ITV

Tag: Thailand

  • Google, Facebook corners more than half of advertising revenue spend in Asia

    Google, Facebook corners more than half of advertising revenue spend in Asia

    NEW DELHI: Google and Facebook have cornered around 60 per cent of the advertising revenue spent online in Asia, even as the online spending on commercials in India is around seven per cent.

    A study by Economist Intelligence Unit‘s (EIU) report on environment for Asia‘s Internet businesses revealed that the market is challenging as its size in Asia is still small and there are many players competing in the online advertising space.

    Monetisation through online advertising is not easy, as even big names in the global publishing industry have seen that there are simply too many players competing for same advertising dollars, the report said.

    “In Asia this is compounded by the small size of individual markets. In Malaysia and Thailand, for example, just one per cent of advertising revenue is spent online. In India, this is slightly higher at seven per cent. But of the $ 410 million being spent online, 60 per cent goes to Google and Facebook, with only the remaining 40 per cent going to other online players,” it added.

    This is mainly because Google and Facebook have the highest number of users on the internet, being the top two sites in the world.

    “Online advertising budgets, while growing, remain small and skewed towards the larger players. While e-commerce is growing rapidly, finding the winning business model remains difficult in many markets,” the EIU report said.

    Outside of North Asia, entrepreneurs report that internet users are reluctant to pay for intangible items such as content. This is particularly so when there is pirated content easily available, it added.

    However, EIU said mobile advertising is slowly gaining traction and Asia will be one of the biggest markets.

    While online advertising in Asia is forecast to grow at a modest pace (from 24 per cent of worldwide online advertising in 2010 to 26 per cent by 2015), the mobile advertising market is really taking off.

    By 2015, Asia is expected to account for one-third of the mobile advertising market globally, it said.

    Online advertising spend in India was about Rs 2,260 crore as of March 2013 and is estimated to grow to Rs 2,938 crore by 2014, while, mobile advertising is estimated to reach Rs 250 crore in 2013, a growth of 40 per cent year-on-year.

    Globally, online advertising revenue stood at USD 99 billion in 2012, which is estimated to grow at 15 per cent to USD 113.5 billion in 2013. In the case of mobile advertising, the revenues were USD 6.4 billion in 2012 and is expected to touch USD 9.7 billion in 2013.

  • New Adventure travel series ‘Freedom Riders Asia’, Celebrating man and motorcycle on the move, debuts on ESPN India on 19 may

    New Adventure travel series ‘Freedom Riders Asia’, Celebrating man and motorcycle on the move, debuts on ESPN India on 19 may

    MUMBAI: Well-known motorcycle adventurer Charley Boorman rides onto screens in Asia with the debut of Freedom Riders Asia, a six-part adventure travel series celebrating man and motorcycle on the move across six Asian countries. A premiere screening held today in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, showcased the first episode of the series that was shot in Malaysia, which will be aired on Sunday 19 May 2013 on ESPN India at 2100 HKT.

    Conceptualised and developed by FOX One Stop Media, the integrated sales arm of FOX International Channels (FIC), News Corporation’s international multi-media business, in close collaboration with global lubricants brand Shell Advance Motorcycle Oil, Freedom Riders Asia sees Charley Boorman, one of the world’s most renowned and recognised bikers, embark on a journey to explore the colourful biking landscapes of Malaysia, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

    From picking tea leaves on the hillside plantations of India, to surfing the legendary waves of Bali’s black sand beaches, Charley meets local biking communities and incredible personalities along the way who show him the delights of each city and the way of life from the back of a motorcycle. In each episode, Charley immerses himself in each country’s unique biking culture, quite often with surprising results.

    In the debut Malaysia episode, viewers will get to see Charley learn the important role the motorcycle plays for many individuals in their daily lives along with taking on a challenge with a well-known local biking personality that will see him fighting for his very reputation!

    Kar-Tai Koh, Shell Advance Global Brand Manager, said: “After six months of hard work and a truly collaborative effort, I am extremely proud of the outcome of Freedom Riders Asia. We really wanted the series to be about celebrating and connecting bikers around Asia; and who better to help us achieve this than Charley Boorman? This is part of Shell Advance’s efforts to empower bikers to experience more freedom on the road in their day-to-day lives and enjoy every ride. I would like to thank FOX for this great working opportunity, our featured local guests as well as all relevant parties involved in making this show possible.”

    Simeon Dawes, Senior Vice President, Advertising Sales and Partnerships, Asia Pacific & The Middle East, FOX One Stop Media said, “One of the objectives of this unique programme is to showcase the diversity of Asia through its different motorcycling cultures, and I believe Freedom Riders Asia has done exactly that, while shedding light on how integral the motorcycle is to the daily lives of so many. This truly has been an exciting collaboration with Shell Advance, and I hope that audiences across Asia will enjoy watching this series as much as we had in making it!”

    He continued, “FOX SPORTS is committed to bringing motor sports fans across Asia the most comprehensive line-up of premier action from around the globe and the region with the live coverage of events such as MotoGP and Superbike World Championships. Freedom Riders Asia is another such initiative that provides fans a unique dimension about motor sports from beyond the motorcycle racing scene.”

    Charley Boorman said: “What I loved most about the Freedom Riders Asia experience was the opportunity to meet locals with larger-than-life characters and ride with passionate bikers in a completely different part of the world. This is indeed a bike trip of a lifetime that I will always remember. The first episode is as exciting as the next, and I hope that the audience in Asia will stay close and enjoy the series as they experience Asia with me!”

    The airing schedule* is as follows:

    Episodes
    Date
    ESPN India
    Ep 1    Malaysia    19 May    16:00
    Ep 2    Philippines    25 May    16:00
    Ep 3    Indonesia    2 June    16:00
    Ep 4    India    9 June    16:00
    Ep 5    Vietnam    16 June    16:00
    Ep 6    Thailand    23 June    16:00
    *Note that there will be three repeats for each episode. Refer to http://tv.foxsportsasia.com/ for repeat schedule.

    Keeping in mind fans desire to deep dive into their favorite sports, a special digital initiative in form of the Shell Advance YouTube page (http://www.youtube.com/user/shelladvance) has been set up where fans can catch exclusive content such as very interesting behind the scenes clips as well as catch up on any missed episodes.

    To reach out to a larger audience base across different demographics and genres, Freedom Riders Asia is being promoted extensively across Fox International Channels Asia’s family of channels such as FOX, National Geographic and FX

  • Revenues for content providers are coming from more places now: Kaplan

    Revenues for content providers are coming from more places now: Kaplan

    MUMBAI: Content providers have a wide array of opportunities to tap revenues from as multiple screens emerge and compete, particularly in the advanced markets.

    "Revenues are coming from more places. More windows are opening, ensuring that there are more hours of content to sell," said Sony Pictures Television Worldwide Networks Andrew J Kaplan.

    The marketplace is becoming more complex and secondary revenue streams (Netflix and Hulu) are emerging stronger. "This means that there is a bit of a challenge on the infrastructure side. We need to be experts and understand the businesses of different distribution systems. It is a much more complicated world now. There is chaos and, hence, an opportunity," Kaplan said, while speaking at Ficci Frames 2013.

    In terms of genres, Kaplan noted that while American drama travels well globally, comedy does not — especially in non English speaking markets. “Some comedy shows that work overseas rely on physical humour. In India, we have Sab which has done well.”
    In terms of SPT channels globally, Kaplan noted that Sony offers American shows. “We buy from our own studio and other studios as well. The aim is to maximise the audience and ratings. As the reach of our channels have grown, we have become a more important buyer globally.”

    Kaplan also spoke about the action oriented channel AXN, saying that the challenge is to balance global with local content. “AXN is different in Thailand and Portugal. That is partly because certain rights are available in certain markets and also because audience tastes are different. Not everything will work equally well everywhere. We also have local shows because that drives in higher ratings. People like to look in the mirror and their want to see their neighbourhood.”

    He spoke about global co-productions ‘The Firm’, ‘Hannibal’ and ‘Crossing lines that SPT is engaged in. “The aim is to get a different creative input so that the content is more applicable to our networks."

    One challenge for a channel like AXN is to retain a uniform character for it globally. What it makes it tough is that there is no flagship channel for Sony in the US. “So we create channels on a market-to-market basis using a lot of research. While we balance global content with local shows, there has to be sanctity in terms of what the brand represents. Our local management teams are passionate about their markets. We have a lot of discussion about what will work the best. Usually we get right. Sometimes we stray. Then we have to pull things back in line,” said Kaplan.

    He also spoke about new media saying that Crackle, Sony‘s online platform in the US, relies on advertising as opposed to other platforms like Hulu which are subscription driven. “I am still trying to figure out if we are smart or stupid in relying on advertising. The advertiser’s response has been solid. We target males 18-49 which is a hard demographic to reach. What helps us is that advertisers want to be in the digital space.”

    The aim of Crackle is to supplement traditional television viewing and not cannibalise it. "Crackle launched in Latin America last year. That is because broadband penetration there is high. Also SPT has a strong ad sales team there. The next phase of evolution for Crackle is creating local content, which it is doing more of. Netflix is also doing this. The advantage of local content is that we can do product and environment integration with advertisers,” Kaplan said.

  • Good Day To Die Hard clings to No. 1 spot narrowly at overseas box-office

    Good Day To Die Hard clings to No. 1 spot narrowly at overseas box-office

    MUMBAI: 20th Century Fox‘s A Good Day To Die Hard captured the No. 1 box office spot narrowly in its fourth weekend on the foreign theatrical circuit and managed to cross the $150-million total overseas mark ($162.3 million).

    In China New Line/Warner Bros‘ The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey registered an income of $37.3 million in 10 days thus propelling the Peter Jackson fantasy epic to a $700-million foreign gross total and more than $1 billion worldwide (only the 15th title in film history to surpass that figure).

    Warner‘s also introduced Jack The Giant Slayer in 10 Asian markets like South Korea, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, Philippines, Singapore, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Vietnam and in India.

    Playing at 1,824 locations, Jack rolled up a total of $13.7 million — more than a $7,500 per-screen average. Korea was by far the biggest market ($4.9 million at 507 sites).

    With no new openings, A Good Day, the fifth part of action franchise starring Bruce Willis, grossed $18.3 million on the weekend at 8,199 locations in 67 territories. France was its biggest weekend market, throwing off $3.5 million and a No. 2 market ranking on the weekend at 665 spots. The France cume stands at $10.6 million.

    Over a 25-year span the four prior Die Hard grossed a collective total of $694.6 million.

    The 1988 original Die Hard drew $57.8 million in offshore box office, with the first sequel, 1990‘s Die Hard 2, grossing $122.5 million. The last sequel, 2007‘s Live Free or Die Hard, completed its foreign run with box office of $249.7 million.

    Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Paramount/MGM‘s 3D co-production distributed overseas in most territories by the former, grossed $15.2 million on the weekend overall at more than 3,500 locations in 54 territories and lifting its total overseas take to $127.2 million.

  • Transformers 4 likely to be shot in Thailand

    Transformers 4 likely to be shot in Thailand

    MUMBAI: Bosses at Marvel, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Disney are considering to shoot the fourth edition of Transformers in Thailand.
    It is because of this, location managers from Marvel, Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox and Disney were in the country this week scouting for exotic shooting locales as part of a new promotional tour sponsored by the Thai government.
    Ilt Jones, location manager for all three of the Transformers movies, has just wrapped up a tour of Thailand where he explored Bangkok as a potential shooting location for Transformers 4. It is said that it was all part of a new promotional exercise titled the Inbound Roadshow Familiarisation Tour that was hosted by the Thailand Film Office, a government body tasked with boosting foreign shooting in the tourism and lens-friendly Southeast Asian nation.
    A select group of veteran Hollywood location managers took part in the one-week tour of Thailand‘s exotic locales. "We‘re very pleased with the turnout," said Scott Rosenberg, managing director of AMW International, the PR firm that organised the trip with the Thai government.
    Lori Balton, acting president of the Location Managers Guild of America, participated in the Thailand excursion, along with location scouts working for Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Disney. A handful of Indian, Korean, and Japanese directors and producers were also in the country for the tour.
    Designed to generate enthusiasm for working in Thailand among the industry set who matter most, the weeklong trip, which began last Monday, took the location pros to the historical ruins of Ayutthaya, through Bangkok‘s frenetic streets and canals, to a festival celebration in the northern city of Chiang Rai, and a cave kayaking in Phang Nga Bay-among other uniquely Thai points of interest.
    "We‘re visiting Thailand‘s many amazing locations, but also showing the VIPs our crews, studios, labs, and equipment-everything a major international production needs," said Ms. Worateera Suvarnsorn, a spokesperson for the Thailand Film Office. "Usually we do outbound trips to the festivals and film markets to promote Thailand; this time we decided to try bringing them here."
    The trip concluded with a visit to the restaurant at the top of Bangkok‘s State Tower where a climactic helicopter scene of The Hangover 2 was filmed.

  • Looper grosses $ 36 million in opening weekend

    Looper grosses $ 36 million in opening weekend

    MUMBAI: On its foreign debut, the sci-fi film Looper did impressive business with a gross of $36 million over the weekend with most of the intake coming from China. Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, Looper is a Chinese co-production between Jim Stern‘s Endgame Entertainment and China‘s DMG.
    The film opened at No. 1 in China with an estimated $24 million, a lot, lot more than its US intake of $21.2 million.
    Worldwide, Looper took in $57.2 million, the best number of the weekend. Sony‘s Hotel Transylvania debuted to $43 million domestically and $8.1 million internationally from 13 markets for a global total of $51.1 million.
    The film also opened in Russia ($4.5 million), the U.K. ($3.6 million) and Australia ($2.9 million). Glen Basner‘s Film Nation Entertainment handled the film internationally, while Sony‘s TriStar is releasing it domestically in tandem with Film District and Endgame.
    Placing No. 2 at the international box office over the weekend was Resident Evil: Retribution that grossed $20.7 million from 6,460 venues in 65 markets. This brings the total overseas gross for the fifth title in director-producer Paul S.W. Anderson‘s action/sci-fi series.
    A No. 3 U.K. opening at 355 locations delivered $1.25 million while a No. 2 Italy debut came up with $1.4 million at 290 spots. Retribution opened No.1 in India, and held top rankings in Chile, Ecuador, Peru, Taiwan, Thailand and Venezuela.
    The latest Resident Evil is being distributed in most foreign markets by Sony, which has tallied a cumulative of $127.1 million. Another distributor, the film‘s German co-producer Constantin, has raked in 9.9 million in all thus far.

  • Ten films by newcomers to compete in Busan

    Ten films by newcomers to compete in Busan

    New Delhi: Ten films are to feature in the New Currents Competition in South Korea‘s Busan International Film Festival next month.
    The section in the Festival from 4 to 13 October is for first- and second-time directors. This year‘s selection comprises films by an unusual number of first-time directors.
    The lineup includes two films from South Korea and two from Taiwan, and one film apiece from Thailand, Philippines, India and Japan, in addition to two titles – within the festivals‘s broad definition of Asia – from Iraq and Lebanon.
    The Korean films are coming-of-age drama Fatal in which “sin, conscience and accountability take center stage”, and Your Time is Up about the “living avenging the dead”.
    From Taiwan, Chang Rong-ji‘s Touch of the Light is about the relationship between a blind pianist and a female dance student. It is joined by another first feature, Hsu Chao-jen’s ensemble drama Together.
    Thai scriptwriter Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit is taking 36 which “examines the power of memory to create reality” after a hard drive crash destroys a year worth of photographs.

    The Philippines‘ Vincent Sandoval is presenting his second film Apparition which is about an “act of brutal violence that shatters a convent‘s cloistered tranquility”. Its selection had already been announced in domestic media.

    India‘s Filmistaan features “a kidnapped Indian production grunt who bonds with his Pakistani captors over their shared love of Bollywood”. From Japan, The Town of Whales is about a high-school student‘s quest for her missing brother.

    BUSAN IFF‘S NEW CURRENTS COMPETITION 2012

    • 111 Girls; dirs. Nahid Ghobadi & Bijan Zmanpira [Iraq]
    • 36; dir. Nawapol Thamrongrattanarit [Thailand]
    • Apparition; dir. Vincent Sandoval [Philippines]
    • Fatal; dir. Lee Don-ku [South Korea]
    • Filmstaan; dir. Nitin Kakkar [India]
    • Kayan; dir. Maryam Najafi [Canada/Lebanon]
    • The Town of Whales; dir. Tsuruoka Keiko [Japan]
    • Together; dir. Hsu Chao-jen [Taiwan]
    • Touch of the Light; dir. Chang Rong-ji [Taiwan]
    • Your Time is Up; dir. Kim Sung-hyun [South Korea]

  • 4D formatted films in anvil

    4D formatted films in anvil

    MUMBAI: Ever since the advent of 3D formatted movies, practically every big-budget film is being released in the format, with higher ticket prices boosting the box-office intake.

    The latest attempt to move beyond 3D technology has resulted in a new cinematic encounter known as 4-D. The film industry is enthusiastic about the unique theatre- experience that 4D promises to deliver.

    CJ Group, a South Korean company that operates Asia‘s largest theater chain, is on the cutting edge of the technology necessary for the display of 4-D movies. The company has 29 specialty theatres that screen blockbuster studio releases such as Avatar, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and Prometheus.

    The group is on the verge of closing a transaction with a nationwide US cinema chain that would create 200 4D theatres over the next five years.

    The 4D technology has already been in use in theatres in Thailand, South Korea, and Mexico, and also in some theme parks. One of the company‘s biggest clients is the fourth-largest theater chain, Cinepolis, which recently expanded into Southern California. The company owns a dozen 4D theatres in Mexico.

    Company execs project that filmgoers will be willing to pay an additional $8 beyond the cost of mere 3-D just to involve more of their senses while watching their favorite superheroes. CJ set up a lab located close to the famous Grauman‘s Chinese Theater in Hollywood to demonstrate and market its latest system, which it calls 4DX.

    This isn‘t the first time that the film industry has tried to bring senses other than sight to film audiences. In 1960 a film titled Scent of Mystery utilised something called ‘Smell-O-Vision‘ which featured 30 different odours that included the smell of flowers, liquor, and gun smoke wafting toward the nostrils of the audience at appropriate times during the screening.

    Then, for a film that was released in 1974 titled Earthquake, theatres used a technology called Sensurround that utilised large bass resonating speakers that shook the room with such intensity that Grauman‘s Chinese theatre had to install a safety net to catch falling plaster as the film was shown.

    In 1981 John Waters used what is called as Odorama which allowed the audience to smell the cinematic scenes with scratch-and-sniff cards and in 2011 Robert Rodriguez used a similar approach that he referred to as Aromascope.

  • IBFA awards in Thailand on 9 June

    IBFA awards in Thailand on 9 June

    MUMBAI: In its endeavour to cement the increasing global image of Bengali films, the organisers of the International Bangla Film Academy (IBFA) has decided to host its own award ceremony in Thailand from 9 to 11 June.

    Touted as the most glittering award ceremony to be held for Bengali cinema, the award will be given in 19 categories, with films released between 1 January and 31 December 2011 coming under the scanner, an IBFA spokesperson said.

    The best film nominations include critically acclaimed films like Baishe Shrabon, Icche, Noukadubi, Ranjana Ami ar Ashbona while actresses Konkona Sen Sharma (Iti Mrinalini), Raima Sen (Noukadubi), Sohini Sengupta (Icche) and Koel Mallick (Paglu) were among the nominees for best actor (female) category.

    Among the male actor nominees are actor-turned-director Anjan Dutta, Jishu Sengupta, Prosenjit Chatterjee, Rudranil Ghoshand Sabyasachi Chakraborty.

    Those nominated in the best director category are Anjan Dutta (Ranjana Ami ar Ashbona), Rituparno Ghosh (Noukadubi), Sandip Ray (Royal Bengal Rahasya), Anindya Bannerjee (Chaplin) and Shibuprasad Mukherjee (Icche).

    The awards were originally scheduled to take place from 9 to 11 March but postponed to June due to the Bangkok bomb blasts and cancellation of Kingfisher flights.

  • Thailand taps Indian filmmakers with beautiful locales

    Thailand taps Indian filmmakers with beautiful locales

    MUMBAI: In its bid to pep up the number of Indian filmmakers shooting their films in Thailand, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) is making fresh initiatives. As films are the most effective medium to attract tourism, the TAT is looking at tapping the Indian film industry in a big way.


    Said Tourism Authority of Thailand governor Suraphon Svetasreni, “Over the years, the number of Indian films shot in our country have been increasing. Indians prefer shooting at locations like Bangkok and Pattaya. Now these are the times that we introduce them and educate the filmmakers on new avenues that would be best captured in films.” He was hinting at places like Rayong, Phuket, Koh Chang and Krabi.


    In this connection, people at TAT plan to showcase new destinations to filmmakers. Incidentally, TAT has been inviting filmmakers of big-budget films like Race 2 and Housefull 2 on one hand while on the other, it has been tapping small budget and regional filmmakers. Out of 100 films shot in Thailand last year, over 44 were Telugu films.


    According to TAT marketing and public relations officer Sonalee Vaz, Thailand is a value for money destination and, hence, doesn’t look at giving investment perks.