Middle East & North Africa
FESTIVALS: Focus Asia Unveils Inaugural Line-up
Focus Asia, the genre-themed co-production market of Udine’s Far East Film Festival, has unveiled its inaugural selection of 13 projects.
Liz Shackleton
Chinese-Speaking Markets
iQiyi To Stream 'Lord Of The Rings' Under Warner Bros Deal
Deal for streaming rights to more than 200 library titles also covers the Harry Potter franchise, Godzilla, Gravity and The Great Gatsby.
News
Liberty Global Joins $90m iflix Funding Round
Kuala Lumpur-based streaming service iflix has raised $90m in fresh funding from US cable operator Liberty Global, Middle East telecoms operator Zain and other investors.
Korea & Japan
Netflix Boards Second Original Korean Series 'Kingdom'
Netflix has announced its second Korean original series, Kingdom, to be directed by Kim Seong-hun, whose last film Tunnel was a top five movie in Korea last year.
News
Netflix India Signs Partnerships With Airtel, Videocon, Vodafone
Netflix has signed distribution partnerships with three of India’s leading telecoms and DTH service providers – Airtel Digital TV, Videocon d2h and Vodafone.
Chinese-Speaking Markets
China’s LeEco Denies India Exit Despite Downsizing
China’s LeEco has refuted Indian press reports that it will leave the India market after firing 85% of its local workforce.
News
Amazon India Strikes Exclusive SVOD Deal With Lionsgate
Wide-ranging deal includes titles such as La La Land and Power Rangers, which will not be available on satellite or pay-TV in India.
News
Amazon Launches Indian SVOD Service In North America
Amazon Channels has launched an SVOD service for the US market, Heera, offering movies, TV shows and kids content in multiple Indian languages.
Chinese-Speaking Markets
FESTIVALS: 'Love Off The Cuff' To Open HKIFF
Pang Ho-cheung's Love Off The Cuff will receive its world premiere as the opening film of this year’s Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Middle East & North Africa
Middle East OTT Heats Up With Viu Launch
Competition in the OTT space in the Middle East is intensifying with PCCW’s Viu becoming the latest platform to roll out across the region.
Chinese-Speaking Markets
Alibaba Invests $200m In South Korea’s Kakao
Alibaba’s payment affiliate Ant Financial is investing $200m in South Korean messaging service Kakao, as part of the Chinese tech giant’s move to build out online payment systems around the world.
Chinese-Speaking Markets
FESTIVALS: HKIFF To Screen Edward Yang’s Films
The Hong Kong International Film Festival (April 11-25) is presenting a retrospective of the work of late Taiwanese filmmaker Edward Yang.