TBA Studios Acquires Philippines Rights To Japan’s Oscars Submission ‘Plan 75’

EXCLUSIVE: Paris-based Urban Sales has sold Japanese director Chie Hayakawa’s dystopian drama Plan 75 to KimStim for North America, in addition to several other territories. The film won a Camera d’Or Special Mention when it premiered in Un Certain Regard at Cannes this year, and is also Japan’s submission to the Best International Feature category of the Oscars. 

Rebecca Souw The Astory-produced “Extraordinary Attorney Woo” claimed the ‘Best Content Award’ Saturday at the fourth edition of the Asian Contents Awards in Busan. The hit show’s lead actress, Park Eun-bin bagged the best actress award, thrilling assembled local fans. The ceremony took place outdoors at the BIFF Theater at the Busan Cinema Center, on the sidelines of the Busan International Film Festival. With the venues filled to almost 80% capacity, the best of Asia TV, OTT and online content were presented with a total of 12 awards.

EXCLUSIVE: Labid Aziz’sPeople of Culture Studios (PoC Studios), has picked up North American distribution rights to Kim Bass’s comedy A Snowy Day in Oakland, and will open the film nationwide in theaters over the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday weekend, Jan. 13, 2023. The movie is the debut theatrical release for PoC Studios. 

EXCLUSIVE: Greenwich Entertainment is going big on Loudmouth. The company has acquired North American rights to the documentary about the Rev. Al Sharpton, and plans a December 9 theatrical release for the film just as Oscar shortlist voting rolls around.

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Live sports streaming service DAZN has struck a deal to buy global sports media business ELEVEN Group, which holds rights to the top soccer leagues in Portugal and Belgium.  The deal, for an undisclosed sum, will boost DAZN’s offerings in Italy, German-speaking markets and Spain, where it already holds top league domestic soccer rights. Additionally, ELEVEN has a presence in Taiwan and other Southeast Asian markets, which will give DAZN a greater foothold in that region where the service is already market leader in Japan, the company said in a statement. The deal also includes ELEVEN-owned Team Whistle, which is a short-form original social media content provider said by DAZN to have over 700 million followers across its channels. Team Whistle is estimated to bring total revenue of around $300 million a year, DAZN said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief A new trailer for the second season of futuristic fantasy actioner Alice in Borderland was the highlight of a slate of Japanese film, series and cartoons unveiled by Netflix on Sunday as part of its Tudum fan experience. Japanese content is doing well for the streamer, both within the country which is Netflix’s most valuable in the Asia-Pacific region, and increasingly overseas. Though the country is awaiting its “Squid Game” breakout show, the company has signaled that it is investing more in the Japanese-language category. The Sunday presentation included a group interview segment in which Yamazaki Kento and Tsuchiya Tao, who play Arisu and Usagi from “Alice in Borderland,” Mori Nana and Deguchi Natsuki who play Kiyo and Sumire in “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House,” and Ai Fairouz , voice actress for Jolyne Cujoh in “JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean,” talked about their personal growth and shared thoughts on now reaching fans all over the world.

Emerging stars from Netflix Japan’s biggest original shows have revealed their experiences working with the streamer today at the final Tudum event of the past 24 hours.

Liza Foreman Spanish production and distribution company Bteam Pictures has picked up all rights for Spain to San Sebastián competition title “Los Reyes del Mundo” (“Kings of the World”). Film Factory Entertainment brokered the deal with Bteam partners Ania Jones, Alex Lafuente and Lara Pérez Camiña. Film Factory’s Vicente Canales confirmed to Variety that the company is handling worldwide sales for the film, excluding France, Benelux, Colombia and Mexico.  “Bteam is well known for distributing quality films in Spain and has already released several of our Spanish pictures,” said Canales. “We believe they are the best match for ‘Kings of the World,’ which is one of the most important Colombian films of the year.”

Japan Latest To Remake Simon Cowell’s ‘Got Talent’

Marta Balaga Switzerland’s SRF and Japanese broadcaster NHK have acquired Rise and Shine’s crowdpleaser “Karaoke Paradise.” Directed by Einari Paakkanen and produced by Marianne Mäkelä and Liisa Karpo for Napafilms, it premiered at CPH:DOX and was recently shortlisted for the Best Documentary Award at the European Film Awards. “It’s one of those rare films that casts a warmhearted look into the soul of its characters, maybe even into the soul of a nation. Finns don’t talk. They sing karaoke,” says Rise and Shine’s managing director Stefan Kloos, calling it “one of the masterpieces of that dry Finnish humor we all love.”

Pan Nalin’s Last Film Show, produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur, Nalin, Dheer Momaya and Mark Duale, has been selected as India’s official entry for the Best International Feature Oscar race.

Queen Elizabeth II‘s funeral brought so many world leaders together on Monday (September 19) in London, England.

EXCLUSIVE: Filipino production company Daluyong Studios, which co-produced Plan 75, Japan’s Best International Feature submission for the Oscars, is partnering with Tan Si En’s Singapore-based Momo Film Co to co-produce a slate of features and documentaries.