SINGAPORE, JULY 19, 2016 – Principal photography begins today for HBO Asia’s first production in Taiwan, THE PSYCHIC, jointly developed with Taiwanese broadcaster, Public Television Service (PTS), and award-winning Singaporean production company, InFocus Asia (IFA).
Set and filmed fully on-location in Taiwan, HBO Asia’s six-part hour-long series is based on the award-winning short film from PTS’s Innovative Stories, The Busy Young Psychic, which won Best Short Film at the Taipei Film Festival, and the Golden Bell Awards for Best Editing. THE PSYCHIC series is conceived by InFocus Asia (IFA) with 29-year-old rising Taiwanese writer-director, Chen Ho-Yu, who also wrote and directed the short film.
A coming of age story shot in Chinese with dialect, THE PSYCHIC will debut early 2017 on PTS, and across 23 territories on HBO, with subtitles where relevant.
Jonathan Spink, CEO of HBO Asia, said, “Asia’s rich diversity offers inspiration for countless of stories waiting to be told, and local talents to be discovered. Through collaborating with PTS and remarkable talents in Taiwan to increase our production of local language content, HBO Asia is perfectly placed to bring our creative spin to THE PSYCHIC for regional audiences to enjoy.”
Jessie Shih, Director of International Department, PTS, said: “I am very happy to announce PTS’s first collaboration with HBO Asia on their first Chinese original series, also their first Taiwan series, working with a young and upcoming local team, bridging the gap between television and film with the talented mix of crew and actors. Cultivating local young talents and helping them to connect with the international industry is PTS’s top priority, like our Innovative Stories and Life stories which have won many regional and international awards. I believe this new HBO – PTS collaboration, in partnership with IFA’s Singapore and Taipei creative team who have always done great work with PTS, will lead the local Taiwanese industry to greater heights!”
In THE PSYCHIC, Xiao Zhen (played by Taiwanese singer-actress Yao Yao, Golden Horse Award winner for Best New Performer) is a 16-year-old girl who just wants to lead a typical teenage high school life. But, born with the ability to see spirits, her life will never be normal. Xiao Zhen must juggle the pressures of teenage life – first love, academic success and peer pressure – with the demands of the spirit world. As Xiao Zhen learns to use her abilities to help the living deal with their loved ones on the other side – spirits who are lost, forgotten, angry or just crying out for help – this teenager finds that fixing other people’s problems gives her the strength she needs to navigate high school and her first major romantic encounter. But Xiao Zhen’s powers become a danger for her as others seek to use her abilities for their own greed.
Other cast regulars include Kent Tsai (Mon Mon Mon Monsters) and Chen Mu Yi (Comes The Black Dog).
THE PSYCHIC is HBO Asia’s first Taiwanese production. The network has collaborated with creative talents from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand and the US on various English language productions, including the fantasy series, Halfworlds, recently renewed for a second season, which is concurrently being shot.
Within the same week, HBO Asia announced a first collaboration with China Movie Channel on an anthology of Chinese martial arts movies, with Hong Kong action director, Corey Yuen, executive producing the first two movies.
About HBO ASIA
Singapore-based HBO Asia brings the best of Hollywood to Asia first through its exclusive licensing deals with major Hollywood and independent studios, including Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate. HBO Asia has proprietary and award-winning HBO and HBO Asia Original programmes produced exclusively for HBO viewers. Wholly owned by HBO (a Time Warner company), HBO Asia reaches 23 territories across Asia with six 24-hour commercial-free subscription movie channels: HBO, HBO Signature, HBO Family, HBO Hits, Cinemax and Red by HBO, internet streaming platform, HBO GO, subscription video on demand service, HBO On Demand, and in China, 鼎级剧场 (ding ji ju chang). HBO Asia is also the exclusive distributor of BabyFirst and the DreamWorks channel in the region. Log on to www.hboasia.com for more information.
About Public Television Service (PTS)
With the passage of the Public Television Act by the Legislative Yuan, Taiwan Public Television Service Foundation (PTS Foundation) was established as a non-profit foundation to operate the Public Television Service (PTS), which started broadcast on July 1, 1998. The chief objective of PTS is to establish a public service mass media system. As an independent public service broadcaster trust by the public, PTS aims to provide value-added quality programming services covering a wide range of categories to present the diversity and creativity in Taiwan.
About InFocus Asia (IFA)
IFA Media is one of Asia’s premier content producers, producing award-winning factual and drama that rates across the world. The company is headquartered in Singapore with four offices across the region (Bangkok, Beijing and Taipei).