Singapore based media company August Media Holdings, Philippines based animation and games developer Synergy88 Group and Japanese national broadcaster TV Asahi jointly announce their partnership to produce a new animated series Barangay 143. The announcement was made today by August Media Holdings, CEO, Jyotirmoy Saha; Synergy88 Entertainment Media, managing partner, Jackeline Chua and TV Asahi, head of Animation, international business department, Takahiro Kishimoto.
Targeting young adults, the show aims to reach out to not only basketball fans but also aficionados of primetime-scripted programs around the world. The show will originally be recorded in Tagalog by an all-Filipino celebrity cast and is of an unprecedented scale for such an international endeavor and the first of its kind in the Philippines. Barangay 143 will be distributed internationally by August Rights (August Media Holdings’ distribution arm) and TV Asahi.
Jyotirmoy Saha said, “Our collective decision to tell this story of Barangay 143 is a result of extensive focus group research and a creative process that has been exciting to say the least. Given the increasing popularity of animated titles among young adults, we believe time is right for South East Asia to deliver its first anime series of this magnitude for the regional and global markets. TV Asahi with their track record also makes the perfect partners for this.”
“We’re truly enjoying the coming together of this series as a 360° concept. This story of love, hubris, drama, crime and basketball is soon launching as a subscription game with a mobile Telco. Closely followed will be the consumer products line and then the series during Spring 2017,” added Jackeline Chua.
“We are very excited to be part of Barangay 143. Collaborating with the talents and the creative team in the Philippines and producing such a significant show for South East Asia and the rest of the world in Japanese anime style has been an immensely challenging but great working experience for us. We hope this venture will open new doors not only for ourselves but the entire Japanese animation industry,” added Takahiro Kishimoto.