region Asia-Pacific: Last News

Charna Flam The Korea Copyright Protection Agency (KCOPA) and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which established Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) as its content-protection arm and anti-piracy coalition, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on June 28 in a joint effort to fight digital theft in the Asia-Pacific region. The agreement outlines that KCOPA and ACE will work together to bring awareness to intellectual property rights and provide actionable information on digital piracy, which, while long an issue, has become a rampant global problem now attributed to the ever-expanding number of subscription streaming services.

Christopher Vourlias The first edition of the Alternativa Film Project wrapped with an award ceremony this weekend in Almaty, the cultural capital of Kazakhstan, with filmmakers from Central Asia and the wider Asia-Pacific region being feted as part of a new initiative launched by the California-based tech company inDrive, best known for its ride-hailing app. The event marked a successful close to what organizers hope will be an ongoing non-profit initiative aimed at supporting emerging filmmakers from under-developed film industries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Filming is now underway in Australia on “Desert King,” a neo-western drama series for Netflix that is positioned to be one of the streamer’s iconic prestige productions in the Asia-Pacific region. The story revolves around money and power in Australia’s harsh Outback regions with filming locations in the remote Northern Territory and near Adelaide, South Australia. When the world’s largest cattle station is left without a clear successor, generational clashes threaten to tear the Lawson family apart. Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners – move in for the kill,” says Netflix by way of a synopsis. While describing the six-part series as “one of the largest local screen productions filmed in both the [Northern] Territory and South Australia,” and “an extraordinary cast,” the streamer has not disclosed the identities of any cast. Directed by Greg McLean (“La Brea,” “Wolf Creek”), the show is a joint production between Easy Tiger and Ronde.

Selina Wang is joining ABC News as senior White House correspondent after being based at CNN’s Beijing bureau as the network’s sole correspondent in China.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Selina Wang, who served as CNN’s only reporter on the ground during the coronavirus-challenged Beijing Winter Olympics, will soon become one of ABC News’ key personnel in a very different arena: The White House. Wang, who had been with CNN since 2020, was named ABC News’ new senior White House correspondent Tuesday, during the Disney news unit’s daily editorial meeting.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney is to close its six remaining linear TV channels in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea as the conglomerate puts a greater emphasis on direct-to-consumer streaming. The channels concerned are National Geographic, National Geographic Wild, Star Chinese Movies, Star Chinese Channel, Star Movies and Star World. Linear services will end from September in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Korea, and by December in Taiwan. The group expects to retain a streamlined television portfolio with channels in Japan, China, Australia and New Zealand for the time being.

Endeavor Group Holdings has sold sports educational institution IMG Academy to a division of private equity firm EQT.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Malaysia-based content group Vision New Media has promoted Min Lim to the newly created role of group CEO. She reports to founder and chairman Beng Teck Lim. Poh Lin Ho, who had been with Vision Plus Entertainment for nearly 40 years, latterly as its CEO, is stepping down from the business. Lim, who is currently head of production at group production business Double Vision, will now take responsibility for all content creation and distribution activities, plus the group’s extensive post-production, dubbing and subtitling services. She will also oversee Square Box Pictures, the group’s theatrical distribution arm, as well as long-standing television distributor Vision Plus Entertainment.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Global streaming operation Netflix is forecast to spend $1.9 billion on local content in the Asia-Pacific region this year as group revenue from the region accelerates to 12%, according to a new report. The content investment spending figure represents a 15% hike. Netflix will grow revenues this year by 12% year-on-year to exceed $4 billion compared with 9% growth in 2022, says a new report published on Monday by Media Partners Asia.

EXCLUSIVE: Aloke Devichand, Netflix’s Head of Asian Original Documentaries who commissioned docs on Blackpink and Naomi Osaka along with an Oscar-nominated short, has exited the streamer after nearly five years.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Gerhard Zeiler, president of International at Warner Bros. Discovery, has moved to reassure the Asia-Pacific region that it is an integral part of the group’s post-merger strategy. “Don’t believe that we don’t know how important Asia is for our company, he said Thursday. Zeiler was speaking at the APOS Convention in Singapore on Thursday. He cited examples of theatrical success for “Batman” and “Fantastic Beasts” in the region and investment in local production in the region. The reassurance may have been necessary following post-merger announcements that proposed changes in North America, Latin America and Europe ahead of Asia – despite recent external data showing Asia-Pacific as one of the world’s fastest growth regions.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A new trailer for the second season of futuristic fantasy actioner Alice in Borderland was the highlight of a slate of Japanese film, series and cartoons unveiled by Netflix on Sunday as part of its Tudum fan experience. Japanese content is doing well for the streamer, both within the country which is Netflix’s most valuable in the Asia-Pacific region, and increasingly overseas. Though the country is awaiting its “Squid Game” breakout show, the company has signaled that it is investing more in the Japanese-language category. The Sunday presentation included a group interview segment in which Yamazaki Kento and Tsuchiya Tao, who play Arisu and Usagi from “Alice in Borderland,” Mori Nana and Deguchi Natsuki who play Kiyo and Sumire in “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House,” and Ai Fairouz , voice actress for Jolyne Cujoh in “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean,” talked about their personal growth and shared thoughts on now reaching fans all over the world.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Disney+ and Amazon Prime Video compete for second position behind Netflix in Australia, the Asia-Pacific region’s most developed streaming market. But, increasingly, all premium SVOD suppliers are focusing on profitability rather than simple growth. A new report from consultancy and research firm Media Partners Asia, “Australia Online Video Consumer Insights & Analytics” shows that Australian consumers streamed 24 billion minutes of premium online video between January and August this year. SVOD platforms accounted for 70% of viewing time, while broadcaster-operated platforms (BVOD) claimed 30%. The numbers reflect a mixture of measured usage and a panel of viewers.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Asia-Pacific region is now the largest contributor to growth of the global online video industry, a major new study published Monday finds.With the U.S. and Europe fast maturing and China inaccessible, APAC’s large markets – India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea and Thailand – will be increasingly important to global platforms, said consultancy and research firm Media Partners Asia in its report “Asia Pacific Online Video & Broadband Distribution 2022.”The report, which covers the AVOD and SVOD sectors and spans China, India, Australasia, Southeast Asia as well as South Korea and Japan, shows the overall industry on course to grow by 16% in the current year to $49.2 billion.

EXCLUSIVE: Industry tech provider Deluxe has appointed former Netflix Korea exec Samantha Kim to the role of Managing Director, Business Development, APAC.

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. marketing giant Trailer Park Group has taken its first steps into India with the acquisition of Mumbai-based creative agency White Turtle Studios.

All of Us Are Dead,” the popular Korean zombie series, has been renewed for Season 2 at Netflix.The zombie horror series is one of the streamer’s top ten non-English-language shows of all time and its second most successful Korean-produced show, after last year’s “Squid Game.”The news was announced as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week. The event is intended to showcase new and returning series, in addition to positioning Netflix as the home of Asian horror and sci-fi genre content.

Activision Blizzard has released a “launch roadmap” for Diablo: Immortal in order to ensure a smooth launch for players.The mobile version will begin to appear on the Apple App Store and Play Store on the morning of June 1 ahead of the official launch on June 2. According to Blizzard, this is due to the “nature of how mobile games launch” and to ensure a “smooth full launch”.The MMORPG will be launching at 6pm on June 2 in the United Kingdom.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe sports rights and media businesses in the Asia-Pacific region are experiencing a post-COVID rebound that could continue at 6% annually until 2026. But the past domination of broadcast TV is being eroded.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe success of Korean shows “Vincenzo” and “Squid Game” and Japanese anime such as “Attack on Titan” are justifying Netflix’s heavy spending on Asian film and TV content.The streaming giant is forecast to grow its revenues in the Asia-Pacific region by 24% in the current year as subscriber numbers swell by 20%, according to new research, from Singapore based consultancy Media Partners Asia.That optimism stands in contrast to investment sentiment in January when Netflix announced its December quarter and 2021 full year data and a spooked the financial community with a cautious (global) first quarter outlook. Media Partners Asia’ latest note on the company indicates that Netflix could grow APAC revenues by 24% in the current year to December, to $4.1 billion.

gonorrhoea has been detected in London.The bacteria which causes the sexually transmitted illness was found in a heterosexual man in his early 20s who is thought to have contracted the STI in London in November.This rare bacteria, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, is resistant to the antibiotic ceftriaxone, which is the main treatment for gonorrhoea.Ceftriaxone resistance is common in the Asia-Pacific region but has rarely been found in the UK.Luckily the man was treated successfully and investigations to identify and limit further transmission is currently underway, MyLondon reports.But the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) is warning people of the importance of protecting themselves against STIs.