ONE Channel expands Korean content offering through KC Global Media and MBC partnership

and variety shows on ONE. Fans can now enjoy all genres from MBC including romance fantasy series, Kokdu: Season of Deity, express within 24 hours from South Korea; popular drama series, Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok Joo; star-studded travel variety, Dopojarak: Story of Homme the K-Wanderer featuring personalities from K-pop, K-drama, fashion and sports; new variety series, United Fathers, premiering within 1 week from South Korea, as well as long running drama, Game of Witches and many more.

studio, stems from our shared vision in providing the best of premium entertainment from South Korea to across Asia. As we expand our Korean content offerings, fans can now look forward to a freshly curated programming with more volume and variety of the latest popular hits on ONE in 2023 and beyond.”

KC Global Media announced its content partnership with Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC), onboarding more premium drama

George Chien, Co-Founder, President and CEO of KC Global Media said, “Our strategic long-term partnership with MBC, South Korea’s leading broadcast network and

Young-ho Lee, Director of Global Business at MBC said, “I am thrilled to continue connecting with our Southeast Asian fans through ONE. MBC’s collaboration with ONE, the biggest Korean Entertainment channel in Southeast Asia, will serve as a positive signal, not only for the business partnership of the two parties but also for the local media ecosystem.”

OUTtv launches full-scale linear channel in South Africa

This follows successful pop-up channels in 2018 and 2020 on DSTv and Showmax respectively. OUTtv is now launching on Openview’s subscription service Ultraview, as a permanent 24-hour linear channel. T he channel launched on 6th March 2023, and will be available to Openview channel 241.

OUTtv, the world’s leading LGBTQ+ television and streaming service, is launching a linear channel in South Africa, on Openview Ultra, a new Pay TV offering from Openview.

OUTtv will be available as part of the Ultraview Pride Bouquet. Viewers can sample the bouquet with a free three-day trial, whereafter a ZAR 74.99 monthly fee will apply for subscribers. Subscribers can cancel at any time. Openview is currently activated in over 3 million homes across South Africa. OUTtv viewers on Ultraview will be able to enjoy OUTtv originals such as “Call Me Mother” – the mother of all drag competitions, queer sex symbol showdown “Hot Haus”, hosted by Tiffany “New York” Pollard, and the racy dance and entertainment contest “GoGo For The Gold”. Also available on OUTtv is British quirky makeover series “Drag SOS” and reality dating show “Finding Prince Charming” The channel additionally houses a documentary strand OutSpoken, featuring a series of one-hour documentaries made by a mix of new and established LGBTQ+ filmmakers.

HITS NOW makes its debut in Indonesia with First Media

Fremantle unveiled an impressive line-up of original feel-good entertainment programming coming to this year’s London Screenings, including: The Second Chance Ex-periment, The Big Celebrity Detox, The Beatbox and DNA Singers. Fremantle’s catalogue of entertainment shows is one of the largest in the world and these latest additions will join global hit franchises including Got Talent, Idol, The X Factor, Farmer Wants a Wife, The Price is Right and Family Feud.

In The Second Chance Ex-periment from Fremantle Portugal, divorced or separated couples are reunited and given a chance to repair their broken relationships. The Big Celebrity Detox sees eight celebrities travel to a wellness resort, to help them cleanse their bodies and change their lives for the better.

Musical gameshow The Beatbox is the ultimate play-along format where two celebrity teams compete by recreating iconic songs with nothing more than household objects. DNA Singers is a new hit for the Netherlands, after a successful launch in Korea last year. In this family-friendly guessing game contestants who possess a talent for singing and also share DNA with a celebrity singer, take to the stage to perform in front of a panel of judges.

Andrew Llinares, Director of Global Entertainment at Fremantle said: “These new formats are a great example of how Fremantle champions strong and creative concepts that really connect with global audiences.

Xilam Animation Announces New Senior Executive Promotions

A new energy for Cube Creative studio:

Following the departure of Lionel Fages and Majid Loukil, the founders of Cube Creative, Xilam has upped Cécile Hergaux-Essame to the position of General Manager of this subsidiary company, which Xilam acquired in January 2020. Hergaux-Essame has held the position of Production Manager at Cube Creative for six years and then as Head of Xilam Group’s studios for a year. In this new role, she will be supervising current productions and developing new properties for the company, as well as securing premium projects from third parties. Hergaux-Essame will report into Marc du Pontavice, President of Xilam and Cube Creative.

The creation of a content division for Xilam’s studio headed by Caterina Gonnelli-Linden:

Caterina Gonnelli-Linden joined Xilam in 2020 as Head of Editorial, with a goal of steering the continuing growth of Xilam’s portfolio. She now takes on the role of Chief Content Officer (CCO) for a newly created content division, which will bring together several departments: literary development, graphic development and the management of editorial supervisors. Caterina will be responsible for sourcing all of Xilam Group’s content, including editorial supervision of both development and production, and she will be the first point of contact for the group’s clients across these services. She reports into the President of Xilam, Marc du Pontavice.

Xilam’s Technical and IT services regrouped within a single department under the leadership of Guillaume Jallot:

Since joining Xilam in 2019, Guillaume Jallot has propelled the company’s use of 3D animation technology to the highest level, notably with the development of Oggy Oggy and Karate Sheep In his new role of Chief Technical Officer (CTO), Jallot is leading a newly formed department which brings together the R&D, IT and technical departments. He will be responsible for managing the group’s technological investments and strategy, with the goal of offering Xilam’s talent the most effective and ergonomic tools to drive innovation at each stage of production. He will report to Dorothée Lanchier, COO of the Xilam Group.

All3Media International names Amanda Stevens as Director of Global Digital Partnerships

Formerly at Samsung TV Plus, Amanda will be responsible for spearheading the company’s digital partnerships around the world. This will include identifying new opportunities in the FAST and AVOD market as well as maximizing the success of collaborations already established as part of All3Media International’s multi-faceted digital strategy. Reporting to Gary Woolf, EVP Strategic Development, Amanda will join the company in March and will be based at its London headquarters.

Gary Woolf commented, “We’re thrilled to welcome Amanda to the team – her substantial expertise in the monetisation and delivery of content via digital channels will be integral to our success in this continually evolving market. We are already collaborating with a diverse range of channels, platforms and aggregators, and have ambitious plans for our brands and content in the digital space, so Amanda’s thorough understanding of this vibrant market and strong relationships with key partners will be a great asset.”

Voltes V: Legacy

by Mathew Chan

Home of the Fantaserye

It’s a rare thing to see a big budget TV show on broadcast television. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any but they are usually far and few in between, much less for the epic sci-fi or fantasy genre. These types of shows are usually relegated to premium cable channels or to streaming, where bigger budgets are often found. But that’s not stopping the Philippine network GMA 7.

Since the early 2000s the broadcast network has aired multiple big budget fantasy series (dubbed as fantaserye; fantasy teleserye or fantasy series). One of their most popular and the one that lead to the boom one might argue was Mulawin which premiered in 2004. It was such a hit it spawned a movie and a sequel series as well as a spinoff titled Encantadia, which also saw a reboot in 2016. The network has seen success with these types of series with a recent, Maria Clara & Ibarra, about a nurse who finds herself in the world of Jose Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere, which is also streaming on Netflix.

But the company is taking things to the next level with their fantaserye and are looking at a previously popular IP to do so. Voltes V: Legacy, their upcoming big budget series, according to Paul Ticzon , GMA First Vice President and Head of Post Production, “bears the potential of being the Philippines’ first serious epic sci-fi TV show.” Fantasy series are a staple in the country, given the deep culture and lore they can pull from but a big memorable sci-fi series has yet to be seen. There have been attempts for sure, none have really reached the heights of their known fantasy series.

The Legacy Begins

Voltes V: Legacy is based on the anime of the same name which first premiered in the late 70s and resonated in the Philippines due to the current political climate at the time. It was eventually re-aired in the last 80s after the People Power Revolution and was sporadically broadcasted up until the 2010s.

The original anime series, Super Electromagnetic Machine Voltes V or Voltes V for short, revolved around the invasion of Earth by the alien race of Boazanians. In a last-ditch effort to defend the planet a top-secret project is initiated thus and the Voltes V robot is brought to life to help.

The live action adaptation comes from GMA Post Production Inc., Riot, Inc. Post Production, & Telesuccess Productions with Mark A. Reyes as Director. Development for the series was going on for years but because of the COVID 19 pandemic, principal photography finally began on May 2021 and finished last April 1, 2023. Production for the series took nearly 2 years, and given the amount of CGI, and other post-production elements needed, it’s no surprise.

How A Legacy is Made

It’s a rare thing to see a big budget TV show on You can only imagine how much time, money, and effort will go into creating a live-action world of Voltes V “Approximately, there are a hundred people working on the post-production of Voltes V: Legacy alone” according to Paul Ticzon. With about 80 episodes for the entire series, with an average run time of 20-25 mins, the amount of post-production work needed is immense. “A movie on the average has a run time of 90 minutes so if you divide 2,000 by 90 that is equivalent of post-producing 22 movies. This is the amount work done to be able to mount something like this,” he continues. With so much work needed to be done, GMA has about a hundred people working on post-production, which is not just graphics but scoring and sound design as well.

“The audio team of the GMA Post Production Department created new and distinct sound to robots, machines, and other characters in Voltes V: Legacy to add modern sound to the live-action adaptation series of the Japanese ‘70s anime” Paul Ticzon says.

And that’s not all they made. Given the scope and the setting of the series, everything was made from scratch.

“All of the elements you will see in Voltes V: Legacy were designed and created from scratch… We created the airplanes, the Boazanian ships, Underground Boazanian castles, the flying saucers etc. Boazan , Camp Big Falcon and Earth Defense Force Set extensions , the buildings and backgrounds destroyed by the Boazanian CGI ships.”

And while the series will premiere sometime soon (no official date has been set at the time of writing the article), the hard work the team put can already be seen via the mega trailer that was released earlier this year. The trailer is 5 minutes and 31 seconds long and has about 2.6 million views. The trailer immediately went viral on social and the feedback seemed positive with a lot of people more curious than ever and exciting long-time fans of the anime. Fans will also be able to get an even bigger glimpse of the series ahead of its premiere on TV with the Voltes V: Legacy: The Cinematic Experience. The cinematic experience will feature new footage from the first 3 weeks of the show and will run from April 19-15, 2023, exclusive to SM Cinemas only.

Seal of Approval

An endeavor like Voltes V: Legacy would not be possible without the close guidance and approval of the Toei Company, Ltd. who owns the rights to the IP, as well as its local licensor Telesuccess Productions, Inc. And as Paul Ticzon said, all the elements from the show from visuals to sound were “approved by TOEI and Telesuccess Inc.”

That’s high praise and a good sign for the show when the original IP holder approved and is impressed with what has been done so far. And all of that would no be possible as well without Riot Inc. Post Production. They were brought on to help with post-production duties for the series particulary for the bigger CGI elements that include the Voltes V robot and the Beast fighters, as per Paul Ticzon.

All eyes are on GMA 7 as the series will premiere very soon. And all the hard work and investment will be tested once the show starts to air to see if all that was indeed worth all the effort. With GMA 7 also planning for more live-action adaptations, Voltes V: Legacy’s success could be a make or break for projects of this size and caliber in the country. But all signs are pointing to its success which is exciting to see as a new breed of content could be born from this new era.