First Astro Shaw, Skop Productions premium TV drama co-pro unveiled; new original adds story of power, greed & betrayal to local Malaysian line-up

Malaysian entertainment platform Astro unveiled its latest original drama, “Kuasa”, today, adding a glamour/greed/power/betrayal story of an entertainment mogul and his three children to its premium TV slate and expanding the production relationship between its film unit, Astro Shaw, and Malaysian indie Skop Productions.

“Kuasa”, created by Shamin Yusof and directed by Kroll Azry (“Black”, “KL Gangster Underworld 2”), is the first TV drama series co-production between Astro Shaw and Skop Productions, which have produced films such as “Abang Long Fadil 2”, “KL Special Force” and “Misteri Dilaila”.

The eight-episode series stars Ridzuan Hashim as Tan Sri Dhameeris, an entertainment mogul whose three children – Delilah (played by Nadia Brian), Darius (Nazim Othman) and Dharma (Izzy Reef) – are fighting to be his sole heir. But there are bigger enemies they need to battle.

“Kuasa” premieres on 11 April and will air Mondays at 9pm on Astro Citra. The series will also stream on Astro Go and On Demand.
 

Banijay picks up two Korean formats; MBC’s “Bloody Game Deal” & CJ ENM’s “EXchange”

Banijay Rights is adding two Korean formats – dating and relationship format “EXchange” from CJ ENM, and strategic competition series “Bloody Game” from MBC – to its European catalogue, the company said on opening day of Mip TV in Cannes.

The deal with MBC gives Banijay exclusive rights to “Bloody Game” in nine countries across Europe – France, Germany, Italy, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Belgium and the Netherlands.

The series premiered in Korea in November 2021.

Banijay’s deal with CJ ENM for “EXchange”, an original format from CJ ENM’s SVOD platform Tving, covers rights for the Nordics, Spain, Portugal, Germany and Australia.

“EXchange” launched in Korea last year and had been renewed for a second season.
 

India’s Zee ties up with Mexico’s TelevisaUnivision for travelogue co-pro

India’s Zee Entertainment and Mexico’s TelevisaUnivision opened this year’s Mip TV in Cannes today saying they were working on international travelogue co-production, “The Spice Trails: Latin America”.

The 12-part half-hour series, billed as a “discovery of spices across verdant lands”, explores cultural and economic influences, cuisines and traditions across Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Argentina.

The show is currently in production and slated for a release in the fourth quarter of this year or first quarter 2023.
 

Japan’s Nippon TV, Turkey’s Sera Film co-develop unscripted family studio game show

Japan’s top commercial broadcaster, Nippon TV, and Turkish indie Sera Film are co-developing an unscripted format for international markets, the companies said this afternoon on opening day of this year’s Mip TV.

Sera Film produced the Turkish version of Nippon TV’s business format, “Dragons’ Den”.

The companies said the new partnership would formulate “the collaboration of Turkish storytelling with the creativity of Japanese fun and crazy game shows”.

A pilot for the as-yet-unnamed studio game show targeting family viewers is being planned in Turkey; no other details have been confirmed.
 

CJ ENM strikes first-look deal with France’s WeMake

South Korea’s CJ ENM and France’s WeMake have struck a first-look deal to produce formats in France, the companies said in Cannes today on day one of Mip TV.

The first title from the CJ ENM catalogue likely to make its way to France as a result of the new partnership is new relationship/dating format, “EXchange”.

CJ ENM titles produced in France so far include “Grandpa Over Flowers” and “I Can See Your Voice”.

The Seoul-based conglomerate said today it would “continue to seek out production opportunities for the French marketplace alongside WeMake and its partners”.

Based in Paris, the five-year-old WeMake produced Netflix original unscripted format, “Until Dawn”, in France, and is producing adventure show “The Missing One” in Australia for Amazon Prime Video.

WeMake’s original formats include “The Big Crazy Game Night”, which has been renewed for a second season and has been optioned in six countries; and “Let’s All Play for France”, which has also been renewed for a second season.
 

Beach House Pictures/Curiosity doc opens Mip with seven deals in Europe, Australia

Beach House Pictures’ science documentary series, “Evolve”, has been sold to a raft of broadcasters in Europe, including Viasat World (Nordic and Central & Eastern Europe), RAI (Italy), Studio Hamburg (Germany), UR (Sweden), NRK (Norway) and VRT (Belgium), U.K.-based distributor Abacus Media Rights said today as this year’s Mip TV opened in Cannes.

The series, produced for Curiosity in association with Blue Ant Media, has also been sold to Australia’s ABC.

Production took place throughout 2021 and stories were filmed in Namibia, Jordan, U.K. and in 10 states across the U.S.

Presented by Patrick Aryee, biologist and host of BBC’s “30 Animals That Made Us Smarter”, the series explores the world of biomimicry and looks at whether the adaptations of the animal world can be applied to solutions for some of earth’s biggest problems.
 

FEATURES

Long way from home

Netflix has made no secret of its ambitions for Japanese anime, most recently showcasing 40 new exclusive titles across a range of genres for 2022, including one from “Attack on Titan” creator, Tetsuro Araki. But the streamer clearly has a way to go before results match hopes, dreams and investment. ▶ Read more here
 

Formats in Asia

Asia’s appetite for formats has plummeted in the last four years, although there is still lively interest in scripted formats for markets with fierce streaming competition and hi-energy feel-good game shows remain a favourite genre. ContentAsia’s latest Formats Outlook looks at the state of the formats business in Asia for full-year 2021. ▶ Read more here

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