Based on Liane Moriarty’s bestselling novel, “Big Little Lies” was initially broadcast as a mini-series, and was not intended to run beyond seven episodes shown at the start of 2017.

It was a major hit with viewers, picking up eight Emmy awards including Outstanding Limited Series, as well as individual gongs for director Jean-Marc Vallee and its Oscar-winning stars Kidman and Witherspoon.

As a result of its success, HBO launched production of a second season. Taking the reins from Vallee as director is Andrea Arnold, who was awarded an Oscar in 2005 for her short film “Wasp.”

“Most of the cast is expected to return and negotiations are underway,” HBO added in a statement.

“Big Little Lies” tells the story of three wealthy California mothers, who, behind the facade of seemingly perfect lives, are embroiled in behind-the-scenes jealousy, secrets and drama.

Writer David Kelley, who also worked on the first season, “wrote beautiful scripts and Reese and Nicole were, once again, a force to be reckoned with,” said Casey Bloys, president of HBO programming.

Meanwhile, Kidman said she was “grateful to have this opportunity to keep exploring these female characters and make this series with my friends.”

Thai talent was very much in the spotlight last week with three directors all picking up major prizes at both the Singapore International Film Festival’s Silver Screen Awards and TV Asian awards. The celebrations of big and small screen are part of the annual Singapore Media festival, which meshes media and entertainment events and this year ran from November 23 to December 3.

Director Anucha Boonyawatana was named Best Director in the Asian Feature Film Competition for her film “Malila” (“The Farewell Flower”), which earlier picked up top prizes at the Busan International and the Golden Horse film festivals.

Sorayos Prapapan took home the Best Director award in the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition and the Youth Jury Prize for “Awasarn Sound Man” (“Death of the Sound Man”), a hilarious satire centred on a guy involved in sound recording for film production, while Ratchapoom Boonbunchachoke moved a step closer to making his debut feature by winning the Southeast Asian Film Lab’s Most Promising Project for “A Useful Ghost”. The Film Lab is a story development workshop for emerging filmmakers from Southeast Asia embarking on their first feature film.

Anucha, who was as ever dressed in an outfit made with traditional Thai fabric, said that winning the award had increased her confidence in filmmaking and confirmed that she was on the right path.

“Winning the Kim Ji seok award at the Busan International Film Festival was a great honour for me and taking home the best director prize here in Singapore tells me that my film is a good one, as movies selected by SGIFF always receive recognition from other festivals,” she told XP.

The Kim Ji seok award was initiated this year in memory of the BIFF’s festival programmer Kim who died of a heart attack while attending the Cannes International Film Festival in May. The jury praised Anucha for her “quiet, extremely sensitive, beautifully shot exploration of fundamental themes of our existence”, adding that the film gently “nudges us into a meditative state to enable us to explore for ourselves the meaning of being in the present.”

This year the Silver Screen Awards ceremony was held at the Marina Bay Sands Grand Theatre. A total of 14 awards were presented, nine of them in the two most anticipated sections – the Asian Feature Film Competition and the Southeast Asian Short Film Competition. The Iranian film “Disappearance” by Ali Asgari picked up the Best Film prize in the former category while actress Sadaf Asgari collected the Best Performance award for her role as Sara in the film.

Thai filmmakers were also recognised in ways other than awards through the selection of Pimpaka Towira as the festival’s programme director, the first non-Singaporean to be chosen as the festival’s key figure.

Equally as sparkling were the Asian Television awards held over two days and giving out 47 prizes for excellence in programming, production and performance. More than 1,350 entries from 250 channels and 66 broadcasters across Asia submitted entries to this year’s event, which incorporates every kind of television programme and drama. It is a very open competition as it allows anyone interested in taking part to choose the best part of a series or best episode and submit it to award organiser Contineo Media. The entries are judged by a multi-country jury.

Three Thai programmes were entered into this year’s competition: Channel 3’s “Singer Auction” from Zense Entertainment Company and “House of Blast – Dracula in Trouble” from Workpoint Channel. The third entry was and a gay show hosted Niti ‘Pompam’ Chaichitatorn from GMM 25 –“Talk Ka Toey Tonight” (“Talk with Toey Tonight”) and this won best entertainment presenter, beating out well known hosts like Allen Wu from the “Amazing Race Asia”.

“Given that the show’s title, this award goes to gender equality across Asia,” said Pompam in his acceptance speech, drawing loud applause from the audience in the Suntec City Convention Centre.

Hosted by Singapore’s Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA), the Singapore Media Festival also includes the Asian Television Awards (ATA), the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), Asia’s marketplace ScreenSingapore, which offers a series of talk and seminars on film pitching for the SGIFF, and SMF Ignite.

A one-day conference and exhibition, VR X SMF Ignite aims to bring together technologists, creators, developers and users to exchange insights on the VR ecosystem and discuss how this new paradigm can create opportunities for businesses in media. This year the SMF also hosted its very first Country-of-Focus, selecting Indonesia for its rich stories, talents and achievements across the SMF’s various constituent events.

The Singapore Media Festival usually brings together more than 20,000 media and creative professionals, industry thought-leaders and fans of television and film from around the world. The 18th Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and the seventh ScreenSingapore ended with an estimated US$289 million (Bt9.42 billion) worth of deals sealed over four days. A total of 760 exhibiting companies from around the world showcased their latest programming and content. Exhibitors included major studios like CBS Studios International, Sony Pictures Television and The Walt Disney Company and Asia’s popular content providers from South Korea, Japan, India and China. Thailand was represented by Workpoint Entertainment, which showcased its TV game shows “Mic Mod Nee” (“Mic on Debt Off”) and the new singing contest show “Diva Makeover” which garnered plenty of attention from Southeast Asian buyers. The ATF also organised talks with well-known creators like Sana Amanat, aka Miss Marvel, cocreator of Marvel’s first Muslim superhero “Kamala Khan”.

“The goal of these media festivals is to bring together the component parts and provide opportunities to get business people and creators together to create new opportunities,” explained Robert Gilby, chairman of the Singapore Media Festival.

“The SMF is largest international media festival in Southeast Asia.  It’s a great venue to showcase ideas and stimulate conversations, to find buyers for shows and to find new financiers for programmes,” he added.

. These, as well as other weird concepts, are all part of the world of “Altered Carbon”, the new sci-fi series that’s set to debut on Netflix on February 2.

Based on the 2002 cyberpunk noir novel by Richard K. Morgan, “Altered Carbon” is an intriguing story of murder, love, sex and betrayal, set more than 300 years in the future. Takeshi Kovacs (Will Yun Lee) is the lone surviving soldier in a group of elite interstellar warriors who were defeated in an uprising against the new world order. His mind was imprisoned for centuries before being brought back and placed into a new body (Joel Kinnaman) courtesy of Laurens Bancroft (James Purefoy), an impossibly wealthy man. In exchange, Kovacs has to solve a murder … that of Bancroft himself.

The sci-fi series is from writer-producer Laeta Kalogridis (“Shutter Island”) with a pilot shot by Miguel Sapochnik and also stars Joel Kinnaman, Kristin Lehman, Chris Connor, Antonio Marziale and Hiro Kanagawa.

US television channel CBS announced Wednesday it will resurrect the science-fiction series, in a bid to boost its subscription-based streaming platform CBS All Access.

Comedian-turned-director Jordan Peele — known for directing mystery thriller “Get Out,” which is heading into awards season — will helm the reboot.

First broadcast in 1959, “The Twilight Zone” was a pioneer in television drama, known for its suspenseful music composed by French-Romanian Marius Constant and the black-and-white spiral of the credits.

The series had no regular characters: each episode was instead a standalone exploration of fantasy, science-fiction, psychology and metaphysics, with dramatic tension always at the forefront.

However, the series did have an omnipresent narrator — portrayed by the show’s writer, Rod Serling.

“The Twilight Zone” also featured performances from several film stars — from Buster Keaton to Robert Redford, along with the likes of Mickey Rooney, Lee Van Cleef and William Shatner.

It served as inspiration for several other shows, including Charlie Brooker’s “Black Mirror” (Netflix), itself a hit offering unsettling, satirical explorations of the modern world.

It has already been remade twice, broadcast from 1985 to 1989 on CBS and again between 2002 and 2003 on the cable channel UPN.

Director and actor Peele will serve as executive producer on this third revival, alongside Simon Kinberg, best known for his work on the “X-Men” franchise.

Peele made an impression as a director with his first film, “Get Out,” released in February. Despite a $4.5 million budget, the critically acclaimed tale of a young black man meeting his white girlfriend’s sweet-turned-sinister family earned $175 million — with takings of $254 million internationally.

“Too many times this year it’s felt we were living in a twilight zone, he said. “I can’t think of a better moment to reintroduce it to modern audiences.”

The projects include six productions based in various countries across Asia including China, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand.

HBO Asia has produced ten Asian originals since 2012 and is committed to expand its repertoire further for audiences in the region and globally. All upcoming HBO Asia Originals will be available exclusively on HBO Asia’s network of channels including HBO’s online streaming platform, HBO GO and the on-demand service, HBO On Demand.

This year, HBO Asia premiered four Asian Originals including the second season of “Halfworlds”, the dark action fantasy drama series set in Bangkok that premiered in January, award-winning “The Teenage Psychic”, HBO Asia’s first original Chinese series set that premiered with breakthrough ratings in April.

HBO Asia’s first comedy drama series “Sent” premiered in September and the “Talwars: Behind Closed Doors”, HBO Asia’s first original documentary series, launched last Sunday.

“HBO has been known to produce high quality, premium Original productions. By harnessing the full potential of talent and production infrastructure the region has to offer, we are well-positioned to create premium, authentic, Asian content for our audiences in the region, many of which have been recognised for various creative and performance awards,” said Jonathan Spink, chief executive of HBO Asia.

“With its richness in culture and histories, Asia is a great source of stories which make for appealing content locally as well as globally. We are excited that as a start, two of our HBO Asian Originals, ‘The Teenage Psychic’ and both seasons of ‘Halfworlds’ will be available to audiences in the US on the HBO US service from next month.”

New series premiering on HBO Asia’s network of channels include a six-episode hour-long horror anthology series “Folklore” taking place across multiple Asian countries including Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Helmed by different directors from various countries in Asia, each episode will be based on each country’s deeply-rooted superstitions and myths and seek to modernise or update Asian horror, exploring societal dysfunctions in a manner that is specific to the country but possessing themes that will resonate across the continent.

“Folklore’s” creator and show-runner is award-winning Singaporean film maker, Eric Khoo. Other directors involved are Joko Anwar (Indonesia), Ho Yu-Hang (Malaysia), Lee Sang-Woo (Korea), Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thailand) and Takumi Saitoh (Japan).

Also coming is an eight-part, hour-long period drama series “Grisse” that’s set in the mid 1800’s within the colonial period of the Dutch East Indies. The series chronicles the story of a group of unlikely individuals who lead a rebellion against a brutal governor and suddenly find themselves in control of a Dutch garrison town called Grisse.

The stories revolve around a number of unique characters, each from diverse backgrounds and creeds who unite for the chance to determine their own destiny from the yoke of tyranny.

“The Master of the White Crane Fist: Wong Yan-Lam” and “The Master of the Nine Dragon Fist: Wong Ching-Ho” are the third and fourth instalments of the Chinese language martial arts anthology movie series first shown in 2016.

Directed by Guo Jian-yong, the “White Crane Fist: Wong Yan-Lam” is set in ancient China during the late Qing dynasty and tells about four constables escorting a criminal who cross paths with a theatre troupe and a mysterious priest, setting off events that lead to the murder of a constable. Amongst them is the legendary master, who will unravel the consequences of greed, revenge, betrayal and opium smuggling.

Directed by Si Xiao-dong, the “Master of the Nine Dragon Fist: Wong Ching-Ho” is set in China in the early 19th century. A British businessman, Mr James, sells opium as a “longevity enhancement medicine” that sees many locals become addicted to opium. The head of Guangzhou’s martial arts alliance, Wong Ching-Ho, decides to take action and destroy Mr. James’ opium warehouses. To save his business, Mr. James employs kung fu master, Man Sing, to eliminate his enemy, leading Wong to develop his legendary Nine Dragon Fist.

“Miss Sherlock” is HBO Asia’s very first Japanese language eight-part, hour-long drama series, produced in collaboration with Hulu in Japan. The series, premiering across more than 20 countries in April, pays homage to the classic by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock Holmes, with bold interpretations of the iconic characters, Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson.

The scenes are set in modern day Tokyo and both lead characters are Japanese women – Dr Wato Tachibana (played by Shihori Kanjiya), a surgeon recently returned from a volunteer doctors’ mission in Syria and Sara Shelly Futaba (played by Yuko Takeuchi), an investigation consultant to the police department who solves bizarre and difficult cases. Throughout the series, the pair solves mystery after mystery with Miss Sherlock’s extraordinary observation and reasoning skills.

“The Teenage Psychic” is slated to return with a second season with Kuo Shu Yau reprising her lead role as Xie Ya Zhen, a psychic born with the ability to see spirits who learns to use her abilities to help others. The second season of the series will once again be directed by rising Taiwanese writer-director Chen Ho-Yu.

“We are thrilled to work with Studio Dragon to bring “A Korean Odyssey” to our global members,” said Rob Roy, vice president of Content Acquisition at Netflix. “Netflixis committed to bringing great Korean stories to audiences around the world.”

Written by the Hong sisters. “A Korean Odyssey” is inspired by the classic novel, “Journey to the West”. It is set in modern times and each character holds special powers. Lee Seung-Gi stars as the powerful Son Oh-Gong, Cha Seung-Won is Woo Hwi-Chul, the Bull Demon King in the original story, and Oh Yeon-Seo as Jin Sun-Mi plays Xuanzang.

Along with “A Korean Odyssey”, Netflix will also bring “Prison Playbook”and “Argon” into its Korean content list.“Prison Playbook” is a comedic drama about a famous baseball player who suddenly ends up in jail, and “Argon” is about journalists who fight for the truth in the world of fake news.

“We are excited to bring new dramas that Studio Dragon and CJ E&M have produced to various countries around the world,” said JangHo Seo, General Manager of CJ E&M. “We hope Korean content becomes acknowledged not only in Korea, but globally as well.”

“A Korean Odyssey” will be available globally on Netflix from later this month. All three series are part of a multi title partnership between Netflix and CJ E&M.

Netflix currently has 109 million global members.

 In the cult series, his character is best known for helping Arya Stark (played by Maisie Williams) learn the deadly arts of his order, the Faceless Men, at the House of Black and White in Braavos. The Faceless Men have the ability to change their appearance at will.

In an exclusive and intimate press session with both local and regional media, Wlaschiha said he was honoured to be part of HBO Asia’s anniversary celebration and really enjoying the warm hospitality and the vibrant culture the region has to offer.

On his first trip to Singapore, Wlaschiha visited Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Chinese Temple and Sri Krishnan Indian Temple along Waterloo Street and the Sultan Mosque (Masjid Sultan) in Kampong Glam, and also admired the Singapore Botanic Gardens, Chinatown, Boat Quay and Orchard Road. He indulged in some of Singapore’s local culinary delights including Hainanese chicken rice, laksa and chilli crab.

In addition to HBO Asia’s 25th Anniversary festivities, nine Asian directors, showrunners and cast members from HBO Asia’s upcoming titles, including actresses Yuko Takeuchi(Japan), Shihori Kanjiya (Japan) and Kuo Shu Yau (Taiwan); directors Joko Anwar (Indonesia), Chen Ho Yu (Taiwan), Ho Yuhang (Malaysia), Eric Khoo (Singapore), Lee Sang-Woo (Korea) and showrunner Mike Wiluan (Indonesia), were in Singapore to share insights about their upcoming HBO Asia Original productions and celebrate the milestone.

The 28th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) wrapped last night after 11 days of immersive festivities that celebrated and inspired the discovery of independent cinema.

More than 14,000 people turned out for the festival, which showcased 112 feature and short films from 42 countries and enjoyed 31 sold out screenings. Festival-goers were also enthralled by the short film programmes this year, with four sold-out Southeast Asian Short Film and Singapore Panorama Short Film programmes.

On the closing day, the festival announced “Call Me By Your Name” by director Luca Guadagnino as the Audience Choice Award, after active voting by festival goers over the 11 days. The wonderfully sensual coming-of-age gay drama features a whirlwind love story between a 17-year-old youth and his father’s 24-year-old research assistant. It was also the first film to have both its screenings sell out at this year’s festival.

The award-winning film was rescreened at the National Museum of Singapore yesterday, alongside the winners of this year’s Best Southeast Asian Short Film, “Jodilerks Dela Cruz, Employee of the Month” by Carlo Francisco Manatad, Best Singapore Short Film “Between Us Two” by Tan Wei Keong, and Best Asian Feature Film “Disappearance” by Ali Asgari.

The festival also saw a line-up of distinguished film personalities from all around the world who met with festival-goers at the various red-carpet galas at the Marina Bay Sands and Capitol Theatre, and passionate sharing sessions by filmmakers and cast at masterclasses and talks. This included international icon David Beckham, Star Wars actress Kelly Marie Tran, Crazy Rich Asian actor Henry Golding, Academy Awards-nominated director Shekhar Kapur, esteemed cinematographer Christopher Doyle, veteran Indian actress Waheeda Rehman, Japanese personalities Joe Odagiri, Koji Yakusho, Takumi Saitoh, Shioli Kutsuna, Shinobu Terajima, and Indonesian actress Marsha Timothy.

The festival also concluded its inaugural Southeast Asian Producers Network, which brought together the movers and shakers of the regional producing industry, who shared their experiences and the art of their craft with an eager audience.

“Putting the Festival together has always been an inspiring journey as we delve deep into the creativity and bold artistry present in our regional cinema, while keeping an open mind to new developments that present opportunities to the industry. As a platform that aims to be a tastemaker in inspiring the discovery of independent cinema, we are heartened to see fruitful dialogues facilitated; achievements of our regional talents celebrated; and new friendships forged. We hope that this edition of the Festival has sparked new perspectives in our festival goers, and we look forward to more joining us in this journey to embrace the future of cinema,” said SGIFF executive Director Yuni Hadi.

Netflix said Friday it had renewed its hit 1980s-set nostalgic supernatural drama, which has won critical acclaim and instant fame for its cast of young stars.

“Should we make another season of Stranger Things?” the subscription-only streaming giant teased with an interactive poll on Twitter before adding: “season 3 is officially happening!!!”

No date was given for the season three premiere.

According to Nielsen, around 15.8 million viewers tuned in to watch the first episode of the show’s second season within the first three days of its October 27 launch. Netflix does not release information about viewership.

But those numbers would make “Stranger Things” one of the most popular television shows in the United States, not far behind AMC’s hit show “The Walking Dead.”

“Stranger Things” tells the story of a group of young friends living in a small town in Indiana in the 1980s — and the odd happenings that threaten them all.

It premiered in July 2016 and won five primetime Emmy Awards in 2017. It had earned a whopping 18 nominations, including one for 13-year-old breakout star Millie Bobby Brown.

tu-jm/sst

Netflix believes that although consumers access their favourite TV shows and films across a number of electronic devices in this age of streaming, the television still endures as an important viewing device for consumers across Asia Pacific.

In other words, TV is here to stay in Thailand.

“As entertainment shifts online, consumers are discovering that they have more control over their viewing experiences than ever before,” said Chris Jaffe, vice president of product innovation at Netflix.

“What they’re looking for today is choice, quality and greater flexibility, and these demands are driving new trends that are shaping the future of entertainment,” he said

“We are moving into an era of multi-device connectivity and contextual entertainment.”

Today, Netflix users across Asia Pacific are using between three and five different Internet-connected devices for their entertainment needs, completing their binges on everything from smartphones to smart TVs.

It is clear that no single device will dominate entertainment in the near future. The future appears to hold even more “contextual entertainment”., where consumers access their favourite shows on any device they want, in a way that fits seamlessly with where they are connecting from. In Bangkok, contextual entertainment may take the form of watching a show on a mobile device on the go, or during a commute on the BTS Skytrain after work, or at home after a long day immersed for hours in their favourite film on the big screen while sitting on the sofa.

Streaming on TV devices has grown in popularity, with connected TV accounting for 41 per cent of Netflix viewing hours in Thailand. Smart TVs lead the charge as the most popular connected TV device. This is followed by media streaming devices such as Apple TV, Rokus or Chromecast, and game consoles such as Xbox and PlayStation.

Despite increasing mobility, the TV remains the enduring centrepiece of a typical consumer’s entertainment experience with the shift from the linear to the connected world. Consumers today are now discovering a new world of entertainment in their homes on connected TVs.

“People have always enjoyed watching TV and this won’t change anytime soon,” said Chris Jaffe, vice president of product innovation at Netflix. “The beauty of connected TVs is that they’re able to exploit the best part of the conventional linear TV experience, while leveraging all of the benefits of the connected technology,” he said.

“People can now enjoy big-screen time at home that is personalised to their unique tastes and preferences, on-demand, immersive and interactive. As people discover this with Netflix, the more they love their connected TV experience.”

In Thailand, Netflix finds that while majority of membership signups are through mobile devices and laptops, consumers move on to discover the connected TV experience. Within six months of subscribing, the primary viewing device for 50 per cent of accounts has become their connected TVs. Members across the region are also spending twice as long watching on their connected TVs as they do on their mobile devices. This behaviour points to a growing demand for connected TV viewings and sure enough, sales of “smart TVs” across Asia have increased 40 per cent over the last year.

Innovation in TV technology is also driving audio-visual entertainment experiences right in consumers’ homes. With sales of ultra HD 4k TV in the Asia Pacific region surging 103 per cent over the past 12 months, consumers can now also access top-quality entertainment, not just on full-fledged home theatre systems, but also on sound bars and headsets.

“These audio-video innovations come at a time when there is a growing library of high-quality content available for streaming,” said Jaffe. “Netflix has endless hours of ultra HD 4k and high dynamic range (HDR) content; and more than half of our catalogue already supports 5.1 surround sound. We have also just announced our support for Dolby Atmos three-dimensional sound.”