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HBO embarks on first Chinese drama
HBO has begun principle photography on its first original TV series in Chinese, a supernatural coming-of-age drama called The Psychic.
The series, comprising six hour long episodes, will be directed by the Taiwanese writer-director Chen Ho-Yu, who directed its source material, The Busy Young Psychic which won the best short film award at the 2015 Taipei Film Festival.
The programme follows a 16 year old Chinese girl (played by Taiwanese singer/actress Yao Yao) who is born with the ability to see spirits, but who craves a normal teenage existence.
The Psychic is being developed with Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS) and co-produced with Singaporean production company InFocus Asia.
“Through collaborating with PTS and remarkable talents in Taiwan to increase our production of local language content, HBO Asia is perfectly placed to bring our creative spin to The Psychic for regional audiences to enjoy,” said Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia.
Jessie Shih, director of International Department, PTS, added: “I am very happy to announce PTS’s first collaboration with HBO Asia on their first Chinese original series, also their first Taiwan series, working with a young and upcoming local team, bridging the gap between television and film with the talented mix of crew and actors. Cultivating local young talents and helping them to connect with the international industry is PTS’ top priority, like our Innovative Stories and Life stories which have won many regional and international awards”.
The move follows the recent announcement earlier that HBO Asia will develop and co-produce a series of Chinese language martial arts films for television in partnership with the China Movie Channel (or CCTV6), run by state broadcaster CCTV. The project aims to reach an estimated 1.2 billion viewers in China.
Rebecca Hawkes | 20 July 2016
HBO has begun principle photography on its first original TV series in Chinese, a supernatural coming-of-age drama called The Psychic.
The series, comprising six hour long episodes, will be directed by the Taiwanese writer-director Chen Ho-Yu, who directed its source material, The Busy Young Psychic which won the best short film award at the 2015 Taipei Film Festival.The programme follows a 16 year old Chinese girl (played by Taiwanese singer/actress Yao Yao) who is born with the ability to see spirits, but who craves a normal teenage existence.
The Psychic is being developed with Taiwan’s Public Television Service (PTS) and co-produced with Singaporean production company InFocus Asia.
“Through collaborating with PTS and remarkable talents in Taiwan to increase our production of local language content, HBO Asia is perfectly placed to bring our creative spin to The Psychic for regional audiences to enjoy,” said Jonathan Spink, CEO, HBO Asia.
Jessie Shih, director of International Department, PTS, added: “I am very happy to announce PTS’s first collaboration with HBO Asia on their first Chinese original series, also their first Taiwan series, working with a young and upcoming local team, bridging the gap between television and film with the talented mix of crew and actors. Cultivating local young talents and helping them to connect with the international industry is PTS’ top priority, like our Innovative Stories and Life stories which have won many regional and international awards”.
The move follows the recent announcement earlier that HBO Asia will develop and co-produce a series of Chinese language martial arts films for television in partnership with the China Movie Channel (or CCTV6), run by state broadcaster CCTV. The project aims to reach an estimated 1.2 billion viewers in China.
