The APOS Debrief: What Asia's Media Industry Heard in Bali

The APOS Debrief: What Asia's Media Industry Heard in Bali

Our highlights from Media Partners Asia's annual APOS event in Bali last week, where there was hot and cold running AI and Microdrama, lots of talk about sports and India, with insights into Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. The unofficial agenda was all about changes at Disney in Asia and high-drama in Korea on multiple fronts. More about that later; meanwhile, here's the rundown for this episode 👇00:00 – Thomas Tull on AI00:47 – Korea's collapse and piracy fatigue03:12 – Reframing piracy as "cybercrime"05:11 – Vivek Couto's state-of-the-industry address06:33 – Local beats Hollywood: the travelability argument07:08 – Korea's "apocalyptic" collapse and the regional rebalance08:52 – Microdrama 09:51 – Telco bundling: microdrama's monetisation fix11:24 – The US vs Asia microdrama envy12:22 – India's ad-supported microdrama market14:35 – Microdrama: beyond the CEO romance16:43 – The AI conversation begins18:33 – Thomas Tull's AI mandate: "the meat, not the condiment"22:00 – Asia's falling tech stocks22:51 – Tencent, Alibaba, Sony and Nintendo under pressure25:01 – What happens next25:42 – Wrap, and what's coming next weekHosts: Janine Stein, Patrick FraterPodcast: Two The Point with Patrick Frater and Janine Stein — a co-production by ContentAsia and PF Media#APOS2026 #AsianContent #Microdrama #ReelShort #AITools #KoreanDrama #ContentAsia #StreamingNews #VerticalVideo #MediaPartnersAsia

Who Owns Attention Now? Vivek Couto on Asia's New Power Map

Hi-anxiety over advertising. Search for a saviour in microdrama. YouTube valued at $600 billion. Netflix worth more than Disney, Paramount, Warner Bros and Sony combined. And a winter freeze settled into Korea. MPA executive director Vivek Couto joins Patrick Frater and Janine Stein three weeks before APOS Bali to map where gravity has shifted — and what broadcasters, streamers and content makers need to do about it.

How One Festival Changed Asian Cinema

What does it take to run an Asian film festival in Europe dedicated to mainstream popular movies, not arthouse cinema? In this episode of Two The Point, hosts Patrick Frater and Janine Stein sit down with Sabrina Baracetti and Thomas Bertacche, the powers behind the Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy, to explore the festival's 28-year journey from a risky Hong Kong cinema initiative to one of Europe's most important platforms for Asian talent.Sabrina and Thomas reveal how they convinced Hong Kong filmmakers that Italian audiences genuinely wanted martial arts and action films – not just critically acclaimed arthouse selections. They walk through the pivotal moment when the festival moved from a 216-seat art cinema to Udine's grand opera house, and how that shift attracted major Asian directors and stars including Jackie Chan, Joe Hisaishi, Johnny To, and Takeshi Kitano.The conversation turns to the current state of Asian cinema: Why is Japan thriving (with five films in Cannes 2026's official selection), while Korea faces crisis? Why is Chinese cinema unpredictable but commercially dominant? And what does this landscape mean for global distribution?CHAPTERS:0:00 – Intro & Guest Welcome1:12 – How It All Started: From Italian Cinema to Hong Kong3:40 – The Breakthrough: Convincing Filmmakers European Audiences Cared5:55 – The 216-Seat Theatre Story: First Hong Kong Festival Edition6:24 – Moving to the Opera House (1999)8:18 – Festival Evolution: From Intimate to Industry Giant8:50 – Focus Asia Industry Program28:20 – Amazing Guests: Jackie Chan, Johnny To, Joe Hisaishi, Takeshi Kitano30:27 – The Current State of Asian Cinema31:02 – Japan's Strength at Cannes32:01 – The China Question: Why Western Audiences Struggle32:55 – Korea's Crisis & Box Office Dynamics34:04 – Closing Thoughts

Microdrama: How to Tame a Multi-Billion Dollar Business | Anne Chan, AR Productions

Changing Models, Day-One Revenue and Why the Michelin Approach Will Fail. Microdrama first-mover Anne Chan talks about who's really making money, what actually works, what doesn't, and what life looks like in a business that looks a lot more glamorous on an investment chart than it sometimes does from the inside. Two The Point is a weekly briefing on Asia's entertainment business. Hosted by Janine Stein and Patrick Frater Guest: Anne Chan, CEO, AR Productions Produced by ContentAsia and F Media

Nezha 2: The Truths Behind a US$2.25B Success

What really happened behind the scenes of "Nezha 2" – Asia's highest-grossing film of all time? In this episode, Patrick Frater and Janine Stein sit down with Christopher Chen, Executive Producer / Senior VFX Supervisor at Taipei-based Reno Studios, for a remarkably candid conversation about the making of the $2.25 billion blockbuster, the future of Asian cinema, and where AI fits into all of it.Christopher pulls no punches: six to eight months of animation discarded, cultural clashes, a production that stretched and stretched again, and a delivery that felt like a miracle to everyone involved.But the conversation goes much further — from Taiwan's rising role as a production hub, to why Korean drama budgets have become a "Frankenstein" problem, to the nationalist wave reshaping box offices from Indonesia to Vietnam. Christopher also shares his own remarkable backstory: born in Taiwan, raised in Brazil as part of a diplomatic family, trained in Canada and London, and mentored by legendary producer Gary Kurtz.And as for AI and virtual production? He cuts through the hype with a clear-eyed take on what machines can — and cannot — replace.Topics covered: * The making (and near-unmaking) of "Nezha 2" * Why 30-40% of the film's VFX was done outside China * Cultural identity vs. commercial filmmaking in Asia * Taiwan's TAICCA agency and its role / impact * Netflix's pivot toward new Asian markets * Virtual production and generative AI: replacement or enhancement? * Upcoming projects: "Ghost Month", "Absolution" and Netflix's "Agent from Above" Subscribe for weekly conversations on the Asian screen industry Hosts: Patrick Frater @ Janine Stein Guest: Christopher Chen | Reno Studios, TaipeiProduced by ‪@ContentAsia‬ [https://www.youtube.com/@ContentAsia] & F Media