FME Looks to Boost Asian Content Slate

SINGAPORE: Ganesh Rajaram, senior VP of sales to Asia at FremantleMedia Enterprises (FME), tells World Screen about the company’s pact with the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) to develop original content in the region.

FME has been steadily building its business in Asia for the last few years, Rajaram notes, with strong results. "Over the past few years our Asian business has gone from strength to strength," Rajaram says. "To take advantage of the new opportunities and to explore possible new avenues for business growth in Asia, we restructured our sales division and introduced Haryaty Rahman as director of sales. The results have been impressive and, in 2010, incredibly, we sold over 5,000 hours of international programming to Asian broadcasters."

A key part of FME’s Asian business strategy, Rajaram explains, is to "continue to source original pioneering content and to work with new partners to develop the next big thing," and its partnership with the MDA has been key. The relationship dates back to 2006, when FME inked a deal with personality Kylie Kwong, Singaporean production house Sitting In Pictures and the MDA to handle the worldwide television, DVD and ancillary rights (excluding Singapore) to the series My China.

"As part of our strategy we consistently strive to source original content featuring local talent and to distribute locally and internationally," says Rajaram on the importance of the My China deal. "Being Singaporean and having worked with local producers, I had always wanted to work with the local production community and help them get onto the world stage. Through this deal we were able to develop an international series and work with Singaporean production company Sitting in Pictures to bring Kylie Kwong and her innovative take on China to the world. My China performed extremely well internationally, the series sold to more than 35 territories, including Australia, Brazil, France, the U.K., the U.S. and pan-regionally across Asia."

FME’s partnership with the MDA has continued with the International Animation Fund (IAF), launched at MIPTV last year. The fund, Rajaram says, "has been receiving a huge volume of entries and a number of exciting concepts are currently in development. We are looking forward to representing the winning entry under the FME portfolio internationally."

Rajaram notes that FME and the MDA are also "continuing to work alongside and invest in Singaporean talent, including production companies like Ochre Pictures and Filmat 36 whom we have entered into development deals with and hope to greenlight new productions soon. Our company has the resources to distribute content globally so through this partnership we hope to spread more locally produced content throughout Asia and worldwide. The MDA is the perfect partner for FME as the idea of bringing Singaporean talent to the global arena is the underlying premise behind all our collaborations."

Looking to the future, Rajaram says he is aiming to find new partners with whom FME can develop projects for the worldwide market. In addition, he says, "Our business in Asia involves our distribution, home entertainment and licensing businesses which are getting stronger and stronger, and of course we’re looking forward to continuing in that vein."