TGC GE expands partnership network across Asia

Los Angeles-based TGC Global Entertainment (TGC GE), the international distribution company launched last year by US format veteran Phil Gurin to represent premium formatted content, has expanded its partnership network in Asia to include two prominent Japanese media players.

TGC GE has entered into collaboration with two of Japan’s leading broadcasters: Kansai TV, the dominant commercial station in the Kansai region of Japan, which produces a variety of programming, including drama, documentaries, unscripted content and game shows; and TV Tokyo, one of Japan’s five privately owned major broadcasters, known for its hit anime series, news, original dramas and unscripted content.

TGC GE will handle the global distribution of curated formats from both Kansai TV and TV Tokyo, starting at MIPCOM with two reality dating shows, Kansai TV’s Matching House, and TV Tokyo’s Masked Lovers, and TV Tokyo’s comedy game show Don’t Laugh at My Song. In addition, TGC GE will have a first look at both its new partners’ original formats with a view to potential collaboration and co-development.

The new alliances with Kansai TV and TV Tokyo build on TGC GE’s long-standing creative relationship with Fuji TV, with which it has co-developed several formats, notably comedy social experiment The Swap Project, which is headlining Fuji TV’s MIPCOM 2024 slate. Co-owned by TGC GE and Fuji TV, the East-meets-West, fish-out-of-water format sees two people from different sides of the world but with the same occupation swap lives for a week — with comical, moving and often insightful results. The Swap Project, which launched in Japan on Fuji TV in February, has just been nominated in the Best Non-Scripted Entertainment category of the Asian Academy Creative Awards. It is represented in Asia by Fuji Creative Corp, the distribution arm of Fuji TV, with TGC GE handling the format in the rest of the world.

Rosemond Perdue, TGC Global’s head of Asia sales and acquisitions, said: 'Japan has long been a major force in formats and this collaboration not only demonstrates TGC GE’s commitment to building a globe-spanning network, but they also reflect our mission to bridge the ever-widening gap between the global entertainment giants and third-party producers. Matching House, Masked Lovers and Don’t Laugh at My Song are perfect examples of great shows that have done well in their home market but are outside of the ‘GEG’ ecosystem, so will struggle to break out internationally. That’s where we come in, with our boutique approach, our many years of experience, and our expanding global family of like-minded colleagues and collaborators. And the fact that TV Tokyo and Kansai TV — two of the most prestigious names in Japanese media — have signed up our vision is the surest sign that we’ve hit on a winning commercial format'.

Kyosuke Kashiwagi, remake and formats representative at TV Tokyo, said: 'I'm deeply honoured and excited to begin this collaboration with TGC GE. TV Tokyo has long held a significant presence in the global animation industry, and I believe this partnership marks an important step in bringing TV Tokyo's unscripted format creations to international audiences'.

TGC GE has been strengthening its creative ties in Asia over the last 12 months. In early March, it announced a ground-breaking creative collaboration with Titan Content, the first US-headquartered K-pop company, which was launched in late 2023 by K-Pop visionary Nikki Semin Han. The first project to flow from the new partnership is K-Pop Dreams (working title), which sets out to turn the world’s growing fascinating with all things ‘K’ into a 10-part talent-search format aimed at making “American K-pop dreams come true'.

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