FOR HEAVENS SAKEHeavens: The Boy and His Robot, a Singapore-produced movie, will have its world and commercial premiere in Japanese cinemas this November. The film is Singapores first live-action feature film of the mecha genre, a genre of Japanese manga and anime that features or focuses on mechanical innovations such as robots and cyborgs.
The film is an action-adventure drama with offbeat humor, following the journey of a struggling young pilot, Kai, and his fighter mecha, Little Dragon. Set against a backdrop of epic galactic warfare, the movie explores Kais dream of joining the Mecha Corps to bring peace to a war-torn world and the unique friendship that develops between him and his mecha.
The film is very much the product of Rich Ho, who serves as producer, director, writer, film music composer, art director, set designer, director of photography and co-visual effects supervisor.
Distribution in Japan (under the localized title Mechaverse: Shonen to Robotto) is being handled by Elles Films. International sales are being handled by Hos Heavens Entertainment, having taken over from previously announced Arclight Films.
TELENOVELAS TURNING JAPANESENHK Enterprises, an affiliate of Japans public broadcaster NHK, has picked up Japan rights to Brazilian media giant Globos God Save the King. The show is a medieval telenovela with Marina Ruy Barbosa (Total Dreamer), Romulo Estrela (A Life Worth Living) and Bruna Marquezine (Brave Woman). The show will play from Sept. 4 in Japan on Pay-TVs ChannelGinga and on Lemino, an OTT platform run by NTT Docomo.
Written by Daniel Adjafre, with artistic direction by Fabrcio Mamberti (We Are Five), God Save the King is set in the fictional region of Glia, where the kingdoms of Montemor and Artena have lived in peace for a long time until some choices by their monarchs and their consequences directly interfere with the course of history.
NHK Enterprises previously licensed another Globo show Brazil Avenue.
TURN TO SPEAKCarlo Katigbak, president and CEO of The Philippines content group ABS-CBN; Wang Xiaohui, chief content officer of Chinese streamer iQiyi; Kushboo Yadav, CEO of Indias Jio Entertainment Services; Daniel Riddell, CTO of Kidoodle.TV; Patompong Sirachairat, COE of Thailands Mono Next; and Aron Levitz, president of Wattpad Webtoon Studios are the first speakers named for the Asian Television Forum Market in Singapore in December. The ATF Market and conference runs Dec. 6-8, while the ATF Leaders Dialogue sessions will be held on Dec. 5.
CASTING AROUND
Award-winning Italian casting director Massimo Appolloni, whose credits include Paolo Sorrentinos The Hand of God,has signed with Stacey Castro Media for exclusive worldwide management.The films many awards and nominations were shared with Annamaria Sambucco, longtime Sorrentino collaborator who gave Appolloni his break in casting and is also a Castro client.Sambucco and Appolloni recently cast Sorrentinos upcoming film The Apartment.
Based in Rome, Appollonis other credits include Alice Rohrwachers Happy As Lazaro and HBO series The New Pope, upcoming Amazon series Everybody Loves Diamonds, starring Malcolm McDowell and Rupert Everett, and Valeria Golinos The Art of Joy.