Lower budgets, less experienced talent and crew, as well as managing the expectations of an audience already loyal to the US version are just some of the challenges faced when producing local versions of well-known international properties. As the call for hosts begins for E! News Asia, Comcast International Media Group managing director Asia Pacific Christine Fellowes says that having produced local versions of E! News in Korea, Thailand, France and Italy, they have learned that it’s important to have their LA producer collaborate closely with the local team to deliver the production value that meets our strict requirements for quality. “Having said that, we also learnt to respect local taste and preferences when it comes to delivery, content and hosts,” says Fellowes. “We demand that our local show delivers an experience that is equally satisfying to viewers from a quality perspective, with the added appeal of hosts that audiences identify with, and content that is locally relevant. Sets on E! News Asia will look the same as those in Hollywood, the formats and program concept will be identical. Our production is a collaboration between our production team from LA and the Emmy Award-nominated production house activeTV from Asia. We expect to source talent locally that gives us great confidence that E! News Asia will deliver exactly what entertainment fans have come to expect from E!” Active TV, which has also produced The Amazing Race Asia for Sony Pictures Entertainment Asia and is currently casting four shows including E! News Asia and Can You Serve?, has a full time, in-house casting division headed by Priscilla Yeo. “We are always on the look-out for good presenters, unique talent and sensational reality tv contestants,” says active TV president Michael McKay. The good thing, he says, is that the roles are recognised and most people would have a fair idea about what they are looking for. “The downside is that the audience has a pre-conceived idea of the role as well.” McKay says it is difficult to manage the audience expectations, “because they do compare your local hosts with the original and they make few if any allowances for the fact that your local host has only just stepped into the role, is not a clone of the original and may have their own style. In addition, the budget might be a fraction of the overseas version and doesn’t have wardrobe artists, stylists, make up specialists, camera cranes and an entire army of folks behind the host to make them look good.” “But it isn’t the audience’s job to be mindful of those things so we need to ensure we have high standards and present our on-screen talent in the best possible manner,” says McKay. General manager SPE Networks – Asia Ricky Ow agrees. “It is obviously big shoes to fill, especially if the U.S. host has been really popular and has built a bond with viewers. A lesson we learnt from casting the host for The Amazing Race Asia, is that no matter how good a host you select for the Asian version, there will always be sceptics. Thus as a rule of thumb, we never set out to look for a ‘Phil No. 2’. The Asian host should have the same charisma and work ethics, but with the ability to endear himself to the audiences using his own personality and style. Allan has come a long way; he has done really well for himself through the seasons and has amassed a great following himself.” Universal Networks International (Asia Pacific) meanwhile, recently produced The Biggest Loser Asia with Omnimedia. Programming director Karen Johnston says there might be a tendency to ‘typecast’ in this instance. “It’s necessary to be open to talents who may not necessarily have similar personalities to the talents in the original format, but yet fit the DNA of the show and appeal to local audiences at the same time. For instance, The Biggest Loser Asia’s trainers (Dave Nuku and Kristy Curtis) have personalities that are completely their own, and have training methods that are different even from the trainers Bob Harper and Jillian Michaels in the US format. And they’ve added greater flavour to The Biggest Loser Asia, for which Hallmark viewers recognize and love the show.” The show’s producer Riaz Mehta, also behind The Contender Asia Muay Thai, says the main challenge with finding a host and trainers for such a show is that audiences are familiar with the US version of the show and have certain expectations. We aim to find hosts that appeal to the Asian audiences whilst staying true to the format of the show. Mehta says it is often the power of the format that will help attract the right calibre of talent. “A show such as Biggest Loser attracts the right talent as they want to be associated with an international property of this nature. The local version of the show not only appeals to viewers across Asia but will also reach audiences in the USA, Europe etc. As such the hosts, contestants etc. receive global exposure and derive numerous benefits from the show.” Asked about how levels of autonomy on a local production, Mehta praises their US partners Shine Reveille. “(They) have been great to work with and gave us a lot of autonomy to customize the show for the local market. We have a great working relationship with them and a lot of mutual trust hence autonomy has never been an issue.” SPENA’s Ow agrees on the overall power of a winning format such as The Amazing Race, saying there is a certain amount of input from the format’s originators. “You do not change a winning formula. That is why we buy formats that will guide us to the secrets of success. For The Amazing Race Asia, although there is a production ‘bible’ for us to follow, Bertram (van Munster) himself takes an active role in training us, going through our plans and also recommended Michael McKay of Active TV to us to be the Executive Producer. Their experience, together with our local expertise, have sparked new ideas that both the U.S. and Asian versions share. The format owners have great respect for our show. We share the same passion and hence we always work together to fine-tune the show and share ideas to find new surprises for our viewers, within the perimeters of the ‘bible’.” Comments active TV’s McKay, “It depends on the production and the circumstances but I would not want to do a show where I did not have a major say in who the lead talent or cast was. In the case of The Amazing Race Asia, I had worked on the U.S. version for some time and had a great insight into what was involved in hosting that show and we applied that to casting the Asian version. I discussed the options with the show’s creators and the network (who have final say) and we all agreed on Allan Wu.” He continues, “It makes sense to work closely with the original producers. Firstly, it is their brand extension so to speak, they can give you great advice including the off screen personality type best suited to the role or that maybe, in hindsight, they would have gone in a different direction.” And CIMG’s Fellowes says, challenges aside, there are considerable upsides to producing content locally, not just in terms of viewer response, but also interest from advertisers. “A local version of E! News is a chance for our local entertainment fans to keep up with the best of Hollywood, and to catch all the Asian stars and premieres, events and celebrity gossip, that they crave. There’s a chance for us to go behind the scenes of the major movie productions from around the region, to talk to celebrities on the red carpet, to cover the launches and awards that are becoming a force in the industry here and on the world scene. We’re also getting enormous support from sponsors and marketers who want to leverage the glamour and celebrity-cache of the E! brand, and who love the local connection that a local show offers. For sponsors it’s a tremendous opportunity to have E! attend their events and to have the tie-in on the red carpet locally.” The final word goes to McKay, who shares some advice for talent, on what not to do. “My pet hate: local on air talent seem to want to talk with their hands a lot. It is distracting for the viewer and makes the talent look somewhat hysterical or over-animated. You don’t want a stick presenting your show but nor do you want to see a windmill in a hurricane. My other pet hate is people who turn up late for auditions.”
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