KUALALUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 31August 2020 - Thesecond season of "The Bridge" by Malaysian production company Double Vision wasrecently nominated for four categories including "Best Asian Drama for aRegional / International Market" at the inaugural ContentAsia Awards.

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

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

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

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

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

Season One -- broadcast on HongKong-based over-the-top (OTT) video streaming platform Viu, HBO Asia andMalaysia's largest terrestrial broadcaster, Media Prima -- was the first Asianadaptation of the original Swedish-Danish production of Hans Rosenfeldt'sNordic noir crime television series.

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

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

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

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

Made entirely in naturallanguage (a mix of English, Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia with asmattering of Cantonese), the second season went to air simultaneously in June2020 on Viu and HBO Asia's channels and services HBO, HBO Go and HBO On Demand,across 24 territories.

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

Season Two of The Bridgepicks up one year after the end of Season One with another cross-borderincident when a yacht registered in Singapore runs aground in Malaysia and onboard are a dead Indonesian family.

About Double Vision Sdn Bhd

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

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

Itis also is the partner of choice for Malaysian as well as international mediagiants such as Astro, STAR, Viu, Warner Brothers, Discovery Networks, NBCUniversal, Scripps Networks, A&E and many others.