Producers of some of Asia\u2019s best drama series this year discussed funding challenges, driving new narrative techniques and co-production opportunities at a session hosted by the Asian Academy of Creative Arts in Singapore.<\/p>\n
The panel, which I had the privilege of moderating, was held as part of the National Winners Conference ahead of the Asian Academy Creative Awards, honoring the region\u2019s best productions. It featured Ekachai Uekrongtham, creator and executive producer of\u00a0Doctor Climax<\/em>, the Netflix Thai original that landed the win for the region\u2019s best drama; Mike Wiluan, director of Singapore\u2019s\u00a0Phantom Squad<\/em>; Damiano Malchiodi of CANAL+ International, representing the Myanmar original\u00a0Sparkle Hearts<\/em>; Vemmy Sagita, writer, producer and director of the Indonesian series\u00a0Must Get Married<\/em>; and Asim Abbasi, writer and director of the Pakistani-Indian series\u00a0Barzakh<\/em>\u00a0(Limboland<\/em>) for ZEE5 and Zindagi.<\/p>\n Barzakh<\/em>\u00a0was conceived during the pandemic, Abbasi said. \u201cEveryone was dealing with the idea of loss and grief and what that meant during that time. This, for us, was a meditative piece on that. I wanted to break away from the boundaries of what a narrative form feels like in this day and age. I was not keen on doing something fast-paced. It was slow and quiet and not something that gets commissioned easily. I was lucky. I had done\u00a0Churails<\/em>\u00a0with ZEE5 and Zindagi; [they were] very supportive of what I wanted to do next. In the plotting,\u00a0we were fans of [Gabriel Garc\u00eda] M\u00e1rquez and wanted to see what a literature piece would feel like [on television].\u201d<\/p>\n Malchiodi is the channels and content director at CANAL+ Myanmar, which has been looking to bring a premium stamp to scripted storytelling in the Southeast Asian nation.\u00a0Sparkle Hearts\u00a0<\/em>was intended to give viewers a taste of the daily lives of celebrities. \u201cWe managed to do it in premium style,\u201d Malchiodi explained. \u201cThat was the idea with the production company Bonanza Production. The second point was to keep it popular and mainstream as well. We wanted a large audience. It was a great success.\u201d<\/p>\n Uekrongtham is chief content officer and managing director of GMM International, a leading production outfit in Thailand. As a storyteller, he is frequently drawn to paradoxes and actual events, a combination he found in the idea for\u00a0Doctor Climax<\/em>. The Netflix original tells the story of a sexual advice columnist in 1970s Thailand. \u201cI used that as a starting point to think about characters,\u201d Uekrongtham said of the show, which was crowned best drama at the Asian Academy Creative Awards. \u201cWe tried to structure the series in a way that we used actual events.\u201d<\/p>\n Phantom Squad<\/em>\u00a0from Infinite Studios in Singapore is also a period piece, a space that Wiluan has spent much time in. Commissioned by Mediacorp Suria, the Singaporean broadcaster\u2019s Malay channel, it is based on the true story of a special team of police officers in 1950s Singapore. \u201cIt being my first Malay show was an eye-opener,\u201d Wiluan said. \u201cWorking with the scripts in Malay, getting into the cultural nuances of working through the different levels of Malay life in the \u201950s. It was an adventure. And it was the first show simulcast with Netflix.\u201d<\/p>\n Sagita, via translator David Suharto, executive producer of\u00a0Must Get Married<\/em>, spoke about the genesis of that show, which was made by PT Sinemart Indonesia for streamer WeTV. \u201cIt started from my interest in psychology and trying to [address] complicated topics,\u201d Sagita said. With\u00a0Must Get Married,<\/em>\u00a0she wanted to explore millennial approaches to relationships. \u201cThere are many reasons not to get married. And I find it fun to talk about these things that are difficult to talk about in a lighthearted way.\u201d<\/p>\n With two of the nominated programs featured on the panel being period pieces, the conversation addressed the challenges of bringing bygone eras to life. Uekrongtham cited three key areas: finding the right locations, capturing the cultural nuances and authentically presenting characters\u2019 motivations and how they were shaped by the times. \u201cWe were very sensitive about being authentic and making it resonate for the audience watching today.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiluan concurred with Uekrongtham\u2019s points and referenced the importance of capturing the appropriate \u201ctexture and tones; we had to establish a Singapore that hasn\u2019t often been seen on-screen. In Singapore in the 1950s, after the terrible flooding, there was poverty and crime. I wanted to portray that visually. It was grimy. But also bring in pops of color; the food, the costumes.\u201d<\/p>\n Wiluan and his team also had to do extensive research on listening devices and firearms used at the time, as well as \u201clanguage and delivery. 1950s Malay society spoke very differently. We had to bring in a dialogue consultant. If we made it too authentic, no one would understand it. So, we had a consultant to help bridge that gap.\u201d<\/p>\n The session wrapped with a conversation about bigger-picture trends in the scripted ecosystem across Asia. Abbasi talked about the still nascent landscape for premium storytelling in Pakistan. \u201cThere are infrastructure and censorship issues, but co-productions [are an opportunity]. Even though we don\u2019t have a formal treaty with India,\u00a0Barzakh<\/em>\u00a0happened because it was a co-production. It allowed for the scale of the project. It allowed the visibility of the audience to increase. Making shows that are culturally specific and global\u2014shows that can speak to a larger audience while not losing their authenticity\u2014is something to keep an eye on. There is a level of conservatism I see creeping back in globally. There is a focus on family viewing and returning to the old, more \u2018wholesome\u2019 style of television. Some of these things are cyclical. In Pakistan, India and the U.K., where I\u2019ve been doing most of my recent work, there is a push toward content that can be watched as a family.\u201d<\/p>\n Uekrongtham has his eye on building IPs. \u201cWe think about adaptability, potential IP exploitation and how to make it work on multiple platforms from the start. The other thing that I\u2019ve been working on is tapping into what I call cross-cultural creative pollinations.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe opportunity here is finding ways to elevate within our markets, but also, through this elevation process, look for outside distribution beyond the domestic territory,\u201d Wiluan added. \u201cThe world is looking at Southeast Asia. That\u2019s an opportunity in a saturated marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n Sangita agreed, noting, \u201cCombine local stories with universal appeal.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Producers of some of Asia\u2019s best drama series this year on funding challenges and more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":290,"featured_media":21949,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,70],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21948","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-features","category-top-stories","pmpro-has-access"],"yoast_head":"\n