MORE TALENT JOINS ‘AGENCY’
Indonesia’s Miles Films and SK Global Entertainment have revealed more of the talent participating in their “The Talent Agency” (aka “Harbungi Agen Guei”) the local version of the hit French series, “Call My Agent!.” Other recurring roles go to Sheryl Sheinafia, Chicco Kurniawan, Dea Panendra, and Agni Pratistha. Guest stars in the series—who play a version of themselves—include Luna Maya, Tara Basro, Zara Adhisty, Adipati Dolken, comedians Pandji Pragiwaksono and Soleh Solihun, and young stars Kevin Ardilova and Bio One. The show is now in post-production and will air on Disney+ from next year. Miles Films’ Mira Lesmana and Riri Riza are showrunners with Teddy Soeriaatmadja (“Lovely Man”, “Affliction”) directing. The show was teased last week at Disney’s content showcase in Singapore.
NEW NHK PRESIDENT
Japan’s public broadcaster NHK has named Inaba Nobuo, former executive director of the Bank of Japan, as its next president. Inaba, 72, will replace Maeda Terunobu with effect from Jan. 25, 2023. He is the fifth man in a row hailing from the private sector to take the post.
The venerable company agreed in October to cut its mandatory viewer subscription fees by 10% from next year. The move means that NHK’s income will drop at a time when viewership is falling. Other challenges include competing against streaming services without significantly expanding its own online activities. “The government hopes for Inaba to exert strong leadership as the top official of a public broadcaster entrusted with socially important missions to fulfil,” government spokesman Matsuno Hirokazu said.
FREMANTLE EXPANDS ASIA LEADERSHIP
Fremantle has announced two senior promotions in its management team in Asia. Ganesh Rajaram has been appointed CEO Asia and Latin America, effective Jan. 1, 2023. In this newly created role, reporting to Group CEO Jennifer Mullin, Rajaram will oversee all aspects of Fremantle’s production businesses in Asia and Latin America, with local MDs of India, Indonesia and Mexico reporting directly to him. Rajaram will continue to be based in Singapore. Simultaneously, Haryaty Rahman has been promoted to EVP sales, Asia, also from Jan. 1, 2023. In this expanded senior role, replacing Rajaram, she will drive Fremantle’s distribution strategy in the region partnering with local broadcasters and platforms to place Fremantle’s formats and content across Asia. based in Singapore, Haryaty will report to Jens Richter.
ROGUE SALES
Banijay Rights, the global distribution arm of Banijay, today announces further landmark sales of “Rogue Heroes,” following the WWII drama’s renewal by the BBC this week. In deals negotiated across the Banijay Rights global sales team, the first season of “Rogue Heroes” has been picked up by Wing Sight Culture & Media Co for streaming in China and Starzplay in the Middle East. Meanwhile, TVNZ in New Zealand, Paramount+ in Germany, and Directv in Latin America have all acquired the series. These new agreements follow previous sales of the drama to premium network Epix (soon to be known as MGM+) for the U.S., HBO Max in Europe, Prime Video in Canada, SBS in Australia and Canal+ in France. Produced by Kudos (a Banijay UK company) and Nebulastar for the BBC – and entitled “SAS Rogue Heroes” in the U.K. market – the series is a dramatized account of how the SAS, was formed in the darkest days of WWII.
