JioCinema Claims Simultaneous Viewership Record During IPL Final – Global Bulletin

Naman Ramachandran Paramount+ and Tving‘s Korean series “Bargain” has won the critics’ choice award at the Serien Camp Festival in Cologne. In April, “Bargain” became the first-ever Korean series to win best screenplay at the Canneseries Festival in France. The series stars actors Jun Jong-seo (“Money Heist: Korea”) and Jin Seon-kyu (“Extreme Job”) and is an adaptation of director Lee Chung-hyun’s 2015 short film of the same name. Director Jun Woo-sung, who was part of the production team of the short, picked up the story and developed it into a six-part series. “Bargain” revolves around a group of strangers who gather at a remote motel with ulterior motives – seeking to bargain. Unlike the original film, the series follows the characters after an unexpected earthquake traps them inside the building. With no one to trust, they must find a way to survive.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The International Olympic Committee said on Thursday that Swiss-based, Chinese-owned Infront Sports & Media would handle broadcast right sales in much of Asia for the next series of Summer and Winter games. The deal covers 22 territories including Afghanistan, Brunei, Cambodia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Tajikistan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam – but not China, Japan or South Korea, and runs 2026-2032. That means it will cover the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and the Los Angeles 2028 and Brisbane 2032 Summer games. The 2030 Winter Olympics, which have yet to be allocated a host, and all Youth Olympic Games during this period will also be covered.

Naman Ramachandran The world premiere of Scottish writer-director Johnny Barrington‘s debut feature “Silent Roar” will open the 2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival on Aug. 18. Billed as a “teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire” set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, the film stars emerging actor Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly-behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions. The film is produced by Scottish producer Chris Young (“The Inbetweeners Movie”) and was made with the participation of Screen Scotland, BBC Films and BFI. MK2 Films is handling sales.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hong Kong icon Johnnie To will head the jury of the sixth edition of the Malaysia International Film Festival (MIFFest) next month. Other jurors include: Truong Ngoc Anh from Vietnam, Ryuichi Hiroki from Japan, Zizan Razak from Malaysia, and Eric Khoo from Singapore. The event will open with the world premiere of “Eraser,” directed by Mark Lee See Teck. The Malaysian film features the final on-screen appearance of the late Adibah Noor, a beloved Malaysian gem known for her timeless charisma. MIFFest will play “See You at the Rally,” directed by Taiwanese filmmaker Kanny Chang as its closing title. The festival is set to take place at LaLaport BBCC from July 23-29 and will play a total of 42 films from 15 countries.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Physical 100,” the first unscripted Korean show to top Netflix’s non-English global charts, is being given a second season. The show falls between a talent contest and a survival competition with 100 contestants, including Olympians, professional fighters, bodybuilders and former soldiers, through a series of quests to challenge their strength, endurance, agility, balance and willpower, and to develop the perfect physique. Controversially it mixed men and women and amateurs and professionals. The show incorporated a plaster cast of each contestant’s torso. This was destroyed with a sledgehammer when they were eliminated.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief German filmmaker Wim Wenders is to be the president of the jury that decides the main competition prizes later this year at the Tokyo International Film Festival. Wenders has frequent connections with the Japanese capital and last year shot his “Perfect Days” film in the city. The film recently appeared in competition in Cannes and earned Yakusho Koji the best actor prize. The Tokyo festival confirmed plans to host a celebration of Japanese director Ozu Yasujiro, who was born 120 years ago and died exactly 60 years later. Wenders previously shot 1985 documentary “Tokyo-ga” as a tribute to Ozu.

K.J. Yossman One Direction star Niall Horan is set to cameo on rail-themed Channel 4 digital series, “Trainspotting with Francis Bourgeois.” Produced by Untold Studios, the series sees TikTok creator Bourgeois introduce celebrities to the obscure hobby. Horan will join Bourgeois for a “day of locomotive escapades” starting at Liverpool Street Station in London – but will a series of train cancelations and delays scupper their plans? During the episode, which is available from June 14 on Channel 4’s YouTube, Horan reveals a very personal connection to trains, telling Bourgeois that his grandfather was a train driver. Movie buffs will also be thrilled to discover Horan’s grandfather drove the train in “The Great Train Robbery.”

Jimmie Allen is being sued for sexual assault by a second woman.

Netflix this week announced six new Korean romance titles slated for the rest of 2023. They are: “See You in my 19th Life,” “King the Land,” “Behind Your Touch,” “Destined With You,” “A Time Called You,” and “Doona!” The titles were unveiled at an in-person event called “K-romance obsession” in Seoul. Guests were mostly K-drama influencers from around the Asia Pacific region and the event was decked out with reds, pinks and vast numbers of heart decorations. Guests were offered snack food that had been featured in earlier hit K-drama shows including “Crash Landing on You,” “Extraordinary Attorney Woo,” “Business Proposal” and “Alchemy of Souls.”

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios has licensed the immensely popular “Top Gear” format to Finland’s Nelonen channel and Ruutu streaming service to create a Finnish adaptation of the long-running and Emmy-winning series. The Finnish adaptation will be presented by comedian, musician and author Ismo Leikola, former elite Ice hockey winger Teemu Selänne and actor Christoffer Strandberg. It will air in the spring of 2024. Set in the world of cars and driving, the show will see Leikola, Selänne and Strandberg compete in various car-related challenges to determine who among them is the ultimate driver. The license to Finland is the 11th adaptation of the format globally. “Top Gear” began in the U.K. in 1977, where it has run for 33 seasons. However, the U.K. version has been paused after host Andrew Flintoff was involved in an accident on the show’s test track in December 2022.

Naman Ramachandran Actor Ncuti Gatwa (“Sex Education,” the upcoming “Doctor Who”), filmmaker Asif Kapadia (“Amy”) and journalist-turned-screenwriter Terri White, who’s memoir “Coming Undone” is being adapted for Netflix, will serve as judges on the BMW Filmmaking Challenge. The competition is the result of a partnership between BMW and the BFI that aims to support aspiring U.K. filmmakers and uncover fresh perspectives in the film industry. The initiative was launched earlier this year by BAFTA winner Michaela Coel (“I May Destroy You”). The BFI has shortlisted five teams from some 400 applications, awarding each a £10,000 ($12,430) production budget, access to 8K camera equipment and mentoring from Coel. Inspired by the all-electric BMW i7 and its ultra-wide 31.3-inch rear-passenger theatre screen, the challenge is designed to stretch filmmakers artistically and bring their stories to life in 90 seconds under the theme Evolving Perspectives.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Women Talking,” which won Sarah Polley an Oscar for best adapted screenplay, was this weekend named best narrative feature at the Bali International Film Festival (aka the Balinale).Ashen Nadeem’s “Crows Are White” won the feature documentary prize and “The Tone Wheels,” by Yuda Kurniawan, was named winner of the Gary L Hayes Award for Indonesian Filmmaker. The festival jury called “The Tone Wheels” “an outstanding endeavor that transported us into the backstreets of Jakarta on a captivating musical journey.” The film depicts a busking village where dreams flourish, despite the scarcity of resources and equipment.

passed away last September at the age of 96, and her friend has claimed that her grandson, 38, made the end of her life painful. The pal alleged to the Daily Beast recently that Elizabeth was suffering from “painful” bone cancer towards the end of her life, and Harry’s announcement that he would write his memoir “Spare” added to her ailments.“For the last years of her life, certainly from when her husband died [in April 2021], the queen was in a lot of pain.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Netflix is to launch a new Japanese reality show “Is She the Wolf?” which was developed with broadcaster Abema and adapted from the original show “Who Is the Wolf” which previously ran for 13 seasons. The show follows five men and five women on a quest for love through dates and a group project. However, some female participants are “lying wolves” who cannot fall in love. They must navigate the entire season without being discovered or accepting any declarations of love. It includes a diverse group of participants aged 22 to 32, including actors, artists, models, and athletes. “Is She the Wolf?” streams exclusively on Netflix in Japan beginning June 11, with new episodes streaming each Sunday. Outside Japan, all episodes will be released on Netflix in September 2023.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (FINAS), the government-backed agency that oversees the country’s film industry, has dismissed its CEO Nasir Ibrahim after less than two years in the job. It follows the return of Kamil Othman who was appointed chairman in February.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Australian actors Deborah Mailman and Rachel Griffiths have begun production on the final six-episode season of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s award-winning female-led political drama series “Total Control.” With screenplays by Stuart Page, Julia Moriarty, Pip Karmel and Meyne Wyatt, season three picks up almost two years after the explosive events of the second season. Outsider turned kingmaker, Alex Irving (Mailman), is completely at home in the nation’s capital. While Rachel Anderson (Griffiths), now an occasional ally, is threatening to upend the entire system by establishing her own political party. However, as Alex attempts to carve out a nation changing legacy, a controversy engineered by her enemies threatens to destroy her career and public reputation. In the final season, Alex must make a choice: either she can stay true to her principles and accept defeat, or she can get her hands dirty and fight back.

K.J. Yossman Anthony LaPaglia‘s upcoming factual series “The Black Hand” is set to be distributed internationally by eOne. The three-part series will explore Australia’s Italian community, looking at the difficulties they face, their politics, the threat of war and the mafia. According to the series synopsis, The Black Hand is the name for a gang of Italian criminals in Australia. Alan Erson, LaPaglia, Michael Tear exec produce. Adam Grossetti and Kate Pappas produce. “The Black Hand” is directed by Kriv Stenders and written by Grossetti, Stenders and Anya Beyersdorf.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief NBCUniversal (NBCU) and JioCinema, Viacom18’s streaming service, have entered into a multi-year partnership bringing thousands of hours of NBCU films and TV series to India. Content is sourced from the Universal Television, UCP, Universal International Studios, Universal Television Alternative Studio, Sky Studios, DreamWorks Animation, Universal Pictures, Focus Features and Bravo brands. NBCU’s programming will live in a Peacock branded hub starting next month on JioCinema’s newly announced “JioCinema Premium” SVOD tier. While JioCinema has been making an audience impact with free-of-charge screenings of the ongoing IPL cricket tournament, the first content announced on the subscription tier hailed from another recent deal with Warner Bros Discovery.

Naman Ramachandran U.K. public service broadcaster Channel 4 and Lloyds Bank have revealed Black in Business, an initiative to help boost up to five Black-owned businesses with TV advertising airtime worth £100,000 ($123,400) each. The business owners will also have a bespoke TV commercial made for them and six months of tailored marketing and business support from Channel 4, Lloyds Bank and social enterprise DOES. The initiative is designed to support to small businesses that are new to TV advertising and comes after research commissioned by Channel 4’s commercial arm, 4Sales, earlier this year revealed that Black entrepreneurs face more obstacles setting up and running their businesses than their white counterparts. It is part of Channel 4’s Black to Front legacy, an ongoing commitment to improve Black representation on-screen and more widely in the TV industry.

Naman Ramachandran Multinational cinema operator Cineworld‘s proposed restructuring now has the backing of most of its lenders, the company said on Thursday. The restructuring, which was announced in April, “now has the support of lenders holding and controlling approximately 99% of the legacy facilities and at least 69% of the outstanding indebtedness under the debtor-in-possession facility of Cineworld and certain of its subsidiaries,” the group said in a statement. Cineworld Group and its subsidiaries had commenced Chapter 11 cases in the United States Bankruptcy Court in September 2022. The group now expects to emerge from the Chapter 11 cases in July and will continue to operate its cinemas as usual without interruption, it said.