Why The Streaming Giants Are Exiting Original Production In Southeast Asia & How Producers Plan To Bounce Back — Analysis

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Prolific Philippines-based Epicmedia Productions has come on board “The Passport,” a Malaysian coming of age story about a Tamil family and their punk rock daughter. Production is by Malaysia’s Sixtymac Pictures. Currently at financing stage, the project will mark the directing debut of Ananth Subramaniam, whose short films have played at BiFan and Fantasia, and whose works explore his Tamil-ancestral identity and family within the context of a multi-layered genre.

Naman Ramachandran Eminent Indian documentarian Nishtha Jain’s latest effort is an account of the epic, year-long farmers’ protest that took place in India in 2020-21. “Farming the Revolution,” which world premieres at Hot Docs, follows the millions of Indian farmers who gathered during the height of COVID-19 lockdown at the borders of the country’s capital, Delhi, to protest against newly enacted farm laws. The farmers believed that if implemented, these laws would negatively impact the government-protected farmers’ markets, leaving them to the vagaries of the free market.

FBI: International is having some major casting shakeups.

EXCLUSIVE: Rotterdam competition title Small Hours of the Night from Daniel Hui (Demons, Snakeskin) and SXSW premiere Adrianne & The Castle by Shannon Walsh (The Gig is Up, Illusions of Control) have landed international reputation via non-fiction agency Indox. 

EXCLUSIVE: Sunrise Films and Vertigo Releasing have acquired North American and UK distribution rights on the Danish horror-thriller The Girl in the Trunk. The film will be released on digital download across both territories on May 28. 

Annika Pham South Australian Anthony Frith’s close encounter with “Sharknado” prodco The Asylum in “Mockbuster” is among five handpicked titles to be showcased at the Adelaide Film Festival Goes to Cannes showcase, held at Cannes Marché du Film on May 17. The five works in progress range from queer adult anime, comedic doc, and traditional non-fiction to family dramas, helmed mostly by newcomers, and reflect the dynamic filmmaking community of Southern Australia, set to tempt potential co-financiers in Cannes.

After wrapping its inaugural edition, the Ho Chi Minh Film Festival (HIFF) has set its sights on becoming the largest film festival in Southeast Asia.

New ITV drama Red Eye is set between an all-night flight from London to Beijing, the streets of London and the corridors of power within Whitehall. The series has been described as a "brilliantly addictive thriller" by ITV bosses.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Ed Westwick (“Gossip Girl”), John Hannah (“The Mummy”) and British newcomer Alanah Bloor are set to join Turkish lead Can Yaman in “Sandokan,” Lux Vide’s reboot of the cult Italian TV series about the adventures of its titular pirate who, with his motley crew, fights against colonial powers in Southeast Asia. Shooting is set to start April 22 outside Rome on this high-end reboot of Italian writer Emilio Salgari’s exotic epic.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Miami-based MGE Media has scooped up international distribution rights to Katherina Harder’s feature debut, “La Pérgola de las Flores,” produced by Parox, the Chilean producer of mini-series “Allende, The Thousand Days” (“Los mil días de Allende”), which is nominated for three Premios Platino. The prestigious Ibero-American awards event takes place April 20 in Cancun, Mexico where “Allende…” has been nominated for best series, best actor for Alfredo Castro, who plays the doomed socialist president Salvador Allende, and best actress for Aline Kuppenheim.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Escapade Media has come on board to take international sales rights to ‘Follow the Rain,’ a feature-length documentary about unknown species of mushroom that has enjoyed theatrical release in its native Australia. The film is directed and produced by Catherine Marciniak and follows Marciniak and Stephen Axford, her partner in production company Planet Fungi, as they explore forests and wetlands charting some of the millions of undocumented forms of mushroom, fungus and mycelium.

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Katcy Stephan Two-time Oscar winner Renée Zellweger is set to return to one of her most beloved roles in Universal Pictures’ and Working Title’s “Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy,” an adaptation of Helen Fielding’s best-selling novel. Hugh Grant and Emma Thompson are confirmed to return alongside franchise newcomers Chiwetel Ejiofor and Leo Woodall. The film will be directed by Michael Morris (“To Leslie,” “Better Call Saul”).

Australian filmmaker George Miller, whose origins story Furiosa will world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival next month before Warner Bros begins its global rollout May 22, says he’s still making Mad Max movies “because they’re very addictive.”

EXCLUSIVE: The company that sells The Traitors format around the world and the Japanese broadcaster behind Ninja Warrior and Takeshi’s Castle have teamed up to create a physical gameshow.

K.J. Yossman “Ginny & Georgia” exec producer Holly A. Hines has partnered with former Eric Jarboe, former COO of the Motion Picture Corporation of America (MPCA), to launch new L.A.-based film and TV studio Happy Accidents.

Outlander fans will be relieved following the news that the time-travelling drama has found a new home in the UK.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief “Lord of the Rings,” “Elvis” and “Faraway Downs” star David Wenham is to reprise one of other his best-known roles in upcoming feature “SPIT.” The picture is a sequel to 2003 comedy crime thriller “Gettin’ Square,” in which Wenham played Johnny ‘Spit’ Spitteri, a recently-released ex-convict and Sam Worthington (“Avatar”) played an older brother trying to keep the kid out of trouble. Production of “SPIT” has got underway in Gold Coast and Brisbane, Queensland and will continue through May. The new film is directed by ‘Gettin’ Square” and “The Railway Man” director Jonathan Teplitzky, from a screenplay by Queensland-based writer and lawyer Christopher Nyst. It is produced by Trish Lake of Queensland-based Freshwater Pictures alongside Greg Duffy, Felicity McVay and Wenham. It received major production investment from Screen Australia with local distribution by Transmission Films and international rights sales managed by Moviehouse Entertainment.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer When the Writers Guild of America went on strike last May, union leaders argued that artificial intelligence posed an existential threat to writers, painting a picture of a dystopian future in which TV shows might be crafted by one writer and a machine. Ten months later, the tone in Hollywood labor circles has shifted significantly. At a March 3 rally in Los Angeles, Matthew Loeb, international president of IATSE, argued that AI has the potential to make union members’ jobs easier.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Mario Van Peebles has been tapped to direct “That’ll Be the Day,” the story of how Buddy Holly and other musicians of the late 1950s helped give birth to rock ‘n’ roll and influence the wider societal and cultural landscape, including the civil rights movement. Music has been central to much of Van Peebles’ work, from his 1991 gangster movie “New Jack City” to his work on “Wu-Tang: An American Saga,” which he co-executive produced for Hulu.