Asian buyers emerged from Sony Pictures Television screenings in L.A. a few weeks ago talking mostly about Shemar Moore’s abs and British actor Freddie Highmore as an American version of Korean heartthrob Joo Won in medical drama The Good Doctor.
Shemar Moore’s in-the-flesh six-pack was in the name of promoting action series S.W.A.T (“It’s not about kicking a*#s, it’s about saving lives,” in his own words, if anyone was listening).
If Moore lit up the party (and social media) for raw physical power, Highmore in The Good Doctor warmed hearts as the brilliant autistic surgeon in a born-in-Asia story strong enough to attract the attention of House creator David Shore and Hawaii Five-O co-star Daniel Dae Kim, and a slot on U.S. broadcast network ABC. The Good Doctor is Sony’s first Korean drama adaption for the U.S.
For Keith Le Goy, Sony Pictures Television’s international distribution president, The Good Doctor is part of a bigger conversation about expanding international production initiatives and collaborations, as well as stories that can come from anywhere.
He points to sci-fi anthology series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, which he calls a “really interesting example of the fact that story telling is a global thing, and the business that we are in is a totally connected global business”. Philip K. Dick Electric Dreams is a 10-episode series jointly commissioned by Channel 4 in the U.K. and Amazon in the U.S. Five episodes are being made in the U.K. and five in the U.S.
The globalisation of content follows the shift in consumer control and choices, largely as a result of digital technology. “It’s easier than it’s ever been to get great content in different forms anywhere in the world,” Le Goy says.
In Asia The Good Doctor’s Korean heritage is one more advantage in an environment where Hollywood content’s overall share of viewing, particularly on streaming platforms, is being eroded by Asian titles.
But like other U.S. studio distribution bosses, Le Goy says overall consumption in Asia is growing exponentially, driven by a greater number of platforms and viewing...
Asian buyers emerged from Sony Pictures Television screenings in L.A. a few weeks ago talking mostly about Shemar Moore’s abs and British actor Freddie Highmore as an American version of Korean heartthrob Joo Won in medical drama The Good Doctor.
Shemar Moore’s in-the-flesh six-pack was in the name of promoting action series S.W.A.T (“It’s not about kicking a*#s, it’s about saving lives,” in his own words, if anyone was listening).
If Moore lit up the party (and social media) for raw physical power, Highmore in The Good Doctor warmed hearts as the brilliant autistic surgeon in a born-in-Asia story strong enough to attract the attention of House creator David Shore and Hawaii Five-O co-star Daniel Dae Kim, and a slot on U.S. broadcast network ABC. The Good Doctor is Sony’s first Korean drama adaption for the U.S.
For Keith Le Goy, Sony Pictures Television’s international distribution president, The Good Doctor is part of a bigger conversation about expanding international production initiatives and collaborations, as well as stories that can come from anywhere.
He points to sci-fi anthology series, Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams, which he calls a “really interesting example of the fact that story telling is a global thing, and the business that we are in is a totally connected global business”. Philip K. Dick Electric Dreams is a 10-episode series jointly commissioned by Channel 4 in the U.K. and Amazon in the U.S. Five episodes are being made in the U.K. and five in the U.S.
The globalisation of content follows the shift in consumer control and choices, largely as a result of digital technology. “It’s easier than it’s ever been to get great content in different forms anywhere in the world,” Le Goy says.
In Asia The Good Doctor’s Korean heritage is one more advantage in an environment where Hollywood content’s overall share of viewing, particularly on streaming platforms, is being eroded by Asian titles.
But like other U.S. studio distribution bosses, Le Goy says overall consumption in Asia is growing exponentially, driven by a greater number of platforms and viewing options.
At the same time, SPT continues to produce for its own international networks. New thriller, Absentia, for AXN stars Stana Katic as FBI agent Emily Byrne, who disappears while hunting a serial killer and is found six years later. Le Goy says Sony’s global networks “give us the opportunity to finance and produce independently of the U.S. network system”.
He would also like to replicate the relationship with the U.K.’s ITV for The Halcyon in Asia. “That’s exactly the way we would like to work with partners in China, India or Japanese, where they would be the primary commissioner of content that is highly relevant to local audiences but with global appeal,” he says.
SPT continues to be “very present in China”, where a local version of Crackle digital original series, The Chosen, is in production, and where conversations are ongoing about making Chinese stories in English for a global audience.
The idea is to do for television production what the company did with, for example, films like Stephen Chow’s The Mermaid (2016), Le Goy says.
“We see the same opportunity for television shows,” he continues, admitting that its a “longer ongoing conversation but one that we are very committed to having”.
“There are plenty of stories with global appeal and global value,” Le Goy says, adding: “Want to try to tell those stories and expose them to the widest possible audience in the same way as we do with Hollywood storytelling”.
Published on ContentAsia's eNewsletter, 12 June 2017