The Box: Yumiko Aoyagi Signs With CAA, Warner Bros. Discovery Renews Deals With Japanese And Middle Eastern Streaming Services

Yandiswa Nkonde

Africa: Yandiswa Nkonde has been appointed as the new permanent head of channels for Urban Brew Studios after being temporarily in charge of the role since August 2022. The company packages channels such as 1G and Dumisa.

In laying out the number of changes taking effect at The Walt Disney Company, returning CEO Bob Iger said that the company will most likely go back to licensing Disney content to broadcasters again, including platforms such as MultiChoice and M-Net. The Mouse House previously decided to pull much of its content from other broadcasters in an effort to build out Disney+’s international reach, as the streaming giant launched in South Africa in 2022.

Idris Elba is teaming up with African media power player, Mo Abudu, in an effort to back film/TV projects as well as younger talent, primarily from Africa. Through this venture, Abudu’s EbonyLife Media and Elba’s Green Door Pictures seek to provide a platform for creatives from African communities and focus on Afrocentric stories.

Yumiko Aoyagi

Asia: ABS-CBN, the Filipino broadcaster turned content producer, has launched a follow-up series to the popular crime drama, Bagman. Arjo Atayde, the star of the original series, will reprise his role in The Bagman which will span the length of eight one-hour long episodes. The series will be developed by ABS-CBN, Dreamscape Entertainment, Rein Entertainment, and Nathan Studios.

U-Next, the Japanese streaming service, has renewed its deal with Warner Bros. Discovery to continue carrying HBO content on its platform. Since April 2021, U-Next has been home to popular HBO and HBO Max original titles such as House of the Dragon, Succession, and The Last of Us. The streamer also has the exclusive rights to premiere Steven Soderbergh’s Full Circle across the country.

CJ ENM, the South Korean entertainment giant, is looking to focus mainly on TV over feature films at the upcoming Filmart rights market in Hong Kong. Some of the content looking to be presented includes a fantasy romance series titled The Heavenly Idol and a sci-fi thriller Duty After School, which premieres on CJ ENM’s TV platform, TVing.

Hou Hong Liang, Daylight Entertainment chairman, has expressed his belief that Chinese TV is capable of standing up to independent content on platforms like TikTok. One piece of evidence for his claim is that Chinese TV has found a viable market in Africa, as was demonstrated by fans across the continent meeting some of their Chinese television stars.

U.S.-Japanese screenwriter Yumiko Aoyagi has officially signed with CAA for talent representation. Aoyagi has worked in the film and TV industries of both the U.S. and Japan. Her works include the show, Kokoro, as well as an episode of the Fuji TV series, Seiga wa Tatsu.

Linmon Pictures, the Shanghai-based production company, has unveiled an international TV slate. At Hong Kong’s Filmart convention, the company presented a slate intended to target the markets of Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and Taiwan, comprising of at least 10 TV projects for the Asia-Pacific region within the next 2-3 years.

Barzakh, an upcoming Pakistani series starring Fawad Khan and Sanam Saeed, has revealed its first official poster for the show. The series is the only South Asian title at Series Mania’s International Panorama showcase. Acclaimed director Asim Abbasi will take the reins of the project.

Filipino broadcast group ABS-CBN announced that it would be selling off its broadband division, Sky Cable, to telecoms giant PLDT for about $123 million. ABS-CBN says it will focus primarily towards producing and distributing content.

Delhi Crime, the Emmy-winning hit series, has been renewed for a third season by Netflix. Other titles that have been granted third seasons by Netflix’s India division include Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives, Kota Factory, and Mismatched.

Vivendi

Europe: Vivendi, the French telecommunications giant, saw a rise in revenue through the video game powerhouse, Gameloft, as well as the ad company Havas. On the other hand, StudioCanal’s revenue fell by roughly 22.8% after delaying many international films scheduled to be released last year to this year.

Lionel Messi - Hugo Pfeiffer

Latin America: Renowned worldwide soccer star, Lionel Messi, is partnering with Sony Music Entertainment to develop a biopic of the athlete’s younger years in the form of an animated series. The series follows Messi’s childhood and puts the superstar soccer player through a series of obstacles as he travels through a video game. The series will be produced in both English and Spanish.

OSN

Middle East: Warner Bros. Discovery has renewed its deal with Middle Eastern streaming platform, OSN, cementing it as the region’s exclusive one-stop shop for HBO content. On top of HBO content, the deal also allows certain blockbuster hits to be carried by the streamer including The Batman, Dune, and The Suicide Squad.