HOOQ announces original Asian content lineup

Source: HOOQ. Poster for Sweet 20.

HOOQ, the video on demand service in Southeast Asia, is making a bold move into creating its own Asian content. HOOQ has added new originals to its Asian catalogue: three movies, a multi-episode series, and pilots in different genres.

“There is a huge thirst for high quality, unique Asian stories, told from an Asian perspective.  We aim to satisfy this with HOOQ Originals on our platform.  These four new HOOQ Originals are going to whet your binge-watching appetite for drama, romance and comedies.  This is just the beginning of a lot more exciting Asian originals to keep you HOOQ’d.  We will continue to push boundaries, to evolve and stay committed to delivering unique, compelling and edgy Asian stories to our millions of HOOQ customers,” said CEO of HOOQ Peter Bithos.

These four new productions come on the back of HOOQ and Globe Studios’ first original production On The Job – the pilot of which will now be released as a full-length movie followed by a five-episode series forming Season 1.  Directed by Erik Matti and co-produced with Reality Entertainment, this drama of crime, deceit and struggles touch close to the underbelly of Filipino societal issues. The full-length feature film is slated for release in August 2017 followed six weeks later by the rest of season 1.

The T Party is the project codename for the second original Filipino production from HOOQ, The eight-episode romcom (romantic comedy) centres on online dating. Development is underway with top directors in the romcom genre including Joyce Bernal, as well as Marvin Agustin in his directorial debut.  Each episode will revolve around intertwining stories based on finding love (or otherwise) through a popular dating app.  This series is scheduled to debut exclusively on HOOQ in the late 2017.

HOOQ’s first Indonesian original, Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts (Marlina si Pembunuh Dalam Empat Babak), is co-produced with award-winning Indonesian filmmaker Mouly Surya and producers Rama Adi and Fauzan Zidni.  The film is a co-production between Cinesurya and Kaninga Pictures, Sasha and Co Production, Astro Shaw, HOOQ and Purin Pictures. Marlina tells a story of a young widow of the Indonesian hills of the island of Sumba.  Attacked and robbed by a gang of local men, Marlina exacts revenge.  The next day, she commences a journey for justice, empowerment and redemption.  But her road is long, especially when the headless ghost of her victim decides to haunt her. This is the first Indonesian film to have been chosen for the Directors’ Fortnight, a separately-organised selection that runs parallel to the official Cannes festival. Marlina is targeted to hit the big screens towards the end of 2017.

In partnership with Starvision and CJ Entertainment, directed by Ody C. Harahap, Sweet 20 is an adaptation from a best-selling Korean movie called Miss Granny (수상한 그녀).  This remake of the Korean comedy tells the story of a 70-year old grandmother, Fatmawati who was transported back to her youth as a 20-year old and becomes a star.  However an event occurs where she has to make the difficult decision to remain in her new life or return to being a 70-year old in order to save the life of her grandson. Sweet 20 is slated to hit the big screens in Indonesia this June.

HOOQ, in partnership with Telkomsel and Starvision, later unveiled the big screen adaption of Ika Natassa’s best-selling Critical Eleven. The film will hit the Indonesian cinemas on 10 May 2017. Critical Eleven is HOOQ’s second HOOQ Original announced in Indonesia and the third overall.

A co-production between Starvision, Servia Plus, Legacy Pictures, HOOQ and Telkomsel, directed by Monty Tiwa and Robert Ronny, Critical Eleven stars Citra Award winner, Reza Rahadian and Adinia Wirasti from Ada Apa Degan Cinta? Derived from the aviation term depicting the crucial 11 minutes - the three minutes before takeoff and the eight minutes just before landing - where 80% of air accidents generally occur, Critical Eleven draws parallels with the 11 minutes of hero and heroine Ale and Anya’s first meeting on a flight from Jakarta to Sydney.

“The partnership between HOOQ, Telkomsel and Starvision has given birth to a sensational movie set to redefine the romance genre in Asia. This cinema adaption of Ika Natassa’s Critical Eleven will tug the heartstrings of many Indonesians. We couldn’t have been more proud to have done this alongside such amazing partners, who were not only invested in making a great movie, but were set on delivering quality romance entertainment that the people of Indonesia and Asia greatly crave,” said Bithos.

Alistair Johnston, Marketing Director of Telkomsel, said, “Telkomsel has consistently supporting the empowerment of our young generation to bring a significant development in Indonesia’s creative industry. We believe this initiative will further flourish the industry as well as presents big opportunities to develop various video entertainment to meet the suitable needs for the growing market.”

HOOQ also recently announced a new service that delivers movies fresh from the cinema to the home, transactional video on demand (TVOD). This allows blockbuster movies to hit the service within three months of their theatrical release. Customers who already have the current Subscription VOD (SVOD) service will be able to enjoy one movie from the TVOD library each month as part of their SVOD subscription at no additional cost.

Interested?

Download the HOOQ app from the App Store or Google Play to access HOOQ’s library of Hollywood and Asian hits. Sign up for the seven-day free trial

Catch the trailer for Critical Eleven 

Watch the director's commentary for On the Job