Sara Merican

Lee Soo-man’s career has soared through what seems like three different chapters: First, he was a singer-songwriter in the 1970s, and then he founded Korean music giant SM Entertainment in the 1990s, launching some of the country’s most influential music groups such as H.O.T., Girls’ Generation, Exo…

Japanese film A Pale View of Hills will have a theatrical rollout in the UK from March 13 next year, after a busy festival run from Cannes, to Toronto, London, Shanghai and Taipei, among others. The film will also open in Taiwan’s theaters from December 5 this year. Director Kei Ishikawa…

Since his high-profile departure from FX, Disney TV Studios chief Eric Schrier has become actively involved with shaping the Disney+ APAC content slate through his other mandate as president of Disney’s global original television strategy. He and APAC original content head Carol Choi sat down…

Disney+ has renewed Korean crime series Made In Korea for a second season, with Season 1 debuting on the platform on December 24 this year. Season 1 stars Hyun Bin (Crash Landing On You, Confidential Assignment), Jung Woosung (12.12: The Day, Hunt) and Woo Dohwan (My Puppy, Bloodhounds), who all…

Disney+ unveiled Korea-Japan series Merry Berry Love (working title), starring Ji Changwook (The Manipulated) and Mio Imada (Tokyo Revengers). The romantic comedy follows a down-on-luck Korean spatial designer Lee Yubin (played by Ji) and a strawberry farmer Karin Shirahama (played by Imada)…

Disney+ has unveiled Japanese anime series Death Stranding Isolations (working title) from veteran game creator Hideo Kojima, based on the popular post-apocalyptic game series ‘Death Stranding.’ The upcoming anime series will be directed by Takayuki Sano (Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods) and…

J-pop group Travis Japan will be part of a new Disney+ Japanese docu-series Travis Japan Summer Vacation!! in the USA. Premiering next year, the travel series was filmed across 10 days immediately after their most recent world tour. Two of Travis Japan’s members, Genta Matsuda and Kaito…

EXCLUSIVE: Los Angeles-based sales, production and finance company, EST N8, has acquired international sales rights for Japanese thriller The Invisible Half. The debut feature from writer-director Masaki Nishiyama, The Invisible Half had its world premiere at the Raindance Film Festival. Th…

Netflix’s nation-on-nation battle in Physical: Asia is heating up, with half the season’s episodes now released. Future U.S. and Italian spinoffs are also on the horizon. Physical Asia has already soared to the third spot on the platform’s Top 10 Global Non-English series list, with two new…

Disney+ has partnered Korean entertainment conglomerate CJ ENM to bring their originals on the Tving platform to the Japanese market. From November 5 onwards, Disney+ Japan will offer up to 60 Tving titles and CJ ENM series, including Guardian: The Lonely and Great God and Reply 1988…

Tokyo Taxi director Yamada Yoji told audiences at the Tokyo Film Festival on Monday that he admires how the Korean government has supported the film industry there for decades, and called on the Japanese government to continue to bolster funding locally, especially for live-action…

In a conversation with prolific Japanese filmmaker Hirokaza Kore-eda at the ongoing Tokyo Film Festival, Hamnet director and Oscar-winner Chloé Zhao says that she is exploring making a documentary for her next feature but admits that the genre will take a whole different level of courage. "I…