CJ ENM aims scripted at global streamers

South Korean broadcast and production group CJ ENM is expanding its local language scripted series production pipeline with four new series designed for global streaming audiences.

Michael Jung

Hungry Souls from Zhao Wei Films is a five-episode Mandarin miniseries featuring the unlikely, forbidden love story between a young chef and a hungry ghost. The story is set against the backdrop of the Hungry Ghost Festival (also known as the Lunar Seventh Month) which is a widely celebrated event in Singapore and other parts of Asia.

Venus On Mars (Mocha Chai Laboratories) is a six-part high-concept sci-fi romantic comedy series about an undergraduate student who is accidentally transported into a parallel world where there are only men.

Showrunning the series is Singaporean filmmaker Chai Yee Wei. The series is being produced by MCL’s managing partner Michelle Chang in collaboration with veteran Taiwanese producer Phil Tang (general manager of Greener Grass Productions and Monomyth Films) and written by award-winning Taiwanese writer Huang Yu-chia. Filming will take place in Taiwan with post-production in Singapore.

Deep End (Akanga Film Asia) is a five-part psychological thriller about online cybercrime in Asia. Investigations of a revenge porn murder case spark a chain of events that plunge a troubled police officer into the dark world of cybersex crimes in Asia.

Deep End is produced by Singapore’s Fran Borgia, whose name is associated with movies like Crazy Rich Asians, A Land Imagined, Apprentice and A Yellow Bird. Directors Yeo Siew Hua (A Land Imagined) and K Rajagopal (A Yellow Bird) helm the production and share writing credits with playwright and screenwriter Kaylene Tan as head-writer. The series will feature cast and crew from Singapore, Taiwan and Malaysia.

These three projects are supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA) which aims to produce ‘streaming first’ premium scripted series for global audiences by marrying Korean, Singaporean and regional talents. This collaboration was first announced a year ago under the Capability Partnership Programme.

CJ ENM Hong Kong has also collaborated with Taiwanese production company Butt Mountain to take a novel into an 11-episode series – Mom, Don’t Do That!.

Based on the true story of the novel’s author Chen Ming-min’s mum who relentlessly surfs the web to find love, the story explores whether a widowed middle-aged woman has the right to pursue new love.

The executive producers of the series are Sarso Chou, Weiling Chen and Michael Jung. Actress Alyssa Chia also participates as a producer of the film. CJ ENM Hong Kong contributed to the creative direction of the project and will handle distribution within Asia (excluding Taiwan and China).

Michael Jung, MD of CJ ENM Hong Kong, said: “2021 is a year for us here at CJ ENM HK to expand our local language productions for the global streaming audience. Apart from our existing production operation in Thailand, we also want to do more premium scripted content in Mandarin and Bahasa languages.

“We are thankful for IMDA’s visionary approach and support which helped us kick start our relationships with three of the best local production houses in Singapore. We are on the lookout to create more high-quality content together with good partners and creators.”

The news follows an announcement at the start of the week that CJ ENM will invest in excess of US$4.5bn in content creation over the next five years to turn itself into an international content creator.

The company will set up further production studios specialising in variety shows, films and animation. It will also continue to seek international partnerships, such as its recent deal with Endemol Shine Boomdog in Mexico, to produce more K-pop competition shows outside of South Korea.