Mark Burnett Productions’ The Contender Heads to Singapore

SINGAPORE, July 11: Mark Burnett Productions has partnered
with Singaporean company Imagine OmniMedia to produce a version of the U.S.
reality boxing series The Contender in
Singapore, to be broadcast on the AXN network throughout Asia from October.

Entitled The Contender Asia, the new 15-part series will focus on 16 contestants who compete in the
art of Muay Thai. The international lineup of contestants will arrive in
Singapore in August to begin shooting for this series.

The Media Development Authority of Singapore played an
intermediary role in the project, and Singapore’s DBS Bank has agreed to help
finance the series.

The team behind the filming of the series will be comprised
of producer Jerry Schafer and Emmy Award winner and director of photography
Ozzie Smith, as well as local producers. This international team will also be
complemented by senior producers from Mark Burnett Productions.

“It is our objective to bring international content to
Singapore and Asia,” said Riaz Mehta, the executive producer of The
Contender Asia and CEO of Imagine
OmniMedia. “We aim to maintain the international production values synonymous
with Mark Burnett Productions while ensuring the show is relevant to the Asian
audience. The Contender series has a huge following all over the world and
we are confident The Contender Asia
will be a big success and put Singapore as a key location for future
productions.”

Added Burnett, “I’m delighted to be partnering with Imagine
OmniMedia and feel privileged that the government of Singapore have chose to
help us for The Contender Asia, which is
the very first version of The Contender format in that region. I fully expect a Contender Asia as the first of many Asian projects that we
undertake with confidence. We are very, very Asia focused.”