The Asian Pitch productions “For the Love of Shakespeare” , “A Weaver’s Tale”, “A Farmer’s Struggle”, and “The Icemen: Angadias of India” have all been completed and will be an important and high profile component of (MediaCorp’s) Caldecott Productions International’s slate at the upcoming MIPTV market in Cannes. “We are happy to say that that “For the Love of Shakespeare” will be shown in France and Germany,” says a spokesperson. “The three programs that came out of our first TAP, held in 2007, namely “Supermen of Malegaon”, “Subak: The Three Causes of Happiness”, and “The Mummy Thief” have all sold well, with Supermen being the leading sell,” she continues. The winning proposals from the third TAP are now in production and will be available later this year. Supermen director Faiza Ahmad Khan has once again been chosen for TAP success. TAP 2009 Winners (currently in production) Yang Li-Chou (Taiwan) Red Box Wherever the ageing puppet master Chen goes, he always keeps with him the Red Box. Witness his efforts to revive the fading traditional art of Taiwanese glove puppetry, and find out what his Red Box symbolizes. Shohei Shibata (Japan) Transmission: Listening to the Mountain’s Message Work methods that have long been at the heart of a country of forests and mountains are quietly disappearing in the course of modernization. Four Japanese high school students head up to the mountains to capture the moments of life. Faiza Ahmad Khan (India) The Great Indian Arranged Marriage In an era of modernization in India, arranged marriages have become a multi-billion dollar business. Indian filmmaker Ruchika brought up in a multi-cultural upbringing puts herself in the process of an arranged marriage to take a look at the realities of the system. Fumio Narashima, who came up with the idea for TAP is content with the projects, and says, “Now in its fourth year, we have received over 500 proposals from around Asia, and 10 programs have been made under this initiative giving us an illustrative look on Asia. The past years have proven that there are fascinating untold stories and skilful new talent out there in Asia waiting to be discovered. We are very happy to offer local filmmakers a chance to tell their stories to the world.” From NHK’s perspective, TAP is an initiative that serves their role as a public broadcaster in wanting to support independent Asian directors and production companies by offering them an opportunity to produce programs in HD, and assist promoting them to the international market. Narashima says “NHK is very grateful to our partner MediaCorp for sharing our thoughts and agreeing to co-organize this event.” The distribution of all TAP programs are handled by our partner Caldecott Productions International who share our interest for HD factual production.” Besides TAP, NHK is bringing a significant number of international co-productions to MIPTV, such as Megaquake, Miracle Body II and Giant Squid. Giant Squid: Last Mystery of the Deep NHK, NHK Enterprises and Science Channel have teamed up for the multi-year, multi-million dollar co-production to film the elusive Giant Squid. We are receiving quite positive interest from European broadcasters and looking forward to announcing the new members for this fantastic quest soon. Megaquake A powerful high-definition special series that dramatically dissects one of the world’s most terrifying natural disasters to better understand the mechanisms behind massive tremors and their devastating impacts. Combining the latest findings in seismology, painstaking analyses of every kind of past records, and highly advanced technique of computer generated images, Megaquake illustrates geological secrets behind high magnitude quakes and what savage impacts will possibly be caused by their destructive forces. Co-produced by NHK and National Geographic Channels International. In terms of big news that NHK is bringing to the MIPTV market, is the merger between NHK’s international business arm, Media International Corporation (MICO) and NHK’s main program-making subsidiary, NHK Enterprises, Inc., (NEP). The MICO-NEP merger is part of NHK’s reorganization of its affiliates to strengthen the NHK group’s international operations. NEP produces programs in a wide range of genres and forms the core of NHK’s domestic content business. MICO has a record of success in marketing NHK programs overseas and in acquiring overseas programs for NHK and other domestic broadcasters. The creation of a new NEP through the merger will enable a single company to strategically distribute NHK content domestically and internationally. NHK will continue building on its achievements in major co-productions and in producing rich content in diverse genres. The launch of the new NEP will generate new strengths in terms of international production and marketing, thereby boosting the NHK brand on a global scale.