Asia Television Forum: U.K.’s Passion Scores Deals Across Asian Region
By Naman Ramachandran
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – U.K. based Passion Distribution, and London- and Los Angeles-headquartered Motion Content Group has licensed magic based show “Dynamo Beyond Belief” to AETN18 Media in India. The three-part special, featuring award-winning British magician Dynamo, will air on the History TV18 channel. The deals were announced this week at the Asia Television Forum in Singapore.
Passion has also sold engineering and technology focused “Secrets Of The Superfactories,” human survival show “Heroes & Survivors” and South Asian Wedding series “Getting Hitched Asian Style” to AETN18.
Passion has scored several other deals across Asia. Discovery India has licensed dramatic clip show “World’s Deadliest.” Discovery Taiwan has acquired trivia-filled series “So You Think You’d Survive” and auto restoration series “Motorbike Show.” Discovery Japan and Discovery Taiwan have picked up “Machinery of War,” a series looking at science and technology within the weapons industry, which has also been picked up by CCTV for China and Phoenix TV for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and China.
In Japan, Nippon has licensed celebrity bio-doc series “Price Of Fame,” science-based series “Strangest Weather On Earth,” and action series “Traffic Cops.” In Taiwan, PTS has licensed Japanese aesthetic exploration “The Art Of Japanese Life”.
Passion has also sold wedding-meets-property-makeover series “Where To I Do?” to Hong Kong’s TVB, and to Blue Ant for its Makeful channel in Singapore.
The company has also sold content to pan-regional channels. Pet Club TV has picked up animal episodes of clip show “Make You Laugh Out Loud” and “My House And Other Animals,” while TechStorm TV has acquired competition series “Robot Wars” and documentaries “The Sexbots Are Coming” and “How Steve Jobs Changed The World.” Outdoor Channel Asia has acquired 45 hours of programming from survival series “Fat Guys In The Woods,” airplane pilot series “Air Pressure,” tough job series “Cold Water Cowboys” and prospecting challenge series “Klondike: Gold Fever.”
