Shanghai-based Linmon Pictures is preparing to go where China’s major TV studios rarely go – overseas.
On day two of Filmart
entertainment convention in Hong Kong, the premium TV producer unveiled a series of films targeting Korea, Thailand, Indonesia and Ambitious plans for local language TV projects in Taiwan market. The company stated that it will produce at least non-Chinese TV series in the Asia -Pacific region in the next two weeks. three years.
China’s domestic TV audience is so large that few local private studios are willing to tap into the much smaller entertainment market in the neighboring country in any meaningful and consistent way. Yuan Zhou, Linmon’s chief executive, said he began to consider getting more involved in the international business after Linmon started receiving more and more offers for remake rights from production companies in the region.
“There has been a lot of demand for our Chinese series from international platforms and publishers,” Zhou said. “But we’ve come to believe that we have a great opportunity not only to distribute our content abroad, but also to collaborate and produce local language content for other markets.”
Last year, Linmon cast its romantic drama Two seasons of episode Twenty Years Old were sold to Netflix for distribution outside mainland China. The show is popular in Chinese-speaking regions, and it ranks first on Netflix in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and countries with large Chinese populations in Southeast Asia 18 Diaspora population. Netflix also snatched Lin Meng’s costume drama Fuyao Legend , and boarded the streamer list 18 in Korea. Meanwhile, Disney+ acquired the company’s romantic drama A Little Mood for Love , which is currently airing in Southeast Asian markets.
Zhou acknowledged that the market opportunity in Asian countries outside of China is relatively small, but said he believes the benefits of working directly with other industry talent and storytelling expertise will benefit his company across all sectors The production brings great benefits. The company hopes to follow the example of South Korea’s success in ramping up its production capabilities to appeal to a global audience.
“Many Chinese producers say, ‘Why are you going abroad to make a Thai language show with only 18 million viewers?’ I don’t Look at the market that way,” Zhou said. “All of these countries have strong creative communities, so we hope to use our financing and intellectual property to work with talent in the region to create a more integrated pan-Asian market.”
Linmon will Filming will begin later this year on a Thai remake of its TV series Nothing But Thirty. The show follows three urban women who have just changed careers as they face the dilemmas and challenges of dealing with the competing demands of love, work, and family—themes that Linmon believes will Resonates in Asia’s increasingly international entertainment market. The company is developing local language remakes of the same content for Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong and Vietnam.
With major global streamers competing fiercely in Southeast Asia – one of the world’s largest subscribers – few major population centers where premium streaming video business is still growing steadily – if If Linmon can deliver local-language programming to the same high production standards it’s known for in China, it shouldn’t have a hard time finding buyers.
Linmon’s other international projects in Hong Kong include a Thai remake of the hit crime thriller series Under the Skin.
