"The Bridge" By Double Vision Crosses Over Into Award Territory

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 31 August 2020 - The second season of "The Bridge" by Malaysian production company Double Vision was recently nominated for four categories including "Best Asian Drama for a Regional / International Market" at the inaugural ContentAsia Awards.

The category is for drama programming made in Asia for more than a single market in the region, or for a regional or international/global audience.

It was also nominated for Best TV Format Adaptation (Scripted) in Asia while the show's executive producer TJ Lee was nominated for Best Director of a Scripted TV Programme. Malaysian actor Bront Palarae, who plays the character Megat Jamil in the show, was nominated for Best Male Lead in a TV Programme.

The ContentAsia Awards honour the best of Asian content and are hosted by Content Asia, one of the region's foremost entertainment industry information platforms.

"The Bridge is one of the biggest shows to come out of Southeast Asia although it did take us a while to get noticed. But we persevered and to be recognised at the inaugural ContentAsia Awards as among the best in Asia is a great validation of our work!"

"To be recognised at the same level as some of the region's largest and very established players is testimony to Double Vision's potential and capability to produce high quality content," she added.

Season One -- broadcast on Hong Kong-based over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platform Viu, HBO Asia and Malaysia's largest terrestrial broadcaster, Media Prima -- was the first Asian adaptation of the original Swedish-Danish production of Hans Rosenfeldt's Nordic noir crime television series.

A unique deal structure for the first season -- which was Malaysia's entry for "Best Drama" and "Best Adaptation of an Existing Format" at the 2019 Asian Academy Creative Awards -- saw the three broadcasters unprecedentedly sharing broadcast rights across 27 territories for the premiere of the licensed format show from international distribution house Endemol Shine Group.

"This is the first time a high-end scripted format has been adapted for Southeast Asian TV as well as the first time a Malaysian-produced show was broadcast, on its first run, in so many territories across the world," said Double Vision's Head of Production and Executive Producer, Min Lim.

The 10-episode second season, which also marks the first time the format was expanded to include a third country -- Indonesia in this case -- was commissioned in 2019 by Viu and HBO Asia.

It also expanded its on-screen talent pool to include actors from four South East Asian countries -- Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Made entirely in natural language (a mix of English, Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia with a smattering of Cantonese), the second season went to air simultaneously in June 2020 on Viu and HBO Asia's channels and services HBO, HBO Go and HBO On Demand, across 24 territories.

"The success of The Bridge demonstrates that Malaysian companies have the creative and technical expertise to produce award level content as well as the talent to bring it to life." 

Season Two of The Bridge picks up one year after the end of Season One with another cross-border incident when a yacht registered in Singapore runs aground in Malaysia and on board are a dead Indonesian family.

About Double Vision Sdn Bhd

Based in Malaysia, and supported by its production hubs in Indonesia and the Philippines, Double Vision is an award-winning production house that is part of the Vision New Media Group, the largest media group of its kind in the ASEAN region. The company is also one of Malaysia's oldest production houses, having been in the business of telling stories and producing creative content for over 35 years. It is the first Malaysian company to garner both International Emmy and Asian Television Awards nominations.

Double Vision produces dramas, sitcoms, telefeatures, reality/game shows, magazine shows, documentaries, children's programmes and variety shows; as well as engages in co-productions with regional broadcasters like MediaCorp Singapore, ABSCBN and GMA of the Philippines, and TVB Hong Kong.

It is also is the partner of choice for Malaysian as well as international media giants such as Astro, STAR, Viu, Warner Brothers, Discovery Networks, NBC Universal, Scripps Networks, A&E and many others.