Mirror, Hong Kong Boy Band, Sets Dates for ‘Feel the Passion’ Tour

The Federation Of Motion Film Producers of Hong Kong has issued a statement to confirm that Hong Kong’s official Oscars submission, A Light Never Goes Out, has been disqualified from the race. 

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China’s Linmon Media celebrated its tenth anniversary this week by unveiling 16 new shows for its 2024 production and release slate. The roster included seven Chinese period drama series, five contemporary shows and two more being made in Thailand. “We are not just a producer, we are a studio,” Zhou Yuan, co-founder and EVP of Linmon, told Variety on the sidelines of the company’s predominantly English-language presentation at the Asia Television Forum & Market in Singapore.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Wang Jianlin, the Chinese billionaire who previously sought to buy a controlling position in Hollywood, is preparing to complete his imminent exit from the film industry. The troubled conglomerate is facing debt repayment pressure.Wanda Film, which remains China’s largest cinema operator, Wednesday said in a regulatory filing to the Shenzhen Stock Exchange that Wang and his Wanda Investment vehicle expect to sell their remaining stake 51% in the company to China Ruyi Holdings. Ruyi, which operates across film, TV and online games, counts games, social media and streaming giant Tencent among its largest shareholders.

Ethel Cain has announced her 2024 ‘The Childish Behaviour’ tour, with stops in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom.The alt-pop singer – who released her first album ‘Preacher’s Daughter’ in May last year, took to her official social media pages to share the handful of tour dates slated to commence in June 2024.Cain’s first show of the tour is set to Kick off on June 3 at Le Trianon in Paris, France. From there, the singer will head out to Amsterdam to play Paradiso on June 4 followed by a show at the Roundhouse in London on June 5.

Amber Liu, a member of K-pop girl group f(x), has announced new dates for her upcoming 2024 ‘No More Sad Songs’ world tour.Today (December 5), Amber Liu revealed the new Asia, Australia and New Zealand legs of her upcoming 2024 tour. It’ll feature four shows in Asia – in Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore – alongside two Aussie concerts and one New Zealand performance in February and March.In addition, the f(x) singer also announced that indie pop singer-songwriter Marielle Kraft will join her on the North American leg of the tour, which features eight shows across January 2024.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief China and Netherlands-based Fortissimo Films has picked up international sales rights to anticipated Chinese blockbuster movie “If You Are the One 3.” To be released on Dec. 30 in China, the picture is directed by Feng Xiaogang as the second sequel in his anti-romance comedy franchise, about a rich businessman and an air stewardess, which kicked off in 2008 and earned a follow-up in 2010.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Singapore actor and filmmaker Alaric Tay (“Zombiepura”), through his Very Tay Media company has joined forces with two Philippines companies Black Ops Studios Asia and PsyOps Studios to produce a slate of films aimed at international markets. The venture, that was facilitated by Hong Kong-based producer Mike Leeder, was announced on the eve of the Asia Television Forum (ATF) in Singapore. They aim to put together a combined slate across diverse genres, including action, sci-fi, horror and comedy and have suggested a timeline extending to the fourth quarter of 2026. The joint venture also includes partnerships with other Asian companies including Screen Ops (HK), Fly Entertainment, Causeway Media Productions and IAmCasting. “Singapore and the Philippines have the individual potential to execute projects with commercial appeal,” said Tay. “But by building stories together with like-minded visionaries beyond our own shores, we can elevate the types of projects that are being produced in our collective countries.” Tay was the star and executive producer of 2018 Singapore zombie movie “Zombiepura.” He was also co-producer and director of HBO Asia’s first comedy drama series “SeNT” and is best known for playing multiple characters on Mediacorp satirical series “The Noose.” Headed by director Pedring Lopez and producer Rex Lopez, Black Ops Studios Asia and PsyOps Studios focus on action films and series.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief I.E. Entertainment, the global distribution outfit founded and run by industry veterans Indra and Erlina Suharjono, has come on board to handle worldwide sales for Cathay Film Company’s “Coolie.” The TV miniseries is inspired by the little-known history of enslaved Chinese ‘coolies’ in Cuba in the 1860s.

Jarvis Cocker played a Hong Kong show having broken his ribs shortly before taking to the stage – watch the footage below.The singer was performing with Pulp at the second 2023 edition of Clockenflap Festival, where they headlined alongside YOASOBI and Swae Lee (who replaced Joji last-minute).“This is a very unique concert,” he told the crowd, “because I fell down some stairs when I first arrived in Hong Kong. I had to go to the doctors so I do have two fractured ribs… so I’m not really sure what’s going to happen in the next hour.”In a social media post, he expanded upon the accident: “I broke 2 ribs when I fell down a staircase in Kowloon (swipe for evidence) but the hospital got me so I could still do the show,” he wrote.

Manchester City may well have to wait until late 2024 before they can expect to hear anything about the Premier League's allegations in court.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief CJ ENM (Hong Kong), a channels and content distributor that is part of the Korean CJ ENM conglomerate, has picked up pay-TV rights in parts of Asia to a handful of Korean series that were co-financed by streaming platform Tving and Paramount+. The deal was struck with Paramount Global Content Distribution. The productions are part of a global strategic partnership between CJ ENM and Paramount Global that was announced in December 2021. The deal was announced on the eve of the Asian TV Forum (ATF), which kicks off next week in Singapore. The series debut first on Tving in Korea and on Paramount+ in the U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Latin America, Brazil, Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Sex and the City is getting the reality dating treatment.

The Motion Picture & Television Fund said Tuesday that the Lights, Camera, Take Action! Caring for Hollywood’s Crews fundraising telethon will return for its second edition December 9, airing live on KTLA-Los Angeles from 7-9 p.m. PT.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Lightning International, the Hong Kong- and U.K.-based content distribution and solutions company, is expanding its staff ahead of the upcoming Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) in Singapore. It has hired Eric Tan to be director of content sales Asia. He will be responsible for all aspects of channel and content distribution.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Television Broadcasts (TVB), long the dominant free-to-air TV operator in Hong Kong is to dismiss 300 staff, or 8% of its already reduced workforce, in a further cost cutting move. The company said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it will shed 200 staff from its program production operations, merge two of its five channels and reduce its Zstore e-commerce business, with the loss of an additional 100 jobs. The moves, some of which require regulatory approval, are the second staff reduction to be announced this year. In March, TVB cut 255 employees, taking its headcount to 3,600 as of June.TVB is proposing to merge its J2 channel (offering content and programs aimed at a young audience) with its TVB Finance, Sports & Information channel and to create TVB+.

Taylor Swift’ ‘Eras’ tour shows.Swift will bring her world tour to the UK next summer, which includes three shows at Wembley Stadium in June and three in August. Earlier this month, she added two extra shows to the August run, raising the total number of Wembley dates to eight.All In, meanwhile, is set to take place on August 25 – just a few days after Swift’s final Wembley date – and the organisation’s president Tony Khan has told the Daily Mail that those shows were made possible because AEW agreed to speed up the installation of their set.“The load-in is a very different schedule than what we had last year,” Khan said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Taipei Golden Horse Film Festival drifted to a conclusion in midweek, with project awards presented on Wednesday, followed by Thursday’s festival closing events. These involved a screening of portmanteau film “Tales of Taipei” followed by a sit-down dinner-cum-ceremony with a breezy pair of speeches and no prizes. The film fortnight then sprang to life again on Saturday evening when the 60th edition of the Golden Horse Film Awards represented a new climax.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Marco Mueller, the veteran film festival curator and director, is set to launch a new festival and market in Macau. It will have its first edition in January. The Asia-Europe Young Cinema Festival, running Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Producer and screenwriter, Darren Dale has been named as the new board chair of the Sydney Film Festival, following the retirement of Dianne Weir. He is a leading advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander content and has been director of Blackfella Films since 2000.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief EST Media, the Asian-focused film and video group, hatched by Jaeson Ma and former Vice Media executive Eric Tu, is now diversifying into publishing. It is launching EST Articles under its Eastern Standard Times journalism banner. The digital-only publication is “dedicated to exploring the voices and stories of the Asian and Asian diaspora communities through written medium to long-form, in-depth articles,” EST Media said.