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MCI (P) 047/06/2017 PPS 1812/01/2013 (025534) ISSN 0219-6166

www.onscreenasia.com Vol. 26 | Issue 04 | august-september 2019

Asia In Focus

editor’snote

PUBLISHING K.DASS EDITORIAL-IN-CHIEF/PUBLISHER Video Streaming War [email protected] (65) 6828 9333 Today, there are hundreds of video streaming providers with incredible content libraries, pushing EDITORIAL legitimate service to consumers across the region. YI AN ANG Amongst them, there are the elite providers armed EDITORIAL ASSISTANT with original content and deep pockets to compete in [email protected] the video streaming war. I was amazement to learn (65) 6828 9333 that Apple TV+ plans to undercut and in India recently. ANG LER SING It is described as the first all-original video EDITORIAL ASSISTANT subscription service; Apple TV+ will be priced at the [email protected] cut price rate of $4.99 per month and will have an (65) 6828 9333 initial launch in over 100 countries and regions. This pricing totally flies in the face of earlier predictions ALISON YEO K. Dass, Editor-In-Chief and is around half that expected, which would have EDITORIAL ASSISTANT put it in the ballpark of Netflix and Amazon Prime and [email protected] is even cheaper than the $6.99 Disney+ set for introduction on 12 November. (65) 6828 9333 Apple TV+ will offer original shows, and documentaries, including The Morning Show, Dickinson, See, For All Mankind and The Elephant Queen. DESIGN/PRODUCTION Already gaining headlines, The Morning Show is a drama starring and executive SAMANTHA THAM produced by Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston, and starring the two GRAPHIC DESIGNER actors along with Steve Carell. It explores the world of morning news and the ego, ambition and the misguided search for power behind the people who help [email protected] America wake up in the morning. (65) 6828 9333

More Apple TV+ originals will be added to the Apple TV app each month, including M. Night Shyamalan psychological thriller Servant, crime series Truth Be Told, documentary Little America, and feature films The Banker and Hala.

The service will be available on the Apple TV app on iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch, Mac and other platforms, including online at tv.apple.com. Effective immediately, and in a clear demonstration of the massive commercial leverage that Apple can deploy, anyone who purchases any iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, iPod touch or Mac can enjoy one year of Apple TV+ for . Up to six family members can share one Apple TV+ subscription.

“With Apple TV+, we are presenting all-original stories from the best, brightest and most creative minds, and we know viewers will find their new favourite show or movie on our service,” said Zack Van Amburg, Apple’s Head of Worldwide Video. “Each Apple TV+ original offers its own unique story, fresh perspective and powerful message — all meant to entertain connect and inspire cultural conversations.”

A free seven day trial is being offered as an added incentive for Indian online viewers. Apple TV+ is offering to renew the subscription automatically at INR 99 per month after one year. This compares to the $4.99 price tag for the service in the US and GPB4.99 in the UK.

At around half the cost of Netflix’ new low cost mobile-only service in the country, AppleTV+ is the latest US player keen to get a slice of India’s thriving over-the-top (OTT) sector.

By 2023, India will be the world’s second largest streaming market after , with Indians already spending an average of 70 minutes a day on online video Pte Ltd platforms, according to a recent study by KPMG and OTT platform Eros Now. TVAplus 120 Lower Road #09-07, Cendex Center, 169208 Tel: +65 6828 9333

Printed in Singapore

Television Asia Plus is published seven times a year. All rights reserved. Pease addess all subscription mail to Television Asia Plus at the above address or phone number. For annual air-speeded scriptions for non-qualified subscribers. please contact Editorial department at [email protected]. Television Asia Plus Volume (

august-september2019 television asia plus | 1 contents

3 Review 4 10 People ATF Chinese pitch 6 12 Feature begins search for VIDCON CONTINUES 17 Feature - Social Media fresh content for GLOBAL EXPANSION 20 Cover Story: Asia in Focus Chinese-speaking WITH FIRST EVER 24 Siteline markets globally VIDCON ASIA SUMMIT 27 Focus 28 Production IN SINGAPORE THIS 29 Technology DECEMBER 8 30 Review 12 Passion Distribution lands sales for new 14 Cox expands TVB channels documentary TV5MONDE USA available Produced by Pioneer Productions, One Hour That Changed The World: The distribution to Moon Landing was commissioned and TV5MONDE USA and customers for funded by Passion Distribution. have expanded their distribution deal, so customers in more than 20 markets across first time 14 states will be able to receive the 24/7 French language entertainment channel. 13 Tackling the rising cost of password sharing Asia in Focus 20 15 There is intense Asian content development from global investors and players. Netflix 16 announced its investment in more than National Geographic 10 new South Korean originals, covering celebrates the 50th Ten to bring back a range of themes from romance to science fiction, Anniversary with The Amazing to showcase the country’s Apollo: Missions To Race Australia storytelling prowess. The Moon 37 34 29 Dan Trachtenberg Two HBO Original Sub-second directs new Warframe Series Folklore latency is the new and Food Lore to standard for live Premier in Japan video streaming on Channel

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Fortumo, while taking advantage of features including dynamic pricing and iflix rolls out sachet automated refunds. Meanwhile, Fortumo manages the consumer checkout experience and localization of the payment solution, making rolling out carrier pricing with Fortumo billing scalable across a number of telcos and countries. Fortumo’s Direct Carrier Billing expected to Fortumo’s platform is used by Google, Amazon, Spotify, Electronic Arts, improved performance more than ten-folds Schibsted, OLX, EasyPark and thousands of other merchants. Integration with the platform enables merchants to collect payments from subscribers of more than 350 mobile operators. TVAplus Amazon & Tata launch bundling in India with Fortumo Telco expands offering one-of-a-kind partnership The mobile technology company Fortumo has launched a unique bundling solution for Binge & Amazon. Tata Sky, India’s leading content distribution platform launched a pioneering service for its subscribers - Tata Sky Binge a platform that brings digital content from multiple apps on to your TV. Southeast Asia’s leading entertainment service, iflix, and the mobile technology company Fortumo today announced the launch of Fortumo’s Tata Sky Binge is accessible through the Amazon FireTV Stick – Tata Sky Hosted DCB to enable all iflix customers in , the Philippines, Edition, an exclusive & unique offering that will allow subscribers to stream Myanmar, and to pay for iflixVIP through their mobile digital content from across a diverse mix of apps through a single platform operator. and single subscription fee. Prime is the premier shopping and entertainment experience from Amazon. In addition to the existing monthly and annual subscriptions to iflixVIP, customers can now also purchase “sachet” packages with smaller one-time or Subscribers to Tata Sky Binge will get 3 months of Amazon Prime access recurring payments to gain access to the premium iflix service for lengths as courtesy of Tata Sky, which includes unlimited free & fast shipping, unlimited short as a single day, offering customers greater flexibility and convenience. access to movies and TV shows with Prime Video at no additional cost. It also The wide availability of carrier billing (any prepaid or postpaid mobile customer includes unlimited access to millions of songs ad-free with Prime Music, books can make payments) combined with new sachet pricing will help iflix reach a with Prime Reading, exciting product launches and early access to lightning wider consumer audience. deals and more. Post the first 3 months access the subscribers can continue Kjetil Rohde Jakobsen, iflix Global Director of Expansion, said: “In many of our with Amazon Prime at ₹129/month on their Tata Sky bill. markets, direct carrier billing is often the only payment instrument available to our users to pay for online content. With a vast majority of telco customers in “Enabling access to unique digital content gives telcos the opportunity to these markets being prepaid customers with low average balance, it is crucial for iflix to be able to offer price points low enough to ensure people can pay.” differentiate from their competitors, increase customer loyalty and value. Customers in turn get to benefit from high quality digital content “Launching Fortumo HDCB was a no-brainer for us. Fortumo were already live such as and the best e-commerce experience with with the capabilities we were looking for with a large number of operators Amazon Prime. Fortumo’s solution makes it quick and simple to launch across all our core markets. This meant we could effectively deliver the such partnerships and we are excited to be helping Tata Sky in introducing capabilities we intended more than 10 times faster than if we had to do the Amazon Prime to a new audience, “said Andrea Boetti, VP of Global Business integration directly with the operators,” he added. Development at Fortumo.

“Emerging markets are today seeing the biggest growth in new digital The bundling solution was delivered to Tata Sky by Fortumo using its consumers, which creates an exciting opportunity for merchants to grow Trident Bundling Platform. The platform allows mobile operators, Pay TV their user base. To become successful in these markets, merchants need to and broadband providers to launch promotional offers with external digital account for local market specifics and consumer behavior. We are excited to services in a scalable manner. Recently, the Indian mobile operator BSNL used be working with iflix, a leading player in the streaming space who understands Fortumo’s platform to deploy Amazon Prime offers to its subscribers. their audience and has adapted a successful local strategy,” added Andrea Boetti, VP of Global Business Development at Fortumo. The Trident Bundling Platform gives telecommunications companies the following capabilities: In countries where iflix and Fortumo are working together, credit card penetration is less than 10% while the majority of consumers already own a ● Managing multiple bundle partnerships through one solution smartphone. This means digital content merchants are unable to convert a ● Flexibility in commercial scenarios: hard bundling, add-ons and reselling large majority of their user base to paying customers, as most of them do not ● Simple customer lifecycle management, with Fortumo handling service have access to traditional online payment methods. discovery, activation, authentication, entitlement, renewals, user management and termination Carrier billing resolves this issue by allowing anyone with a mobile device to ● Analytics and reporting tools for reconciliation and settlement processes pay through their mobile operator - either by deducting the charge from their prepaid SIM card balance or adding it to their monthly phone bill. Fortumo’s platform is used by Amazon, Google, Spotify, Electronic Arts, iflix uses Fortumo’s Hosted Direct Carrier Billing DCB product to collect Schibsted, OLX, EasyPark and many more. On integration with the platform, payments from its customers. This gives iflix the capability to connect merchants can collect payments from subscribers from more than 350 mobile to telcos’ direct carrier billing infrastructure through one integration with operators. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 3 review

The winning entry will receive a USD19,000 prize from Green Gold Animation ATF Chinese pitch Pvt Ltd. This comprises a USD2,500 cash award and a consultancy package worth US$16,500 tailor-made for them to further develop the animation, begins search for fresh making it ready to pitch to broadcasters. Green Gold Animation is the studio behind Mighty Little Bheem, Netflix’s first Indian original animation show for content for Chinese- kids that is currently the second most-watched original series globally in the kids’ genre. speaking markets With consultancy support from Green Gold Animation, studio2 Animation Lab () plans to release Pigsy, which was the winning concept for the globally inaugural ATF Animation Pitch in 2017, by early 2021. Other pitch competitions – ATF Animation Pitch, ATF Formats Pitch and ATF Film Pitch – Returning for its fourth edition, the ATF Formats Pitch seeks out innovative to open doors for budding producers concepts for new and original non-scripted entertainment formats from Pan- Asia. This platform showcases the best of the region and exposes ideas for export and development within and outside of Asia.

Since winning the ATF Formats Pitch 2018, phoSumpro! () has fully developed Serenade, which is now being considered by regional and On the back of the increasingly influential Chinese-speaking territories, the international networks. ATF Chinese Pitch returns this year to provide scriptwriters with greater opportunities to enter these markets. This time, scripts can be submitted in The long-running Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market will realise the Chinese or English, with English scripts translated by the organisers for judging dreams of budding filmmakers through the ATF Film Pitch. In its fifth year, the purposes. match-making platform provides opportunities for film creatives to meet with potential investors and financiers. Backed by G.H.Y. Culture & Media, the competition seeks to encourage, promote and reward creativity, originality and innovation in two categories – Success stories from past editions have already begun showing up on screens theatrical and online movies, as well as online drama series. around the world. Mikhail Red’s (Philippines) Eerie made its world premiere at Singapore International Film Festival 2018, while Bront Palarae’s (Malaysia) One Yeow Hui Leng, Group Project Director of ATF and ScreenSingapore Two Jaga opened the 20th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy. commented, “As ATF celebrates our 20th anniversary, we remain committed to keeping Asia ahead of the curve and at the forefront of content creation. Submissions for the ATF Chinese Pitch, ATF Animation Pitch and ATF Formats Winners of various pitches under ATF and ScreenSingapore have achieved Pitch are now open until 15 August 2019 (ATF Chinese Pitch) and 20 October success with invaluable support from our partners, and we hope to see even 2019 (ATF Animation and Formats Pitches) respectively. Call for entries for the more stories emerge from Asia in the years ahead.” ATF Film Pitch is now open until 1 September 2019. TVAplus

Guo Jingyu, Group CEO, G.H.Y. Culture & Media added, “There is huge potential in young writers. In them, I see more passion and life than one can imagine. ADD Content signs deal With guidance and resources, we can fully maximise their potential and grow the industry.” G.H.Y. Culture & Media’s goal to nurture the next generation of with Channel One scriptwriters for leading productions is the main thrust behind its sponsorship TEL AVIV – Global content creation and distribution company ADD Content of the ATF Chinese Pitch. With the added step of allowing English scripts, the has signed a scripted format deal with Channel One in Russia for its Israeli company hopes to widen its search for great stories. drama Sirens (Betulot), which will air this year.

Shortlisted finalists will present their concepts at a live pitch on 4 December Produced by AMEDIA Production and SREDA Production Company and 2019, in front of a panel comprising well-established names – Guo Jingyu; directed by Sasha Kiriyenko with Alexander Kuznetsov serving as DOP, the Chen Xiao, Vice President of iQIYI; and Xiao Ji Xiang Tian, renowned Russian version of Sirens will feature a script by Maria Saprykina, Alexander screenwriter of the online drama series, The Ferry Man and its sequal, The Topuria and Irina Zui Sirens, and production design by Leonid Kipnis. Ferry Man II. Producers on the show are Leonard Blavatnik, Nelly Yaralova, Alexander Tsekalo while Leva Andrejevaite, Pyotr Fyodorov, Darya Moroz, Merab Ninidze, Winners will each win USD2,500 to help kick-start their projects, and could Vera Voronkova and Mikhail Gorevoy lead the cast. even be offered a USD11,000 buyout for their script. Originally created by Shahar Magen and Adam Sanderson and produced by ATF and ScreenSingapore: A platform for content creation July August for 3 in Israel where a third season is set to debut shortly, Sirens has proved a hit outside its domestic territory with the original series In addition to ATF Chinese Pitch, ATF and ScreenSingapore will host three other airing on Globosat in Brazil and Altice in France through deals negotiated by pitches – the ATF Animation Pitch, the ATF Formats Pitch and the ATF Film international distributor ADD Content. Pitch. Sirens (Betulot) is a mystery thriller telling the story of a policewoman from To cater to the all-important kids’ market, the ATF Animation Pitch encourages Eilat investigating the murder of her younger sister. In the Russian adaptation producers to conceptualise original, creative animated programmes with the action takes place in Tuapse – one of the biggest resorts on the Black Sea edutainment value that is viable for export and development within and outside where the local policewoman Larisa Nazarova finds the dead body of her twin of Asia. sister drowned in the lake Abrau. TVAplus

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BBC Global News’ new Saints & Sinners multi-platform series premiere most-watched explores food production on television of the future

Corteva Agriscience the exclusive sponsor of Follow the Food In a new eight-part series, BBC World News and BBC.com will explore how innovative ideas and technologies are helping to secure and sustain the world’s agricultural food production in a weekly programme, Follow the Food.

Sponsored by Corteva Agriscience, the new series will take viewers on a journey from field to fork; exploring how we’ll feed the world’s rapidly growing population, without exhausting the Earth’s resources.

As part of the BBC’s commitment to examine how best we can protect our precious planet, Follow the Food goes in search of potential solutions. Presented by JJ Ramberg and Greg Foot, and featuring in-depth articles on ATLANTA – The much-anticipated fourth season premiere of the hit Bounce BBC Future, the multi-platform series will focus on the people at the forefront original drama series Saints & Sinners on Sun. July 7 at 9:00 p.m. (ET) was the of building modern agriculture around the world. number one most-watched program on television, beating such shows as The

$100,000 Pyramid on ABC, What Just Happened? (FOX), Instinct (CBS) and Big From food producers spearheading efforts to protect our water supplies, to Little Lies(HBO), in the delivery of African Americans 18-49 and 25-54 Sunday artificial intelligence-enabled machines aimed at improving yields, to advancing night between 9-10 p.m. safety and productivity for farms and farmers, Follow the Food will show how the use of technology and innovation is transforming agriculture. The telecast was also a top 20 program in the general market delivery of

Households, P18-49 and P25-54 ahead of shows on FOX, The CW, TNT and Mary Wilkinson, Head of Editorial for BBC Global News said: “We’re delighted ESPN among others. to bring global audiences a set of insightful documentaries on the future of farming. The Earth’s finite resources are at the forefront of the news agenda The 9:00 p.m. premiere averaged 751K Total Viewers, an increase of +10% and, with us all having a vested interest in what we eat, it’s important to shine over the show’s season three premiere and delivered 590K Households a light on the challenge of producing food in more sustainable ways.” (+12%) to set the record as the most-watched program in Bounce history. The telecast was also up +24% in the delivery of Persons 18-49 (281K) and +2% in “Corteva Agriscience is leading the future of agriculture, developing solutions P25-54 (335K) versus the season three premiere. across seeds, cropprotection and digital technology, while we focus on innovative solutions to help meet the needs of farmers and the global Bounce premieres new episodes of Saints & Sinners Sunday nights at 9:00 agricultural community,” said Jim Collins, Chief Executive Officer, Corteva p.m. ET, with a primetime play for the west coast at 12 Midnight ET/9:00 Agriscience. “Agriculture plays a critical role, not only in growing our food, p.m. PT. The season four premiere of Saints & Sinners reached 1.3 million but in doing it sustainably and in a way that benefits both those who produce unduplicated viewers across its two initial airings on Sunday night. and those who consume. We are so excited to partner with BBC Global News to tell the stories of the farmers, scientists and leaders in the agriculture Season four of Saints & Sinners sees Mayor Ella Johnson (Vanessa Bell industry.” TVAplus Calloway) setting her sights beyond Cypress, and using her power and influence to position herself for a state senate seat. When her mother’s (Donna Rimini Street expands Biscoe) deep buried secrets surface, they threaten the very foundation of Ella’s world as she struggles to keep her enemies at bay and her children safe. Saints & Sinners also stars Keith Robinson, Demetria McKinney, Clifton Powell, Asia-Pacific operations J.D. Williams, Jasmine Burke, Dawn Halfkenny and Tray Chaney. Special guests this season include Tami Roman, Roger Guenveur Smith and Karon Joseph SINGAPORE – Rimini Street Inc., a global provider of enterprise software products and services, the leading Riley. TVAplus third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP software Like their counterparts around the world, CEOs and CIOs in Southeast Asia and products and a Salesforce partner, announced its further Greater China must optimize IT spending, improve competitive advantage and operational expansion in the Asia-Pacific region, including drive growth. However, industry analysts maintain that for many organizations, additional investment in leadership, sales and service delivery as much as 90% of overall IT budgets are spent on daily operating costs, capabilities in the Southeast Asia and Greater China regions. leaving as little as 10% of IT budgets to invest in strategic initiatives that Andrew Seow, create competitive advantage and enable growth. Regional Director The investment is being made to meet the needs of the for Southeast Company’s growing client base and support the increasing Asia and Greater Switching to Rimini Street support from software vendor support can China interest and demand for the Company’s portfolio of premium- significantly reduce the proportion of IT budget that is spent on daily operating level enterprise software support services in the region. The Company also costs, enabling organizations to reallocate much more of the IT budget for launched a new subsidiary, Rimini Street Singapore Pte. Ltd., and announced investments in innovation. Clients that switch to Rimini Street third-party the appointment of a new regional director of Southeast Asia and Greater support are also freed from the vendor-mandated roadmaps of expensive and China, based in its newly opened Singapore office. recurring forced upgrades, migrations and vendor lock-in. With this shift, CIOs can take back control of their IT roadmap and investment strategy. Rimini Street has been selling and operating in Greater China since 2015, and recently launched its operations in Southeast Asia. The Company will To serve its growing list of clients in the Asia-Pacific region, Rimini Street support the next phase of its growth through hiring new staff in the regions, currently has offices in , Osaka, Seoul, Taipei and Tokyo, three including experienced engineers who work close to the clients and speak local locations across Australia, and a recently opened office in Auckland, New languages. Today, Rimini Street already supports more than 300 clients with Zealand. In addition, the Company has now opened up a new office in operations in Greater China and Southeast Asia combined. Singapore to serve Southeast Asia. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 5 review

their favourite online video creators and fellow fans across parties, panels, VIDCON CONTINUES meet and greets, concerts and more; the Creator Track is a showcase for creators and experts to educate their peers and the industry about online GLOBAL EXPANSION video, how to break into the industry and build an online brand, and strategies to meet and collaborate with fellow creators.

WITH FIRST EVER In the past year alone, VidCon has welcomed more than 100,000 attendees and industry guests to events staged in the US, UK and Australia. VidCon plays VIDCON ASIA SUMMIT host to a wide variety of interactive experiences, live music performances, panels with experts and content creators, one-on-one chats, meet and greets between fans and creators, innovative brand activations, selfie moments and IN SINGAPORE THIS much more.

DECEMBER In addition to connecting the world’s top digital creators with their biggest fans, VidCon assembles senior executives from the world’s top digital VidCon’s signature Industry Track to feature platforms including YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Twitch, as part of the Singapore Media Festival Snapchat, TikTok, Weibo, and more. TVAplus Singapore – VidCon, the world’s largest celebration of online video and digital creators, is headed to Singapore for its first VidCon Asia Summit. The two-day event will be held from December 3-4, 2019 at the Raffles City Convention IMDb TV triples content Centre, Singapore.

VidCon was founded by the Vlog Brothers, veteran YouTube creators Hank selection and plans and John Green and was acquired by Viacom in 2018. VidCon’s flagship event, VidCon US, kicked off its 10th anniversary on July 10 in Anaheim, California. European expansion VidCon is set to return in February 2020 following its successful debut earlier this year, while VidCon Australia which is taking place in this September, is in its third year.

The VidCon Asia Summit, being staged in association with the Singapore Media Festival hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), will introduce VidCon’s signature Industry Track to the Asian market. Programming will comprise a variety of keynotes from global industry leaders coupled with hands-on workshops focused on growing an audience and revenue in the fast-paced Asian online video marketplace. VidCon Asia will include panel discussions about working with online video platforms, brand case studies and learnings, algorithm insights and test results from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat experiments, along with a deep-dive on social video trends across Asia, and much more. VidCon Asia will be produced by Branded, owners of the award winning All That Matters festival.

Mark Whitehead, President and Managing Director, Viacom International Media Networks Asia Pacific, said, “As a media company that is dedicated to creating entertainment and experiences for our fans while bringing value for SEATTLE – IMDb TV, a free streaming video channel formerly known as IMDb our partners, we are extremely excited to launch VidCon in Asia. Singapore Freedive, will triple its content selection, bringing thousands of new titles to the is the perfect location for us to make our debut in the region – it is a vibrant ad-supported service in the coming months. Additionally, IMDb TV will launch in media hub with a solid digital infrastructure and strong support from bodies Europe later this year, bringing a premium collection of movies and TV shows such as the IMDA. Through VidCon, we are creating not just a forum, but also to customers for free. a platform and playground for anyone who is passionate about digital content, and will further fuel the growth of the online video universe.” Through new deals with studios like Warner Bros., Pictures Entertainment and MGM Studios, customers can enjoy award-winning, box-office hits like “As we celebrate VidCon’s tenth anniversary, we are excited to continue Academy Award-nominated Captain Fantastic (Viggo Mortensen) available now expanding our global footprint and introduce our VidCon format to the Asian and La La Land (Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling) available July 1, marking the market. Asia is one of the most creative cultural hubs in the world and we first time Award-winning film is available on an ad-supported expect a diverse group of creators, brands and platforms to come together streaming service. and shape the future of online video,” said Jim Louderback, General Manager of VidCon. “Our foray into Asia, coupled with our return to London, further IMDb TV offers titles customers love across a range of genres, including solidifies our international presence and commitment to honour those making comedy, kids and family, romance, thrillers, science fiction, documentaries, an impact on the digital world.” horror and more. Popular series include Fringe (Joshua Jackson), Kitchen Nightmares (Gordon Ramsay), Duck Dynasty (Jase Robertson) and The “VidCon Asia will add to the vibrancy of our events calendar and position Singapore as the hub for the development of online video and digital content. Bachelor, and fan favorite movies include Academy Award-nominated Drive Set to be a flagship event for the community of online content creators, it will (Ryan Gosling), Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), Academy Award-winning provide networking avenues for creators and delegates, promote capability Monster (Charlize Theron) and Academy Award-winning Dancing with the development opportunities, and build industry thought leadership for the Wolves (Kevin Costner). A new wave of movies will join the IMDb TV lineup region. We are heartened that Singapore continues to be recognised as the on July 1 such as Academy Award-winning Sense and Sensibility (Emma preferred MICE destination for first-in-Asia shows, offering the platforms Thompson), Draft Day (Kevin Costner) and A Knight’s Tale (Heath Ledger). for innovation, growth and opportunities,” said Andrew Phua, Director of Exhibitions and Conferences, Singapore Tourism Board. In addition to being available in the U.S. on the IMDb website and as a free channel within the Prime Video app across hundreds of devices, IMDb TV is The longer-term ambition is to expand the VidCon Asia Summit and bring available on Fire TV, the #1 streaming media product in the U.S. with over 34 VidCon’s signature three-track programme to the market, expanding beyond million active users worldwide. Fire TV customers in the U.S. have enjoyed the Industry Track with the addition of the Community Track and the Creator IMDb TV since it launched earlier this year, and this free service has quickly Track. The Community Track is a hugely popular festival connecting fans with become one of the top ad-supported apps on Fire TV. TVAplus

6 | television asia plus august-september 2019 review

ZEE5 Partners with DViO Warner Bros. Celebrates 50 Years Of Scooby-Doo BURBANK, CALIF., – Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP) and Scooby-Doo are inviting new and old pals to celebrate 50 years of mysteries, meddling, munchies and more as Scooby continues to befriend a whole new generation of curious-minded kids and evoke nostalgia with parents through the launch of the “50 Days of Scooby” celebration. The countdown kicks off on July 26 and will culminate on our beloved canine friend’s spooky MUMBAI – Global digital entertainment platform ZEE5 announced that the birthday on Friday, September 13. multi-country, integrated social media and marketing agency, DViO has been brought onboard to drive its social media strategy for APAC, MENA and To celebrate the anniversary, Warner Bros. is giving fans 50 days of content, Europe. The mandate was won following a multi-agency pitch. The brand will giveaways, product, downloadable activities and many more surprises. In be handled by the agency’s Mumbai office. addition, fans will be treated to classic and new releases including the latest Scooby-Doo series Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? which recently premiered on DViO Digital gets onboarded at a time when ZEE5 is aggressively ramping up Boomerang, Scooby-Doo! Return to Zombie Island and Scooby-Doo, Where are its expansion across markets. Launched across 190+ markets in October You!: The Complete Series Limited Edition 50th Anniversary Mystery Mansion 2018 with over 100,000 hours of content across TV Shows, Movies, Originals from Home Entertainment, and original digital content with the launch of the and more, ZEE5 has already seen tremendous success in key international One Minute Mysteries series. New Scooby-Doo inspired products, from food markets among South Asian audiences. The streaming platform recently and games to apps, will also be revealed during the 50 days; as well as various announced the addition of content across 5 international languages Thai, partnerships within global themed entertainment, local family restaurants, Malay, Bahasa, Russian and German, making its vast bouquet of content interactive activations and retail experiences. accessible now even to mainstream audiences in these markets who love Indian movies and TV Shows. The 50 Day countdown leads into Scooby’s 50th birthday on September 13 with a birthday bash filled with a day of adventure and mystery-solving DViO has been mandated to drive cohesive social media strategies for fun on the WB Studio Lot. During the week leading up to the big birthday, ZEE5 with a digital first approach across APAC, MENA and Europe and craft a comprehensive party pack will be available on the calendar so kids and experiences that will further strengthen the connect that ZEE5 has built with its families can celebrate Scooby’s birthday at home including custom party international audiences in these markets. TVAplus invites, Scooby-approved munchies recipes, Mystery Gang and Monster masks, Scooby-Doo Bingo, coloring pages, and a DIY popcorn box—complete with a special screening of your favorite Scooby episodes or movie. Nippon TV Producer Join us at Comic-Con International as we salute that lovable Great Dane, Scooby-Doo and the Mystery Inc. gang with a panel spotlighting half a century Hisashi Tsugiya receives of crime-solving silliness. For 50 years, the Mystery Inc. gang has entertained Scooby-Doo fans with zany hijinks, action-packed adventures and engaging award mysteries that have captivated viewers of all ages. TOKYO, JAPAN – Nippon TV’s award-winning What started as a Saturday morning cartoon exploded into an enormously producer, Mr. Hisashi Tsugiya, received an successful franchise encompassing multiple spin-off series, original animated award from the Broadcast Creators Association and live action films, consumer products and much more. Included in the of Japan. The association promotes and celebration the panel will feature several key showrunners, filmmakers and aims to contribute to the success and further stars of the franchise – and a glimpse of the upcoming Scooby-Doo, Where are development of the broadcast culture in Japan. You!: The Complete Series Limited Edition

Tsugiya was awarded as an individual for 50th Anniversary Mystery Mansion box set available in stores on September 3, his long-time commitment to creating many 2019. TVAplus memorable drama series, notably Mother, Woman -My Life for My Children-, and anone. customers on Infinity Postpaid plans of Rs 499 and above will be eligible for One major criteria for receiving the award was this exclusive benefit. the international adaptations of Mother and ZEE5 has an extensive digital content library that includes the Video on Woman -My Life for My Children-. TVAplus Demand (VOD) network content along with the recently launched ZEE5 Originals, Movies, TV Shows, Music Videos, Lifestyle shows, Kids shows and Plays. Some of the top shows across languages include Karenjit Kaur – The Airtel upgrades Untold Story of Sunny Leone; Rangbaaz - starring Saqib Saleem, Ranvir Shorey, Aahana Kumra, Ravi Kishan and Tigmanshu Dhulia; Prateik Babbar, exclusive benefits under Sonal Chauhan and Jisshu Sengupta starrer Skyfire; Arjun Rampal, Sakshi Tanwar, Neeraj Kabi starrer The Final Call; Anjali Patil, Sachin Khedekar, Vikram #AirtelThanks Gokhale’s Hutatma (Marathi), Auto Shankar (Tamil), Amala Akkineni in High Priestess (Telugu) and upcoming MUMBAI – Bharti Airtel and ZEE5, India’s fastest growing OTT platform shows like Dia Mirza and Mohit announced that they have further strengthened their strategic partnership to Raina starrer Kaafir; a one-of-its- enable a world-class digital content experience for Airtel mobile customers. kind football series with a cause - Bombers and blockbuster movies As part of Airtel’s refreshed #AirtelThanks customer rewards program, all - Uri – The Surgical Strike, Simmba, Airtel Platinum customers will now get unlimited complimentary access to Kedarnath, Veere Di Wedding, etc. ZEE5’s vast content catalogue as part of their plan benefits. All Airtel mobile TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 7 review

Passion Distribution all3media International lands sales for new signs new collaborations documentary

NATIONAL – Leading independent distributor all3media international has Produced by Pioneer Productions, One Hour signed a number of key new collaborations in Europe for upcoming procedural That Changed The World: The Moon Landing was detective drama Van der Valk. commissioned and funded by Passion Distribution.

LONDON – Passion Distribution has closed a raft of international sales for The series is being filmed on location in Amsterdam, with Company Pictures documentary One Hour That Changed The World: The Moon Landing (1 X 60’). producing and Dutch company NL Film co -producing. Starring Marc Warren The documentary has been acquired by UKTV in the UK for its Eden channel, (Safe, Mad Dogs) in the eponymous role and written by Chris Murray (Midsomer TEN in Australia, TVNZ in New Zealand, CBC in Canada, Phoenix TV in China, Murders, Lewis). Maimie McCoy (The Three Musketeers) features as Lucienne Hong Kong and South East Asia and in Israel. Hassell, his gutsy and fiercely competent right-hand woman.

Produced by Pioneer Productions, One Hour That Changed The World: Van Der Valk also stars Luke Allen-Gale (Dominion), Elliot Barnes-Worrell The Moon Landing was commissioned and funded by Passion Distribution, (Jericho), Darrell D’Silva (Strike Back), Emma Fielding (Les Misérables), Kees following the success of the previous collaboration with Pioneer on Planes Boot (Judas), Reinout Bussemaker (Flight HS13), Frances Grey (Home Fires), Gone Viral. Daniel Lapaine (The Durrells), Stephanie Leonidas (Snatch), Mike Libanon (Kill

One Hour That Changed The World: The Moon Landing celebrates the Switch) and Vineeta Rishi (Line of Duty). historic 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, in a fresh and distinctive style. The documentary subverts usual conventions by beginning with the momentous The series will be executive produced by Michele Buck (Lewis, Parade’s End, event, before rewinding the clock to explore the preceding dramatic sixty Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple and Poirot) for Company Pictures and Louise minutes in granular detail. Pedersen (Blood) for all3media international and Sebastian Lückel for ARD Degeto with Sabine Brian as co- producer for NL Films and Keith Thompson Featuring archive footage, testimony from an eyewitness in mission control (Vikings, Foyle’s War) serving as series producer. on the day, and expert analysis, the unique and inventive format reveals an incredible untold story: that even during the last hour, the moon landing might Germany’s ARD Degeto for Das Erste (ARD) and all3media international have have failed, because of system failures, accidents and sheer bad luck. The co-commissioned the series. documentary focuses on the heroism of the astronauts and the ingenuity of the team back in Houston, who overcame these setbacks and still successfully landed a man on the moon. all3media international today also announces pre-sales with France Télévisions (France) and ITV (UK) with NPO Netherlands as the Dutch broadcast partner. The deals were concluded Nick Tanner, Director of Sales and Co-Productions, There will be 3 x 90 minutes films. Tom Burton, Sales Manager Australia, New Zealand, Canada & Global Digital, Michelle Choi, Sales Executive, Asia and Eliana Barbosa, Sales Manager, Israel Inspired by the drama produced by Thames Television in the 1970s, which and Pan Territory. Roxana Rehman, acquisitions executive, secured the show aired for five seasons, the last in 1992, the newVan der Valk will once again for UKTV and it will air on Eden later this year. TVAplus centre on the investigations of Dutch detective Piet Van Der Valk in and around the city of Amsterdam. partners with iQIYI The original Van der Valk, which was loosely based on the novels by Nicolas KUALA LUMPUR – Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd announced it has entered Freeling, provided British audiences with their first truly international detective into a strategic partnership with iQIYI, a market leading online entertainment – a complex, thoughtful and ‘real’ sleuth who tackled tough crimes against a service in China. picturesque Dutch backdrop. The new series will reimagine Van der Valk in the lively and enigmatic city of Amsterdam, following an engaging, unapologetic Under the partnership, Astro has the exclusive rights to deliver iQIYI content and street-smart detective as he leads his dynamic team in solving a raft of on TV, On Demand and OTT in Malaysia including the world’s first iQIYI branded mysterious crimes using astute human observation and inspired detection. channel comprising iQIYI’s extensive slate of original content from drama to TVAplus variety shows and movies. Astro will also take the lead in customer acquisition, The Rap of China, Hot-Blood Dance Crew, Qing Chun You Ni and more, are marketing and media sales. available on Astro and are popular among Malaysian audiences. Under this new strategic partnership, Astro will have access to more quality new content High-quality iQIYI original dramas and variety shows, such as Story of Yanxi from iQIYI such The Rap of China 2019, Sword Dynasty, The Files of Teenagers Palace, The Golden Eyes, The Legend of White Snake, Tang Dynasty Tour, in the Concession, and many more iQIYI original content. TVAplus

8 | television asia plus august-september 2019 people

Nippon TV announces new appointments Award-winning producer to join ITV Studios NATIONAL – Acclaimed and award-wining producer Patrick Spence is to join ITV Studios. Spence is the executive producer behind a raft of stand-out dramas from Fortitude for Sky Atlantic; Marvellous, The A Word, Five Minutes of Heaven and Silent Witness for the BBC; the YoshioOkubo(Left) - Yoshinobu Kosugi(Right) upcoming Adult Material for C4 and The Eddy for Netflix. TOKYO, JAPAN – Currently ranked as the #1 TV broadcaster in Japan for the past five consecutive years, Nippon Television Network Spence will set up and run a new Corporation (Nippon TV) announced that Mr. Yoshio Okubo, currently scripted Studio which will see him Patrick Spence President and CEO of Nippon TV, has been appointed to Chairman and develop and produce premium CEO of the leading broadcaster, while Mr. Yoshinobu Kosugi, currently drama for the UK and international market and attract talent, both in serving as Executive Vice President, has been promoted to President front of and behind the camera, to make their home under that umbrella. of Nippon TV. Both positions became effective June 27, 2019 and with these new promotions Mr. Kosugi will report directly to Mr. Okubo. This new Studio will include an investment fund to enable Spence, as Creative Director, to invest in some of his own projects, alongside ITV Studios Global Entertainment. Spence will also work closely with Julian Nippon TV is recognized as Japan’s viewer ratings champion having Bellamy and his senior team to advise on future growth opportunities topped all timeslot categories for five consecutive years and garnering for ITV Studios. the largest profits in the country’s broadcasting industry. One of the biggest successes for the nation’s finest producer of all genres of He will join in early 2020 (date to be confirmed) and be based at ITV programming is Dragons’ Den, a globally successful business show Studios headquarters in Chancery Lane. format that has more than 35 versions in territories across all continents of the world. The Emmy award winning version, Shark Tank, airs in the Patrick is currently MD of Fifty Fathoms, a company he set up in 2010 US. under the umbrella of Endemol Shine. Since 2018, he has also been Director of Drama for Tiger Aspect. Following closely is the success of Mother, a scripted format that has Current productions as executive producer include; the third seasons become a mega hit in Turkey and has sold into 35 territories around of both Peter Bowker’s The A Word for BBC1/Sundance and Simon the world, and Woman -My Life for My Children- which became an Donald’s Fortitude for Sky Atlantic; Jack Thorne’s The Eddy for Netflix, even bigger hit in Turkey and currently sold to 33 territories. With well- being directed by the Academy Award winning Damien Chazelle; Lucy established businesses that range from eSports, android creation, Kirkwood’s Adult Material for C4 and the fifth season of Steven Knight’s digital mixed reality, animation, movies, events, to fitness clubs, Nippon Bafta award winning Peaky Blinders for BBC1/Netflix. TV is leveraging its coveted platform to revolutionize digital media in an ever-changing industry. Launching a channel in Southeast Asia named A Bafta and RTS Award winning producer, Patrick’s previous credits GEM through a joint venture with Television Networks include Peter Bowker’s Marvellous, directed by Julian Farino, starring and leading the digital content market through Japan---a subsidiary Toby Jones and Occupation, directed by Nick Murphy and starring that boasts the largest SVOD subscriber base in the country, Nippon James Nesbitt and Stephen Graham, both of which won numerous Bafta and RTS Awards; the Academy Award winning John Ridley’s TV is steadily solidifying its presence and brand as a global media limited series Guerrillafor Sky Atlantic/Showtime, starring Frieda Pinto, powerhouse. TVAplus Babou Ceesay and Idris Elba; and Guy Hibbert’s double Sundance Award winning film Five Minutes of Heaven, starring Liam Neeson and ITV Studios Global Entertainment Jimmy Nesbitt. announces new appointments Patrick worked for eight years as Head of Drama for BBC Northern Ireland, and before that as Head of Development and executive NATIONAL – ITV Studios Global Entertainment has appointed two producer for BBC Series, where he developed and executive produced new senior hires to its Asia Pacific team, with Bharti Mittal being Waking the Dead and Silent Witness; executive produced Murphy’s Law confirmed as Sales Director for South Asia and Zoe Tsui joining as and Messiah and alongside Mal Young, developed both and Doctors. His first job was as script editor on Cracker, for ITV. TVAplus Head of Content Sales, Greater China. Cinelab London appoints new Mittal, who will be based out of ITV Studios Global Entertainment’s new base in Mumbai, was most recently working for Discovery Head of Production Networks across its APAC business, and before that, held content LONDON – Cinelab London, the film laboratory providing the UK’s and sales positions with Viacom 18/IndiaCast Media Distribution, Go widest range of processing and digital restoration services has hired Quest and Zee Entertainment. Cherri Arpino as Head of Production at their Slough-based film facility.

Tsui meanwhile joins ITV Studios Global Entertainment, working out Arpino is highly experienced and well respected having spent nearly of its Hong Kong office, from BBC Studios, where she held the same thirteen years working with global creative and technology content role, overseeing sales of its full slate of content, including natural creators and distribution companies. Prior to joining Cinelab London, history, drama, documentaries, comedy and more. Prior to this, Arpino was Dailies Manager at CO 3 London for two years. Before she spent 10 years with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment this she held the title of head of dailies and senior rushes producer International in its China Representative Office. at Technicolor for ten years and was responsible for all content in the dailies process. Mittal and Tsui will both report into Hyeonza Hong, Senior Vice President, Asia. As a result Cherri’s skillset naturally spans producing and In addition to these appointments, a deal has also been agreed for managing dailies across the Plandas to become ITV Studios Global Entertainment’s new and feature film and entertainment exclusive distribution agent in Japan. Founded in 1980 and lead by sectors; communicating directly President, Daisuke Miyanaga, Plandas have a wealth of experience with production, directors, and a well-established network of partners in the Japanese market. cinematographers and studio TVAplus executives. TVAplus Cherri Arpino

10 | television asia plus august-september 2019 people

Fremantle appoints new Vice President A+E Networks names new International and Senior Acquisitions Manager Group Managing Director NEW YORK, NY – A+E Networks has named Patrick Vien to Group Managing Director - International, from his previous role of co- Executive Managing Director, International. In this role, Vien will be responsible for A+E Networks international portfolio and businesses. Based in New York, Harry Gamsu Ceire Clark Vien will report to Paul Buccieri, President, A+E Networks Group. LONDON – Fremantle announced two new hires within its International distribution team. Joining the Non-Scripted content team is the new Vien, who has a well-established Vice President of Non-Scripted Content Acquisitions, Harry Gamsu, pedigree working in international and Senior Acquisitions Manager, Céire Clark. Both positions will report to Angela Neillis, Senior Vice President of Non-Scripted Content media, joined A+E Networks in 2017 as co-executive managing for Fremantle’s distribution business. Harry Gamsu director, International. In this In his new role, Gamsu will be based in and manage role, he had oversight of A+E’s businesses throughout Europe, Middle the US based Content Acquisitions team. He will be responsible for East and Africa. In addition, Vien oversaw programming strategy for sourcing new content from across the US and Canada for development channels outside the U.S. He has also been responsible for overseeing and international distribution. Working with a mix of third party and the company’s international content sales across 200+ territories. Fremantle’s in-house producers, Gamsu will explore and negotiate Most recently, Vien and his team spearheaded the launch of a co- rights for distribution opportunities. production division, and the company’s first international scripted co- production, Miss Scarlet & The Duke, as well as the new unscripted Prior to joining Fremantle, Gamsu held the position of VP of Non- series, Damian Lewis: Spy Wars. Scripted at Red Arrow Studios International and previously held international distribution and acquisition roles at Warner Bros. International Television Production and Outright Distribution. Prior to joining A+E, Vien was President of Pulse Films, a global content Clark will be based at Fremantle’s London HQ. In her role on the studio, whose titles included Lemonade with Beyonce for HBO and the Global Content team, she will work with Fremantle’s own creatives and feature film American Honey starring Shia LeBoeuf. He’d previously develop further relationships with key independent producers. As well been Chairman and CEO of Warner Music International, President of as developing commercial strategies for content, Clark will source new NBC Universal Global Networks and founder of U.S. cable networks content and work with producers to help them to retain IP and develop TRIO and Newsworld International. TVAplus international commercial potential. Vertiv appoints new Singapore Country Before arriving at Fremantle, Clark worked at all3media international where she managed non-scripted acquisitions from all3media’s group Manager of 28 production companies across the globe. Prior to that, she was part of the Acquisitions and Programming team at National Geographic SINGAPORE – Vertiv has named Television International. Hitesh Prajapati as the new country manager for Singapore. Fremantle holds relationships with a list of impressive non-scripted Vacating his previous role with talent and producers including Jamie Oliver, Nigella Lawson & BBC Vertiv in Malaysia, Hitesh’s Studios, Naked, True to Nature, Label 1, Spring Films, Wild Blue Media, appointment comes at an apt time Original Productions, Herzog & Company, Lightbox, , Atlantic when Singapore is witnessing Productions, Network Entertainment, Spyglass Media and Associated unprecedented growth in data Producers. centre and colocation industries, TVAplus fueled by the rapid pace of digital technology particularly mobile Nelvana appoints Development computing, internet of things Producer (IoT) and cloud computing . Hitesh Prajapati TORONTO – Corus Aside from leading and managing the overall business operations, Entertainment’s Nelvana, a world- Hitesh will seek to strengthen Vertiv’s participation in various segments leading international producer like telecom, commercial facilities and urban infrastructure apart from and distributor of children’s data centres. As the world’s leading provider of critical infrastructure animated content, announced technologies, Vertiv ensures that the digital infrastructure runs the appointment of Brandon Lane continuously and evolves with business needs. as Producer of Development for Having joined Vertiv in 2003, Hitesh has garnered rich international its rapidly growing library of exposure from his stints in India, Hong Kong, Philippines, Singapore exceptional kids’ content. and Malaysia. During this time, he has taken on key roles including establishing and leading Vertiv’s channel business in Asia, directing Under the lead of Athena market development in untapped verticals and geographies and most Georgaklis, Head of Development, recently as the country manager for Malaysia in 2015. Hitesh holds an Brandon will be responsible for MBA from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management Pune (SIBM) overseeing the creative vision of Brandon Lane in India and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pune. certain development properties and producing training programs to TVAplus elevate the ingenious skills of Nelvana’s in-house storytellers. Transylvania: The Series, Esme & Roy, Inspector Gadget and more. Daytime Emmy Award nominee and five-time Canadian Comedy Award nominee, Brandon Lane brings 10 years of experience in kids Prior to working for Corus, Brandon held the role of Development entertainment as a showrunner, director, screenwriter and producer. Executive and Associate Creative Producer at 9 Story Media Group, Brandon served as Production Executive for Corus Kids on top rated where he oversaw development and creative production of YTV’s shows including Cupcake & Dino: General Services, Hotel Cache Craze and Numb Chucks. In his spare time, Brandon teaches a Children’s Media post-grad program at Centennial College. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 11 feature TVB channels available to Singtel customers

for the first time Mark Lee TVB The TVB Anywhere app which streams TVB drama, Executive variety and classics library on mobile devices will Director & launch on Singtel CAST later this year. Group Chief Executive Officer

original audio. pay-TV provider,” said Mr Yuen Jade shows include dramas Singtel TV is expanding its “Having listened to our Kuan Moon, CEO, Consumer ‘Neighbourhood Finance’ entertainment line-up, bringing customers, many of whom Singapore, Singtel. starring Kent Cheng, ‘Agent Hong Kong’s TVB Jade and are fans of TVB, we are “We are excited to work with C9’ starring , TVB Xing He channels to its bringing its channels to their Singtel, Singapore’s leading ‘Death By Zero’ with customers for the first time. screens for the first time. TVB pay-TV provider, to bring and , variety series Both channels will launch with a is a welcome addition to the TVB channels to even more ‘Do Did Eat’ hosted by Carol free preview from 9 September Singtel TV family – featuring viewers. For many years, our Cheng, as well as live telecasts to 8 October 2019. a wide range of content that viewers in Singapore have of ‘ appeals to our customers and enjoyed our shows, and with 2019’, ‘TVB Anniversary’ and Singtel customers can TVB fans alike. We’ve been this partnership, we look ‘TVB Awards Show’. Fans can enjoy the same TVB Jade steadily adding channels to forward to elevating our fans’ catch nostalgic favourites in as Hong Kong viewers, with our comprehensive TV line-up engagement and experiences Mandarin on TVB Xing He, like compelling dramas, variety and and will continue to boost our to the next level,” said Mr Mark ‘To Catch the Uncatchable’ infotainment programmes in offerings as Singapore’s #1 Lee, Executive Director and starring , ‘Only Group Chief You’ led by and Executive ‘Wudang Rules’ with Tavia Officer, TVB. Yeung.

TVB Jade (CH From August, customers 511) is part can sign up for the Canto of Singtel TV’s add-on pack by pressing the new Canto blue button on the Singtel TV add-on pack, remote control, visiting singtel. available at the com/TVB, or calling 1609. The launch special Canto pack also includes cHK of S$0.90 Cantonese video-on-demand monthly, (VOD) service offering Hong discounted Kong movies, variety and from the drama. Existing cHK (CH 510) regular price subscribers will enjoy TVB Jade of $4.90. channel at no additional cost. TVB Xing He (CH 517) will In the past year, Singtel TV be added to expanded its line-up by adding Jingxuan packs the Discovery and HBO channel at no extra suites, major sports leagues charge. and beIN SPORTS channel. Singtel TV recently overtook Upcoming TVB StarHub TV as Singapore’s largest pay-TV operator. TVAplus

12 | television asia plus august-september 2019 feature Tackling the rising cost of password sharing By Steve Sawyer, Digital Element Vice President of International Strategy

25% of those viewing via But this is problematic combined with velocity All seems rosy in the an online platform used a because it could prevent a tracking, which assesses subscription video-on- password belonging a friend legitimate user accessing the time and distance demand garden, with or relative, illustrating the their account when they are between log-in instances subscriptions across APAC sheer scale of the issue. away from home. to determine whether they expected to increase from can realistically be the same 221 million last year, to The regulations around In addition, viewers person. 407 million by 2024. Global shared log-in details have often make use of proxy streaming platform Netflix so far been relatively technologies such as virtual Broadcasters can use recently broke its own relaxed. While most private networks (VPNs) all this information to viewer records with the providers specify users which mask their actual distinguish the behaviours of release of Stranger Things, are not supposed to location. Again, it sounds legitimate customers from with 40 million households share credentials with simple to just block users those that are circumventing watching the show in its first those outside their own of VPNs, but given viewers the subscription process four days. household, they have done can use these technologies by borrowing passwords. little to enforce the rules. legitimately to increase They can take control of But producing or licensing Some even see password privacy and security, not their content to understand TV-quality content is an sharing as a marketing just to gain illicit access who their viewers are and expensive business and tool to increase exposure to content, platforms whether they are allowed broadcasters must ensure and drive future sales. But risk blocking genuine to access the content they are maximising the subscription streaming subscribers and delivering a they are watching, or take revenues. One common market is becoming poor customer experience. action to block access for practice that is limiting the increasingly competitive, unauthorised viewers in real full potential revenue from making it more important Instead broadcasters need time. subscription streaming than ever for broadcasters to take a more nuanced services is password to generate revenues to approach to effectively Password sharing is a sharing, and it’s something invest back into quality control access to their growing concern and the broadcasters can no longer content. And as the revenue content. Using highly revenue loss associated afford to ignore. losses associated with accurate IP geolocation with the practice will only password sharing continue data, that allows the rise alongside increased use When sharing isn’t caring to grow, platforms are identification of a users’ of subscription streaming beginning to get far stricter location at postcode level, platforms. Broadcasters Sharing log-in details with on the practice. without them becoming must intervene now to friends and family so they personally identifiable, tackle the escalating cost can check out the new box Clamping down on broadcasters can build a of password sharing, using set you’ve recommended collective credentials more granular picture of sophisticated technologies might seem like a harmless user activity. to distinguish between and even generous act. Preventing viewers using legitimate subscribers But for broadcasters the borrowed log-in details IP geolocation data, which and those using borrowed cost of password sharing to access content is a includes information such credentials. And most is escalating, with Amazon complex task. One obvious as device and connection importantly, ensuring they Prime and Hulu missing out answer is to use smart type as well as location, generate the revenues on $540 million and $480 tracking technology to can be layered with other required to deliver high million respectively. When determine a user’s location technologies such as quality content to paying the final season of Game and then block access machine learning to identify audiences without of Thrones aired earlier if that doesn’t match the and analyse patterns of damaging the genuine user this year, a staggering account holder’s address. behaviour. It can also be experience. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 13 feature

Cox expands TV5MONDE USA distribution TV5MONDE USA and Cox Communications have expanded their distribution deal, so customers in more than 20 markets across 14 states will be able to receive the 24/7 French language entertainment channel.

Create Louisiana Grant- TV5MONDE USA winning documentary, On Va provides viewers with a Continuer was broadcasted variety of French-language on 23 March. programming, subtitled in English. Viewers can On Va Continuer is the story expect classic, recent and of passionate dedication to never-before-seen in the the preservation of Louisiana US French language films, Cajun French culture and around the clock newscasts ancestral knowledge through live from Paris, the latest of the famed perfumery the tale of Louis Michot, series and dramas, premium (September 25 at 9:30 p.m. a man whose life revolves French Culture Film Grant documentaries, children’s ET). around the culture he loves programme, designed to shows, cultural programs so deeply. From his lively support films that showcase and international sports The network will also show on-stage presence in his both Francophone culture coverage of major events. recently released films such Cajun rock band Lost Bayou and the talents of Louisiana Cox is offering TV5MONDE as the 2019 feature film Ramblers, through his life filmmakers. On Va Continuer! USA for $9.99 per month. Meltem, a coming-of-age on the bayous and prairies received this year’s grant drama set in the Greek isles; of Louisiana, to the home (chosen from multiple Upcoming TV5MONDE Place publique, a comedy he built with his own hands, finalists) in addition to the USA programme highlights following a divorced couple Louis is a modern-day honour of a USA broadcast include a special week of who unexpectedly reunites champion set on breathing premiere on TV5MONDE programming celebrating at a party; and Mystère à life into a culture’s “dying” USA network. Paris Fashion Week will l’Élysée (2018), a murder language using the one culminate in the US premiere mystery taking place at the form of communication “TV5MONDE USA and Create of the 2019 documentary, turn of the century in Paris. understood by all: music. Louisiana have chosen a Lubin, un parfumeur documentary that highlights d’excellence, examining The network will also carry The documentary feature Louisiana’s unmistakable, the history and prominence the kick off of the 2019- film was the winner of the sound and culture,” said the 20 season TV5MONDE USA-sponsored network. TVAplus of Ligue 1 Conforama, France’s professional soccer league.

Earlier this year the world television premiere of the

14 | television asia plus august-september 2019 feature National Geographic celebrates the 50th Anniversary with Apollo: Missions To The Moon Never before heard mission recordings, newly transferred footage and rare photographs of All 12 crewed missions to tell the complete story of NASA’s historic Apollo Space Program

Apollo Space Program — the families and friends who the spirit of the time. The “That’s one small step from the ill-fated Apollo 1 stood by as their loved ones predominantly orchestral for man, one giant leap for mission, which claimed the took to the skies,” says score features electronically mankind.” On that fateful lives of three astronauts, to Jennings. “The whole world manipulated sounds from day, with more than half the final flight that brought stopped for a moment to the 1960’s heyday of NASA a billion people worldwide the program to a close. rejoice and take pride in the space explorations, including watching on television, “Beyond audio and footage boundless sense of courage the Apollo mission open Apollo 11 became the first of the brave astronauts, and optimism that Apollo radio frequencies, the Kepler spaceflight to land man on Apollo: Missions To The made possible.” Star and Sputnik’s telemetry the moon. Led by astronauts Moon creates a tapestry “Apollo: Missions To The beacon. Armstrong, Michael Collins of the collective sights and Moon is not just a show; Apollo: Missions To The and Buzz Aldrin, the mission sounds that brings us back it’s an experience,” says Moon is produced by effectively ended the to the golden age of space,” Geoff Daniels, executive 1895 Films for National Space Race and fulfilled says Jennings. vice president of global Geographic Documentary an American goal set by The film features newly unscripted entertainment at Films. For 1895 Films, President John F. Kennedy. transferred film and never- National Geographic. “It’s Jennings is executive This historic feat changed before-heard audio to filled with intimate, exquisite producer and director. the world forever. recount the groundbreaking, moments that put you on For National Geographic To commemorate the key moments of America’s the edge of your seat and Documentary Films, 50th anniversary, National goal to land on the moon reveal the human face of Bernadette McDaid is Geographic kicks off before 1970. With no heroism at a time when our executive producer and its Mission to the Moon narration nor modern- country — and the world commissioning editor programming event with day talking heads, the — was deeply divided. and Hamish Mykura is the epic two-hour feature missions are experienced Apollo renewed our purpose executive vice president documentary Apollo: entirely through archival and passion for space of programming and Missions To The Moon. The TV footage, never-before- exploration, which is deeply development. film is executive produced heard radio broadcasts, woven into our human DNA USA for $9.99 per month. and directed by acclaimed home movies, NASA film and at the core of National Emmy and Peabody and mission-control audio Geographic. Now, 50 years Upcoming TV5MONDE Award-winning filmmaker to create an eyewitness- later, this film could not be USA programme highlights Tom Jennings (Challenger like experience. The film more relevant; it reminds include a special week of Disaster: Lost Tapes, Diana: includes several firsts, us what we can achieve programming celebrating In Her Own Words). including the combination together and has the power Paris Fashion Week will The film weaves together of NASA footage with to transform us all.” culminate in the US premiere more than 500 hours of “black-box” recordings from Composed by James of the 2019 documentary, footage, 800 hours of audio Apollo capsules and the Everingham for Bleeding Lubin, un parfumeur and 10,000 photos, using synchronization of 30-track Fingers Music and produced d’excellence, examining Jennings’ signature style audio from mission control. by Academy Award, Golden the history and prominence of first-person storytelling “Apollo: Missions To The Globe, Tony Award and TVAplus to take viewers behind Moon unveils what was Grammy Award winner the scenes. This intimate, happening not only on the Hans Zimmer and Emmy- immersive account spans ground at mission control nominated Russell Emanuel, the full sweep of NASA’s but also in the homes of the film’s score captures

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 15 feature Ten to bring back Australia After much speculation, Ten has finally named the last franchise it will be adding to its 2019 slate. The Amazing Race Australia will return to screens after a five-year break, hosted by Beau Ryan.

a perfect blend of action, Earlier this year at their drama and captivating mid-year upfront, Ten’s characters. We look Chief Content Officer forward to rounding out Beverley McGarvey our 50-week schedule with revealed that there would an epic and fun adventure be one more franchise series,” said McGarvey. added to the slate for The Amazing Race first 2019, but that contract aired in the US in 2001 negotiations had slowed and will return to Ten- the announcement owner CBS in 2019 for process. its 32nd season. The The Amazing Race format has also been Australia was last on to apologise for following TV. I jumped at the chance commissioned in 13 screens in 2014, when backlash about racist to combine two of my countries around the it wrapped after three comments made by Ryan. favourite things, people world. seasons on Seven. The The NRL Footy Show and travel. I can’t wait to Eureka CEO, Paul Franklin, premiere drew 588,000 was axed in 2018. Ryan get started. May the best said: “It’s one of the truly viewers while the final joined Macquarie Media’s team win,” said Ryan. original and iconic shows episode brought in Macquarie The Amazing Race of all time and it’s an 416,000. Before that, in 2018 but left after Australia will be produced honour and a privilege to when season one kicked three months. He’s also by Eureka Television in be working with Network off in 2011, the premiere previously filled in for Kiis partnership with Profiles 10 in putting the Australian drew 1.28m. There was a FM’s Kyle Sandilands on Television. McGarvey said spin on such an incredible gap between season two the Kyle and Jackie O the blend of the show is format. An international and season three, with the show. something which will nicely rollercoaster ride of a casting beginning in 2012 In 2014 Ryan released a round out the rest of Ten’s show with a big heart, this but the season not airing single, ‘Where You From?’ programming slate. series will be one that the till 2014. with the Justice Crew. “We cannot wait to bring whole family can enjoy.” Ryan is a former-NRL The Amazing Race The Amazing Race back to TVAplus player who spent his Australia will hit screens Australian audiences. It is football career with the later in the year and will Cronulla Sharks and see teams race around the . He the world in a bid to be the announced his retirement last team standing and win while he was on The a cash prize. Footy Show, which he Ryan said he jumped at began appearing on in the chance to host the 2009. He was known for show. his comedic work on the “I’m really pumped to be show, including a 2016 hosting one of the biggest segment which Nine had franchises on Australian

16 | television asia plus august-september 2019 feature - social media Global Audiences Embrace Issues- Based Factual Entertainment K7 Media’s Michelle Lin explains how social Michelle Lin change is making factual entertainment more Asia Pacific popular in global markets. Manager K7

it follows President Xi’s ruling Our Dementia Choir with Vicky premiered in 2016 and follows The notion of “factual that media should pursue a McClure. The show sees the people with autism or Tourette’s entertainment” is nothing new positive impact on society. The down-to-earth actress, Vicky syndrome as they seek work. in the west, where uplifting award-winning format is now McClure (Line of Duty), joining The format has sold to Canada social documentaries have regarded as South Korea’s latest force with specialists from the and the USA, where it airs as been popular for many years successful factual entertainment fields of medicine, music therapy The Employables. and continues to perform well. export. and performance. The show Indeed, it was one of the most brings together 20 people with More examples abound. This successful genres in K7 Media’s Over in the UK, Channel 4’s dementia to form a choir in three year Danish pubcaster DR MIPTV 2019 Unscripted Trends The Restaurant That Makes months. The choir members launched Denmark’s Hottest Market Report. It is only in Mistakes was inspired by the share their struggles with the “Spasser” in which Mulle recent years, however, that same story and debuted on disease as they rehearse for Skouboe, a model with cerebral Asian markets have warmed to 12 June. In line with western the biggest show in their lives, palsy, staged a live beauty this style of programming. formatting tastes, the show scheduled at the grand Royal contest with only disabled integrated social experiment Concert Hall in Nottingham. The contestants. In March this year, One of the first Asian networks and encouraged the process also reveals how music BBC2 was Travelling Blind to to invest in the genre was South dementia patients to tackle can stimulate a brain damaged Turkey with blind thrill-seeker Korea’s public broadcaster more challenging roles such as by dementia. Amar Latif and comedian Sara KBS, which launched its heart- prepping and cooking the food Pascoe acting as his sighted- warming factual entertainment on top of “memory-required” Dementia is not the only medical guide. show Oops! We Forgot Your serving tasks. At the end of condition to be explored through Order. The show follows elderly the five-week work period, the factual entertainment. Viewers The global mood right now is people diagnosed with dementia volunteers are tested to find out in the west now have a greater grim, as social and economic as they take on serving roles in whether their experience has knowledge of many disorders problems collide. With so much a pop-up restaurant. The show had an impact on their condition. and disabilities thanks to some polarization, it’s unsurprising was inspired by an actual 2017 excellent productions which go that TV increasingly offers charity pop-up restaurant in During the same month as the beyond traditional documentary uplifting perspectives on human Tokyo, created so that dementia last episode of the Channel 4 style. Many tell their stories problems, treating heavy topics patients could find meaning and series was aired, the format’s framed around themes of dating with a light touch. Despite self-esteem by re-connecting first international sales were or employment, areas that are minor tonal differences between with the general public. announced by Red Arrow Studios relatable to all. the shows, what is especially International. The Dutch channel, notable here is that the issues The KBS show inspired by this SBS6, is also set to partner The Undateables, also from being tackled are universal and true-life story was endorsed at with the Alzheimer Nederland Channel 4, is perhaps the best transcend culture and language. the Asia TV Forum 2018 and foundation to create a local known example. Currently in The fact that producers from picked up considerable buzz adaptation of the successful UK its tenth season, the show the UK, US, western Europe and at MIPTV 2019. A Chinese format. follows people with a variety Asia are all now exploring these version from Houghton Street of disfiguring or neurological topics in similar ways suggests Media just finished streaming Exploring the same issue with conditions as they quest for a growing convergence in on Tencent Video under the title a melodious approach, BBC’s love. The format has been audience tastes – and some Forget-Me-Not Café and has won flagship channel, BBC One, adapted in France. BBC2’s very welcome unity in divided local praise, not least because introduced a two-part series award-winning Employable Me times. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 17 feature - social media Viu & Discovery announce first content collaboration Viu’s original pan-regional reality travelogue No Sleep No FOMO will be launched on Discovery Channel and Discovery Asia across 14 markets.

The eight-episode reality watch No Sleep No FOMO platform, who shares our vision Viu, a leading pan-regional travelogue features the hottest come to life through dedicated of providing premium content OTT video service from PCCW Asian celebrities and social hashtags #ViuNoSleepNoFomo to viewers.” Ms. Sou added, Media Group, and Discovery media influencers conquering and #ViuEngage, as well as “Since the beginning of the Networks Asia-Pacific announced popular destinations. They to influence the course of production, the social media their first content collaboration have to complete 60 missions the celebrities’ adventures by posts of No Sleep No FOMO to bring No Sleep No FOMO, within 60 hours without sleep interacting on their social media have generated more than one a highly social media engaged in different cities. The host, channels in real-time. Take one million social engagements reality travelogue produced Singapore’s entertainment of the plots in the series as an and reached over 14 million by Viu, to Discovery Channel veteran Paul Foster, is joined by example, the celebrities were users. The interactive social and Discovery Asia in 14 Asian celebrity co-hosts Kim Jong Kook required to become wedding media element allows the digital markets. from the hit-show Running Man crashers. They followed tips generation to be co-creators and (South Korea), /songwriter provided by fans on social media this is the most important factor Subscribers of Discovery Eric Nam (South Korea), and and got an invitation to a Malay that has won their hearts and Channel and Discovery Asia in social media stars Hana Tam wedding finally. that has contributed to the high , , Hong Kong, (Hong Kong), Kevin Woo (South engagement rate.” Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia, Korea), Alexander Lee Eusebio Ms. Helen Sou, Senior Vice Mongolia, Myanmar, the (South Korea), Benjamin Kheng President, Digital Media, PCCW In 2019, Viu will continue to Philippines, Singapore, South (Singapore), Nat Ho (Singapore), Media, said, “We are excited invest in original content by Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Laureen Uy (the Philippines) and to partner with Discovery, working with local talents and the Vietnam, will be able to enjoy Taya Rogers (Thailand). Together one of the global leaders in creative industry in the region the program. Discovery Channel they reach a remarkable fan entertainment, to expand the with an aim to releasing over 80 and Discovery Asia reach over base of more than 12 million reach of our premium content titles. Viu offers Asian premium 22 million households in these social media followers. to its quality audiences across content and Viu Original through markets. Fans were able to follow and all screens. This win-win mobile app which is available for collaboration not only maximizes free download on App Store and the value of content we created Google Play, and on the web at for both viewers and partners, www.viu.com. TVAplus but also enables our pan-regional content to travel to more countries.”

Ms. Anna Pak Burdin, Discovery’s Vice President and general manager for Southeast Asia, said, “At Discovery, we power people’s passions. No Sleep No FOMO celebrates our global DNA – living life to the fullest, all within 60 hours. We are delighted to partner with Viu, a leading pan-Asia OTT

18 | television asia plus august-september 2019 4 - 6 November 2019, The Ritz-Carlton, Millenia Singapore

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Visit www.asiavideosummit.com for more details. or sponsorship enquiries, please email [email protected] / [email protected] cover story Asia in Focus There is intense Asian content development from global investors and players. Netflix announced its investment in more than 10 new South Korean originals, covering a range of themes from romance to science fiction, to showcase the country’s storytelling prowess. The Mediapro Studio’s The Head, is currently being shot in association with HBO Asia and Hulu Japan. Indian’s ZEE5 is making itself available in down under in a bundle for customers of mobile communications company Lebara Australia. Thai drama will soon air on Korean TV following JKN Global deal. K. Dass reports.

envelope to produce television award winning director Hwang talent here in Korea and all over Asian television producers content of the highest standard. Dong-hyuk. the region,” said Rob Roy, vice continue to gain traction Innovation and industry president - content, Netflix APAC. through winning partnerships excellence have become staple “Asian content has found fans with international broadcasters, features in Asian productions around the world transcending “Whether it is a story about a distributors and studios to now and we can only expect languages and borders, and Joseon crown prince saving develop factual programmes better things to come in the we are humbled to work with his kingdom from zombies or a and dramas with Asian-themed years ahead. some of the finest creators and school nurse protecting students content. From an illuminating documentary series about According to the US video unsung heroes to a heart streaming giant Netflix, in warming drama series exploring addition to new titles such as the intricacies of human nature supernatural action drama The via a series of weddings and School Nurse Files, its new slate funerals, these programmes includes returning seasons of showcase the depth and breadth Kingdom and unscripted variety of “made by Asia” content, and show Busted, featuring Yoo its appeal beyond its shores. Jae-suk, Lee Kwang-soo and Overall, the quality of this year’s Kim Jong-min. The company is production illustrates how Asia’s also working on a drama called best are continually pushing the Round Six, to be produced by

20 | television asia plus august-september 2019 cover story with her supernatural gift, each show is about how the TV form is helping to realise the artistic visions of Korean creators, and Netflix is honoured to bring these stories to the world, bringing their creative visions to life on the screen.”

New Korean content for Netflix includes Extracurricular, a story of high school students who become tangled in a series of conflicts and events that challenge human values and morality; and stand up comedy from popular comedian Park Narae: Glamor Warning. abilities of chasing ghosts. Australia,” said Archana Anand, individual on the go uses ZEE5 Jung Yu-mi (Train to Busan, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 as a one stop destination to The second season of Kingdom Live, Discovery of Love) will Global. consume the best of Indian continues the story about the play the role of Ahn Eun Young, entertainment,” continues Saini. crown prince fallen victim to who faces herself in various “With this partnership, we’re a conspiracy, setting out on a supernatural phenomenon and looking to increase our presence The platform’s library includes journey to unveil the evil scheme uses exorcism in a unique yet in Australia through Lebara Hindi TV shows such as Kum and save his people from a comic way. The series will be Australia’s subscriber base Kum Bhagya and Jodhaa Akbar; strange plague that renders the directed by Lee Kyoung-mi (The which will now have access to ZEE5 Originals including The infected immune to death and Truth Beneath, Crush and Blush). the best of Indian entertainment Final Call with Arjun Rampal, hungry for flesh. Another title Netflix’ ongoing commitment on any device of their choice,” and Kaafir with Dia Mirza, My Holo Love has also been to Korea follows the global she added. along with movies such as announced by the US video launch in July of historical drama Simba with Ranveer Singh and streaming giant, with details to Rookie Historian Goo Hae-Ryung, Ash Saini, General Manager, Kedarnath with Sara Ali Khan. follow later this year. staring Shin Se-kyung, and Lebara Australia, said: “We are Tamil TV shows on ZEE5 include the launch this month of SBS- thrilled to have partnered with Sembaruthi, Yaaradi Nee Mohini Based on a popular Korean produced spy drama Vagabond, ZEE5 in Australia and we cannot and Poove Poochoodava, novel by Jung Se-rang, The starring former K-pop stars Lee wait for all our users to sample alongside Tamil box office hits School Nurse Files tells the story Seung-gi (The King 2 Hearts, A the huge library of content that such as Mapla Singam, Mersal of a newly appointed high school Korean Odyssey) and Bae Suzy ZEE5 has to offer. and Kalavu. ZEE5 is available nurse who discovers secrets and (Architecture 101, While You using Samsung Smart TVs, mysteries with her supernatural Were Sleeping). “With a huge appetite for Indian Apple TV, Android TVs and entertainment amongst our Amazon Fire TV, and via Google Strangely in down under, ZEE5 ethnic market, we are very Play Store, iOS App Store and will bundle with some of Lebara’s excited to launch our bundles the ZEE5 website. prepaid plans in Australia, with ZEE5 subscriptions and delivering subscribers 100,000 we aim to ensure that every In a Asian collaboration deal, hours of on demand films, Korean pay-TV operator TRA originals, TV shows, videos and Media has acquired 265 news content. hours of content for its pay-TV channels from JKN Global, in a “Australia is an extremely deal which will take Thai drama important market for us as to South Korean TV for the first we expand across the globe time. and we’re extremely excited Archana Anand Chief Business Officer to announce our very first The deal includes BEC World ZEE5 Global Anne Jakrajutatip partnership with a key local CEO produced titles Love Destiny; telecom operator like Lebara JKN Global Media Nakee; Thong Ek - The Herbal

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 21 cover story

more specifically in Tenerife. Directed by Jorge Dorado (“El Embarcadero”, “Mindscape”) for 12 weeks, this survival thriller is set in one of the remotest places on the planet – Antarctica. The shooting is taking place in the Canary and Iceland. The Pastor brothers and Jorge Dorado have worked with Ran Tellem (“Homeland”), Head of International Content Development of THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO, in the creation of this thriller.

The project, one of THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO’s major Master; Love Beyond Time; viewers to explore more about by TRA Media, and its success investments, took its first steps Tales of the Two Cities; Kom Thai culture, food, costume, will earmark the demand for in 2017 at the prestigious Faek - The Lost Art; The Crown and many beautiful attractions more top-class Thai contents in International Series Mania Princess; and Waves of Life. in Thailand through our content. many more markets in Asia and Forum, held in Paris. The Head was presented at a pitching All titles will be aired in Thai with session and aroused great Korean subtitles on TRA Media’s interest among representatives entertainment channel Smile from the media and Plus and Asian drama channel entertainment sector. TV Plus. The former channel reaches 21.6 million households According to Javier Méndez, through cable, IPTV and satellite Chief Content Officer of THE TV, while the latter reaches 12.6 MEDIAPRO STUDIO, “The Head million cable households. is an example of the direction we’re headed in, with ambitious “Being the first Thai content to Àlex Pastor and David Pastor and complex international broadcast on Korea’s Smile Plus projects based on great stories. We hope it will also encourages beyond,” she added. and TVA Plus channels is one of is a major step in the Korean people to visit Thailand.” While writing this article, I The Head our greatest prides,” said Ariya Studio’s strategy to guarantee realised that THE MEDIAPRO Banomyong, President of BEC that the best stories reach our Anne Jakrajutatip, CEO of JKN STUDIO, HBO Asia and Hulu World Public Company. “This clients around the world; to do Global Media said, “South Korea Japan were already shooting shows that not only has our so, we have excellent partner has been able to export its the first series by Àlex Pastor quality content been accepted like Hulu Japan”. content globally with resounding and David Pastor in Spain, internationally, but it also leads success, so it is a great honour to opportunities for Korean to bring Thai dramas to South Korea. It reflects the high standards of Thai productions, how Thai producers have evolved their storytelling to appeal to a highly sophisticated market like Korea.

“I am confident the Korean

Jonathan Spink audience will enjoy the mega-hit CEO HBO Asia dramas that have been selected

22 | television asia plus august-september 2019 cover story

“We look forward to adding the survival thriller, The Head, to our slate of HBO Asia originals and bringing it to audiences across Asia when it premieres.”

Àlex and David, who have worked on the screenplays of “The Head”, along with Isaac Sastre, define the production as a “claustrophobic thriller with a central mystery.” “The series plays with two different times, because the idea is to find out who the murderer is, the reasons why they have done Laura Fernández Espeso, world. from the first moment. Having this, and if there is something Corporate Director and Co-Head Tomohisa as part of our cast is else behind or beyond what of TV of THE MEDIAPRO STUDIO, “After a process lasting two and a great addition to The Head. seem to be a series of crimes,” commented: “The Head is the half years, we at THE MEDIAPRO Together with his acting abilities they suggest. fruit of many months’ labor to STUDIO are proud to bring this and charm, he brings a fresh meet deadlines when demand unique story to the screen”, approach, a new world rarely The Pastor brothers have for content is huge. Having explained Tellem. “’The Head’” is seen on European shows. We a brilliant track record in talent like Jorge Dorado and about Good and Evil. Our story feel it will be a great impact filmmaking with titles like Àlex and David Pastor working begins when a group of people for both the Japanese viewers “Carriers” and “The Last Days”, from the beginning to build and find themselves completely of the series, as it will be to both written and directed shape this project, altogether disconnected from the world, in audiences in Europe and other by them, and “SELF/LESS”, with a great international cast the frozen darkness of the South regions of the world. We are written by them, directed by and a prominent partner such Pole winter. For the unknown excited and eager to meet Tomo Tarsem Singh (“The Cell”) and as Hulu Japan, gives an idea of killer among them, this is the on the set and get busy. We are starring Ben Kingsley and Ryan the magnitude of the project. It perfect setting. For everybody also delighted that HBO Asia has Reynolds. They made their is a privilege for THE MEDIAPRO else, telling good from evil just come on board, so The Head will debut in the TV world with the STUDIO to bring this amazing might be the thing that saves get a wider distribution across series “Incorporated”, for the series to the audiovisual your life.” Asia.” US channel Sy Fy, produced market”. by Pearl Street Films, which is He adds, “The moment Hulu “Following the success of MISS ’s and ’s The dark, long months in Japan joined us, we felt it SHERLOCK, the first HBO Asia company. The Pastor brothers Antarctica, the cold, the wind is more than just a regular Original co-production with were in charge of the screenplay and the large stretches of collaboration. The opportunity Hulu Japan, we look forward to and the direction of the pilot ice, along with the feelings of to include a Japanese character bringing yet another production episode. Recently, they have loneliness and claustrophobia, in this international thriller in collaboration with Hulu,” said directed the film Hogar“ ” for are the distinguishing features of was a challenge we embraced Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia. Netflix. TVAplus this six-episode series.

The plot of “The Head”, with dialogues in English and Danish, is set in the Polaris VI international base, in Antarctica. A small group of scientists from several countries will be in charge of the base during the long polar nights. But in the middle of winter, the base stops communicating with the outside

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 23 sightline Meet the Colourist - Doug Delaney Doug Delaney is a senior colourist at Technicolor Los Angeles. He found his home in post upon moving to Los Angeles in 1995 and has worked at a number of leading facilities.

Doug started his post-production career learning the art and science of film imaging for visual effects. In the process, he worked with and learned from top film timers, VFX supervisors, and colour scientists, which has shaped his deep understanding of the business today.

When digital intermediate entered feature post-production, Doug was well-positioned to leverage his knowledge and experience to dive into the field head-first. Since 2003, he’s worked on dozens of renowned projects, including his recent work finishing Captain Marvel.

So, did you say- I’m going to be a colourist when I grow up? I didn’t come from telecine or commercials: I came through effects I sort of evolved into being a colourist really. I started working in the grading. That afforded me a foundational understanding of the lab industry at a company called Dream Quest Images, in Simi Valley here processes as we had to understand the chemical processes, the colour in Los Angeles. There were no ready-made digital scanners then, so science. we had built one from a digital camera area array on an optical printer. I had an approved match clip from the DoP, a loupe on the light box, Then I had an opportunity to go down to New Zealand to work on Return and we would colour time the scans – literally the red, green, blue filter of the King with [supervising digital colourist] Peter Doyle. I was down exposures on the scan – to get it to match. The exposures were about there for six or seven months – a great opportunity for me to really dive 20 seconds a frame for 2k back then. in headfirst. It was very intense – a great experience.

You really had to do the exposure on the scan because the file format I brought that back to Pacific Title where we started the digital media (pre-Cineon) or the sensor couldn’t carry the full dynamic range of the department in earnest. negative. That was where I started, and indeed how I got introduced to colour correction. What about FilmLight, how did you get involved with them? From Pacific Title I went to different companies in LA over the next Where did your eye for colour come from? eight years or so. In that time, I got to work on most of the grading I was always interested in photography. I had a darkroom at home platforms. That was a useful experience for me, to get to know a little and was always printing and experimenting with dodging and burning of everything. I worked at Post Logic in Hollywood, which is where I first and all the physical skills. I wasn’t formally trained in it but was always started working on Baselight in 2005. interested. I ended up at Sony Colorworks, also on Baselight. And this idea of always Right out of college I worked at a small photo lab with early versions of wanting to learn, and be open to new toolsets, is one of the great things Photoshop, doing photo restoration, using painting techniques and all about FilmLight. They are constantly evolving, so as a colourist you’re that sort of stuff. changing the way you work, with things like the perceptual model Base Grade. What sort of work were you seeing? I moved to Pacific Title where I supervised the DI bureau, which was just It’s really important to understand the technology, but not to be too sort of beginning. We were doing The Matrix 2 and 3. There were long embroiled in it. You have to depend on it as a subconscious thing. I use sequences that we were having to really work on, and we were beta the analogy that it is like a musician learning scales: you learn them then testing what became Lustre. We decided “let’s just do these sequences you forget about it and just play music. in this new-fangled thing”, and that was my introduction to digital grading as it were. Talk to us about the type of content you work on: The vast majority of my experience is with feature films. But with the rise of streaming services – Netflix and so on – the production values for

24 | television asia plus august-september 2019 sightline

and the VFX supervisor. In this case, it’s not a situation where you, as a colourist, can crack your knuckles and come up with the big idea – that would affect things that have been established for a long, long time.

Your role in those situations is to ensure that the VFX come through. Additionally, of course you enhance their consistency from shot to shot throughout the scene, then see what you can embellish and make better – always looking for ways to improve the scene and plus it.

The responsibility is to ensure that it all comes together, but while you’re doing that you’re also saying “you know what, this works really well… but what if we add some interactive light because these are all visual effects from cut to cut: maybe we need to help join the cuts a little”.

We conformed in Baselight as well as performing the grade. That’s really almost the only way to manage it, because that way you can propagate episodic has just gone through the roof, which is a boon for our industry.

The budgets and production values on these shows are like features. Even more so, because they can develop over the course of maybe 10 episodes – three features in terms of run time. So, the story development and the look development is fantastic.

How do you see your role in the post process? First, I think we’re no longer colourists, we’re finishers. I think that is an important distinction to make because you are looking to constantly evolve your techniques and your own skill set, to be able to offer more to your clients in the room.

I think it’s of huge value that you can do much, much more with less now. Our clients travel around town to other facilities: I want to be the guy with the clients that say “wow – I didn’t know we could do that”. all of the information for all the different versions.

FilmLight has been great in developing new tools and capabilities to What is the best thing about Baselight? support those efforts. Everything! When we were doing the Marvel film, Jacqui and Sam [from FilmLight] were in the room with us pretty much the whole time. Additionally, collaborative workflows are invaluable to me. I have an assistant and a second colourist who help me manage the various One of the great things is their willingness to listen and observe, and to shows that I’m grading at any given time. And especially with a large VFX understand the real applications of their tool, the day-to-day pressures film, like Captain Marvel, the Baselight’s note and marks system proves of the client session. To understand how a tool works and the actual critical in exchanging necessary tasks between the grading team. implementation of it by a working professional colourist in a session.

Elaborate on that – how does the notes system benefit you? More broadly, it is their desire to expand their toolset for a modern In particular, with these large VFX tentpole shows, your managing finishing room. A good example is that deliverables have gotten various deliverables at any given time – 2D, 3D at various footlamberts, exponentially more complicated with things like HDR. Base Grade is a EDR, IMAX, home video including HDR and pan-and-scans. It can get great example of the work that Daniele [Siragusano, FilmLight’s Image very complicated as you’re not finishing them sequentially – each of Engineer] and the &D team have put in, evolving the colour science of these deliverables are live and open and, on occasion, you may have to Baselight with the changing needs and demands of the colourist. back in a grade or edit change back up the chain. But more generally when you’re passing grading tasks between members of your team, And what do you do when you are not in a darkened room? including roto or tracking, you need a way to communicate the idea and I have twin boys who just turned four, so to me spending time in the Los then confirm its execution. Angeles sun with my family and boys. We go to the beach, we play in the park, we spend a lot of time outside, we go to museums. You’re involved in the Marvel Cinematic Universe: how do you go I think connecting with real-world life is important. Work/life balance is about integrating VFX? critical because you do spend a lot of time in a dark room, either on From a colour point of view, I got involved in Captain Marvel late. The your own or with clients. And you can only do that process if your gas MCU is a well-established brand and franchise, and as such, much of the tank is full. TVAplus VFX effects and colour pipeline has been established.

That means that there is almost a language to some degree that fans are used to seeing. Captain Marvel’s suit for examples, needs to be a very specific colour regardless of the environment, because of the brand.

So, the look of the VFX have been well established, and you have vendors literally all over the world working on them. When they come back to me in the room, they have been look-developed and approved by the directors

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 25

focus ATF Chinese Pitch being search for fresh content for Chinese- speaking markets from budding scriptwriters around the world

Other pitch competitions – ATF Animation Pitch, ATF Formats Pitch and ATF Film Pitch – to open doors for budding producers. On the back of the increasingly influential Chinese-speaking territories, the ATF Chinese Pitch returns this year to provide scriptwriters with greater opportunities to enter these markets. This time, scripts can be submitted in Chinese or English, with English scripts translated by the organisers for judging purposes.

Backed by G.H.Y. Culture & Media, the competition seeks to encourage, promote and reward creativity, originality and innovation in two categories – theatrical and online movies, as well as online drama series. development within and outside of Asia. Yeow Hui Leng, Group Project Director of ATF and ScreenSingapore commented, “As ATF celebrates our 20th anniversary, we remain The winning entry will receive a USD19,000 prize from Green Gold committed to keeping Asia ahead of the curve and at the forefront Animation Pvt Ltd. This comprises a USD2,500 cash award and of content creation. Winners of various pitches under ATF and a consultancy package worth US$16,500 tailor made for them ScreenSingapore have achieved success with invaluable support to further develop the animation, making it ready to pitch to from our partners, and we hope to see even more stories emerge broadcasters. Green Gold Animation is the studio behind Mighty from Asia in the years ahead.” Little Bheem, Netflix’s first Indian original animation show for kids that is currently the second most-watched original series globally Guo Jingyu, Group CEO, G.H.Y. Culture & Media added, “There is within the kids’ genre. huge potential in young writers. In them, I see more passion and life than one can imagine. With guidance and resources, we can With consultancy support from Green Gold Animation, studio2 fully maximise their potential and grow the industry.” G.H.Y. Culture Animation Lab (Taiwan) plans to release Pigsy, which was the & Media’s goal to nurture the next generation of scriptwriters for winning concept for the inaugural ATF Animation Pitch in 2017, by leading productions is the main thrust behind its sponsorship of the early 2021. ATF Chinese Pitch. With the added step of allowing English scripts, the company hopes to widen its search for great stories. Returning for its fourth edition, the ATF Formats Pitch seeks out innovative concepts for new and original non-scripted entertainment Shortlisted finalists will present their concepts at a live pitch on formats from Pan-Asia. This platform showcases the best of the 4 December 2019, in front of a panel comprising well-established region and exposes ideas for export and development within and names – Guo Jingyu; Chen Xiao, Vice President of iQIYI; and Xiao Ji outside of Asia. Xiang Tian, renowned screenwriter of the online drama series, “The Ferry Man” and “The Ferry Man II”. Since winning the ATF Formats Pitch 2018, phoSumpro! (Malaysia) has fully developed Serenade, which is now being considered by Winners will each win USD2,500 to help kick-start their projects, regional and international networks. and could even be offered a USD11,000 buyout of their script. The long-running Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market will ATF and ScreenSingapore: A platform for content creation realise the dreams of budding filmmakers through the ATF Film Pitch. In its fifth year, the match-making platform provides opportunities In addition to ATF Chinese Pitch, ATF and ScreenSingapore will host for film creatives to meet with potential investors and financiers. three other pitches – the ATF Animation Pitch, the ATF Formats Pitch and the ATF Film Pitch. Success stories from past editions have already begun showing up on screens around the world. Mikhail Red’s (Philippines) Eerie made To cater to the all-important kids’ market, the ATF Animation Pitch its world premiere at Singapore International Film Festival 2018, encourages producers to conceptualise original, creative animated while Bront Palarae’s (Malaysia) One Two Jagaopened the 20th Far programmes with edutainment value that is viable for export and East Film Festival in Udine, Italy. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 27 production Sony cameras and mics Own the Sky Used on new Australian jetpack documentary

Under these conditions Read further extoled their virtues adding, “In 12 years no Sony camera ever let me down on this project. Even in the most punishing of environments like shooting in 40-degree heat within a gritty, concrete jet testing facility, they still performed and gave me great results.”

It wasn’t just Sony cameras that sat at the heart of Own the Sky, as Read also used Sony ECM-77BMP mics with UTX-B03 belt-pack transmitters and URX-P03 portable receivers throughout the shoot too.

Sydney- Successful producer, director, DoP and owner of Paper Bark Films Gregory Read is a school friend of David Mayman’s – the rocket-obsessed businessman. When Mayman told Read he wanted to build a jetpack, Read suggested they make a documentary – now entitled Own the Sky - about the project and so began an incredible 12 year-long journey that had Sony cameras and mics at the very heart of it.

Read explained, “I first met David when I was 10, we used to make rockets in our backyards so I knew anything was possible with this guy. Making Own the Sky was an incredible 12 years of ups and many downs. To see your friend go through so much to realise a childhood dream and to see how he dealt with the consequences of his obsession was, at times, quite hard to witness. However the outcome is a story of triumph over the odds, he climbed that unclimbable mountain.”

For the initial ten years of filming the crew on Own the Sky consisted mostly of one person – Gregory Read. This in itself brought its own challenges. He explained, “A lot of the environments I shot in were extremely He continued, “As the majority of the filming was just me, it was noisy hence a close proximity, broadcast quality Sony ECM-77BMP important to keep the film and sound equipment compact. So, the lapel mic made it possible for me to hear intimate dialogue as I first Sony camera I used was a small Sony PMW-EX1. This camera was shooting. I also used the lapel mics for all the interviews. All was compact, reliable and easy to use in all lighting conditions. In the Sony mics and audio equipment performed very well delivering 2010 in order to have two cameras covering David’s crazy RocketBelt clear audio in noisy environments.” attempt I also had the larger, broadcast, disc-based Sony XD with the help of Denson Baker NZCS ACS. By early 2015 I put away my So, it’s fair to say that Gregory Read was not only happy with his well-worn EX1 and bought a Sony A7S. This compact camera was choice and use of Sony cameras and mics when shooting Own very good in low light giving me more flexibility in environments the Sky but he also developed an admiration and fondness for the where adding lighting was not possible. With this DSLR camera I equipment and the results the gave him. used an external recorder to record ProRes 422.” He concluded, “For me the one stand out benefit of using Sony In 2016 Read purchased a Sony PXW-FS7 for initial interviews and cameras and mics was their ease of use. Own the Sky was my first location shots. He continued, “The FS7 is simply a great camera experience actually shooting one of my films and the reliability and which I continue to use today and in 2017 with the film finance in quality of the Sony products was remarkable as they performed place I was able to get two great cinematographers, Jesse Brunt under all sorts of extreme environments. In most instances I only had in the US and Australian Sam Collins, onboard for reconstruction one camera capturing moments that could never be repeated. Not scenes and final master interviews which we shot using the Sony only did I get the moment, I also got quality images and sound that F55. I have to say all the Sony cameras we used over the full 12 look great on the cinema screen. There were no artefacts or drop years were excellent and performed extremely well.” outs, just great results often in very hot contrasty environments. Amazing.” The majority of Own the Sky is shot as a ‘fly on the wall’ ob-doc. This meant the Sony cameras had to perform inside and outside Own the Sky is now rolling out across the world and the film will be and in many cases deal with extreme highlights and shadows. released in Australian cinemas early November 2019. TVAplus

28 | television asia plus august-september 2019 technology Sub-second latency is the new standard for live video streaming

Live streaming is one of the most genuine ways to connect with a worldwide audience. From major sporting events, video gaming to bidding at an auction, live streaming not only allows brands to relate with the audience on a deeper level, but it is also an effective way to keep audience tuned-in. On average, a live streamed video view is 7% longer than the average online video view .

The phenomenal rise of interactive live streaming has also disrupted Jaheer Abbas the digital economy as brands start to monetize live content. Senior Director, According to a Deloitte report, live-streaming revenue comes up to Southeast Asia & $7.4 billion in 2018, a 47 per cent increase over the previous year . India Limelight Networks The exponential growth in streaming services will continue to upend the $135 billion video gaming industry. Also known as cloud A game-changer to this issue is Limelight Realtime Streaming, a gaming – where video games run in the cloud – gamers can now WebRTC-based real-time streaming solution that enables scalable, play at the click of a button, rather than buy physical copies or wait live delivery of on-demand content for web browsers and mobile for hours to download them. The popularity of streaming games applications. WebRTC offers much lower latency as it runs over is expected to exacerbate with the launch of Stadia, Google’s new User Datagram Protocol (UDP) – a protocol which eliminates the game streaming services that run on the cloud. need to create discrete media segments, delivering consistently low latency to all viewers. Along with the growing popularity of online gaming, there has been an increase in the amount of gaming content viewed on video game Ideal for applications in which latency is critical – such as online streaming sites such as Twitch and YouTube Gaming. According to gaming – WebRTC creates a point-to-point connection with the viewer, Limelight Network’s State of Online Gaming 2019 market research, so content can stream continuously with little communications gamers in Japan, Singapore, and India spend more than two and overhead, eliminating the time needed for acknowledgements back a half hours each week watching other people play video games and forth. online. The revolutionary technology is also natively supported by all major Beyond entertainment and video gaming, live-streaming also browsers and is designed to be flexible in its implementation. This delivers on the potential for businesses to transform and explore allows operators to experiment with solutions geared toward one to new revenue stream from the burgeoning e-commerce market in one, one to few, and even one to millions. the Asia Pacific region. Live commentary and reviews help to bring a static product to life and even enable customers to purchase what With WebRTC, network operators will be able to easily implement they see on the screen in real-time. scalable live video streaming from anywhere to anywhere in the world in less than one second using a standard web browser without Overcoming latency in live streaming special plugins. This means online viewers can watch live sports action as it happens and gamers can play against each other at the The perks of video on demand has an immense impact on the content exact same time no matter where they are located. It even allows providers industry. To deliver the perfect streaming experience operators to provide interactive live experiences such as allowing requires sophisticated data centers and cabling infrastructure viewers to choose the camera angle they prefer to watch from; chat around the world to process and transmit all the high-speed action with other viewers and even wager on a live event. in real-time. As viewers increasingly consume content online, one of the primary complaints with watching live sports, video games Live streaming will continue to shape the way content is presented and other real-time events is the delay between the live feed and to the audience and impact the way consumers learn, entertain, the online stream. shop and even how they are marketed to. This trend is already taking various industries by storm as companies recognize the Traditional HTTP live streaming breaks the video into small segments potential of live-streaming to provide an international audience or chunks that must be buffered prior to playback, which causes live with real-time, on-demand access to rich, immersive experiences. streams to lag real-time by 30 seconds or more. While it is possible To stay ahead of the curve and maximize revenue opportunities, to reduce the size of the chuck to decrease the delay, but making operators need to capitalize on technologies such as WebRTC to them too small increases the chance of viewers experiencing video address latency and provider viewers with the highest-quality online rebuffering and playback issue. experiences that draw them back for more. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 29 review

2019 Eastseries Pitching Top India MSOs Awards announces dominates country’s project selections cable TV market The third edition of EastSeries, a drama series pitching competition organized by the Odesa International Film Festival Film Industry Office Team, took place in Odesa on 18. - 19. July. It is powered by ScripTeast - a master training program for the best Eastern European scriptwriters, in partnership with Series Mania, a unique event entirely dedicated to series and supported by Star Media, the biggest international film company in Ukraine.

Six drama series projects from Eastern Europe with international potential were selected for participation:

Carpathia Marysia Nikitiuk, Maryna Stepanska, Nariman Aliev (Ukraine) Dead And Married by Kristina Jilly (Hungary) Disstaf by Nenad Antonovic () Happy Nation by Dmytro Hrypun (Ukraine) Salvia by Stefan Peca (Romania) The Gift by Olga Chajdas, Marta Konarzewska (Poland) NATIONAL – According to data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), these 15 MSOs, represent less than 1.5% of the 1100 MSOs Following pitching training by the renowned tutor and producer Agathe currently active in India, with , DEN Networks, Digital, Berman, the participating writers, directors and producers pitched their GTPL Hathway, and IndusInd Media and Communications Ltd (IMCL) taking the projects to a jury and public audience that included broadcasters, distributors top five spots. and potential co-producers. As of 1 April 2019, Siti Networks was the top MSO with an active subscriber The jury consisted of Adrienne Frejacques Commissioning Editor Drama base of 11.13 million, covering Punjab, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Delhi, Department, ARTE (France), Mirela Nastase Director ZDF Enterprises Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, (Germany), Francesco Capurro Chhattisgarh, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, and Bihar. Head of Series Mania Forum (France), Dariusz Jablonski, President, ScripTeast / Independent Film Foundation (Poland) and Vlad Ryashin, General Producer, DEN Networks followed with an active subscriber base of 7.03 million in Star Media (Ukraine). TVAplus Gujarat, Karnataka, Rajasthan, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Delhi-NCR, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, and Bihar.

Synamedia to improve Hathway Digital had 6.69 million active subscribers spread across Delhi, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, WarnerMedia satellite and Telangana. GTPL Hathway had 5.25 million active subscribers in Rajasthan, Gujarat, content delivery system Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, and Assam. While IMCL had 4.54 million active subscribers LONDON and SINGAPORE – Synamedia, the world’s largest independent video across Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, and software provider, announced that WarnerMedia Asia Pacific has chosen its Andhra Pradesh. end-to-end PowerVu content delivery solution to enhance their satellite content delivery system. Fastway Transmission, The Tamil Nadu Arasu Cable TV Corporation (TACTV), Kerala Cable Communicators Ltd (KCCL), Thamizhaga Cable TV Synamedia technologies will reduce bandwidth costs, deliver next-generation Communication Pvt Ltd, Asianet Satellite Communications, e-Digital, Sun security capabilities, and prepare the company’s satellite system for future IP Group’s Kal Cables, VK Digital and UCN Cable all had subscriber bases of one delivery innovations. million or more.

WarnerMedia is leveraging Synamedia’s Virtual Digital Content Manager (vDCM) Overall, 15 MSOs in India served a base of 1 million or more cable TV with Smart Rate Control and Automation, PowerVu Network Center (PNC), and subscribers, while eight had between half a million and a millionsubscribers. At D9800 Network Transport Receiver to help revolutionize the efficiency and the other end of the scale, there were more than five hundred MSOs which had speed by which their content is delivered around the world. a subscriber base of less than 2500.

Today, satellite technologies are advancing, leases are expiring, and security There are 1471 registered MSOs in India, of which 1143 are currently is becoming an ever-increasing concern. WarnerMedialooked to the formidable operational. There area also about 100,000 local cable operators (LCOs) expertise of Synamedia and its HEVC technology to enable them to protect operating in the country, said TRAI. their footprint in existing markets while finding new routes to additional The data has been collected for a white paper on the benefits of India’s new revenues. The end-to-end Synamedia solution will allow the company to complement its traditional satellite distribution with future IP-based delivery broadcasting regulatory framework for small MSOs. TVAplus options, a unique capability of the D9800 Network Transport Receiver. encoding.

Synamedia’s Virtual DCM encoding and multiplexing platform represents a Synamedia’s PNC platform is a sophisticated, highly reliable and easy-to- new generation of virtualized and software-based video processing, providing use content delivery system that provides network management, improved advanced video, audio, and metadata processing for live multi-format security, decoder management, monitoring and analytics and focused on video delivery. By using machine-learning and Stream Video Quality (SVQ) advanced revenue protection. The Synamedia D9800 Network Transport Synamedia’s patented light weight and real-time quality metric technology, Receiver is the most versatile network receiver available today, offering Virtual DCM can scale automatically to provide maximum video quality at hardware configurability and Over-The-Air (OTA) licensing that allows for minimum bandwidth and storage costs. This enables broadcasters, content customization as part of the video distribution handoff to service providers. providers, and service providers to meet their service requirements for This platform complements or transitions traditional satellite distribution with a premium picture quality, bandwidth efficiency, and multiscreen transcoding/ variety of IP-based video delivery mechanisms. TVAplus

30 | television asia plus august-september 2019 review all3media International Taking Refuge: Target inks new deal Tokyo 2020 to premiere NATIONAL – Leading independent distributor all3media international on Olympic Channel and sister company all3media MADRID – Inspired to make the Deutschland have signed a new world a better place through sport, key format acquisition in Germany three-time Olympic gold medallist it announced today, as RTL II in shooting Niccolo Campriani leads commissions a local version of Lime three refugees on a brave journey Pictures’ Celebs Go Dating. to qualify for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Their story will be Celebs Go Dating - which follows featured in an upcoming Olympic single celebrities as they join an Channel original series Taking Refuge: Target Tokyo 2020 which is scheduled exclusive dating agency in a bid to find true love by being matched with members of the public is an original to premiere worldwide in 2020. format from independent producer Lime Pictures and is now set to debut in Germany following the commission of a 4-episode series by RTL II. In Taking Refuge: Target Tokyo 2020, Olympic champion Niccolo Campriani brings together a group of refugees to see if any of them has what it takes to The new German version, soon to launch, will be produced by Tower qualify for Tokyo 2020 in the air rifle shooting event. Using mental and physical Productions, a joint venture of all3media and BBC Studios. Casting is currently skills honed over years as a professional athlete, Campriani coaches and underway with shooting is set to take place over the summer. In the UK, mentors Mahdi, Khaoula and Luna on a journey of learning, rediscovery and Celebs Go Dating is currently in production of its seventh series (with 125 finding inner peace through the unifying power of sport. episodes having transmitted on E4 so far). Each series is stripped across five nights over four consecutive weeks on E4. Season five ranked as E4’s Born in Florence, Italy, Campriani, 31, is a three-time Olympian and was #1 entertainment show in 2018 and was recently nominated for a Broadcast named ISSF Shooter of the Year in 2012 and 2016. Following his retirement Digital award. after the Olympic Games Rio 2016 and inspired by the IOC’s first Refugee Olympic Team, Campriani visited a refugee camp in Africa with the UNHCR and In addition, Naked Attraction, a Studio Lambert format, is to broadcast its subsequently embarked on a personal endeavour to pay it forward while also third season in Germany. Airing on RTL II the series continues to be presented figuring out his post-athletic career. by Milka Loff-Fernandes. Each episode of this bold show sees one man and one woman pick from a line-up of potential dates – all of whom have stripped Currently filming on location at the Italian National Shooting Championships in naked, with only their bodies giving clues to their personality and lifestyles. Bologna, Italy at their first ever shooting competition, Mahdi, Khaoula and Luna Naked Attraction is produced by Tower Productions in Germany. have a goal to reach the Minimum Qualifying Score (MQS) in order to become eligible for Tokyo 2020. In addition to learning a new sport, each refugee They found fame but can they find love? Celebs Go Dating follows the nightly brings their own incredible story from beyond the world of sport. dates of some of the nation’s best loved and lonely stars as they try to find a non-celebrity love match. The show’s dating experts use all their matchmaking Now retired from competitive shooting, Campriani is investing his own free skills to pair the single celebrities with prospective partners, while offering time and resources to help these individuals and bring the project to fruition. them pre- and post-date analysis and tips on how they might improve their Relying heavily on his personal network, the shooting community and former dating technique. This format works as a stripped nightly series or as weekly sponsors, several have supported his effort by donating the needed equipment standalone episodes and offers a tantalising glimpse into the glamorous lives including air rifles, uniforms and electronic targets. of the young, famous and single. TVAplus Scheduled to appear in the series are fellow athletes including five-time Olympian and 2008 shooting gold medallist from India Abhinav Bindra. 2019 Sing! China tops In addition to support from within the shooting community, Campriani’s team is training at the World Archery Excellence Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland. Singapore pay-TV ratings The Olympic Channel provides fans with a dedicated media platform to follow the stories behind the sports and athletes before, during and after the SINGAPORE – Singtel TV announced Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. Through inspirational stories, athlete interviews, that 2019 Sing! China premiered breaking news, live events, original at the #1 spot in ratings for all programming and exclusive behind- programming in its timeslot across the-scenes content, the Olympic all pay-TV channels in Singapore, with Channel provides comprehensive more than double the ratings of the coverage of the road to Tokyo 2020. next best-rated show. The Olympic Channel is available worldwide at its website and its Singtel’s Asian entertainment and lifestyle channel, e-Le, apps for mobile and connected TV also topped pay-TV ratings among Chinese viewers during the season premiere devices. TVAplus of the hit singing competition on Friday, 19 July from 9 – 11pm, which was unique Chinese viewers on e-Le and Jia Le Channel, as compared to the launch simulcast with China. weekend of last season.

Now in its eighth season, Sing! China is the longest running Chinese singing To bring 2019 Sing! China to a wider audience, the series is now available talent search show. In 2019, the celebrity coaching line-up includes first on e-Le, in addition to Jia Le Channel which aired previous seasons. Created timers and Li Ronghao, who join veterans and Harlem and launched by Singtel last October, e-Le is available for free to all Singtel Yu in search of the next voice of China. Viewers will be on the lookout for new customers on Singtel’s CAST mobile video app and Singtel TV. Singaporean contestants, after the successes of Nathan Hartono and Joanna

Dong in previous seasons. Combined ratings of 2019 Sing! China’s season premiere on e-Le and Jia

Le Channel was 208% higher than last season’s premiere among Singtel’s 2019 Sing! China airs every Friday at 9pm simulcast with China on e-Le on Chinese customers. In addition, live and repeat telecasts of the first 2019 Sing! CAST and Singtel TV CH 11 FREE for Singtel customers, as well as on Jia Le China episode through the premiere weekend (19 – 21 July) reached 89% more Channel (Singtel TV CH 502). TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 31 review

Harbour Rights Squish heads to Spain, announces sales in Asia Korea and Israel

HONG KONG – Harbour Rights has now started to distribute Upside Television catalogue in Asia and already achieved a few sales in Thailand for True Vision Pay TV channels with a 11 hours package including Hopeful Earth PARIS, FRANCE – Premium kids content distributor Federation Kids & Family (8x52mns), which expose green positive initiatives around the world and with and European leading entertainment company Planeta Junior have announced Discovery Channel which picked up Yiwu The Biggest Bazaar In The World sales and co-production deals on Cottonwood Media’s hilarious animated (1x52mns), presenting the town of Yiwu where the world is gathering to buy series Squish, which started to roll-out internationally earlier this year. Chinese products. New titles coming from Upside Television include Japan By Depardieu (5x26mns), Chaplin Vs Hoover (1x52mns) and La La La, A Story Of Federation Kids & Family and Planeta Junior have finalized recent deals with Musicals (1x52mns). TVAplus NEOX (Atresmedia) in Spain and Tooniverse in Korea, as well as a deal with Kidz a new SVOD joint venture between HOT and (Israel). NEOX will participate as co-producer of the show in Spain. HBO receives 137 Squish (52 x 11) is a fast-paced, slapstick series based on the New York Times primetime Emmy best-selling graphic novels by Jennifer Holm and Eisner Award-winning creator Matthew Holm, brought to life by Head Writer John Derevlany (Lego: Legend of Chima, , Endangered Species, Angry Beaver), and EP David Michel nominations (The Ollie & Moon Show, Totally Spies!) Published by Random House Children’s Books, the hugely successful Squish franchise has sold an impressive one million + copies of the existing six books to date, with a new book to be published yearly.

Squish is produced by Cottonwood Media and Planeta Junior, in partnership with Gulli (France, Russia, Africa) distributed by Federation Kids & Family and Planeta Junior. TVAplus

19 nominations for Chernobyl, including Outstanding Limited Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie (Jared Harris), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie (Emily Watson), Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie (Stellan Skarsgård), Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie (Johan Renck), and Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series, Movie or Dramatic Special (Craig Mazin).

SINGAPORE – HBO received a record-breaking 137 Primetime Emmy 17 nominations for , including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding nominations for the upcoming 71st Primetime Emmy Awards, which were Lead Actor in a Comedy Series (Bill Hader), Outstanding Supporting Actress announced in Los Angeles. HBO’s previous record was set in 2015 with 126 in a Comedy Series (Sarah Goldberg), 3 for Outstanding Supporting Actor Primetime Emmy nominations. in a Comedy Series (Anthony Carrigan, Stephen Root, Henry Winkler), 2

for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series (Alec Berg, Bill Hader) and received 32 nominations, the most of any programme, Game Of Thrones Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (Alec Berg and Bill Hader). while received 19 nominations, received 17 nominations and Chernobyl Barry and each received 9 Veep, True Detective Last Week Tonight With John Oliver 9 nominations for Veep, including Outstanding Comedy Series, Outstanding nominations. Lead Actress in a Comedy Series (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), Outstanding Supporting

Actor in a Comedy Series (Tony Hale), Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Highlights of HBO’s Emmy nominations include: Comedy Series (Anna Chlumsky), Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series

(Peter MacNicol) and Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series (David Mandel). 32 nominations for Game Of Thrones, including Outstanding Drama Series, Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series (Kit Harington), Outstanding Lead 9 nominations for True Detective, including Outstanding Lead Actor in a Actress in a Drama Series (Emilia Clarke), 4 for Outstanding Supporting Limited Series or Movie (Mahershala Ali). Actress in a Drama Series (Gwendoline Christie, Lena Headey, Sophie Turner,

Maisie Williams), 3 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (Alfie 9 nominations for Last Week Tonight With John Oliver, including Outstanding Allen, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Peter Dinklage), Outstanding Guest Actress in a Variety Talk Series, Outstanding Directing for a Variety Series (Paul Pennolino), Drama Series (Carice van Houten), 3 for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series and Outstanding Interactive Program. Series (David Benioff & D.B. Weiss, David Nutter, Miguel Sapochnik) and

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series (David Benioff & D.B. Weiss). The Primetime Emmy Awards will be announced on 22 September. TVAplus

32 | television asia plus august-september 2019 review

Helicopter Film Services CN greenlights third launches Typhon2 season of Lamput

HONG KONG/ANNECY – Lamput, the hilarious animated chase comedy, has been picked up for a third season by and will run LONDON – Helicopter Film Services (HFS) launched the Typhon2 six-camera internationally on the channel in Asia Pacific and , and on array which incorporates six RED Helium cameras mounted in a Shotover K1 Boomerang in EMEA. 6-Axis stabilised system gimbal. The series – produced by Vaibhav Studios based in Mumbai, India – started life This new array is designed to shoot plates that can then be stitched together as batches of micro-shorts of about 15 seconds as well as shorts of up to two in post-production to create visually spectacular scenes. The Typhon2 enables minutes. The new season will comprise a mixture of 21x5’ and 21x2’ episodes, both aerial and ground-based filming of sequences where a particularly wide and will roll out from early 2020. field of view is required – a fully useable 165 Degrees. Lamput is the ultimate in non-dialogue, slapstick chase animation. Lamput Aerial DoP, Jeremy Braben’s team of engineers at HFS has collaborated with is a gooey orange substance that escaped from a secret laboratory. Two Brownian Motion (based at Pinewood Studios) to design the Typhon2 as an scientists, Specs Doc and Skinny Doc, are trying their best to catch him. But alternative to HFS’s original Typhon array (launched in 2017) which combined always a master of disguise, he escapes from right under their noses. six ALEXA Mini cameras as a toe-out array. This new Typhon2 has a toe-in configuration for reduced parallax. It also uses the RED DSMC2 Helium 8K Lamput already has a devoted following. On YouTube, its clips have amassed sensor. Each of its six cameras is fitted with the new ZEISS CP3 21mm Prime 300 million views, as well as an additional 250 million views on Cartoon lenses with eXtended Data and Shading mapping. Alternative lenses are Network, POGO and the Cartoon Network Watch and Play app in Asia Pacific#. available on request. It has also scored several awards including the 2018 Asian Academy Creative Awards for Best 2D Animation and the Best Animated FICCI Frames Awards in This new design for the Typhon2 allows the use of other prime lenses from the 2017 and 2018. Zeiss CP3 range, and others, where desired. It allows for the use of the RED In Asia Pacific, Cartoon Network adopts a virtual studio model for its original Monstro Sensor and appropriate lenses, if requested. TVAplus animation projects, identifying creators, artists and studios from right around the region for global audiences. Other series in production include Monster BBC Earth launches Beach, which is expected to launch in late 2019. TVAplus cities on earth; Joanna Lumley’s Japan, which traces the Absolutely Fabulous branded block on ’s star’s journey as she travels from the icy Siberian seas of the north to the subtropical islands of the south; and Without Limits – Vietnam, which follows One News Channel six people with different physical abilities as they embark on an ambitious and emotional adventure of a lifetime through the diverse landscapes of Vietnam. Popular TV presenter and producer Daphne Paez is to host a special BBC Daphne Paez says: “I’m honoured and delighted to be presenting this unique Earth branded block on Cignal’s One News Channel from Saturday, 7 offering on Cignal’s One News. These are some of the most inspiring, September 2019, showcasing some of the work of the world’s foremost surprising and exciting shows on television and I know that viewers will be factual filmmakers. excited to explore some of the programmes that can be seen on the BBC Earth channel.” The block will give Cignal’s viewers a taste of the premium natural history and factual programmes carried on the BBC Earth channel available to the Sienna Olaso, VP for Channels and Content, Cignal TV, commented: “We have platform’s subscribers. seen the popularity and impact of BBC Earth programmes across the world, and are delighted to work with BBC Studios to serve a slice of BBC Earth The block will screen three times a week, premiering one hour of BBC Earth programming to a wider audience on our main news channel.” programming each Saturday evening from 8-9pm, with replays on Sunday afternoons (4-5pm) and Tuesday evenings (7-8pm). The first show to be Myleeta Aga, SVP and General Manager of South and South East Asia, BBC screened in the slot will be Mediterranean with Simon Reeve, which sees the Studios, says: “BBC Earth gives viewers a window into the wider world with charismatic journalist embark on a four-part adventure around the region, passionate presenters, insightful documentaries and incredible footage from discovering the extremes that lie beneath the picture-postcard tourist veneer. the natural world. I am pleased that we are able to work with our partners at Cignal TV to further extend our BBC Earth offering to Filipino viewers.” Other programmes that viewers can look forward to include: World’s Busiest One News channel is on Cignal TV SD Channel 8 and HD Channel 250. BBC Cities, giving viewers an inside look at some of the most crowded and chaotic Earth is on Cignal TV channel 245. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 33 review

dysfunctions in a manner that is specific to the country but possessing Two HBO Original Series themes that will resonate across the continent.

Folklore and Food Lore All episodes of the horror anthology series FOLKLORE have been featured at various major international film festivals including Toronto International Film to Premier in Japan on Festival (Toronto, Canada), SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia (Barcelona, Spain), Fantastic Fest (Texas, USA) and Festival Series Star Channel Mania (Lille, France). Two FOLKLORE episodes, FOLKLORE: TATAMI, directed by Takumi Saitoh, and FOLKLORE: A MOTHER’S LOVE, directed by Joko Anwar, have been selected for the upcoming 32nd Tokyo International Film Festival’s Crosscut Asia section.

FOOD LORE is an eight-episode hour-long anthology series that explores the human condition with narratives inspired by and showcased through the perspectives of Asian cuisines, weaving tales of the tastes and aromas that have filled the Asian souls – tales of longing and forbidden passion, of connection and loss, of childhood memory.

Helmed by award-winning Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo, the series is SINGAPORE – HBO Asia announced today that two of its HBO Asia Original shot in eight countries across Asia and directed by some of Asia’s most series – FOLKLORE and FOOD LORE – will premiere on Star Channel and talented storytellers including Don Aravind (Singapore), Billy Christian Star Channel EX. This is the first time HBO Asia Originals are making their (Indonesia), Takumi Saitoh (Japan), Ho Yuhang (Malaysia), Erik Matti debut on Japan’s first foreign movies premium TV service starting with (Philippines), Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thailand) and Phan Dang Di (Vietnam). FOLKLORE which will premiere in Japan later this year.

Both FOLKLORE and FOOD LORE are produced as part of a two-year FOLKLORE is a six-episode hour-long horror series that takes place across partnership with the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) six Asian countries - Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and in Singapore. The collaboration aims to develop the drama production Thailand – with each episode based on a modern adaptation of each capabilities of Singapore’s media industry and talent, where HBO Asia will country’s deeply-rooted myths and folklore, featuring supernatural beings conduct training workshops and work with local talent and companies on and occult beliefs. HBO Asia Original productions.

Directed by different directors from various countries in Asia, each episode HBO Asia started producing Original productions in 2012. To date, HBO Asia was filmed in the local language of the country that the episode is based has aired 16 Original productions including award-winning series, movies in. FOLKLORE seeks to modernise or update Asian horror, showcasing the and documentaries. TVAplus brand of horror that each country is characteristic of and exploring societal

amongst others. With this, audiences will have access to top ranked shows ZEE5 Global now like Fast Money on ZEE Business, Crime Alert on ZEE Hindustan and DNA with streams live news FREE Sudhir Chaudhary on ZEE News. Commenting on the initiative, Archana Anand, Chief Business Officer, ZEE5 for its global audiences Global said, “We’re very excited to now offer all this prime news content for our global audiences to access free, so they can stay in constant touch with – Sudhir Chaudhary, what’s happening back home in India and in their home states. When living Arnab Goswami & more abroad, one keenly follows all the news from back home, and that’s why we decided to make this content free so that’s its easily accessible to all.” connect you real time! Viewers can also access ZEE5’s entire portfolio of 30+ news channels 15 top News channels including ZEE News, ZEE including prominent channels like BTVi, WION, Bloomberg Quint and 24 Taas and Republic TV available free for live more as well as 100,000 hours streaming in APAC, MENA and Africa of entertainment content by Mumbai – ZEE5 Global today announced that it was making its top news subscribing to any of ZEE5’s channels available free for streaming in select countries in APAC, and in subscription packs. MENA and Africa. Audiences in these countries will be able to access 15 news channels and watch content like world headlines and business, sport, ZEE5 can be downloaded from entertainment, and other trending news free of charge in seven languages; the Google Play Store or iOS App Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Oriya, Gujarati, Urdu and Punjabi. Store. The app is also available on Samsung Smart TVs, Apple TVs, The free catalogue includes some of the most reputed channels e.g. Hindi Android TVs and Amazon Fire TV. news channels like ZEE News, ZEE Business, Republic TV as well as news ZEE5 is also available on www.ZEE5. in Bengali and Marathi from ZEE 24 Ghanta and ZEE 24 Taas respectively, com. TVAplus

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Dandelooo’s Billy The to develop Cowboy Hamster in original live-action space Development series with Imagine Kids+Family BURBANK, CALIF. – Nickelodeon will be partnering with Imagine Kids+Family to develop the original live-action series, Untitled Space Show (working title). Untitled Space Show will be showrun and written by Daniel Knauf (Carnivàle, The Blacklist) and centers around a group of kids who mistakenly launch into space.

The series marks the first project co-produced by Nickelodeon and Imagine Kids+Family. Untitled Space Show will be executive produced by Chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, Imagine Kids+Family President Stephanie Sperber, and Knauf. The production will be overseen by Shauna Phelan, Senior Vice President, Scripted Content for Nickelodeon and by creative executive Will Davis PARIS – Boutique French animation production and distribution for Imagine Kids+Family. company Dandelooo’s latest pre-school project Billy The Cowboy Hamster (78 x 7’) is now in development with France In Untitled Space Show, an almost-finished spaceship is about to TV. launch into space with the world’s leading scientists to investigate a mysterious asteroid passing by earth. After a dare gone wrong, a Based on the eponym series of six books by Dutch author and group of kids accidentally launch the ship, putting them in the path of illustrator Catharina Valckx, published by l’école des loisirs, an asteroid. Without any proper training, they embark on a journey of with over one million books sold in France and in numerous survival using their smarts and friendship as their tools, as their parents countries such as Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, China and watch from back on earth and attempt to guide them to safety. Japan, Billy The Cowboy Hamster follows three friends, Billy, Jean-Claude the worm and Little Rain the stone marten as they Imagine has a rich history telling stories rooted in space adventure embark on thrill-seeking adventures. including the multiple Academy Award-winning film Apollo 13, the hybrid docuseries Mars for NatGeo, and the Emmy Award-winning

series From The Earth To The Moon for HBO. Imagine Kids+Family Directed by the talented Swiss illustrator Antoine Rota was started in January of this year by Imagine Entertainment, and is (Kaeeloo), Billy The Cowboy Hamster will be produced at run by Sperber. The division recently announced a partnership James Dandelooo’s own animation studio Ooolala in la Cartoucherie, Patterson’s kids division JIMMY Books, and with LIFE to develop LIFE Valence (France). Targeted at 4 to 7 year olds, delivery of the for Kids, an to bring history to life using images from series is set for 2021. TVAplus the preeminent picture magazine. TVAplus Record Rides premieres on National Geographic

SINGAPORE – Record Rides comes to South East Asia and Hong Kong on National Geographic in a two-part series airing on June 23 and June 30 2019, at 8.00 PM (Singapore time). The automotive reality entertainment series pits adrenaline junkie and radio DJ, KC Montero, against race car driver Natasha Chang, also known as Chiney Dolly.

The gambit is simple: KC and Natasha aim to write their names into the record books as the fastest ascent of Doi Chang mountain by car. The catch: there will be no rocket ships or supercars: KC and Natasha will need to prove their Guinness World Records attempt from Phat aka ‘Golf’, an expert of the Chiang ingenuity in sourcing and souping up their own speedsters for the showdown Mai racing scene, and his motorhead crew at Phat Garage - plus a boost from on an impossible timeline. Whether or not they end up with their name in the Caltex with Techron fuel as they race up the mountain and into the record record books, the pair will be breaking new ground - there is no such existing books. record, and indeed, no similar effort made in an everyday car. Record Rides premieres in South East Asia and Hong Kong on National KC is a car nut with a need for speed and Natasha is no slouch in the driver’s Geographic Channel 201 (Singtel) and Channel 411 (Starhub) on June 23, seat either, bringing her racing experience to the table, but neither will 2019 at 8.00 PM (Singapore time), with its concluding episode airing on June attempt the record ride alone. They will get local help on their quest for the 30, 2019 at 8.00 PM (Singapore time). TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 35 review

Dandelooo inks major Zoomoo lands on KT’s deal with Jesten Huashi olleh tv

Starting 12 June, olleh tv subscribers will have access to ZooMoo shows such as PARIS – Boutique French animation production and distribution company Dear Scout and more exciting titles for kids Dandelooo announces the signing of a major deal with China’s leading TOKYO, JAPAN – Nippon TV’s award-winning producer, Mr. Hisashi Tsugiya, digital distribution & IP management company Jesten Huashi. Based on the received an award from the Broadcast Creators Association of Japan. The International Emmy Award winning series The Treehouse Stories (La Cabane a association promotes and aims to contribute to the success and further Histoires), Jesten Huashi has acquired the format rights for the pre-school live development of the broadcast culture in Japan. action and 2D animation.

Tsugiya was awarded as an individual for his long-time commitment to Produced in France for Canal+, Seasons One and Two (49 x 7’) of the highly creating many memorable drama series, notably Mother, Woman -My Life successful pre-school series has been distributed to more than 60 new media for My Children-, and anone. One major criteria for receiving the award was platforms in China including iQIYI, Youku, Tencent and to IPTV and OTT digital the international adaptations of Mother and Woman -My Life for My Children-. TV mobile operators. During China’s Golden Week in October 2018, the TVAplus series enjoyed huge success and high ratings when it was broadcast on CCTV Kids. in the city centre within the state-of- the-art Cooper Project Complex, will Targeted at 4 to 7 year olds, The Treehouse Stories is a mix of live action operate in a completely PC over IP environment. With all technology and and 2D animation. Friends meet in a secret treehouse to share their favourite pipeline housed in a centrally based books and each episode dives into one story through a different design with co-location, the studio is able to top children’s books from around the world. TVAplus virtualise its distributed workstations through Teradici’s remote Jellyfish Pictures opens visualisation solution; allowing for total flexibility and scalability. new virtual animation The Sheffield site will sit on the same logical LAN as the other four studios, studio in Sheffield providing access to the company’s PixStor Software Defined Storage (SDS) from Pixit Media, enabling remote collaboration and support for flexible working practices. With the rest of Jellyfish Pictures’ studios all TPN (Trusted Partner Network) accredited, the Sheffield studio will follow in their footsteps, utilising PixStor’s multi-tenancy container services for audit- compliant secure data separation and isolation. TVAplus

LONDON, UK – BAFTA and multi-award winning VFX and animation studio, Jellyfish pictures, announced the opening of a new virtual animation facility in Sheffield. The move continues Jellyfish Pictures’ pioneering efforts, after creating Europe’s first virtual VFX studios back in 2017. The new site is the company’s fifth studio in the UK and is in addition to Jellyfish Pictures’ established studios in Fitzrovia, Central London, Brixton, South London and Oval, South London.

With no hardware housed onsite, Jellyfish Pictures’ Sheffield studio, situated

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Dan Trachtenberg The Voice Senior directs new Warframe expands to the Middle Film East NATIONAL – MBC Group in the Middle East is expanding its current slate of Voice programming with The Voice Senior. This brings the total number of countries that have licensed the format to an impressive 10, ranging from Germany to Mexico to Thailand.

The high commission rate proves once again the strength of the format. The show portrays fascinating candidates with interesting life stories, who have so much to share besides their great talent.

The Voice Senior is slated to air next year on MBC, after the third season of The Voice Kids. The fifth series of the regular Voice, currently the most successful entertainment show in the Middle East, will be broadcast in the fourth quarter of this year. All version will be locally produced by Talpa Middle NATIONAL – Dan Trachtenberg (10 Cloverfield Lane, Black Mirror) directs a East. stunning new cinematic trailer for Warframe, a free-to-play cooperative action In this spin-off it is the turn of the seniors to prove that you are never too old video game. Unveiled at Warframe’s own gaming convention, Tennocon, on to shine. Four celebrity coaches will compete to pick their favorite seniors in Saturday 6th July, the mind-blowing new film will act as both the trailer and the the world-famous blind auditions. In the Knockouts, each coach will select their opening cinematic in the highly-anticipated updated expansion of the game. two best seniors to take to the finals. In the final episode, the winner will be crowned. Which senior turns out to have a voice of gold? TVAplus Produced by Great Guns, the six-minute film takes viewers on a captivating journey through the game’s fantastical universe, which is set in the far future Cosmos-Maya new SEA amidst a devastating war waged by militarized human clones. Through the eyes of a young woman seeking refuge from the destruction, we see her kids titles discover shrines dedicated to a race of ancient warriors. Action-packed flashbacks show the warriors performing spectacular airborne manoeuvres – NATIONAL – Cosmos-Maya is a joint Singapore-India based Animation Company producing high quality 3D & 2D animation content for Preschool/ caught in a mixture of hyper-kinetic and glorious slo-mo in dazzling detail. Kids Market (Aged 4-9 years old). With over 35,000 minutes (2,000 half-hour) of original animated content, Cosmos-Maya focuses primarily on creating IPs This latest film expands Dan’s repertoire in more ways than one; in addition to in kids’ animation. We hope you will find our IPs interesting for your young being his first foray into directing video game cinematics and working in full viewers and families to enjoy and be entertained. CG, this was also the perfect opportunity to explore fresh genres and filming Established in 1996, Cosmos-Maya has produced animation-based content for techniques. TVAplus international partners like BBC (UK), SONY (USA) Electronic Arts (Canada), in addition to being recognized with several renowned industry awards including APO selects EditShare to Silver Hugo (US) and Pulcinella (Italy), along with nominations by BAFTA & IFTA. 1. Eena Meena Deeka (7’x195 eps. / 65 half-hour episodes) facilitate future projects Non-Dialogue, 4-9 years, Slapstick Chase Comedy, 2D Animated Series 2. Tik Tak Tail (7’x186 eps. / 62 half-hour episodes) BOSTON, MA – EditShare a Non-Dialogue, 4-9 years, Slapstick Chase Comedy, 2D Animated Series technology leader in intelligent scale-out storage, AQC and media 3. Motu Patlu (11’x156 eps. / 78 half-hour episodes) / Feature Films 90’x19 management solutions, announced 4-9 years, Slapstick Comedy, 3D Animated Series that Nairobi-based creative facility, Africa Post Office (APO) has selected 4. Atchoo! (11’x52 eps. / 26 half-hour episodes) the EditShare suite of products to Comedy, 4-8 years facilitate collaboration and media 5. ViR The Robot Boy (11’x156 eps. / 78 half-hour episodes) / Feature Films management for its critically 70’x12 4-9 years / Adventure Comedy, 3D Animated Series acclaimed film, documentary, and editorial projects. 6. OPS (12’x52 eps. / 26 half-hour episodes ) 6-10 years / Comedy / Grotesque APO will leverage EditShare EFS high-performance, scale-out shared storage, media asset management (MAM), and Ark archiving backup solution for 7. LEO DA VINCI (13’x52 eps. / 26 half-hour episodes) its projects. The first independent post facility of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, 6-10 years / Comedy-Adventure APO is led by multi-award-winning editor Franki Ashiruka whose world-class body of work includes Poacher and Tales from The Bush Larder. 8. Berry Bees (12’x52 eps. / 26 half-hour episodes ) 5-8 years / Action / Comedy-Adventure TVAplus Serving as APO’s core media foundation, the EFS platform, with its unique collaborative project sharing capabilities, connects offline and online EditShare’s single node EFS systems, workflows. Coupled with Flow and Ark, the new foundation enables fast and which ships with Flow and Ark, reliable media management across the facility’s creative eco-system of editing, can be configured with additional color grading, visual effects, motion graphics, and compositing suites. capabilities such as high availability metadata servers, Flow workflow The new EditShare powered media management foundation will support APO’s automation, remote editing modules, upcoming work on two highly rated reality television shows, KCB Lion’s Den, and EditShare QScan AQC solution which is based on the internationally franchised Dragons’ Den and The Great to create a dynamic end-to-end Kenyan Bake Off, a Kenyan version of the immensely popular BBC Show The workflow that facilitates media Great British Bake Off. management from ingest to archive. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 37 review

tvN Asia Original Production Wok The World – Unearthed Rice Story

Commences Shooting in China and Beyond Asia Pacific – CJ ENM HK, the regional office of Asia’s leading entertainment and merchandising company, CJ ENM, in Hong Kong, proudly announces the shooting of original production, Wok The World – Unearthed Rice Story, in China along the Belt and Road routes.

In this unique 3-part special culinary documentary, three Michelin-starred Chef Alvin Leung delves into the history, tradition and technology of the cultivation of rice for inspiration for their gastronomic creations. Alvin and Eric enjoy a meal cooked outside with villagers of the Longii Rice Alvin and his apprentice Eric Chong, a MasterChef Canada winner, travel Terrace, in the stunning hills of Longsheng County, Guilin. to seven stunning cities in China, the bustling Bangkok, the exotic wilds of CJ ENM HK and the China Intercontinental Communication Center (“CICC”) Sarawak, and the ultra-modern metropolis Dubai to discover the stories co-create this original IP in China targeting worldwide audience. The series behind the tiny grain of rice, bringing cultures together and meeting will be broadcasted internationally through tvN and in Asia, CTV in memorable characters along the way. The journey culminates with Demon Canada, as well as other Middle East platforms and Silk Road Hours. TVAplus Chef Alvin’s scrumptious creations.

Virgin Media Television Jonathan Fisher, Managing Director of West Road Pictures, said, “We are delighted to be returning to Blood following its terrific reception last year. The second series has a compelling new mystery at its heart, which we feel reunites with all3media sure will keep viewers hooked once again. We’re excited to see familiar faces returning, whilst also welcoming some wonderfully talented new additions to international and the team.” David Swetman, VP Acquisitions at all3media international, commented, “We’re for more very pleased to confirm that Blood’s incredibly talented cast and crew will be returning to delve deeper into the intriguing secrets of the Hogan family. The BLOOD gripping first season was one of our stand-out dramas for 2018 – winning impressive ratings and acclaim around the world and a second instalment can only add to its global appeal, with broadcasters keen to secure scripted drama Adrian Dunbar to reprise lead role in new that has the potential to build a strong following across multiple seasons.” second season Catherine Mackin, Managing Director of Acorn Media Enterprises, noted, Family-centred psychological “We’re excited to partner again with all3media international on the return of thriller Blood will return for a this fantastic psychological drama. Acorn TV subscribers thoroughly enjoyed second season. Six new one-hour the first series of Blood with its stellar lead performance by Adrian Dunbar.” episodes have been commissioned Adrian Dunbar returns as patriarch Jim Hogan in the new season, alongside by Virgin Media Television in Ireland Grainne Keenan (The Foreigner) as Fiona Hogan. Amongst other cast returning - with Adrian Dunbar (Line of Duty) from season one, Ian Lloyd Anderson (Love/Hate), Fiona Bell (Shetland) and confirmed to reprise his lead role in Denis Conway (The Bailout) are confirmed to join the cast and further on- the drama. screen talent will be announced soon. The new season, written once again by Sophie Petzal (The Last Kingdom, Riviera), will be produced by West Road Pictures, helmed by Jonathan Fisher, Sophie Petzal returns as writer/executive producer, alongside Jonathan in association with Element Pictures and all3media international. Channel Fisher (Midsomer Murders) as executive producer and Ingrid Goodwin (Penny 5 is also onboard as UK broadcaster with streaming service Acorn TV and Dreadful) as producer. Maurice Sweeney (I, Dolours) will direct episodes 1-3 its development arm Acorn Media Enterprises returning as co producer for and Laura Way (EastEnders, Red Rock) will direct episodes 4-6. English language territories ANZ/ UK, Eire, US and Canada. Season two opens with catastrophe as Jim, stripped of his medical license, Blood’s first outing proved popular around the world with all3 media returns from abroad to find his family in conflict. Tensions are rife and trouble international securing licenses with various European platforms including NRK is brewing, leading to a horrendous tragedy, the cause and origins of which (Norway), Cirkus (Norway/Denmark block), HRT (Croatia), RUV (Iceland) and will be pieced together as the series progresses. As in season one, however, VRT (Belgium) as well as the Middle East via BBC World. Blood is more than a thrilling mystery, it’s a story about truth and perspective, how our understanding of events and people can colour our beliefs, and how Blood premiered in October 2018 on Virgin Media Television in Ireland, love – and grief – can so often blind us to reality. TVAplus outperforming the channel’s slot average share by 43%. Banijay Rights, the leading distribution arm of Banijay Group, has today BANIJAY RIGHTS confirmed a first look development deal with multi award-winning independent production company, Tigerlily Productions. The new agreement covers scripted programming developed, created and produced by Tigerlily for the UK CONFIRMS FIRST and international markets. Founded by Natasha Dack-Ojumu and Nikki Parrott in 2000, Tigerlily LOOK DEVELOPMENT Productions has a reputation for creating distinctive and original work, ranging from feature films to factual TV. Credits include The Ones Below, written and DEAL WITH TIGERLILY directed by David Farr (The Night Manager, Hanna), Remainder, featuring Tom Sturridge (Sweet Bitter) and Cush Jumbo (The Good Fight), and The Lovers and the Despot, the feature doc about Kim Jong Il’s kidnapping of a South Korean PRODUCTIONS film director.

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Natasha and Nikki comment, “We are extremely pleased to be working stories to life, and we are very much looking forward to working with them on alongside the highly experienced scripted team at Banijay Rights. Their their line-up of exciting new projects.” combined knowledge and global position in the fiction space will ensure that our new dramas will have the best possible start, as well as the opportunity to Already in development are scripted series Angela, a pacey and tense hospital be seen by international audiences. With more drama seeking inspiration from crime drama set in Salford; the psychological drama about the modern day real life events, we are excited about bringing our vast factual experience to phenomenon of ‘ghosting’, I See Through You; and -based, female-led bear in this area.” crime drama, adapted from Christopher Brookmyer’s novel of the same name, Where The Bodies Are Buried. Chris Stewart, Commercial Director, Scripted at Banijay Rights adds, “As the unprecedented demand for high-end scripted programming in the global This new agreement hotly follows other recent Banijay Rights’ first-look market continues, this new relationship will further extend our scripted development deals with leading UK indies Greenacre Films and Clearwood offering. Tigerlily has such a strong reputation for bringing deeply human Films. TVAplus Li-Ning to be SepakTakraw League 2019 Official Apparel Sponsor

All-new design for teams competing in STL 2019 Kuala Lumpur – Astro Arena is proud to announce global sports brand, Li-Ning as the official apparel sponsor of SepakTakraw League (STL) 2019. All teams and match officials of STL 2019 will be sporting Li-Ning jerseys with new designs, which fans can purchase when the league begins on 6 September 2019.

CK Lee, Head of Sports, Astro said, “Astro Arena is excited to see Li-Ning, renowned for its badminton and basketball athletic apparel and footwear, Teah Yann Ling, Brand Manager, Li-Ning said “Li-Ning believes sports is venturing into sepaktakraw. As athletic apparel is integral to any sports, borderless. Whether it is badminton, basketball or sepaktakraw, the passion we see Li-Ning as our committed, long-term partner to develop STL into for sports unite all players and fans, regardless of their background. We a world-class sepaktakraw league, serving as a grooming ground for hope our STL sponsorship will further raise the profile of sepaktakraw and sepaktakraw champions. After 5 seasons, STL is hitting a new stride. It sets grow its fanbase. Now STL fans can support their team by wearing the new record 5.6 million unique TV viewers during STL 2018, with each match official jerseys, which will be available for sale when STL 2019 begins.” garnering an average 129k viewers.” TVAplus regional platform for established and upcoming content creators to come together and present their projects to the international marketplace. With SOUTHEAST ASIAN FILM approximately half of the projects coming through its ranks having been produced, in production, or acquiring financing, the SAFF Project Market has FINANCING PROJECT proven to be the region’s most effective film financing platform for filmmakers working in Southeast Asia.

MARKET 2019 LAUNCHES Encouraging Road Ahead Past finalists of the SAFF Project Market continue to make a mark for themselves, underlining the real value of being part of the alumni in NEW SELECTION PANEL connecting dots and making dreams come true. Kerwin Go, who participated as a finalist in 2017, has since seen his project New line-up maintains calibre of Mina-Anud completed, with the anticipation of being released in the Philippines ScreenSingapore platform on August 21, 2019, through the participation of Regal Entertainment’s Marie Roselle, who met the project and its team at the market. SINGAPORE – The Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market 2019, on the platform of ScreenSingapore, today announced the line-up of “Mina-Anud was inspired by true events in 2009 when 3 tonnes of cocaine this year’s selection panel. washed up on the shores of the province of Eastern Samar,” Kerwin stated. “People didn’t know what the cocaine bricks were. There were reports of On board this year is Carlene Tan, Senior Manager, Animation Development people using them to wash clothes with, and mistakenly being used as a at (Southeast Asia); Anderson Le, Co-director of coffee creamer. I was spending a lot of time surfing in Samar when this Programming, Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) | Programmer, Los happened and thought I should make this into a movie someday.” Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival | Programming Consultant, Far East Film A pioneering filmmaker in Laos, Mattie Do had her project, “The Long Festival; and Marie Roselle Y. Monteverde, Executive Vice President, Regal Walk” go into production in September 2018, since her own participation Entertainment, Inc. at the inaugural SAFF Project Market in 2015. Supported by Aurora Media Holdings and 108 Media, “The Long Walk” has been selected for the Venice Justin Deimen, Executive Director of the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual International Film Festival and is due for release this year. Association (SAAVA), which co-organises the SAFF Project Market, said, “We are excited to welcome our panellists this year and they each represent a “The SAFF Project Market was wonderful for increasing my network of other uniquely qualified eye towards identifying the best projects and filmmakers Southeast Asian filmmakers, and connecting me to amazing people working from around the region. This builds on the confidence from financiers and in the film industry in our region here,” Mattie expressed. “It’s been great to audiences in recognising the role of SAAVA and the contribution of the meet and get to know the other creatives in our line of work that are based SAFF Project Market towards enhancing the infrastructure of the Southeast in Southeast Asia, and who have lots of experience in our very unique, local Asian content industry in bringing together financing, distribution, and co- industry. productions. “Past participants have been able to form a “brotherhood” that allows us to Enhancing the Ecosystem seek support from each other.” As an all-encompassing content market, the SAFF Project Market will expand and evolve as finalists meet with financiers, commissioners and investors, as ScreenSingapore takes place from 4 to 6 December 2019, and is a part of well as listen in on a curated discussion panel by decision makers. the Singapore Media Festival (SMF). For more information, please visit www. Since its launch in 2015, the SAFF Project Market has become a key asiatvforum.com. TVAplus

august-september 2019 television asia plus | 39 review

HBO unveiled new Olympic Channel trailer and images for presents live shows His Dark Materials MADRID – With the excitement growing for next summer’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Olympic Channel presents two shows, both titled One Year to Tokyo 2020 Live Special. The global digital platform will stream a 30-minute, SINGAPORE – HBO released live show in Japanese hosted by Olympian and two-time World Champion the official trailer for the highly figure skater Miki Ando and followed by a second live show in English hosted anticipated HBO Original drama by Olympic Channel news reporter Ashlee Tulloch. series His Dark Materials, which will

premiere same time as the U.S. this The Olympic Channel’s exclusive One Year to Tokyo 2020 Live Special fall, exclusively on HBO GO and HBO. The eight-episode series is set for two will include special guest appearances, interviews, cultural features and seasons. fan interaction. During the interactive live shows, viewers are invited to

send comments, participate in online polls and suggest questions for the Based on author Philip Pullman’s beloved trilogy of the same name, the first presenters to ask the featured guests by using #1YearToGo on social media. season follows Lyra (Dafne Keen), a seemingly ordinary but brave young woman from another world. Lyra’s search for a kidnapped friend uncovers Fans can also take an active part in the one year to Tokyo 2020 celebrations a sinister plot involving stolen children, and becomes a quest to understand on social media by wearing the “Olympic rings sunglasses” filter on Instagram. a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. As she journeys through the worlds, including our own, Lyra meets a determined and courageous boy called Will. Tokyo 2020 will take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020 in Japan. Next Together they encounter extraordinary beings and dangerous secrets, with summer’s premier event will feature more than 10,000 athletes from more the fate of both the living — and the dead — in their hands. than 200 nations competing for 339 gold medals in 33 sports. In addition

to traditional summer sports such as athletics, gymnastics and swimming, Keen (best known for her role in Logan) will be joined by Golden Globe Tokyo 2020 will welcome five new sports, karate, skateboarding, softball and nominee James McAvoy (Dark Phoenix, Split) as Lyra’s Uncle Asriel; Golden baseball, sport climbing and surfing, to the Olympic programme. TVAplus Globe winner Ruth Wilson (The Affair, Mrs. Wilson) as socialite Mrs. Coulter; and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Mary Poppins Returns, Moana) as adventurer Lee Scoresby, to lead a large ensemble cast including Anne-Marie Duff (Before I HBO releases Westworld Go to Sleep), Clarke Peters (An Acceptable Loss), Will Keen (The Crown), Ian Gelder (HBO’s Game of Thrones), Georgina Campbell (Black Mirror), James Season 3 trailer Cosmo (HBO’s Chernobyl) and more. TVAplus NATIONAL – HBO released a brand new official trailer for the third season of the HBO Original Series Westworld. The highly anticipated series will premiere in Asia the same time as the U.S. in 2020 exclusively on HBO GO and HBO.

Winner of nine Emmy Awards in 2017 and 2018, and nominated for a total of 43 Emmys for Seasons 1 and 2, Westworld, which made its debut in 2016, is a sophisticated, highly imaginative drama series that elevates the concept of adventure and thrill-seeking to a new and ultimately dangerous level. In DocuBay collaborates the futuristic fantasy park known as Westworld, a group of android “hosts” deviate from their programmers’ carefully planned scripts in a disturbing with Foxxum pattern of aberrant behaviour that culminates in a violent wholesale rebellion MUMBAI, INDIA AND NEW YORK, USA – DocuBay, the premium by the end of Season 1. international documentary VOD streaming service by IN10 Media, announces a significant collaboration with Foxxum, global leader in the development Season 2 cast members include Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, Ed and operation of innovative Smart TV solutions. As part of the agreement, Harris, Jeffrey Wright and James Marsden, Westworld was inspired by the DocuBay will provide its library of premium content on Foxxum-enabled 1973 motion picture written and directed by Michael Crichton (Jurassic devices worldwide, comprising several major markets including Europe and Park), and was created for television by Executive Producers, Jonathan Nolan the United Kingdom. DocuBay is expected to launch globally in the summer of (Interstellar, The Dark Knight) and Lisa Joy (Pushing Daisies, Burn Notice). 2019. TVAplus of documentaries will be deep linked, and video thumbnails will be made Through this collaboration, DocuBay continues on its global proposition available to their millions of users across a wide range of devices. Users will through a clear and focused content positioning with universal appeal. have access to DocuBay’s exciting features, including thematic curated “Bays” Foxxum’s platform expertise offers viewers the best Smart TV user such as Nature, Action, Travel, Culture, Science, and Sports, showcasing experience, and a customized user-friendly design. The extensive catalogue documentary features from over 80 countries, and counting. TVAplus

40 | television asia plus august-september 2019 Malaysia in View 3 September 2019 DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Kuala Lumpur #aviamiv

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! Prashant Pathmanaban Lam Swee Kim Jason Monteiro Jessica Fuk Eunice Yue Airin Zainul Gaurav Pradhan Head of Digital Chief Marketing Chief Marketing Associate Group Head of Director, tonton & Director, Products and Services O cer O cer Research Analyst Business Development, Licensing and Business Development, Digi Telecommunications dimsum i ix Kagan Marketing & User Growth Merchandising Asia Lazada - Alibaba Group Media Prima ix TV Networks

Unmish Parthasarathi Avi Himatsinghani Jean-Christophe Jubin Michael Greco Kingsley Warner ! Fred Chong ! Founder CEO ! VP Sales APAC VP APAC GM Founder and Group CEO Picture Board Partners Rewind Networks Viaccess-Orca Vindicia Viu Malaysia WebTVAsia EARLY BIRD RATE Major local and international players are heading for Malaysia in View. Join us and take advantage of our early bird promotion today. Register by 24 July! REGISTER NOW AND GET 15% OFF

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