Little from Asia can compete with anime on the global entertainment stage, where fandom drives commitment and decades-old franchises based on print stories still top the list of Asian titles most in demand.

Philippines’ broadcaster ABS-CBN is likely to spend upwards of US$220 million on production this year, including shows such as long-running drama series Brothers and the local versions of talent/ reality formats.

HBO Asia is almost two years into an originals strategy driven by a different kind of Asian storytelling and a wider, deeper approach to production.

Three versions and multiple seasons of Scandi noir crime drama, The Bridge, have been made around the world. The fourth – and the first in Asia – is a Double Vision production in Malaysia for streaming platform Viu.

British Asian actress Sunetra Sarker became an actress by chance and a poster-person for Asian women with attitude by choice. As her latest TV series makes its way around the world, she is also speaking up for greater diversity off-camera.

Philippines’ telco giant, Globe Telecom, has 65m customers and a sharp focus on building a broad-ranging creative ecosystem. Senior advisor Joe Caliro talks about the music, movies, style, fashion and production partnerships feedinginto the bigger picture.