Unmasking the next Korean or Japanese hit

By Siobhan Crawford 15-12-2025

C21’s formats expert asks Asian formats veteran Fotini Paraskakis when we can expect the next The Masked Singer to emerge from Korea or Japan.

We have a lot to thank Korea for: our skincare has never been better (thank you Olive Young), Culinary Class Wars, KPop Demon Hunters – ah Netflix, you bring me joy, and joy to the world!

The Masked Singer, I Can See Your Voice, The Wall Duet, Silent Library, Takeshi’s Castle, Ninja Warrior, Squid Games, Better Late Than Never, Battle in the Box, Physical 100, Bloody Game, Hole in the Wall, Dragons’ Den, Iron Chef, LOL. Fifteen glorious reasons why executives continue to travel halfway around the world and why I asked Fotini Paraskakis of Empire of Arkadia to talk all things Korea and Japan (we are not saying ‘Far East/Asians’ anymore).

As the new year approaches, I ponder why Korea and Japan might just be on our goals list for 2026.

Fotini Paraskakis

Fotini has worked in these markets for 30 years and has dedicated her career to knowing the market in depth as head of content Asia for Fremantle, MD of Endemol Shine Asia and global MD at StoryLab. In 2022, she launched Empire of Arkadia, dedicated to the sourcing, creation and exporting of content from the region. Based between Singapore and London, she felt like the person I needed to ask why have we not found the next Masked Singer yet? And is it still out there?

It’s you, hi, you’re the problem, it’s you
I am going to quote verbatim what I asked Fotini, because sometimes my words just fall out: “For the amount of people that have gone to Asia to try to find the next big thing, they haven’t come back with much.”

And then Fotini, who absolutely comes from the same school of directness as me, said something that made so much sense: “It’s partly about who is going to Asia looking for the shows. Number one, it tends to be salespeople, who aggregate ideas and then have to share them internally. But by the time the ideas come to the producers, they are kind of watered down. Because they get the salesperson to look a bit and usually they always meet the same people because they don’t really know where to look.” I think we are about to have a very honest conversation.

The language barrier
You know that old phrase that people say in response to things they don’t understand, ‘It’s all Spanish to me’? Well, truly I think this is how the European and US markets feel about content from Japan and Korea.

“Quite often I get the Koreans and Japanese asking me – particularly the Japanese – what is wrong with them and why is their show not selling,” Fotini says, knowing full well my question is not specifically about language but cultural, regarding the West/East divide.

“Structurally, the shows are very different over there. In the West, there’s a perception that if we make a show in an arced structure, everybody makes a show like that. It’s very, very different. The Koreans and Japanese, most of them have no idea how shows are structured internationally. I can’t tell you how many sales decks I have changed. They don’t even know who Gordon Ramsay is.”

One factor is the language. Fotini notes: “We all talk to the global sales people and they all speak amazing English, [but] all of them are not creators so they pass messages. But what [Arkadia] is doing is going below that; we know the producers.”

Then you have the system of commissioning in Asia. Fotini explains: “The sales team has to buy the slot, and so the commissioner doesn’t even see the show. That means when it rates well, the commissioner says, ‘Well, I didn’t commission this. So, it’s not my show.’ This is why we don’t have series commissions or commitments to make long runs of a format in these territories.”

This barrier is not unfamiliar in Latin America either, where we have to consider the layers of management in many privately held companies that don’t see what the execs in Cannes see. The way Fotini speaks, this is more true of Korea and Japan than other markets.

Another Masked Singer?
This format is why people are searching. The idea is that after The Voice there was a vacuum and The Masked Singer filled it fast. Its creator, Wonwoo Park, is collaborating everywhere and still riding this wave. Fotini says she is working with him on music entertainment format 100, and yes, she says, “the Koreans are very good at these shows. They make so many music shows like this they call them audition shows, talent shows, singing shows.” So we know we are putting our faith in the right country to find our next big music format. But what is the likelihood of finding it?

The Masked Singer has been adapted worldwide – in this case by Fox in the US

“I don’t know where else they look,” says Fotini. “I know quite a few people have paid K7 Media to do an in-market report, but that’s about it. So in my opinion, we should be going much deeper because it’s about investing the time, which means money to go into these markets and the ideas are there.”

I am of the same mind as Fotini: the next hit is there. The problem seems to be the conversion of a good idea from Asia, both getting investment for it and finding exporting partners.

Fotini is very clear she is looking for collaborators who passionately believe in partnerships, saying: “The problem with the big guys is they all want to keep everything for themselves. They’re very short-term.”

Talking about barriers, one thing we did not mention was negotiations and IP, but Fotini reassures me clients are willing to share. The problem might be unfamiliarity with the complexity of some negotiations, and it means the Koreans and Japanese may not maximise their commercial negotiations without assistance.

The right way
The key to working with Korea and Japan and getting the most out of these markets, according to Fotini, is to work “more producer to producer,” plus make sure you don’t miss a Mipcom.

For speed and efficiency, especially during these troubled times in the US, it seems the focus is on European collaborations despite the US being more “newsworthy.”

What Empire of Arkadia is doing is not new globally, but it has much needed expertise in these territories because it knows “what’s needed internationally, looking at what the Koreans and Japanese are good at and the great ideas that are coming from there, and the great producers, and try to marry the two. So either we create something brand new from what we see is happening in the market in Korean and Japan, marrying that with what the West needs, or working with a creator that’s got great idea but doesn’t know how to make it. Then we collaborate and we share the IP and then we’re the face and take it to market,” says Fotini.

The Korean and Japanese clients are hungry for success says Fotini: “They really want to do something but they have no idea where to look. I basically advise them on where we could go and who could be a good partner.” But the channels are getting smarter and retaining more IP as they understand the power in distribution, she adds.

Shh… so quiet
Something that came up a lot in our talk was confidentiality. There is a lot of hot air in our industry but Fotini told me that out of five projects developed, three have gone into development in the US. However, the big studios and international groups involved do not want to make announcements yet.

The problem is the damage done by press announcements in the region by companies that reveal every move they make but never seem to score a hit. “Most of our partners don’t even want to make announcements. They will only do so when something happens,” and apparently that means nothing short of a series order will get announced by Empire of Arkadia.

Fotini used the phrase “low-hanging fruit” when refering to recent format acquisitions. The belief is this has to change for Korea and Japan to truly be able to exploit their fresh ideas. We have to lean into their ideas and pay for development, and send our creatives there to cooperate on development, not just our acquisitions people. We have to mirror the emphasis Korea and Japan are putting on exporting. The question is, do we want fresh ideas enough to make these efforts?