April and in Singapore on 13 April. Screenworks Asia’s director of content production, Shao-yi Chen, talks about the current streaming environment, the company’s first international co-production, and upcoming projects. 

Which project are you particularly proud of? “The Making of An Ordinary Woman II was our first co-production with [domestic broadcaster] CTS. Even though we weren’t involved in the production of the first season, Catchplay+ was the first OTT platform exclusively showing the series. That’s how we got involved and were put in touch with the director and the team. We found great potential to extend the series through a second season.”

How did "Losmen Melati" happen? “Originally, Losmen Melati was a series project with Infinite Studios. We saw footage during production and the production quality was very good so we had an aggressive idea to turn the first few episodes into a movie. So now it’s a movie with a seven-episode series, with the series probably arriving in the summer.”

"Losmen Melati" is Screenworks’ first co-production outside of Taiwan. How did you end up pursuing that one? “Infinite Studios has provided production services for a lot of Hollywood studios and has made series for global platforms. They are a top player in production, while Catchplay has a lot of experience in international distribution. We understand the market in Indonesia and Taiwan, and also have extensive experience working with regional partners. The partnership brings advantages and strengths from both sides. We have talked to IMDA [Infocomm Media Development Authority] before about how we could work with more Singaporean talents and Infinite Studios was brought up. Infinite Studios was also introduced to us through industry friends.” 

What do you see as the most significant influence on Taiwan’s production environment at the moment? “The emergence of global platforms, which has pushed people to get into quality series production. Years back, there was a very rigid difference between making films and series, with the latter done only by TV stations. Now, filmmakers and their crews are making series. TV stations made very long shows, like 100 episodes, but now there are more limited series, ranging from six to 10 episodes. There are now a lot of different voices in production, which is a good thing.”

What do you have in the works? “We have two Mandarin-language series in post-production that will hopefully come out this year. The first one is I Can See You Shine, a young adult family comedy about five best friends from high school. The other is Not a Murder Story, a mystery thriller about an actor wannabe. He has a one-night-stand with his neighbour and she dies the next day, and he has to find out who the real killer is. We also have one modern-day drama currently shooting.” – by Sara Merican

Published in ContentAsia's eNewsletter 3-16 April 2023 edition