Blue Ant Media Sets Asia-Pacific Expansion, Hires Jon Penn for new Sydney Office

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s “Evil Does Not Exist” collected four nominations for the Asia Pacific Screen Awards, making it the narrow favorite ahead of the three times nominated “Snow Leopard,” by the late Pema Tseden. The narrow lead matches the overall pattern this year’s, where Japanese and Chinese films dominate APSA nominations proceedings. Nominations were announced at midnight on Thursday in Gold Coast, Queensland, where the final awards will be celebrated on Nov. 3. “Evil Does Not Exist,” an eco-drama that premiered in Venice, is nominated in best film, best director, best screenplay and cinematography categories.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Jack Neo, for two decades Singapore’s most commercially successful filmmaker, is to direct and produce “Money No Enough 3,” a second sequel to his oldest film franchise. The film is the first project from HiJack Pictures, the joint venture outfit between distributor-producer Clover Films and Neo’s J Team productions that was announced last year. Neo has either directed or starred in nine of the all-time top ten local movies in Singapore. “Money No Enough 3” will reunite the three stars of the original movie, Mark Lee, Henry Thia and Neo himself.

Joe Jonas once allegedly called England the future “forever home” for his family with Sophie Turner. In a letter obtained by Page Six, revealed as part of the estranged couple’s ongoing court battle over the custody and

Prime Video has big plans for the Southeast Asia region, including the introduction of channels and an expanded local-language content slate, the streamer’s Vice President, Asia Pacific, Gaurav Gandhi, told the APOS conference today. 

Caroline Brew editor Jonathan Van Ness wants to celebrate all the things that make you uniquely you in their new children’s book, “Gorgeously Me!” Acknowledging that being true to yourself is not always easy, the “Queer Eye” star’s book aims to show young readers they are loved and cherished just the way they are. “Everything I do is aimed at encouraging people to be authentically themselves and celebrate what makes them unique. There is enough love, success and joy to go around!” Van Ness said in a statement accompanying the announcement.

Joe Jonas has been spending time in New York City in between his tour dates, seemingly in order to be with his kids.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Ryuji Otsuka and Huang Ji, the husband and wife, Japanese-Chinese directing duo behind “Stonewalling” and “Egg and Stone” have secured multi-national backing for their upcoming fourth film project “A Woman Builds.” The film will depict a Chinese woman forced to live apart from her Japanese husband and their daughter during the pandemic and learning to enjoy the newfound freedom of a pseudo single life. She finds a unique massage parlor to satisfy her sexual needs and decides to build a house back in her home village, despite her husband’s disapproval.

It looks like Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas’ kids ain’t goin’ nowhere… at least for the time being.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and California Gov. Gavin Newsom will debate on November 30 at a Georgia location, with Fox News’ host Sean Hannity moderating the event.

Days before Sophie Turner filed a lawsuit against estranged husband Joe Jonas, the pair was spotted out for dinner with their children in New York City.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Director Clara Law (“The Goddess of 1967”) has been set as president of the jury which will discern this year’s Asia Pacific Screen Awards. She will be joined by Malaysia’s Yeo Yann Yann (“Ilo Ilo,” “Wet Season,” American Born Chinese”), German producer Anna Katchko (“Stepne,” “Happiness”), and Faisal Baltyuor, producer and CEO of Muvi Studios in Saudi Arabia. A separate jury for documentaries and animation will be headed by Taiwan-based Myanmar director Midi Z, India’s Rima Das and Japanese documentary maker Toda Hikaru. The APSAs will be presented at a ceremony in Gold Coast, Queensland on Nov.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Filming is now underway in Australia on “Desert King,” a neo-western drama series for Netflix that is positioned to be one of the streamer’s iconic prestige productions in the Asia-Pacific region. The story revolves around money and power in Australia’s harsh Outback regions with filming locations in the remote Northern Territory and near Adelaide, South Australia. When the world’s largest cattle station is left without a clear successor, generational clashes threaten to tear the Lawson family apart. Sensing this once great dynasty is in decline, the outback’s most powerful factions – rival cattle barons, desert gangsters, Indigenous elders and billionaire miners – move in for the kill,” says Netflix by way of a synopsis. While describing the six-part series as “one of the largest local screen productions filmed in both the [Northern] Territory and South Australia,” and “an extraordinary cast,” the streamer has not disclosed the identities of any cast. Directed by Greg McLean (“La Brea,” “Wolf Creek”), the show is a joint production between Easy Tiger and Ronde.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Japan’s Dean Fujioka (“Fullmetal Alchemist,” “The Man From The Sea”) and the U.K.’s Callum Woodhouse (“All Creatures Great and Small,” “The Durrells”) are set to star in “Orang Ikan,” a WWII-set creature horror film. The picture is scripted by Singapore and Indonesia-based Mike Wiluan (“Buffalo Boys,” HBO series “Grisse”) who will also direct the picture from next month. International rights to “Orang Ikan” have been picked up by London-based SC Films International, which will give the project its sales launch at the Busan festival and accompanying market next month. Set in the Pacific, 1942, a Japanese ship transports prisoners of war to occupied territories as slave labor.

The co-founder of Rolling Stone is facing some major blowback.

Pete Doherty documentary Stranger In My Own Skin have been revealed. Watch full trailer for the film above.Previously announced as debuting at Zurich Film Festival, Peter Doherty — Stranger In My Own Skin is directed by the Libertines and Babyshambles singer’s wife Katia deVidas, who also plays in his other solo outfit band The Puta Madres.Now, it has been announced that the film will hit cinemas from November 9, 2023 – with screenings taking place in the UK, Germany, Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, Poland, Canada, Ireland and Austria.A synopsis describes the feature-length documentary as “following English punk singer-songwriter and Libertines’ legendary frontman, Peter Doherty, as he plunges into the depths of addiction at the very height of his popularity.“Over a period of 10 years, the artist was intimately filmed by director-musician Katia deVidas who shot more than 200 hours of exclusive footage.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Oscar-winning Korean actor Youn Yuh-jung (“Minari,” “Pachinko”) will headline the Actors’ House section of the upcoming Busan International Film Festival, it was announced on Thursday. Introduced in 2021, Actors’ House is a special series that connects audiences and film enthusiasts with iconic actors from the current generation through its in-depth discussions. “There’s much anticipation to hear her words of wisdom, as she’s known for her insightful observations,” said the festival. Others this year include: Han Hyo-joo, Song Joong-ki and Korean-American actor and author John Cho.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Top actor Asher Keddie will co-produce and star opposite David Wenham in Paramount+ Australia’s freshly-commissioned “Fake” drama-thriller series. Keddie has a long TV career with recent credits including “The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart,” “Nine Perfect Strangers” and “Stateless.” Her movie credits include smaller roles in “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” and eccentric comedy “Rams.” Wenham’s filmography includes “SeaChange,” “Elvis,” “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers & The Return of the King.” “Fake” follows Keddie’s character, a smart and brilliant writer who thinks she has found her ideal match when she meets a successful rancher, portrayed by Wenham, on a dating app. But after she commits, she discovers that her boyfriend isn’t all he has led her to believe. The show is inspired by the book “Fake” by Stephanie Wood and was created for television by renown screenwriter, Anya Beyersdorf with award-winner director, Emma Freeman (“Secret City,” “Glitch,” “The Newsreader”). The eight- part series is produced by Kindling Pictures’ Imogen Banks (“Safe Home,” “Offspring”) and Emelyne Palmer (“Safe Home,” “RFDS”).

Water For Elephants, the new stage musical adapted from the acclaimed 2006 novel by Sara Gruen to be directed by Kimberly Akimbo director Jessica Stone, will open on Broadway this spring, producers announced today.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Japan rugby union team on Sunday thrashed tournament newcomers Chile 42-12 on the first weekend of the freshly kicked-off Rugby World Cup. But in 2015, Japan were the underdogs and yet pulled off a surprise result against rugby titans South Africa. In the first ever match between the two nations Japan won 34-32, due to an 80th minute try. “The Brighton Miracle,” a docu-drama capturing and re-constructing that shock match, has been picked up by Blue Sky Media.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Identity, incomplete understanding and urban poverty are among the many themes touched upon in “Oasis of Now,” which is set to make its debut next month in the prestigious New Currents competition section of the Busan International Film Festival. The story revolves around a mother and a daughter who inhabit the invisible corners of an old apartment block in Kuala Lumpur. They meet in the stairwells, play furtive games and snatch moments of shared happiness, before slinking off to their separate homes.