APOS 2022: Amazon Prime Video International Chief Kelly Day On Growth Of AVOD, Expanding South Indian, Japanese Scripted Content

EXCLUSIVE: Sony Pictures has beaten out other suitors to take one of the hottest movie packages off the table, striking a domestic deal and more for Craig Gillespie’s Dumb Money from Black Bear Pictures.

Delegates from around the world have started arriving in Cape Town as they prepare to compete for the coveted Mr Gay World 2022 title.

Today is Columbus Day in the United States, and during his monologue on Monday’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” Kimmel suggested an Italian American figure we could celebrate instead, and it’s not bad, actually.But first, he ran through a comprehensive list of reasons why Columbus was terrible, including noting that he was so “willfully ignorant” that were he alive now, “he could probably run the Republican party.”“Here’s how you know Columbus Day isn’t so hot anymore,” Kimmel said as he got into his monologue. “There’s no Google doodle for it. There’s nothing.

Gerard Butler is ready for the weekend!

Paramount’s Network 10 Preps Aussie ‘Taskmaster’ 

Jennifer Salke entered the Second Age in London. The head of Amazon Studios spent the 72 hours leading up to the launch of “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” in a whirlwind, traveling from the series’ global premiere event in London’s Leicester Square to her Manhattan apartment to watch the early returns arrive via reports from Amazon’s formidable consumer research department. The “Rings” team was exhausted, having had no chance to recover from the grueling worldwide promotional campaign for the Amazon Prime Video series that is an enormous bet for the tech giant, being the most expensive television series ever produced. For most of launch day, Sept. 1, Salke and key members of her executive team, many members of the large ensemble cast and executive producers J.D. Payne, Patrick McKay and Lindsey Weber gathered together for hours in virtual “war rooms,” bone tired but energized, to wait for the world’s reaction.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Prime Video has greenlit Season 2 of the hit Spanish series, “Dias Mejores” (“Better Days”), after the success of its first season. Created by Cristóbal Garrido and Adolfo Valor (“Reyes de la Noche,” “Farina”), the new season will continue to follow the stories of its lead characters Sara (Marta Hazas), Pardo (Erick Elías), Graci (Alba Planas), Luis (Francesc Orella) and Dr. Laforet (Blanca Portillo). News was announced at the Iberseries & Platino Industria television event that was held in Madrid over Sept. 27-30. The co-production between ViacomCBS International Studios (VIS) and Madrid-based Zeta Studios, producers of Netflix hit, “Elite,” will stream exclusively on Prime Video in Spain.

scattered across numerous disparate streaming services and never all in one place, with some — namely a couple of the Daniel Craig entries — being especially tricky to track down for streaming. As part of the 60th anniversary celebration for Bond, but also in no small part thanks to Amazon’s acquisition of MGM earlier this year, that’s finally changing, and Bond fans now have access to all the films as included with a Prime Video subscription.

Narcos: Mexico has picked up two nominations at the International Emmy Awards 2022 and will battle with Lupin, Vigil and South Africa’s Reyka for the coveted Drama Series prize.

After closing an $8.45 billion deal last year to buy MGM, the longtime home of the James Bond franchise, Amazon has announced that 25 Bond films are heading to Prime Video in the U.S., UK and a few other territories.

Naman Ramachandran As Amazon Prime Video closes in on six years of operations in India, it is one of the market leaders in the streaming segment. A major part of the success is due to it getting a handle on the multiple local languages in the vast market. “One of the things we look at when we expand into new territories and languages is to see early signs and then double down on those early signs,” Gaurav Gandhi, VP, Amazon Prime Video India told Variety. The service programs in 10 languages in India, including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Marathi, Punjabi, Gujarati, Bengali and English. “When we started programming in 10 languages we saw early signs before most others how content travels across languages,” says Gandhi, who spoke on the sidelines of the APOS conference in Singapore. “Today, 50% of our audience base is watching content in four plus languages, which was not the case three or four years back. And a big reason for that is the fact that as you program multiple languages across the board, we realize that you truly transcend linguistic boundaries and barriers and expand the linguistic palette.”

EXCLUSIVE: In December 2000, a man broke into a suburban Tokyo home and ruthlessly slaughtered an entire unsuspecting family. But instead of fleeing the scene, the brutal killer – dubbed The Faceless Man – made himself at home. He took a nap; he ate their food; he used their computer; he changed into clothes owned by one of the victims; and then seemingly vanished in broad daylight.

Premier League football could go D2C in Asia at some point in the coming years, according to Richard Masters, CEO of one of the world’s most lucrative sports leagues.

Creating locally authentic content has been key to Netflix’s success in producing shows in Asia that have resonated globally, according to Minyoung Kim, Netflix Vice President of Content, APAC ex India, speaking at APOS, which is taking place virtually and in-person in Singapore this week (September 27-29).

Naman Ramachandran Localization, and in some cases hyper-localization, is the modus operandi for growth in global markets for Amazon Prime Video, according to Kelly Day, VP, International, for the streamer. “When we think about launching in a new country, we really want to make sure that we bring a truly local feel to it. So, we’re trying to be very thoughtful when we enter a new region to make sure that we’re not only bringing all of these amazing global series and tentpoles, but that we really do it right, locally,” Day said while delivering one of the keynotes at the APOS conference in Singapore on Wednesday. The service launched recently in Thailand, Indonesia and Philippines and the company has hired a local team in the region. Day was also part of the Prime Video team that launched a 40-strong Indian slate in April.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Online video is taking up the role of growth engine for the Asia Pacific video industry as free-TV in the region moves into long-term decline, says a new report. The video sector is forecast to remain robust this year, but recession could deal a blow to sector performance in 2023. Video sector revenues – defined as subscription fees and advertising generated by free TV, pay-TV and online video platforms – in 14 Asia-Pacific markets are forecast to will grow by 6.4% in the current year to reach $143 billion, according to Media Partners Asia.

Naman Ramachandran Hindi-language “Maja Ma,” starring Bollywood icon Madhuri Dixit Nene, is the first of many Indian original films from Amazon Prime Video, Aparna Purohit, the head of India originals for the streamer, has revealed. The film is a Prime Video commission, as opposed to an acquisition. “We have been acquiring films, we have been putting films straight on our service and over the last two years, we put almost 60 films out and we also bought into co-productions. Producing our own films was the next logical step,” Purohit told Variety. Next up are films in the Telugu and Tamil languages, with films in Malayalam and Kannada being explored. “We want to tell stories that are truly rooted in our soil, stories that are compelling, that are differentiated, in the hands of very passionate creators – story being the starting point for every decision. That’s the strategy,” said Purohit. “And we want to really delight our audiences spread across the length and breadth of the country.”

Prime Video, Hulu, Disney+, HBO Max, Paramount+, Netflix, Peacock, Discovery+ and even more streaming services, there’s no shortage of options when choosing what to binge-watch this weekend. However, sometimes the amount of great film and television available to stream can be overwhelming and lead to scrolling aimlessly — hoping to land on that perfect piece of content.  Scroll no more! To help you out, ET has rounded up the best movies and TV shows to stream this weekend, including new arrivals, nostalgia-filled favorites and titles you may have missed the (well-deserved) hype on that are worth circling back for.From a new season of  to new episodes of The Handmaid's Tale and HBO's, we’ve got your content covered this week. For even more recommendations, make sure to check out our guide for everything new on Prime Video, Hulu, Peacock, Apple TV+ and more this month.

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