BEC World/Ch3 prep trio of premieres as Thai drama demand explodes; prime-time & streaming releases for “The Root”, “The Kinnaree Conspiracy” & “Lipgloss Spy”
Thai broadcaster Channel 3 premieres three prime-time dramas in the next 10 days, pushing the envelope on theme and riding global appetite for more diverse storylines.
The three series – “The Root”, “The Kinnaree Conspiracy” and “Lipgloss Spy” – release into a red-hot Thai drama environment, with regional and global streamers piling into original production in the country.
All three will stream simultaneously in Thailand on Ch3Plus and on Netflix, with a broader Southeast Asia release to follow.
Ch3 titles such as romantic drama “Bad Romeo” and romcom “Suptar 2550”, have been Netflix’s most popular Thai titles.
LGBTQ+ romantic drama, “The Root” (“Rark Kaew”, 12 x 85 mins) premieres on Thursday (20 October) at 8.30pm, and will air weekly on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Produced by Change2561 in their first drama for Ch3, “The Root” is a modern story based on Krisna Asoksin’s 1974 novel about a poverty-stricken family whose daughter, Sai, is adopted by a wealthy family. In a desperate attempt to escape and find true love, Sai seeks affection in all kinds of unsuitable places.
Ch3 has flagged a different storytelling style from a new producer, and said this week that the series is set in an environment where LGBTQ+ communities are more widely accepted.
Period suspense drama, “The Kinnaree Conspiracy” (“Lai Kinnaree”, 15 x 85 mins), follows on 24 October and will air at 8.30pm on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Produced by Act Art Generation, “The Kinnaree Conspiracy” stars Yaya Urassaya as a medical forensic examiner in the ancient Kingdom of Ayudhaya investigating the mysterious death of Captain Jean (David A), who has been found dead wearing a Lai Kinnaree garment usually reserved for royal women. She seeks the help of Lord Indra Ratchapakdee (played by Nadech Kugimiya) and French army attache (New Chaiyapol).
The third new release is romcom “Lipgloss Spy” (“Sai Lub Lipgloss”, 15 x 85 mins), which will air Fridays to Sundays at 8.30pm from 28 October.
From Broadcast Thai Television, which produced blockbuster Thai drama “Love Destiny”, the 15-episode “Lipgloss Spy” is about a beauty blogger, played by Namtarn Pichukkana, an ex-police officer, his partner, and a crime reporter who become entangled in three parallel investigations that grow increasingly messy and dangerous.
“Lipgloss Spy” will be simulcast on Asian streaming platform Viu in Malaysia and the Philippines.
Singapore blocks local release of Ken Kwek’s “#LookAtMe”; gov’t agencies unite against the film’s “potential to cause enmity and social division”
Singapore authorities have effectively banned local filmmaker Ken Kwek’s new feature, “#LookAtMe”, saying that the film “denigrates a religious community and has the potential to cause enmity and social division in Singapore’s multi-racial and multi-religious society”.
A joint statement, three government agencies – the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) – said on Monday that the film had been refused classification because it exceeded the film classification guidelines.
Films that aren’t classified cannot be released in Singapore.
The statement said that, in reaching its decision, the IMDA had consulted the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) and the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY).
The statement said that the film indicates in the opening frame that it is “inspired by true events”.
Set in Singapore, “#LookAtMe” is about a YouTuber who, in defence of his gay twin brother, posts a video trolling a megachurch pastor. He sets off a series of events that threaten to destroy his family.
Singapore actor Yao (“Tiong Bahru Social Club”) won an award for Best Performance at the 20th New York Asian Film Festival for his role in “#LookAtMe”.
The IMDA/MHA/MCCY statement said that descriptions of the pastor in the film included a similar sound title as a real pastor in Singapore, and that “persons in Singapore may draw that connection”.
“The context may be seen to be suggesting or encouraging violence against the pastor. The pastor is also portrayed engaging in an act prohibited by his professed religious faith. The allegations may be perceived to [be] offensive, defamatory and contrary to the MRHA, in that it may be seen as unfairly attacking a religious figure, as well as cause offence to religious beliefs,” the statement continued.
“Further, the film has the potential to cause enmity and social division in Singapore,” the agencies added, listing three reasons.
These included that “the Singapore pastor preaches against homosexuality but engages in behaviour that goes against his religious teachings”, and that “the reference to “true events” implies that leaders of the local religious community, including the pastor, have engaged in such behaviour”.
The third point was that the “protagonist declares his intention and makes preparations to violently attack a religious figure”.
Malaysia’s Astro re-packs; Netflix added to Sports Plus, Movies Plus
Malaysia’s Astro had upsized its sports and movies bundle, introducing new value-added packages – Sports Plus Pack and Movies Plus Pack – from today.
The platform said that in addition to streaming services such as beIN Sports Connext, Disney+ Hotstar and HBO Go, the new packs also include Netflix as well as Korean and horror shows for RM129.99/US$27.56 a month each, with special launch discounts.
Euan Smith, Astro’s incoming group CEO, said the new packs were the result of customer feedback and offered “more choice, convenience, and better value”.
“Sports fans can now enjoy all 64 matches of World Cup Qatar 2022 plus the biggest sporting matches and, at the same time, binge on Netflix seamlessly within Astro’s interface,” Smith said today.
SBS Australia picks up exclusive rights to “Agatha Christie’s Hjerson”
SBS Australia has acquired exclusive rights to “Agatha Christie’s Hjerson” from ZDF Studios, the German distributor said today as day two of Mipcom opened in Cannes.
The series, a classic whodunnit based on a character from Agatha Christie’s world, has also been picked up by Japanese public broadcaster NHK, and VR Films in India.
Johan Rheborg stars as detective Sven Hjerson, who has solved some of the toughest cases in Swedish crime history. Now retired and living on the fringes of society, his life mainly consists of daily routines, a vegan diet, vinyl record collecting and an unhealthy appetite for gossip.
Hanna Alström stars as his sidekick Klara Sandberg, a reality TV producer with a stagnating career, living with her partner Niklas and their daughter Olivia.
“Agatha Christie’s Hjerson” was produced by Patrik Andersson and Ulf Synnerholm at BR•F for TV4/C More, in co-production with ZDF, Nadcon and the Government of Åland, and in close collaboration with ZDF Studios and Agatha Christie Ltd. The series was produced with support from Nordisk Film & TV fund.
 
Features
Qal to action: Muslim-focused SVOD platform goes live
12 years after it went live with a mobile app offering accurate prayer times for Muslims around the world and now with 130+ million downloads in 190 markets and counting, Singapore-based Bitsmedia has upsized its Muslim Pro platform with a global SVOD service offering a wide-ranging library of lifestyle content celebrating Muslim identities and cultures. The new platform, Qalbox, soft launched to Muslim Pro users in the middle of July, followed by a commercial launch on 4 October. Bitsmedia co-CEO, Nik Emir Din, talks about video content strategies, programming acquisitions & what the company is hoping for from its first foray into premium video services.  Read more here
Count the hours: K-drama in the wake of “Squid Game”
No one – not even Netflix (by its own admission) nor Korean creator Hwang Dong-hyuk – predicted the wild success of “Squid Game”, which is said to have cost just under US$21.5 million to make and was watched for more than 2.3 billion hours between 13 Sept 2021 and 19 June 2022. But of course everyone – including Netflix – hopes that the next drama may hit it out of the same park. So far, it’s not happening. Read more here
Rounds of Applause: A 5th birthday celebration for a next-gen Indian studio
Indian studio Applause Entertainment celebrated its fifth anniversary in August 2022. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar spoke to CEO, Sameer Nair, about scale, quality, discipline, a new breed of storytellers and why the earth is now flat. Read more here
You can also access ContentAsia's latest eNewsletter here and browse back issues of all our publications at www.contentasia.tv
|
