{"id":12316,"date":"2019-11-19T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2019-11-19T13:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dev2.worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/worldscreen.com\/"},"modified":"2019-11-26T12:50:50","modified_gmt":"2019-11-26T17:50:50","slug":"dramatic-horizons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/","title":{"rendered":"Dramatic Horizons"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Regional and international distributors discuss drama acquisition trends across Asia.<\/em><\/p>\n

Local, local, local. That\u2019s the refrain from Asia\u2019s biggest streaming platforms about their scripted acquisition needs. The likes of Viu, HOOQ and iflix have been buying up shows from Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, among other markets. Even Hulu Japan, which has acquired mainly from the U.S., has broadened its remit, picking up the Indian historical epic Porus<\/em> from One Life Studios. But in Asia\u2019s busy media landscape, there are opportunities for all kinds of scripted shows, from glossy U.S. network dramas to brooding Scandi noir, Turkish romantic comedies and everything in between.<\/p>\n

\u201cAsia is slowly developing into a market that is hungry for different kinds of content given the growing number of OTT platforms debuting around the region,\u201d reports Nixon Yau Lim, the head of Asia Pacific at Eccho Rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cEven though Asia is still a new region for us, we have seen an increasing demand for Turkish content in Central Asia especially, and Southeast Asia,\u201d adds Can Okan, the founder and CEO of Inter Medya.<\/p>\n

In terms of content from the Asia Pacific, Korean dramas continue to dominate, but opportunities remain for suppliers from elsewhere in the region.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a consistent business in Myanmar, which continues to grow, while clients from Vietnam, Brunei, Thailand and Malaysia acquire content on a regular basis,\u201d says Roxanne J. Barcelona, the VP of GMA Worldwide in the Philippines. \u201cWe aim to increase our presence in India and China.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barcelona notes that some 95 percent of the company\u2019s regional business is with traditional linear channels. \u201cWhile we entertain inquiries from digital platforms, business is limited as mostly they prefer a revenue-share arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Barcelona, Filipino dramas resonate in many parts of Asia \u201cbecause of the similarity in our cultures, the look of the cast being similar to how other Asian people look, and of the unique storylines. We find that stories that revolve around individual courage, perseverance and familial love are acceptable to viewers in these markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contemporary and romance dramas are among GMA\u2019s top sellers, with the company arriving at ATF with a slate that includes Beautiful Justice<\/em>, A Place in Your Heart<\/em> and The Gift<\/em>. \u201cCurrent content trends show that viewers are looking for non-traditional dramas that revolve around themes of crime, the supernatural and suspense,\u201d says Barcelona on the appeal of the company\u2019s ATF lineup.<\/p>\n

Over at ABS-CBN\u2008Corporation, \u201cOur content is currently being well-loved and widely accepted in Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia and even in the islands of Fiji and Papua New Guinea,\u201d says Wincess L. Gonzalez, sales head for Asia and Latin America. \u201cIn the coming months, we are also eyeing to enter the hearts of viewers from our neighboring Asian countries such as Sri Lanka, Mongolia, India and Korea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gonzalez is of the opinion that ABS-CBN\u2019s content has been able to travel widely because of its \u201cfamily values. We always make sure to produce content that gives every viewer a charter they can relate to and learn from. Every dramatic scene of pain, sacrifice and triumph is meticulously told to enthrall the emotion and sympathy of the viewers. We also make sure to inject social relevance in every story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Family dramas revolving around romance tend to be the most popular, Gonzalez observes, \u201cbut that does not stop us from experimenting with new breeds of stories that feature crime themes.\u201d At ATF, for example, The Killer Bride<\/em> is among the company\u2019s lead highlights.<\/p>\n

INDIAN EPICS<\/strong>
\nIndia\u2019s One Life Studios, meanwhile, is promoting costume dramas such as Porus<\/em> and Chandragupta Maurya<\/em> this December in Singapore. \u201cCostume dramas have always attracted audiences and broadcasters because of their elaborate sets, costumes and empowering storylines,\u201d says Rahul Kumar Tewary, producer and managing director at One Life Studios. \u201cThey are a perfect blend of all elements, ranging from action, thriller, love and revenge to fantasy and family values.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thus far, Southeast Asia has been One Life\u2019s biggest market for scripted, notably Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. \u201cIndian dramas have always resonated with audiences in these territories due to the similarities in the culture, history and Indian legacies that have always been considered epic,\u201d Tewary explains. \u201cWe also believe that audiences across the globe are now more open to experimenting with far and away content and cultures they have not heard of before. In that sense, one could anticipate a more positive response from Europe for Indian content.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tewary is also hoping to find new opportunities in China and Latin America.<\/p>\n

TURKISH DELIGHT<\/strong>
\nTurkish distributors have already conquered Latin America and are looking to do the same in Asia, a region that has long loved telenovelas and daily soaps.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the U.S., Turkey positioned itself as the world\u2019s second-biggest TV series exporter in recent years,\u201d says Inter Medya\u2019s Okan. \u201cOver the last decade, the popularity of Turkish TV series and feature films has skyrocketed across the globe. Turkish series are particularly popular in these markets because audiences can relate to the strong characters and stories.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inter Medya\u2019s regional successes to date include selling the dramedy Hay<\/em>at\u00a0<\/em>into Sri Lanka. \u201cIt had great ratings from day one,\u201d Okan reports. \u201cHayat<\/em> was particularly popular in this region because of its unusual comedic spin and romantic story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, the International Emmy Award\u2013winning Endless Love<\/em> was acquired by an OTT platform in India, Okan says. \u201cThis deal was very exciting to us as it was our first digital agreement in Asia,\u201d Okan notes. \u201cWe cannot wait to see what the new year will bring!\u201d<\/p>\n

At Calinos Entertainment, Asli Serim Guliyev, international sales director, says, \u201cIndonesia used to be the largest importer of Turkish dramas in the Asian market, however we have very good connections within a number of countries now, including Bangladesh and Malaysia.\u201d<\/p>\n

Guliyev says that audiences can easily connect with the values in Turkish dramas. \u201cThe audience can find something to empathize with, and thanks to these unique features, our dramas touch their lives and become more popular by the day.\u201d<\/p>\n

On offer from the company at ATF will be highlights such as The Girl Named Feriha<\/em>, Our Story<\/em>, Forbidden Fruit<\/em> and Woman<\/em>, itself based on a drama from Nippon TV.<\/p>\n

Fellow Turkish company ATV is showcasing the historical epic The Ottoman\u00a0<\/em>starring Burak \u00d6zcivit at ATF, alongside Hercai<\/em> and Lifeline<\/em>, which M\u00fcge Akar, content sales deputy manager, says will have particularly strong resonance among female audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that with our new highlights, we will be the right point of contact for the buyers seeking love stories and historical drama series,\u201d Akar says of her ambitions for the Singapore market this year.<\/p>\n

Two new Turkish dramas headline Eccho Rights\u2019 ATF portfolio, Everywhere I Go<\/em> and My Sweet Lie<\/em>. \u201cAsia is still a huge follower of good, light romantic drama,\u201d says Yau Lim. \u201cAside from that, the main actors in both series are the kind that make Asian audiences swoon and fall head-over-heels for. The Asian buyers who were at MIPCOM reacted positively when they saw both these titles. I\u2019m certain that other Asian buyers will be equally thrilled when we launch these two titles at ATF.\u201d<\/p>\n

Eccho Rights is also home to a slate of Scandinavian dramas, among them the recently renewed Swedish crime series Honour<\/em>. \u201cThere are some Asian OTTs that are into dark, gripping, and edgy series,\u201d Yau Lim says. \u201cHonour<\/em> is our answer.\u201d<\/p>\n

SCRIPTED SAVVY<\/strong>
\nEccho Rights is not only selling Honour<\/em> as a ready-made show, Yau Lim continues. \u201cIt has huge potential as a remake for certain markets like India and perhaps even Thailand.\u201d<\/p>\n

Scripted formats are indeed an expanding opportunity for drama distributors worldwide, including in Asia, but thus far, India has been the most responsive. \u201cThe opportunities in other countries [in the region] are not as vast,\u201d says One Life Studios\u2019 Tewary. \u201cWe definitely see potential in territories like Turkey and China.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe submitted scripted deks to clients in Myanmar, MENA and Latin America,\u201d says GMA\u2019s Barcelona. \u201cWe have sold seven scripted formats to Mexico through our partner, Latin Media Corporation.\u201d Barcelona also notes that GMA is \u201cexperiencing an increase in the number of inquiries for co-production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Interest in Turkish scripts is picking up, according to Inter Medya\u2019s Okan. \u201cSince we\u2019ve been attending ATF in recent years, we have seen an increase in demand for scripted formats, especially from Asian countries,\u201d Okan explains. \u201cWe hope to license one of our products in this region soon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Calinos\u2019s Guliyev has also noticed this trend. \u201cThere are quite a few Turkish formats that have been remade and are currently in production. Turkey is a factory of dreams and the world knows about it. For us, selling formats is creating a partnership, like a symbiosis of force and traction that can create state-of-the-art productions. Turkish stories will always be attractive to people from all corners of the world as they contain the perfect ingredients that constitute a good drama\u2014unshakable patriarchal values, love triangles, family dramas and unsolvable dilemmas. Products like this can easily flow in a competitive world. We are currently working with a few countries and territories such as Bulgaria, Hungary, Spain, the Far East and Latin America.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether for tape sales or formats, there is plenty of opportunity for drama distributors in Asia, Eccho Rights\u2019 Yau Lim notes. \u201cAsia is still a developing market for Eccho Rights, but we see so much potential in it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Regional and international distributors discuss drama acquisition trends across Asia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":12317,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,70],"tags":[2150,3497,654,444,490,1596,1880,2264],"class_list":["post-12316","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","tag-abs-cbn-corporation","tag-atf-2019","tag-atv","tag-calinos-entertainment","tag-eccho-rights","tag-gma-worldwide","tag-inter-medya","tag-one-life-studios","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\nDramatic Horizons - TVDRAMA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dramatic Horizons - TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Regional and international distributors discuss drama acquisition trends across Asia.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"TVDRAMA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-11-19T13:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-26T17:50:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2017\/07\/Endless-Love-2.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"429\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Mansha Daswani\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/\",\"name\":\"Dramatic Horizons - TVDRAMA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-19T13:00:17+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-26T17:50:50+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/dramatic-horizons\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Dramatic Horizons\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/\",\"name\":\"TVDRAMA\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/worldscreen.com\/tvdrama\/#\/schema\/person\/83da304c8bad8bfdb3edd7eb47cfe5ad\",\"name\":\"Mansha Daswani\",\"description\":\"Mansha Daswani is the editor-in-chief and associate publisher of World Screen. 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