Singapore’s IMDA, STB Launch $7.5M Fund For International Productions

Five people in the UK have died after catching the new Arcturus strain of Covid-19, according to UK health officials.

Singer Moon Bin of the K-Pop group Astro has died at 25. The musician was found dead in his Seoul, South Korea, home on Wednesday evening.  When efforts to communicate with the star were not returned, his manager reportedly found him at home.

Paramount+ is expanding its global Korean originals slate with two new series, A Bloody Lucky Day and Queen Woo, which the streamer will launch exclusively on its global platform. In South Korea, the series will be available on TVing, the streaming service launched by Korean powerhouse CJ ENM.

Naman Ramachandran “The Song of Scorpions,” starring Irrfan Khan, Golshifteh Farahani and Waheeda Rehman, written and directed by Anup Singh, will be released in India by Panorama Films and 70mm Talkies on April 28. The film’s release in India was withheld due to the pandemic in 2021. “The Song of Scorpions” is a story of twisted love, revenge and the redemptive power of a song. Nooran, carefree and defiantly independent, is a tribal woman learning the ancient art of healing from her grandmother, a revered scorpion-singer. When Aadam, a camel trader in the Rajasthan desert, hears her sing, he falls desperately in love. But even before they can get to know each other better, Nooran is poisoned by a treachery that sets her on a perilous journey to avenge herself and find her song.

A new Covid variant is on the rise after the latest strain has been linked to 50 cases in the UK.

ITVX Hits One Billion Streams After Five Months

A new Covid variant that could be 'more infectious' than previous strains has been identified in the UK.

winning the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Michell Yeoh has taken the statuette to her father’s grave in Malaysia. The 60-year-old shared a snap to her Instagram page on Wednesday that showed her visiting the burial ground for Qing Ming — a major Chinese festival where relatives go to the tombs of their ancestors to clean and make offerings of food.“Brought Mr.O home,” Yeoh wrote beneath a photo that showed her holding up her Oscar at the graveyard. “Without my parents’ love and trust and support … I wouldn’t be here today … love so much” Yeoh’s father, Datuk Yeoh Kian Teik, died in 2014 at the age of 89.

Beijing-based sales agent Rediance has revealed first look stills for Anthony Chen’s The Breaking Ice, which has been selected for the Un Certain Regard section of this year’s Cannes Film Festival. 

BreAnna Bell Warner Bros. TV has acquired the book rights to Jesse Q. Sutanto’s novel, “Vera Wong’s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers,” the studio announced on Monday. Mindy Kaling’s Kaling International, which is currently under an overall deal with WBTV, is attached to produce alongside Harpo Films. The novel follows Vera Wong, a lonely widow living in San Francisco’s Chinatown who wakes up one morning to find a dead body on the floor of her struggling tea shop. “No one is more curious than a suspicious Chinese mother with time on her hands, so Vera decides to start her own investigation,” reads the description. The book was published by Berkley, an imprint of Penguin Random House, and HQ, a division of HarperCollins UK.

EXCLUSIVE: Korean studio Lotte Cultureworks’ drama Pale Moon, which has been selected for Canneseries, will be broadcast in Korea from April 7 on KT’s Genie TV, followed by a debut on pay-TV network ENA and streaming service Tving on April 10. 

The new musical & Juliet is one of the biggest hits of the 2022-23 Broadway season and we’re catching up with some of the stars!

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief To stimulate travel to Singapore through TV series and films, the city state’s Infocomm Media Development Authority and the Singapore Tourism Board are launching a $7.53 million (S$10 million) fund. The fund will support selected projects by international media and entertainment companies. These must be set in Singapore and launched before the first quarter of 2027. Successful projects will receive funding support of up to 30% of their qualifying costs related to featuring Singapore, including production and marketing costs. Project proposals will be evaluated based on their distribution and market reach, content concept and creative merit, opportunities to feature Singapore’s offerings and experiences, as well as the number of local talents involved in credited roles.

Outlander producers have left fans emotional after releasing the upcoming episode titles.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The high-profile film and TV production facilities Iskandar Malaysia Studios have been sold to Singapore’s GHY Culture & Media. GHY has paid RM8.8 million ($1.98 million) for an 80% stake in Studio Management Services, investment company, to RK Media Ventures Sdn Bhd and CL Media Holdings. According to a regulatory filing GHY and SMS must pay a further RM26.5 million ($5.99 million) within five days to state-owned Granatum Ventures to buy 100% of Iskandar Malaysia Studios. That gives a total purchase price of RM35.3 million ($8 million) for a controlling 80% stake. The remaining minority can be bought out in five years. The filing said that Iskandar Malaysia Studios’ net asset value at the end of 2022 was RM32 million ($7.23 million).

K-pop boyband TREASURE was recently caught in the middle of a stage equipment malfunction, leaving him with minor burns.Yesterday (April 2), the 10-member boyband performed at the IMPACT Exhibition and Convention Center in Bangkok, Thailand as part of the ongoing Asia leg of their ‘Hello’ tour.As seen in photos and videos taken by fans at the concert, member Yoon Jae-hyuk had been walking over stage equipment with a fire-emitting mechanism when it malfunctioned and unexpectedly released a burst of flames.The idol quickly moved away from the equipment and made sure that his clothes were not on fire, before heading backstage to receive medical attention.Is Jaehyuk ok? He step on fire OMG@treasuremembers pic.twitter.com/KXWbZnUhKm— bLub (@chubbyhubbybaby) April 2, 2023According to news outlets and fans at the show, Yoon returned onstage after a brief break with a bandage on his hand, where he sustained minor burns. After the concert, the singer held a livestream where he told fans not to “worry too much”.

A popular boxing and fitness concept from down under will has chosen Salford as the location for it's first club in the UK. UBX Boxing + Strength was co-founded by four time world champion boxer boxer Danny Green and fitness entrepreneur Tim West.

BTS member Jungkook has become the new global ambassador for fashion brand Calvin Klein.The appointment was confirmed today (March 28) by Elle Singapore in an Instagram post, ahead of the release of Jungkook’s first campaign with the brand.“I have been a fan of Calvin Klein for a long time, and I’m thrilled to be their newest global ambassador,” Jungkook said, per Elle Singapore. “This partnership is very special, as Calvin Klein’s heritage and brand values resonate with me.”“My music is how I communicate with my fans around the world, and I see this partnership as an opportunity to connect with them in a new way.

and , blush nails are the new manicure trend that's calling your name. “New” is relative: Blush nails originated and have been trending in Korea, though I personally just discovered the look scrolling nail through international nail inspo on Instagram.As for what blush nails actually look like? “Blush nails are a Korean nail trend that has a pink glowing ‘aura’ effect in the middle of the nail, replicating the makeup blush look,” , nail artist and owner of Kookie nails in Melbourne, tells Glamour, adding the style pairs perfectly with minimal and soft and “ that have been in vogue as of late. Blush nails are also especially easy to customize and dress up or down, adds , a nail technician based in Singapore.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief In cricket-mad India the upcoming Indian Premier League tournament could be a watershed for the country’s jostling media empires, according to Singapore-based consultancy and analysis firm, Media Partners Asia. Video rights for the tournament were split between incumbent pay-TV player Disney Star India, which paid close to $3.1 billion for broadcast rights to the five 2023-2027 editions, and Viacom18, which is backed by Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and Paramount (as a minority stakeholder), in partnership with financier Bodhi Tree Systems. It paid a similar sum for the separate digital rights. Media Partners Asia estimates that advertising revenues spawned by the two-month 2023 competition will end up around $550 million – representing a clear loss on the annualized cost of $1.2 billion, or roughly $600 million per conglomerate, for the tournament rights. (The analysis firm forecasts that RIL will earn $300-350 million in ad sales, while Star’s best-case scenario is $220 million.)