Mediacorp Orders A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts Pilot

Robot Playground Media has teamed with several international animation companies to produce the animated horror anthology A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts, with Mediacorp financing the pilot episode.

The project was one of the winning pitches at Mediacorp’s Content Development Pitch 2022, and as such, Mediacorp has commissioned and financed the pilot episode, while 108 Media will be co-financing on a series order. The anthology features ten self-contained ghost stories that take place during the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival.

The Hungry Ghost Festival is a Chinese custom where food offerings are made to appease ghosts roaming the earthly realm during the seventh month of the lunar calendar. The series is based off of Ying Chang Compestine’s book of the same name.

The animation studios that will each create their own horror short include Igloo Studio (Thailand), Studio Climb (Malaysia), Something Big (France), Disnosc (France), Werlen Meyer (France) and Xanthus Animation (Taiwan), with more to be announced. Robot Playground Media will be producing two episodes itself, including the pilot.

The production will be executive produced by Justin Deimen, Compestine and Abhi Rastogi for 108 Media and Ervin Han, Bernard Toh and Raul Garcia for Robot Playground.

Han, CEO and co-founder of Robot Playground Media, said: “The combination of Chinese food and the afterlife is an irresistible pairing for what we envision to be a groundbreaking animated series for a modern audience. Ten deliciously macabre tales created by some of the most exciting indie studios from Asia and around the world. Horror is a genre that has been underserved in animation for too long. With Banquet, we aim to create a long-running horror series that will satisfy the appetite of a global audience hungry for bold, fun and imaginative adult animation. Let the feast begin!”

Angeline Poh, chief customer and corporate development officer at Mediacorp, added: “Robot Playground Media wowed us with their pitch for A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts at our Content Development Pitch competition. We are thrilled to be working with them to produce [the pilot], ‘Egg Fried Rice.’ This collaboration underlines Mediacorp’s commitment to invest in the development of good stories, as well as our dedication to nurturing and supporting creative talents. This exciting and innovative concept promises a spine-chilling viewing experience for the global audience, and we can’t wait to delve into this unique culinary journey of terror!”