The Box: Netflix Continues To Invest In Unscripted Korean Content, Stars Of India’s ‘The Night Manager’ Remake Appear On Novel Cover
Muchango - SABC2
Africa: e.tv is gearing up to launch a new pay-TV service called Openview Ultra. The service will start off with two-pay TV bouquets: one which primarily will carry LGBTQ-centric content called the “Pride Bouquet” and the other a Bollywood-focused package called the “Spice Bouquet.” No official subscription price has been announced yet.
The board-less SABC is facing impending legal action with the decision of Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, the minister of communications, to appoint the company’s CEO Madoda Mxakwe to act in place of an established board. The term of the broadcasting company’s former board expired on October 15, 2022, with no successors put in place.
Canal+ has taken in more shares of MultiChoice and now owns nearly a third (30.2%) of the company. The group, owned by French billionaire Vincent Bollore, began to invest in DStv’s parent company back in 2020 and still continues to acquire shares in MultiChoice.
For the second time in three months, the cast and crew of SABC2’s Muvhango have gone on strike after having not been paid their salaries. The previous strike in November 2022 was also due to the cast and crew not receiving pay for their work on the series.
The Tshedza Pictures produced telenovela, The River, starring Sindi Dlathu and Hlomla Dandala, will officially be ending after its sixth season, which premiered on February 6, runs its course. M-Net, the owner of 1Magic, the channel on which the series aired, has recently confirmed the news. The series launched in 2018 and has since functioned as primetime anchor for 1Magic.
Smriti Mundhra - Noam Galai / Stringer
Asia: Smriti Mundhra is collaborating with Netflix on a four-part documentary series titled The Romantics, which covers the 50-year history of the renowned Indian film studio, Yash Raj Films (YRF) as well as the company’s founder Yash Chopra. The series features Mundhra’s interviews with a number of figures from within the Indian film industry ranging from actors, to producers, writers, film critics, and costume designers.
A production partnership, being called Sympatico, between Argo Film’s in the U.K and Malaysia’s Double Vision is currently developing a film and television slate that will reportedly be primarily and authentically Asian. Six projects are in development, two of which are expected enter production later this year. The two companies claim the goal of this partnership is to create content that aims to break stereotypes as well as provide entertaining content for audiences around the world.
The Indian remake of The Night Manager launches this week and its stars, Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur, will featured on the cover of John Le Carre’s 1993 novel of the same name, likely the first time characters from an Indian series appear on the cover of an international bestselling title. The work was first adapted in a BBC series which starred Tom Hiddlestone and Hugh Laurie. The new iteration launched on Disney+ Hotstar on February 17.
HBO will soon be removing much of its signature content from Disney+ Hotstar in India. The platform has been the streaming home of much of the network giant’s signature titles, such as Game of Thrones and Succession, since 2016. Analysts within the Indian film industry are speculating that HBO’s content may now move to Prime Video, as HBO Max has been launched as one of the platforms channels being offered in India.
Netflix is continuing its investment in unscripted Korean TV programming with its 2023 slate featuring eight different titles within the medium. Among those include a third season of the dating show, Singles Inferno, as well as a female-led survival program titled Siren: Survive the Island.
JTBC’s upcoming romantic comedy, No Secrets, has enlisted the talents of Go Kyung-pyo and Kang Hanna. The story, which follows Kang playing an unfiltered show writer, is still in early development.
The second season of SBS’s Taxi Driver series was released last week on February 17. The series stars Lee Je-hoon and Kim Eui-sung is penned by Oh Sang-ho.
Tanweer Productions
Europe: Tanweer, the Athens-based media company, is expanding its international reach with a slate being kicked off by a 32-episode historical drama titled Red River. Overseeing the slate will be Tanweer Senior Vice President Aruzia Khan as well as executive Eliana Eliopoulos. Also featured on the slate are a historical miniseries titled Smyrna, which covers the capture of the city by Turkey in 1922, and the upcoming romantic-comedy, #Gawwezni, produced alongside Saudi Arabia’s Arabia Pictures.
José ‘Pepe’ Bastón - Getty Images
Latin America: After being a part of the Mexican media giant, Televisa, for nearly three decades, José ‘Pepe’ Bastón has signed with Allied Management Group in an effort to expand the business reach of his company, Elefantec Global, in the U.S market. Bastón’s company has developed projects such as Bosé, the Miguel Bosé biopic, and the series La rebelión.
SK Global Entertainment, the independent studio behind Crazy Rich Asians, has allied with Elefantec Global to produce and develop Spanish-language content. The partnership looks to self-finance much of these projects, one of which being an upcoming sitcom starring Lucero with Eva Longoria attached as an executive producer.
STARZPLAY
Middle East: At its line-up event in Riyadh, MBC Media Solutions (MMS), announced its content slate for Ramadan 2023. Many of these titles will make their way onto the Arabic streaming service, Shahid, throughout the month of Ramadan which begins on March 22. These titles range from dramas, sitcoms, and talk shows.
STARZPLAY, one of the top VOD subscription services in the Middle East, is officially bringing its content to Iraq. The streaming giant will bring its content to audiences within the country via a bundle with the platform, Almanasa.