Sparks Scores Asian Commissions

STOCKHOLM/HONG KONG: Through its newly established office in Hong Kong, Sparks Network has secured a range of commissions from the Asian market.

The game show Clueless is headed for local production in Vietnam for HTV7. The local version of the format, from the ATM Grupa in Poland, will have 65 episodes produced by the Vietnamese production company TK-L. The show is set to air in the fourth quarter of 2011.

A local version of Super Soccer Stars has been produced for Indonesia. Created by Galleon, the format is developed together with the Chelsea Football Club, which invites the winner of the show to join the Chelsea youth academy. A local treatment launched on MNC TV in Indonesia on July 9. Thirteen episodes were produced by Sparks member Lemon Production.

Gary Pudney, the head of the Sparks office in Hong Kong, said, "We are in advanced talks with Asian clients for a number of our formats and series and we feel a strong growth in the format business in Asia. We also expect to sign up a additional strong local producers in Australia, Malaysia and Southeast Asia as local members the coming months. Together with our existing members in Japan, South Korea, China and Indonesia, we are soon looking at a complete coverage of the Asia-Pacific region."