... and now what? This year’s ContentAsia Summit explores this and other questions the industry is asking in navigating the path of a living, breathing, thriving community, avoiding the dry bones scattered over a scorched earth that has already claimed the lives of… actually, let’s not go there. We will, instead, focus on....
Conversations during the ContentAsia Summit 2023 will, among other issues, look at finding meaning in current reality; how the industry is dealing with the crash of inflated streaming expectations; and how platform leaders are thinking about the latest environment. We look at the companies that continue to believe Asian stories add value; at relationships and projects that are working and the people behind them; at storytelling trends and influences in Asia; at content funding backing new development, production and co-production; and at the digital-era resources that enable producers and platforms to make the most effective decisions possible.
Come and say hello, pick up your welcome pack and your badge. We'll be there from 5.30pm to 7.30pm
Sessions will be simultaneously translated in Thai and English.
All sessions take place live and will not be live streamed. Sessions will be available on-demand after the live event closes.
Please contact Malena Amzah at rsvp@contentasia.tv for more information.
* As of Wednesday, 16 August 2023. Subject to change.
The search for meaning in consumers' engagement with video in Asia. Insights and analysis with Media Partners Asia (MPA)/AMPD Research.
Dhivya T.
Head of Content & Platform Insights, Media Partners Asia (MPA) / AMPD Research
Astro is Malaysia’s biggest content creator, laying claim to 50% of the country’s content investment and headlining earnings announcements with big and small screen successes such as Polis Evo 3 and Projek: High Council. In Southeast Asia, the platform has pulled way ahead of its traditional counterparts in the region, delivering a full slate of domestic originals, including One Cent Thief, Liar and Gegar Vaganza. As others shrink or abandon focus on creating original content, the 27-year-old platform is doubling down, all in addition to aggregating third-party streaming apps, curating channels, delivering something like 110,000 on demand titles, and operating its own youth-focused mobile platform. “We are reinventing our content proposition to meet the increasing demand for high quality local content on all screens,” group CEO Euan Smith, has told investors. He talks to us about Astro’s bold transformation playbook and what the platform’s content plans are.
Euan Smith
Group Chief Executive, Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad
Thailand's True Digital has a broader landscape and a refreshed north star. The Group's Digital Media President, Win Kolasastraseni, talks about expanding the platform, building a hybrid strategy, presenting non-binary solutions and crafting seamless experiences for customers wherever they happen to be.
Winradit (Win) Kolasastraseni
President - Digital Media, True Digital Group Co., Ltd.
Production budgets in Asia and the changing nature of funding original content in the region. This conversation will focus on what production funds are looking for, where money is finding its sweetspot in Asia, how partnerships are evolving, the kinds of risks fund managers are prepared to take, and what they are asking for in return.
Dennis Yang
Founder & CEO, Studio76 (Taiwan)
June Yeoh
Senior Director, Commercial Development, APAC, GroupM Motion Entertainment
Brought to you by
Asia’s Chinese content universe enters the second half of 2023 with bigger investments in China-inspired stories, powerful entertainment brands that have stayed honest and true to their core reason for being, and only dust where former-incumbents once ruled. A discussion about the forces shaping Chinese video entertainment, influences & challenges in the coming year, and where creators, storytellers and distributors are finding meaning.
Ofanny Choi
CEO, Celestial Tiger Entertainment
Cora Yim
Chief Content Officer, Sixty Percent Productions
Warner Brothers Discovery and Banijay have a mission to build a factual entertainment pipeline for India. We're talking to Sai Abishek and Deepak Dar about the kind of partnerships that will facilitate this and what else they're hoping for....
Sai Abishek
Head of Factual & Lifestyle Cluster, South Asia, Warner Bros. Discovery
Deepak Dhar
Founder & Group CEO, Banijay Asia & Endemol Shine India
Brought to you by
As streaming expectations crash and the world’s syndication business takes yet another wild turn, we talk to three buyers and programmers at Asian entertainment services about how their worlds have changed, how they’re approaching acquisitions of premium international content, and the forces shaping their new truths.
Sandie Lee
EVP & Channel Head, Rewind Networks
Celine Ong
Director, Program Planning & Strategy, Rock Entertainment Group
Denise Tham
Director, Programming and Acquisition, KC Global Media Asia
When Eazie TV partnered with Singapore telco M1 to launch the first-of-its-kind TV service in Singapore, a new and long-overdue streaming chapter opened for linear TV in Asia. Eazie TV founder and CEO, Shitiz Jain, talks about the quest for simplicity, mobility and a 75+ channel universe curated to satisfy a broad range of entertainment needs.
Shitiz Jain
Founder / CEO, Eazie TV
Global streamers gave new meaning to international exposure for Asian IP. But the quest to distribute Asia's stories and series around the world has been long, sometimes arduous, but very often fruitful. And it's ongoing. This session explores changing tastes and opportunities for Asian content among non-Asian audiences around the world.
Jose Escalante
CEO-Director, Latin Media Corporation
Gary Pudney
Founder & Managing Director, O4 Media
Ziraviss Vindhanapisuth
VP, International Business, BEC World PCL (Thailand)
Brought to you by:
Apicha Honghirunruang
President, BEC Studio (Thailand)
A journey into the heads and habits of Thai consumers online with social media analytics specialists, Wisesight.
Kla Tangsuwan
CEO, Wisesight Co., Ltd
We're turning 15 this year... and there's more. Celestial Movies celebrates its 20th anniversary in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. Rewind Networks' HITS turns 10 in December. There's lots to celebrate - Join Us!
Moving into Day Two of this year’s ContentAsia Summit and the conversation about meaning and purpose, we kick off with a look at…
Please note... Sessions will be simultaneously translated in Thai and English.
A reminder that all sessions take place live and will not be live streamed. Sessions will be available on-demand after the live event closes.
Please contact Malena Amzah at rsvp@contentasia.tv for more information.
* As of Wednesday, 16 August 2023. Subject to change.
Marianne Lee
Chief of Content Acquisition & Licensing, Viu
Garlic Garcia
Head of Content Partnerships, Viu Philippines
Southeast Asia's content industry has embarked on a mission to change its storytelling DNA, with bigger stories, more universal themes and complex characters and less of a focus on domestic nuance. How well is this working? This series of conversations centres around leaders in the quest to redirect domestic storytelling and production towards global audiences, and what this new direction in premium drama means for the local production industry as well as for domestic audiences... beginning with Ruel Bayani, who is driving a new direction for ABS-CBN in the Philippines as head of ABS-CBN International Productions.
Ruel Bayani
ABS-CBN International Productions
The focus on original content, along with data-driven decisions, the influence of streaming platforms and the lure of social video have transformed the way TV entertainment gets to screen. A conversation about how commissioning in Asia is evolving, what the biggest influences are, and how the process is being expanded.
Sabanitha Shanmugasundram
Head, Content Commissioning and Commercial & Community Engagement, Mediacorp Singapore
Prime Video's upsized Southeast Asia initiatives kicked off exactly a year ago with customised interfaces for Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, and its first Southeast Asia originals. And, the global streamer said at the time, this is just the beginning. Darin Darakananda, Prime Video/Amazon Studios' Head of Local Originals, Thailand, talks about what's coming up and where local originals are heading.
Darin Darakananda
Head of Originals, Thailand, Amazon Studios
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Netflix continues to scale up in Southeast Asia, adding Indonesian director Kamila Andini’s “Cigarette Girl”, which premieres on 2 November, to Sitisiri (Dome) Mongkolsiri’s “Hunger” – the #1 film on the global non-English movie top 10 earlier this year – and Timo Tjahjanto’s action-comedy blockbuster, "The Big 4", to name but a few. Netflix’s director of content for Southeast Asia, Malobika Banerji, takes us through her plans & goals for Southeast Asia, and we talk to directors of the moment and Netflix creative partners about their latest projects, life on the cutting edge of streaming creativity, and what they’re hoping for next.
Malobika Banerji
Director, Content (SEA), Netflix
Kamila Andini
Director, "Cigarette Girl"
Sitisiri (Dome) Mongkolsiri
Director, "Hunger"
Indonesia's feature films have made much more of an impact beyond the country's shores than its TV series, which for years were dominated by long-running low-budget soap operas targetting domestic audieces. Global and domestic streaming attention changed the game, pushing up budgets and production values, expanding reach and elevating storytelling in series such as action/thriller/comedy, Pertaruhan The Series (Vidio), and upcoming premium titles, Cigarette Girl (Netflix) and Tira (Disney+ Hotstar). As the whole environment shifts yet again, we talk to leading producers in Indonesia about where they are today, what they've learned about pushing more deeply into premium and how original production in Southeast Asia's largest market is moving forward.
Anthony Buncio
SVP, Streaming, Screenplay Films (Indonesia)
Tanya Yuson
Co-founder & Chief Creative Development Officer, Base Entertainment
Brought to you by
The nature of Asia’s adoption and adaptation of global formats has changed dramatically. Based on five years of continuous research under the ContentAsia Formats Outlook banner, we track formats trends and outlook by country, genre & distributor, including the top distributors in Asia by volume/title.
Janine Stein
Editorial Director, ContentAsia
Ampaiporn Jitmaingong
Director, "Bad Romeo"
A new reality is taking shape as platforms and programmers look at their original production options in a world of ultra-expensive drama. A discussion about the direction reality formats are taking around the world, how this is being adopted and adapted in Asia, what role Asian creators are or could be playing, and what's involved in understanding and integrating ever-popular games elements. Plus other top-of-mind issues as Asia's involvement in the unscripted space evolves.
Rachel Glaister
EVP Press & Marketing
Fotini Paraskakis
Founder & Director, Empire of Arkadia (EOA)
Scripted led formats sales in Asia in 2022. The trend continues into 2023. And all over the region, the envelope is being pushed on adaptations. This session tracks where Asia is on its scripted formats journey, looks at trends and developments in adaptations, what story-telling risks are being taken in the name of satisfying the region's drama expectations, and what's finding favour – or not.
Ari Arijitsatien
Co-CEO, True CJ Creations (Thailand)
Ayako Tajima
Senior Director, Content Business & Distribution, Global Business, Nippon TV, Japan
Ben Lai
Executive Director, Yam Cultural Limited
Michele Schofield
Senior Vice President, Commercial – Viddsee
Film incentives are being revamped, launched and relaunched across the region, with government-backed agencies keen to benefit from increased production activity. These go hand in hand with infrastructure upgrades as studio facilities rush to accommodate production demand. This session looks at the good, the bad and the next steps in providing productions with infrastructure and facilities that will support the next growth phase in Southeast Asia.
Rashid Karim
CEO, Iskandar Malaysia Studios
Vara Vilaivan
Acting Director Studio Management, The Studio Park Thailand
Manik Sethisuwan
Production Services Asia
Myke Brown
CEO, Capital Studio Media City
Independent producers have never had this much opportunity to tell their stories. A discussion about wins and pain points and what indies are experiencing as they take advantage of the expanded environment.
Min Lim
Group CEO, Vision New Media
Shamin Yusof
Managing Director/Producer, Skop Productions (Malaysia)
Michelle Chang
Co-founder, Mocha Chai Laboratories
Avatar's eco-moments are legendary. "Avengers: End Game" made headlines for production sustainability. "The Hobbit" trilogy committed to sustainability from day one. "Succession", "The Gilded Age", "The Man in the High Castle", and many others... all part of a global movement towards sustainable TV and Film production.
A discussion on ways production houses in Asia are participating and practical production strategies with case studies in order to enhance a sustainable way forward.
* Presented by ContentAsia in association with India GreenSet (India) & Green Spark Group (Canada)
Anupama Mandloi
Co-founder & CEO, India GreenSet
Sophy VSivaraman
Co-founder, India GreenSet / Founder & CEO, Indian Documentary Foundation
Andrew Robinson
Senior Sustainability & Social Performance Expert, Green Spark Group (Canada)
* Awards dinner at The Athenee Bangkok. By Invitation Only
The ContentAsia Awards will be live streamed on social media.
Dome-Sitisiri Mongkolsiri is a film and commercial director known for his work on "Inhuman Kiss", which was his first feature-length film as a solo director, winner of 6 categories from the 29th Suphannahong National Film Awards, and Thailand’s representative for the 92nd Academy Awards. Prior to "Inhuman Kiss", he co-directed "Last Summer" and the short film "Midnight Sun", the latter of which was produced for cosmetic brand Cute Press and ended up winning the Best Film of Asia Pacific award from the 2017 Berlin Fashion Film Festival. In addition, his short film "Yesterday" received a special prize from the Suphannahong National Film Awards. Sitisiri’s work often employs a unique approach to storytelling, including fresh interpretations of the central theme that made "Inhuman Kiss" a major success.
Featured Filmography
● "Last Summer" (Film; 2013 - as co-director)
● "Midnight Sun (Short film; 2016)
● "Girl from Nowhere" season 1 (“Apologies” episode; 2018) and 2 (“Yuri” episode; 2021)
● "Inhuman Kiss" (Film; 2019)
● "Folklore" season 2 (“Broker of Death” episode; 2021)
Win is a global tech and digital media executive with extensive experience building and operating highly scaled, global online businesses. He is passionate about the intersection of media and technology and how that will transform entertainment, education and communities.
As President of Digital Media for True Digital Group, he is responsible for the overall strategy & P&L management of the group, which operates three complementary businesses that range from TrueID, a leading OTT service in Thailand; Online Station, the #1 influencer network & MCN and the six active markets that True Digital Media operates across Southeast Asia with the ambition to become the leading lifestyle entertainment service across the region.
Prior to True Digital Media, Win was the General Manager of DTC (Disney+ & Disney+ Hotstar) across six markets (Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong & Philippines); General Manager of The Walt Disney Company Thailand, responsible for the overall P&L, strategic planning & operations in Thailand across DTC, Theatrical & Consumer products; and General Manager of Platform & Product for The Walt Disney Company APAC. Win sat on the leadership council of both the DSS global & Hotstar product organisation.
His previous roles include General Manager of Dplay, one of Discovery's global Direct-To-Consumer (DTC) product suite, the precursor to global OTT service Discovery+; CEO & founder of two successful OTT media companies; and various positions at Microsoft Thailand.
Kamila Andini is an Indonesian director known for her critically acclaimed movie debut, "The Mirror Never Lies" (2011). Her concern for social culture, gender equity and environmental issues lead her passion to make films with a distinctive perspective of telling stories. Kamila continues her impressive run of social drama with "Yuni" (2021), a thought-provoking portrait of a teenage girl facing the prospect of arranged marriage. "Yuni" was named the winner of the Platform Prize competition at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival and selected as the Indonesian entry for the Best International Feature Film at the 94th Academy Awards. In 2022, "Nana" (also known by its English title "Before, Now & Then) had its world premiere at the Berlinale and won the Silver Bear Award for supporting actress in the festival.
SELECTED FILMOGRAPHY (directorial)
One of founders of True CJ Creations, the five-year-old Bangkok-based Thai/Korean joint venture, Ari Arijitsatien has led a team that set out to change the look, feel and fabric of premium video content coming out of Thailand. She works closely with senior management levels across the CP Group, with which she has been involved in various functions since 2001.
Malobika Banerji currently oversees local language content acquisitions from Southeast Asia for Netflix. She has spent over 15 years as a legal professional specialising in intellectual property and media before taking up her current role at Netflix. She began her career at top Singapore law firm Wong Partnership and has since worked at Baker & McKenzie and as regional in-house counsel at media company A+E Networks Asia before joining Netflix. She has significant experience in the television and media industry in the Asia Pacific region.
As an executive at ABS-CBN Entertainment, Ruel S. Bayani is responsible for some of the biggest television hits in the Philippines. In 2019, he served as the Philippine Line Producer of Almost Paradise, a co-production between ABS-CBN and Los Angeles-based Electric Entertainment, the first U.S. television series shot entirely in the Philippines. In 2022, he served as a juror at the 50th International Emmy Awards and spearheaded the historical launch and screening of premium drama series, Cattleya Killer, at MIPCOM in Cannes as executive producer. Bayani currently heads the newly founded ABS-CBN International Productions.
Anthony Buncio has 20 years of experience working in the U.S. and Asia as a creative executive and producer/showrunner. He currently spearheads creative development & content strategy for one of Indonesia’s major film and TV studios, Screenplay Films, as SVP of Streaming. His latest series include Mendua (an adaptation of BBC’s Doctor Foster) and Tira, both for Disney+ Hotstar. Previously, he was the regional executive producer for streaming platform iflix. He made his first foray in the region launching global formats with Fox Networks Group, Sony Pictures and CBS Studios International (Asia’s Next Top Model, China’s Next Top Model). He started his career in the U.S. as a line producer on feature films and supervising producer on several hit shows.
Ofanny has over 30 years of experience and expertise in launching and operating channels in Asia, especially in the Chinese content space given her long-standing relationships with the top Hong Kong & Mainland Chinese studios and producers. She has been with CTE since its inception and has taken on many leadership roles over the years. She currently heads the company.
Darin Darakananda is the Head of Originals in Thailand at Amazon Studios, overseeing development of original content in the territory. Prior to this role, Darin was the Sr. Manager on the Local Original Movies team at Amazon, where she worked across markets including Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Japan, Germany, Mexico and Spain, producing Original titles such as the Golden Globe winner Argentina, 1985. Darin Darakananda holds a BA from New York University and a JD from Brooklyn Law School. She is based in Los Angeles, CA.
Deepak Dhar was appointed as Founder & Group CEO – Banijay Asia and Endemol Shine India in July this year following the reorganisation of Banijay in Asia. The move follows the full buy-out of Endemol Shine India from CA Media, and sees media veteran and entrepreneur, Dhar, take on overarching role. Dhar led Endemol’s Indian operations between 2005 and 2018, before launching Banijay Asia and overseeing its strategic growth. In his new role, he will continue his focus on leading the wider group’s content strategies, partnerships, new business, and alliances, in addition to building both companies’ reputations in generating new IP that can travel the world.
Dhar started his career as a senior producer for MTV in 1998. He also worked for Star before joining Endemol in 2006.
Jose has been CEO-director of international acquisition, production and distribution company, Latin Media Corp., since September 2009. The company maintains strong content links with Asia, acquiring series from, among other markets, Malaysia, Thailand, Korea, China, Vietnam, the Philippines India and Taiwan, for distribution in Latam, and the U.S. The company also distributes series & telenovelas from Latin America in Asia, Latin America and Europe. Jose’s previous roles include president/CEO, Dori Media, and CEO and VP, RCTV International.
Rachel Glaister joined All3Media International in 2004, following success at Carlton international Media Group as Head of Press Marketing. Key campaigns she has worked on include the launch of Skins, the launch of Welsh Noir in Hinterland, and the promoting of Midsomer Murders as the biggest UK drama export, taking on the role of its global brand manager.
Now EVP International Brands & Press, Glaister manages the global brands and creative sign off on other thriller dramas, including The Missing and National Treasure, award-winning formats such as Gogglebox and Undercover Boss, and contemporary comedies such as Fleabag and Gameface.
Apicha was appointed President of BEC Studio in July 2021 following four years as CEO of the Bangkok-based True CJ Creations, a joint venture between Thailand’s True and Korea’s CJ ENM. Before joining True CJ Creations, he was Managing Director of Warner Music Group Bangkok, Thailand. He has also held senior roles with BlogMusik SAS (Deezer), RS Public Company Limited, GMM Grammy, Hutchison CAT Wireless Multimedia, TA-Orange and Advance Info Services (AIS).
Shitiz Jain is the founder and CEO of Eazie TV, a cutting-edge service set to revolutionise the way people watch television. Incorporated and headquartered in Singapore, Eazie TV offers a seamless viewing experience with a simple, cancel-anytime subscription plan, bringing the best of linear TV via over-the-top (OTT) technology. Before establishing Eazie TV, Shitiz held senior roles at Turner Broadcasting System and Discovery Communications in India and Singapore.
One of Thailand's best-known directors, Ampaiporn "Aew" Jitmaingong's prime-time TV series include "Bad Romeo" (2022), "My Husband in Law" (2020), "Game Rai Game Rak" ("An Evil Game of Love", 2011), and "Samee Tee Tra" ("My Legal Husband", 2014). She also directed "Eternal", the Thai adaptation of the Turkish drama, and the Nadesh/Yaya starrer, "The Crown Princess". Her upcoming feature is "Loke Moon Rob Ter" ("Never Enough"), scheduled for a 2024 release on Thai free-TV channel, Channel 3/BEC World. Also streamed on Netflix in Thailand, "Bad Romeo" stars Urassaya Sperbund and Mario Maurer in the love/hate story about the daughter of a hotel tycoon who becomes entangled with a mysterious car mechanic.
Rashid Karim joined Iskandar Malaysia Studios as Chief Executive Officer in March 2019. Prior to that he was Chief Commercial Officer at Granatum Ventures, the investment holding company for Khazanah’s Creative & Media assets, including IMS and Rhizophora Group which was involved in content development, investment and distribution. Before that, he was Vice President, Investments at Khazanah Nasional Berhad in the Creative & Media team. Karim served on the Board of Directors of National Film Development of Malaysia (FINAS) from 2018 to 2020, and is currently on the Industry Development, International Marketing & Animation Content Board Sub-Committee. He completed his Institute of Chartered Accountants England & Wales (ICAEW) training at Deloitte London in 2011 and has a Law (LLB Hons) degree from the London School of Economics.
A television veteran with more than three decades experience, Sandie heads up the channel content, acquisitions and communications for regional channels operator, Rewind Networks, which operates three channels – HITS, HITS Now and HITS Movies. Before joining Rewind Networks as part of the founding team, she was VP, content at Singapore platform StarHub, where, among other things, she initiated and launched locally packaged channels. Sandie was also involved in the launch of international channels that debuted in Singapore before rolling out to the rest of Asia. Sandie previously worked for the Television Corporation of Singapore (now Mediacorp).
Marianne Lee is a content professional with a career built around fan generation. She has held leadership positions in content acquisition, curation, production, marketing, social media and research. Before her appointment as Chief of Content Acquisition and Development at regional streamer Viu, she worked for WarnerMedia leading Marketing & Brand Services. Prior to this role, she built a from-the-ground-up general entertainment department at Turner where she defined content and channel strategy and set new industry standards.
Min was appointed Group CEO of Malaysia-based indie content grouo, Vision New Media, in April this year. She was previously Head of Production at the group's production business, Double Vision, and now takes full responsibility for all content creation and distribution activities, plus extensive post-production, dubbing and subtitling services. Min joined Double Vision in 2014 and became Head of Production in 2016, going on to produce Asian versions of "The Bridge" (for Viu and HBO Asia) and "Liar" (for Astro). Double Vision also recently joined forces with the UK’s Argo Films to create a new production label, Sympatico, developing a slate of premium TV series and films for the international market.
Anupama is a seasoned television professional with nearly three decades of experience in content creation. She has held senior executive roles at leading broadcast companies like Sony, SAB, and STAR in India.
Having previously served as the Managing Director at Fremantle India, Anupama made the decision to venture into independent consulting.
She made her producer debut with the award-winning documentary Aunty Sudha. Aunty Radha under her banner A Boy and A Dog Productions. She founded The Impact Collective, organising workshops emphasising the power of documentaries and compelling narratives to drive societal change.
Anupama is deeply committed to environmental causes. As a co-founder of the Coral Woman Impact Project, she advocates for marine conservation and coral rehabilitation. Recognizing the importance of sustainability in film production, Anupama co-founded India GreenSet in partnership in 2023 with Sophy Sivaraman, and the Green Spark Group, Canada.
Fotini is a leading member of the Asian and International media industries, with 30 years of experience in the global content space specialising in both creative & commercial. Fotini has been instrumental in building the formats industry across Asia and has been involved in 400+ content deals throughout the region. In her role as Managing Director of Endemol Shine Group, she created local superbrands such as "Masterchef"," Big Brother", "Deal or No Deal", "Fear Factor", "The Bridge" and "Humans", built properties such as "Idols", "Got Talent" and "X Factor" as head of content for Fremantlemedia Asia and, more recently, ran a content fund as Global Managing Director for The Story Lab (Dentsu Inc). She moved to Asia in 1995, and is currently based in London and Singapore.
https://www.greensparkgroup.com/
Andrew is Green Spark Group’s Senior Sustainability and Social Performance Expert. He has almost 20 years experience working within corporate, inter-governmental and non-profit contexts on sustainability issues and practices both in Canada and internationally. Andrew helps Green Spark Group support the implementation of sustainable production practices in the motion picture industry through training and corporate strategy development.
Originally applying his mass media and communications background to advocate and promote sustainability while working in Europe and Africa, he spent the last 10 years consulting to corporate clients in British Columbia to help them exceed their environmental and social performance needs.
Andrew holds a master’s degree from Oxford University in Environmental Change and Management, is a native French and English speaker.
Michele joined Viddsee in December 2022 where she leads commercial and partnerships teams to deliver revenue growth, along with defining and executing business strategies and operations. This includes the expansion of Viddsee's scripted adaptation and production initiatives. Prior to Viddsee, Michele was SVP, Content Distribution at One Animation for 4.5 years where she spearheaded the commercialisation of animated kids series, "Oddbods", across 20 YouTube channels and broadcast platforms around the world, as well as developing new animated concepts and pitching them to commissioners globally. She joined One Animation after a 10-year-stint at A+E Networks Asia where she oversaw programming, original production, acquisitions, marketing, on-air promotions and operations.
Dr. Manik Sethisuwan is a medical doctor, founder, and executive producer at Production Services Asia LLC, a film and TV production house with offices in the U.S., Germany, Thailand, Indonesia and Japan. He is responsible for the budgeting and execution of multi-million dollar cross-country productions and has been behind-the-scenes of award-winning projects like "The Great Hack" (Netflix), "Ghost Fleet", and features for National Geographic, Euronews, Univision and Disney, as well as television commercials for brands such as Marvel, Coca-Cola, Air Asia and Delta, among others. Manik is a pioneer in the field of advanced location services for scouting, surveying and the presentation of location information, as well as the use of creative information technology with production collaboration and adopting a scientific approach to film and TV production.
Sabanitha leads Mediacorp's Customer Group’s efforts in developing effective programming and content integration strategies across its multiple platforms. She brings with her 25 years of experience in the entertainment industry across brand and content strategy, and formats & content distribution. Prior to joining Mediacorp, Sabanitha was a media consultant, providing services on business transformation, product development and strategic value creation for media & broadcast networks in Asia. She began her career as a journalist in the U.K. and progressed to take on media and brand management roles, content creation and programming for several networks in the U.K. before moving to Asia.
Euan joined Astro as Group Chief Operating Officer and Chief Executive Officer, TV on 1 April 2020. On 1 February 2023, he assumed the role of Group Chief Executive Officer.
He has been instrumental in helping create the New Astro, including the aggregation of multiple streaming services, introduction of the hybrid connected Ultra 4K UHD and Ulti HD Boxes, entry into the internet service provider market with Astro Fibre, the launch of Astro's challenger OTT platform sooka, delivery of the Addressable Advertising service, major improvements in customer satisfaction, and many more initiatives.
An established media executive with a unique skill set spanning both business and technology in media operations and in transformation, Euan began his career at Unilever and KPMG before moving into senior leadership positions with Sky UK, Sky Germany and Fox in the U.S. Most recently, he was COO at Foxtel in Australia.
Trained at University of Birmingham (Mechanical Engineering) and Harvard Business School, Euan has led multiple step-changes across technology, operations and customer service. He helped launch HD and broadband in the UK, played a vital role in the successful turnaround of Sky Germany and was instrumental in the reset of Foxtel’s product and technology suite.
Dhivya T. is a specialist in streaming video services across Asia Pacific at Media Partners Asia (MPA), focusing on Australia, Japan, Korea and key markets in Southeast Asia. Her work involves tracking and evaluating content creation, consumption, investment and distribution as well as subscriber and advertising growth. At AMPD, MPA’s digital measurement platform, she helps companies understand the use cases of premium local and international content with her insights and research focused on subscriber acquisition, retention, reach, travelability and ROI. A graduate from the National University of Singapore, she holds a a B.Soc.Sci. (Hons) in Economics.
Ayako joined Nippon TV in 1993 and has worked in various capacities, notably sales, news and business development. Her first posting was to the Sales Division, followed by the News Division in 1998. During Ayako’s first tenure at International Business Development from December 2008 to May 2015, she sold anime and formats, both unscripted and scripted. One of her remarkable achievements was in 2013, when all South Korean linear broadcasters were airing remakes of Nippon TV dramas. In addition to her commercial responsibilities, she was in charge of analyzing sales figures and managing the earnings and expenditures for the entire division. In December 2021, she returned for her second stint at International Business Development to oversee sales strategy and manage the finances of the entire overseas business.
Vara Vilaivan started as an assistant producer and international sales coordinator at Bangkok FilmStudio CO., Ltd in 2008 where he worked on Thai/Korean co-production, “The Kick”. Later, he joined Transformation Films as a Project Manager/ International Executive, where he involved in various Thai films including the Thai remake of "Miss Granny" called "Suddenly 20", a coproduction project with CJ Major Entertainment. Vilaivan joined The Studio Park Thailand in 2020, and was appointed as Acting Director Studio Management in 2021.
Ziraviss (Tum) Vindhanapisuth is responsible for licensing and distributing Channel 3 and BEC Studio’s Thai Lakorn globally. He has licensed "Love Destiny 2", "Royal Doctor", and "Matalada: To the moon and back" to Netflix Thailand and CLMV and "The Betrayal", the Thai version of BBC’s "Doctor Foster", to Viu Thailand in Southeast Asian and GMA in the Philippines. Tum has been in the entertainment industry for 19 years, including stints at GMM/GMM25 and Disney. Among other projects, he managed the co-production of Korean format "My Lovely Sam Soon" into Thai romcom "Busaba"
A co-founder of India GreenSet, which set up in Mumbai earlier this year, Sophy's LinkedIN bio describes her as a "Sustainability Steward + Impact Film Mentor +Climate Activist +Cultural Organizer". She has a long-history in documentary filmmaking, including founding the Indian Documentary Foundation in 2009. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophyvsivaraman/
Dennis is the Founder/CEO of Studio76, a Taipei-based production house, story IP developer and content distribution firm with JV investment from Taiwan’s KKCompany, Taiwan’s National Development Fund & Asahi Broadcast Group’s Dream Ventures from Japan. With more than 20 years of experience in the digital entertainment business and creative operations across Asia, Yang is driving a concept centred around raising & managing a regional content fund to develop “digital-first” Chinese original IP from Taiwan for streaming-oriented, genre-focused TV movies in mini-series. Studio76 won ContentAsia Awards’ the Best Asian TV Male Lead Award in 2022 with You Have To Kill Me, the Best Asian TeleMovie Award in 2021 with Kill For Love, as well as the Best Asian Horror Series award with 76 Horror Bookstore – Tin Can of Fear.
June has worked across almost all commercial roles of a broadcast network in the last 19 years of her career – ad sales, consumer products, content and format sales. Coincidentally, she’s also worked in all genres of content except sports. Currently, she’s leading the GroupM Motion Entertainment APAC business as Senior Director of Commercial Development. Prior to being with Motion, she’d spent another four years with Viacom (now Paramount), heading up the content and formats sales business for Asia.
Cora YIM
Chief Content Officer & Co-founder, Sixty Percent Productions
Cora is front and centre of a streaming-driven content gold rush, with decades of credentials, a broad network, and access to funding. Her Sixty Percent Productions with partner Kit Low was formally set up at the end of 2020, based in Hong Kong with a North Asia focus but with eyes on good stories from anywhere in the region. Their first project is premium Chinese anthology series Taiwan Crime Stories, co-financed and co-produced with Imagine Entertainment and Benjamin Lin’s Taiwan-based CalFilms Asia, and with a production grant from Taiwan’s Ministry of Culture. In 2022, Cora launched the EMERGE Chinese-language creative development programme alongside Imagine Entertainment and Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) to support Taiwanese writer fellows to develop original TV projects for local and international markets.
A proficient film producer with hands-on experience and knowledge in film making and its techniques. Shamin has extensive knowledge of fiction and non-fiction productions. She has deep passion in making and knowledge in all stages of the filmmaking process, and has a proven track record of fostering ideas to life. Shamin is a skilled negotiator, good at networking, generating leads and developing business channels.
Tanya Yuson is a founding partner and Chief Creative Development officer of BASE Entertainment, a studio based out of Jakarta and Singapore that develops, finances, produces and distributes content for the Indonesian market as well as for the international market. She is the Executive producer and writer for the Netflix original anime series "Trese" and co- showrunner for "Gadis Kretek", Indonesia's first Netflix original series. Her latest project is Prime Video's "Comedy Island" versions for the Philippines and Indonesia, which she is co-showrunning with Base Entertainment co-founder Shanty Harmayn.
The ContentAsia Awards Dinner & Ceremony is on Thursday, 24 August 2023, at The Athenee Bangkok. Nominees and Judges are guests of the Awards organisers. We have a limited number of additional seats for sale. Please contact Masliana at mas@contentasia.tv if you would like to buy a ticket.
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