Upside Down Concepts, LIC Australia in $4-Million Doc Co-Pro Deal

SINGAPORE, November 26:
Singapore’s Upside Down Concepts and LIC Australia have signed a co-production
agreement at the Asia Factual Forum for a slate of 20 hours of documentary
programming for the international television market, worth $4 million.

Under the Memorandum Of
Understanding (MOU) signed at the Asia Factual Forum, the partners will
co-produce a range of programs which will be shot in locations stretching from
Iran to China.

“Singapore has established
a strong reputation for regional co-productions, especially with factual
content, and the Asia Factual Forum is the perfect platform for us to announce
our collaboration,” said Philip Nelson, the CEO of LIC Australia. “We are proud
to partner with Upside Down Concepts, an enterprising company known for its
quality production and creative storytelling.”

The first production under
the agreement will be Desert Vet,
a six-part series on the story of Dr. Alex Tinson, an Australian vet who uses a
radical form of embryo transplant to save endangered animals. Filming of this
series will mainly take place in the Himalayas next northern summer. Other
productions that have been developed include several individual one-hour
documentaries with social and historical themes, which will be filmed in China.
In addition, there are plans for re-versioning a number of Chinese
documentaries to make them suitable for the international marketplace.

LIC Australia has been
active in China and Australia for 13 years, chiefly in the importation of
documentaries into China, and more recently in the production and distribution
of documentaries internationally. LIC’s Beijing studios have been involved in
the development of LIC-UDC’s slate of projects and will be integrally involved
in these productions. LIC’s German co-production partner, the Munich-based Kick
Films, will also be involved in the slate.

“We have been working
towards this collaboration for several months and following the signing of the
MOU, we are now able to move ahead on this exciting slate of productions in the
New Year,” said Gin Kai Chan, the executive producer of Upside Down Concepts.
“LIC’s vast experience with the China market, familiarity with international
demand and perceptive eye for great stories makes them an ideal partner for us.
Each production will be a true collaboration of the considerable experience and
creative resources available to our three companies.”

Upside Down Concepts (UDC)
has co-production experience and relationships with producers from various
countries, including Korea, India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Thailand and the U.S.

—By Irene Lew