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12 December 2022 – 8 January 2023
Asia’s content industry has never been this united on anything – ever. All through this year’s ATF, which wrapped in Singapore on Friday, every conversation, every hope/dream/wish, included storylines, characters and plot twists designed to appeal to “international” audiences.
Right now, that global landscape is dominated by Korean stories. Japan is up and coming. Thailand and Indonesia are being tipped as the next big storytelling opportunities, along with India, where production royalty like @sameernair said it will take at least five years.
There’s much interesting coming out of the Philippines, which HBO already knows via shows like Erik Matti/”On The Job”, from the old days before the current belt-tightening, which the company is valiantly trying not to make look like belt tightening. They know we know, and it’s all good. Warner Bros Discovery in Asia will greenlight new premium shows eventually; hopefully they won’t all be funded by tourism boards. Maybe even one of them will be from the Thai drama pitch at ATF last week. To be fair, the pitch was couched in vague language like “your project could be developed and produced into a Thai language drama series for HBO/HBO GO!” So no firm promises were made. We haven’t heard anything about a winner or a commission yet, but we will keep on it.
There’s also an emerging new player in ABS-CBN’s next life as an indie production house with premium drama series, “Cattleya Killer”, which debuted at Mipcom and went big at ATF. No international sales have been announced yet, but our crystal ball says it will happen.
And we’re keeping a very close eye on Thai producer, BEC Studios, which was also at ATF with its first original titles.
Our question is who is buying/paying for all this Asian-inspired international content? Global streamers, with budgets formerly known as bottomless. Or at least that’s the hope. Our fear is that there are going to be tears before bedtime on this one…
We are also keeping a close watch on more complicated rights deals, like the one Viu sealed for K-drama series of the moment, “Reborn Rich”. These will cover soaring production budgets.
Here’s how it worked: Viu bought global rights for “Reborn Rich” outside of Korea and China. Netflix took non-exclusive Korea rights, sharing with JTBC and CJ ENM-controlled streamer, TVing.
And what do you know? It’s working. JTBC ratings are through the roof. The single-market show on Netflix is on the top 10 globally. And Viu says it couldn’t be happier.
There was lots more at ATF about sharing rights, including from global kids indie, WildBrain, whose CEO, Eric Ellenbogen, told us he’s a firm believer in being everywhere. We will be following that in the coming year.
Meanwhile, our wrap of stories from the ContentAsia Dailies are below, along with our last eNewsletter of the year and some heartfelt wishes to all of you for the holiday season. See you in 2023!
Rock Action replaces Extreme in 9 Asia markets; linear movie channel goes live in 12 countries in the region from today
Rock Entertainment Holdings’ new action movie channel, Rock Action, went live across 12 markets in Asia this morning, opening with “Congo”, “Beta Test”, “One Point O” and “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” (2008). In nine of the 12 countries, the channel replaced Rock Extreme, which Rock Entertainment inherited from Blue Ant when it bought the channels business in 2017.
The full story is on page 3
Also inside…
60% of Netflix subs watch K-content; streamer talks about global take up as “Doona!” kicks off
More than 60% of Netflix subscribers around the world watched Korean content on the platform this year, Netflix said today during the announcement that “Crash Landing on You” director, Lee Jung-hyo, was attached to new series, “Doona!”, along with former K-pop star Bae Suzy and Yang Se-jong (“Saimdang”, “Memoir of Colors”).
Read the full story on page 5
Prime Video dominates India demand; India originals take 50% of top 10 digital shows – Parrot Analytics
Amazon Prime Video’s India originals continue to dominate demand in India, with ongoing local love for blockbuster property, “Mirzapur”, followed by comedy, “Hostel Daze”, and the second season of 2020 thriller “Breathe: Into the Shadows”, which premiered on 9 November, according to data science company, Parrot Analytics. The third season of writer Saurabh Khanna’s “Hostel Daze”, about four naive friends during their first semester, debuted on 16 Nov. Season three of “Mirzapur” is expected to drop this month; Netflix has not confirmed the date.
Read the full story on page 11
Phoenix TV debuts new Hong Kong short-form series; Ben Lai’s Yam Cultural produces five-episode “All the Best”
New Hong Kong short-form series, “All the Best”, premiered on YouTube at the weekend, recalling the special administrative region’s glory days and digging up stories that speak to Hong Kongers’ resilience and determination. The five-episode Cantonese/Mandarin series on the @hongkongstory1996 channel, is directed by Douglas Lau Shun An, and produced by Ben Lai’s Yam Cultural for Phoenix TV.
Read the full story on page 2
PLUS
 Korea’s MBC backs storytelling battle, bills new shows as “MMA of the Tongues”
Country profile: Laos
Events: What’s going on in and around Asia
And here’s a recap of Asia news from the ContentAsia Dailies that went out during ATF 2022…
8 Dec 2022: Fremantle’s “Family Feud” returns to Malaysia after more than a decade; incoming Asia EVP, Haryaty Rahman, seals Astro deal
8 Dec 2022: ITV Studios opens ATF day 2 with APAC sales of 1,000+ hours
8 Dec 2022: CBC/HBO Max’s “Sort Of” goes to Netflix in Malaysia, Singapore & Philippines
8 Dec 2022: Jetpack sells 269 half-hours in new Asia deals
8 Dec 2022: Singapore’s Our Grandfather Story eyes original production for global streamers
7 Dec 2022: Taiwan’s Taicca, Singapore’s Mediacorp join rush to create international originals; two-year development plan unveiled this evening
7 Dec 2022: Japanese TV series hit record 21 million hours viewed on Netflix’s weekly global top 10
7 Dec 2022: K-drama “Reborn Rich” soars; Viu ‘original’ tops Netflix Korea charts, retains spot on global top 10
7 Dec 2022: Singapore’s IMDA backs KC Global animated original, “Fallen 8”; Mei Melancon on board to co-create new series
7 Dec 2022: Singapore’s IMDA backs new US$3.7m fund to support virtual production
7 Dec 2022: U.K.’s Piccadilly Pictures sets up APAC film financing unit
7 Dec 2022: Nippon TV/Envision Entertainment's “Connected: The Homebound Detective” heads to the U.S. in Tomorrow Studios’ option
7 Dec 2022: Singapore’s Mediacorp greenlights Viddsee short film adaptation for 2023 slate
7 Dec 2022: Asia-focused culinary content boost in new Bomanbridge, CreatorsLab deal
7 Dec 2022: 50 hours of Pinkfong shows head to Singapore from Feb 2023
A special thanks to the companies who made our ATF 2022 Dailies and this week's eNewsletter possible:
★ All3Media International
★ BEC World Thailand
★ TV5Monde Asie-Pacifique
You can also access ContentAsia's latest eNewsletter here and browse back issues of all our publications at www.contentasia.tv
   
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