On itpresentation at ATF, Glance announced that between 2020-2021 more than 1,700 programs have been presented in ten Asian territories such as: China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam, and 60% of these programs are scripted series, which represents an increase of 3% compared to the 2019-2020 period. Highlighting China and Japan as the major exporters.
Avril Blondelot, Director of Content Insight, Glance-Médiamétrie, in charge of the talk, highlighted that the total number of scripted series has increased by 11% in this period, so the consultancy believes that it is an improvement compared to the decrease 1% from 2018-2019 to 2019-2020.Among the current content market trends in Asia, Blondelot said they revolve around five themes: COVID-19, conspiracy or anti-establishment, horror, science fiction, and romance.
Regarding the titles that took the Coronavirus as inspiration: My Lockdown Wedding from Red Dot Moving Pictures (Singapore); The men of the Wada family from TV Asahi (Japan); and 100% ERA from Waave (South Korea).
She also mentioned that science fiction titles in Asia are not as homogeneous as in America, varying the source of inspiration, she highlighted: The Three Body Problem from Tencent (China); 11 Left de Toutiao (China); and KudiYedamaithe from Pawan Kumar Studios and People Media Factory (India).
Blondelotnoted that horror series production has increased dramatically in China and South Korea, closely followed by Indonesia and Japan. She mentioned: Studio Dragon’s Happiness (South Korea); Misteri Jam 12 from Mediacorp and Ria 987 (Singapore and Malaysia); and Ghaib from Orangetree Production (Malaysia).
The executivealso highlighted that in this period, many thrillers emerged about anti-establishment characters who do not follow the rules of behavior: The Devil Judge from Studio Dragon (South Korea); Kansai TV’s Avalanche (Japan); On The Job by Star Cinema, Reality MMStudios and Globe Studios (Philippines); and Mat Na Guong from VFC (Vietnam).
Romance dramas wereClose Friend by Viu Original (Thailand); Betcin from Rein Entertainment Philippines (Philippines); Facetrix from Screenplay (Indonesia); and Chutzpah Maddock from Outsider Production (India).
Glanceconcluded by saying that the large Asian platforms are positioning themselves for the first time as major content producers, he mentioned iQiyi, WeTV and Tencent, who partner with local production companies to make series in all genres.
