Fuji TV sees scripted co-development as a golden opportunity to expand its international footprint. New drama, The Window, is just the beginning, the Japanese commercial network says.

Japanese commercial broadcaster, Fuji TV, comes off its first international co-production, The Window, with a giant appetite for more, as well as a renewed commitment to the old Japanese saying: “Kouki issu bekarazu”. Roughly translated, this means ‘when an opportunity comes along, even if it doesn’t seem big, don’t miss it because it could be a golden one’. And, of course, the network has high hopes for pick ups across the region.

The 10-episode character-based thriller, set in the high-stakes transfer window between professional football seasons, stars Samuel Jordan in the story of 17-year-old football wunderkind, Jordan Burdett. What starts out as a tug-of-war between his brother and an agent over his first professional contract evolves into a “bigger, darker story... that goes beyond winning and losing games to explore the full, dark circus of this multi-billion dollar business”. 

Japanese actress Yuriri Naka plays Noriko A Sari, an assistant at sports agency Septre and a friend of lead character Jordan Burdett’s brother, Kieran (played by Tommy Bastow). German-Korean heartthrob Teo Yoo plays heir Jae Yeon Cho, whose father owns the Manchester Football club and who struggles to show his power and worth to the world.

Written by James Payne and directed by Adrian Shergold, The Window, is produced by Germany’s Boogie Entertainment and ZDF Enterprises along with Fuji TV and Velvet Films in Belgium. ZDF Enterprises (ZDFE) and Fuji TV are distributing the series internationally. 

Episode one previewed during Mipcom in Cannes in October 2021, along with dedicated website at thewindow.com. The show also has its own Instagram account, thewindowtv.

The series is scheduled to release in Japan in 2022-2023. Voiceover actors have not been announced. 

Fuji TV producer Yuri Akimoto describes the Tokyo-based national network’s experience with this first-of-a-kind project as wonderful, despite all the pandemic-related production challenges.

“While international co-production can sometimes be difficult in terms of differences in mostly business cultures and communications... throughout the project, we were able to share the same goal and values through many wonderful meetings in person and online with everyone. We could not have done this if it were not for this collaboration team,” she says. 

Covid-19 containment measures presented the team with some of its biggest challenges during the three-year development and production process. “There are many things that we wanted to but could not do due to the pandemic,” Akimoto says. These include set visits, more in-person meetings and face-to-face discussion. 

“Also, in terms of shooting, there were a lot of compromises that needed to be done in order to make things happen under severe circumstances, but I am very thankful that these were overcome with creativity and patience and flexibility. We are proud of how we managed the situation and how we came up with such an entertaining series,” she adds.

Nearing the end of a long journey that began at Mipcom in 2017, Akimoto says no one around the casual dinner table on the night could have imagined where “that one conversation, just a small idea” could have ended up as an incredible project.  

“So I guess our learning from this process is that you never know where the chances are so keep looking and value any opportunity big or small, casual or formal,” she says, adding: “And don’t be shy to share your ideas!.” 
 

Sponsored content. Published in ContentAsia December 2021 magazine