China’s CCTV and Korea’s KBS Sign Agreement, Potentially Signaling End to Content Ban

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefChinese indie sales agency Blossoms Entertainment returns to FilMart with a slate of large-scale commercial pictures sourced from a clutch of China’s biggest film studios.The agency, operated by former IM Global staffers Vicky Ding and Leslie Chen, is pre-selling “Railway Heroes,” a tale of heroism and wartime sabotage which is targeting a National Day release in October.

You know it’s a good week on Real Time when the two stories that have consumed the week’s news — the accusations against Andrew Cuomo and the accusations against the Royal Family — take a backseat to weightier topics such as crony capitalism and the hegemony of China.

Viacom International Studios has inked a first-look deal with South Korean production studio Something Special.

Refresh for updates: Kim’s Convenience has closed up shop. On Monday producers of the Canadian sitcom announced that the Korean family comedy will end with its upcoming fifth season.

Kim’s Convenience, the Canadian sitcom that airs on Netflix in the U.S. and in many countries around the world, is ending with its upcoming fifth season.

Refresh for latest…: Disney’s Raya And The Last Dragon didn’t exactly come roaring out of the gate at the international box office with $17.6M from 32 markets. The global bow, including domestic’s launch, was $26.2M. Double-digit million-dollar debuts for Hollywood movies in the pandemic era are still a rare positive — and we’ve certainly seen family movies excel — but while not all openings are apples-to-apples, Raya’s start is being seen as a somewhat muted affair.

Rebecca Davis editorChina’s top law-making body will consider this week a popular proposition to ban actors who have used drugs from entertainment industry for life at its annual weeklong meeting, which kicked off Friday.The National People’s Congress, the country’s rubber stamp parliament, counts some 3,000 professionals from across the country as delegates, including directors Jia Zhangke, Feng Xiaogang and Chen Kaige, as well as Jackie Chan and Yao Ming.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefImax China, the supplier of giant screen cinema facilities and services in Greater China, is one of the purest plays on the mainland Chinese movie exhibition market available to investors.

Cinema Guild has picked up U.S. distribution rights to Introduction, the new film from acclaimed South Korean auteur Hong Sangsoo (The Woman Who Ran) thatpremiered in competition this week at the Berlin International Film Festival.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe end came quietly with the humdrum announcement of a deal between two state-owned TV groups, China Central Television (CCTV) and South Korean public broadcaster KBS.

Pierre Morel’s upcoming action thrillerThe Blacksmith, which recently lost its star Nick Jonas due to a scheduling conflict, has a deal in place for the important China market. Beijing-based distributor Infotainment China Media picked up rights to the film ahead of Berlin's European Film Market and plans to stick with the project despite the casting change-up.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefConsumption of South Korean content now outstrips time watching U.S.-made content on streaming platforms in three key market in South East Asia.

Netflix reaffirmed its commitment to South Korea's globally appealing entertainment industry Thursday, unveiling plans to spend nearly $500 million in 2021 on films and television series produced in the country. The plans were unveiled during Netflix's splashy "See What's Next Korea" event held in Seoul, where Korean directors and stars gathered with Netflix creative executives to promote the company's current and upcoming local-language originals.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefMultinational streaming giant Netflix is positioning itself to be a dominant force in South Korean entertainment, a country where films, TV shows and K-pop music have become global successes.The company said Thursday that it will spend close to half a billion dollars on Korean content in the current year and expand its production slate.New elements include two stand-alone films: “Moral Sense” and “Carter.” The former, to be directed by Park Hyun-jin (“Like for

On Minari, costume designer Susanna Song sought to honor fundamental truths of the Korean-American experience, while honing in on one specific version of it.

Rebecca Davis editorChina has this week imposed its tightest restrictions to date on the publication of original content online via short video and “self-media” accounts, in the latest escalation of its ongoing crackdown on public discourse that strays from the party line.The country’s internet watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has issued new regulations requiring bloggers, influencers and content creators on public social media accounts, known as “self-media,” to possess

Steven Yeun, who happens to be his cousin by marriage, and the actor signed on as Jacob. He cast Yeri Han as Monica and newcomers Noel Cho and Alan S.