On the heels of the recent announcement of a Mexican adaptation of GMA show Munting Heredera, two more Kapuso dramas — Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real and My Destiny — will soon follow suit.
“It was our goal to penetrate the Latin American market this year,” says Roxanne Barcelona, vice president of GMA Worldwide, Inc. (GWI), a wholly owned subsidiary of the Kapuso Network. “With these new deals, we are optimistic that we will be able to sell more of our drama formats to other countries in this region.”
Celebrating two decades of showcasing GMA programs to the rest of the world, GWI has evolved with the changes in the industry since it was established as the network’s content acquisition and distribution arm back in February 1996.
Through GWI, Kapuso shows are widely available in most of Southeast Asia, Hawaii, several countries in Africa, and soon in Eastern Europe.
GWI is also instrumental in building an international fan base for Kapuso stars such as Marian Rivera, Dennis Trillo and Carla Abellana in Vietnam, and Andrea Torres and Mikael Daez in Cambodia, among others.
In the last 20 years, GWI has made an enduring mark in the global content market with its integrity and work ethics, and by offering unique and innovative programs that respond to a target audience’s needs.
“We take into consideration the culture and sensibilities of a particular country,” shares Barcelona, who is a veteran in program acquisition and syndication. “Some territories prefer to acquire fantasy series, while some are interested in melodramas instead of romance comedies. It really varies per territory so it’s important that we study the market.”
In 2005, GWI began actively marketing GMA’s locally produced content to the international market and counts Impostora, Legacy, Kung Aagawin Mo Ang Langit, Dyesebel, and the original GMA version of Marimar as among the best-selling Kapuso titles.
GWI scored a major breakthrough last year when it sealed its first multi-title deal with a Thai pay-TV company, which paved the way for more similar agreements in Vietnam, Singapore and Malaysia.
Proving to be an essential revenue stream for the network, GWI grew its sales by a hefty 34 percent in 2015 compared to 2014 with at least 4,000 program hours sold in the Asia Pacific region and beyond.
“Southeast Asia is still our biggest market but this is not to say that this won’t change. Five years ago, we never would have imagined selling a canned drama or drama format in Latin America. This year, we’ve already sold three drama formats to Mexico, and we have received a lot of inquiries from Turkish companies,” Barcelona enthuses.
Last February, Munting Heredera found its way to Latin American audiences after Mexican company Telefilm Atlantico acquired the program’s rights. It was a milestone in itself as it marked the first time that a homegrown GMA program would be adapted in Latin America.
Coinciding with this sale was major Canadian broadcasting company Rogers Media’s acquisition of a multi-title bundle of HD GMA titles including My Destiny, Second Chances and Beautiful Strangers. These shows will air exclusively on Roger’s free TV channel.
A key to GWI’s success, Barcelona reveals, is their active participation in international content markets, which gather tens of thousands of content producers, buyers, and entertainment industry professionals from all corners of the world.
“We reached another milestone two years ago when we were finally able to exhibit in both MIPTV and MIPCOM in Cannes, France, which are two of the world’s largest and most prestigious TV markets,” she recalls. “That was when we knew we had arrived.”
Since then, GWI has been a prominent figure in other top television exhibitions such as NATPE in Miami, Florida; World Content Market in Prague, Czech Republic and Moscow, Russia; Hong Kong Filmart; DISCOP in Johannesburg, South Africa; and Asia TV Forum in Singapore.
With 2016 shaping up to be a banner year for them, Barcelona and her team recently returned from this year’s MIPTV, where the sale of Ang Dalawang Mrs. Real and My Destiny’s format rights to Altavision Producciones through Latin Media Corporation materialized.
The groundbreaking deals reflect not only the world-class standards of GMA programs but also the effort and hard work that GWI puts into bringing these shows across a bigger, more diverse audience.
“Syndicating Filipino content internationally is not easy as there is much competition,” Barcelona admits. “But the demand has been steadily growing and this is why my team and I exert much effort to deliver only the best to our clients.”
Barcelona explains that their target audiences are not Filipinos living abroad but the different nationalities, particularly in places where they know little about the Philippines. “GWI’s goal is not only to sell GMA’s content but to show the world a glimpse of the Filipino culture.”
Surely, their best days are still ahead of them. Congratulations and happy 20th anniversary, GMA Worldwide!