Kuala Lumpur – FremantleMedia Asia has successfully completed the shoot of the early stage of Asia’s Got Talent, the first pan-regional talent competition in the world, at Pinewood Iskandar Malaysia Studios.

Astro Productions (APSB) was appointed by FremantleMedia Asia to provide television content production services for the inaugural season of Asia’s Got Talent, which is the largest version of the Got Talent franchise. The hit format is co-owned by FremantleMedia and Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment.

Under the appointment, APSB provided broadcast equipment and technical crew for the production of Asia’s Got Talent. In an eight-day shoot, 200 acts from 17 countries were recorded at Pinewood Iskandar Studios for what is billed as the biggest talent competition in the world.

APSB equipped the control room at Pinewood Iskandar with HD 1080/50i vision facilities and 5.1 surround sound audio facilities, providing the producer with a world standard studio control room. 12 Sony HDC-1550 HD broadcast cameras were used to cover the studio production and while the compact Sony HDC-P1 camera was used to capture close-ups of onstage action. Sony PDW-F800 XDcam cameras were also used by the crew to shoot behind the scenes action and warm ups.

Chris McMillan, Head of APSB said, “APSB is working closely with Fremantle to ensure the producer has the very best technology and highly-skilled crew to make Asia’s Got Talent a world-class production. Having successfully delivered over 1,000 hours of content of the early stage of Asia’s Got Talent, the APSB team is now focused on delivering the Semifinals and Grand Final stage in the coming weeks at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore. APSB’s HD Outside Broadcast unit is currently stationed at Marina Bay Sands to prepare for the first day of recording starting this week.”

Asia’s Got Talent premiered on AXN on 12 March and delivered a phenomenal 80% audience share on general entertainment English language channels across the region. The Grand Final will take place on 14 May.

Paul O’Hanlon, Managing Director FremantleMedia Asia said, “Asia’s Got Talent has not only showcased the extraordinary performances that appear on air, but also demonstrated how FremantleMedia Asia has raised the bar in production excellence. Astro’s support and expertise were an integral part of delivering this world-class project.”

The production of Asia’s Got Talent in Malaysia by FremantleMedia Asia is in harmony with Astro’s aspiration to bring together Asian and Malaysian talent, local and global producers, global networks and Pinewood Iskandar with the common objective of producing exceptional television.

Last August, APSB and Iskandar Malaysia Studios Sdn Bhd (IMS) entered into an agreement to provide world-class integrated television content production services at Pinewood Iskandar.

Under the five-year agreement, IMS appointed APSB as the exclusive provider of Production Services at its two 12,000 sq. ft. HD television studios. In return, APSB is committed to undertake a minimum of 4,500 hours of production per annum at PIMS in the first two years and 3,000 hours of production per annum from the third year.