WarnerMedia & Catchplay announce Twisted Strings
August 27, 2021
WarnerMedia and Catchplay have announced Twisted Strings, an original drama from Taiwan.
The anthology 7×60’ series, executive produced by renowned filmmaker, Hou Hsiao-hsien, will co-premiere as an HBO Asia Original in early 2022 on WarnerMedia’s streaming service HBO GO and HBO in Asia and as a Catchplay Original on the Catchplay+ streaming service in Taiwan and Indonesia. It will also be available later on production partner Mediacorp’s digital platform meWATCH in Singapore.
Currently in post-production, Twisted Strings is produced by Catchplay’s newly established production arm, Screenworks Asia, in partnerships with Taiwan’s Bossdom and Singapore’s MediaCorp. The anthology is written and directed by Golden Horse-nominated director, Huang Xi, who has worked with Hou on films including The Assassin (2015). Huang’s debut film Missing Johnny was awarded Best Screenplay at the 2017 Taipei Film Awards.
The series stars an ensemble award-winning cast and crew including Golden Horse-winning actor, Lee Kang-sheng. This is Lee’s first lead role in a series after having starred in films for the past 30 years. Lee, who won Best Actor at the 1994 Golden Horse Awards, 2013 Asia Pacific Film Festival, and the 2014 and 2020 Taipei Film Awards, said he was intrigued by the script’s unique humour and that the role was like nothing he had ever portrayed before.
Magdalene Ew, WarnerMedia’s Head of Content – Entertainment for Southeast Asia, Hong Kong and Taiwan, said: “With 10 originals from Taiwan under our belt already, Twisted Strings will be our first anthology series and boasts a standout assembly of talent. Following the success and popularity of our other originals including The World Between Us and Trinity of Shadows, it’s great to once again work with Catchplay.”
Daphne Yang, CEO of the Catchplay Group, added: “We are thrilled to be announcing our 3rd Catchplay Original series this year. Following the success of Trinity of Shadows and The Making of An Ordinary Woman 2, we are honoured to be exploring this new genre with a dream crew led by director Hou Hsiao-hsien and through international production and distribution partnerships with WarnerMedia, Mediacorp and Bossdom. We hope to keep bringing the best of Asian entertainment content to the international audiences around the world.”
Virginia Lim, Chief Content Officer, Mediacorp, said: “We are delighted to have collaborated with Screenworks Asia and other partners on Twisted Strings and leveraged each other’s talents and creative strengths to produce this gripping anthology series for audiences across the region. The involvement of many accomplished award-winning industry veterans is also a huge highlight of this collaboration, and we can’t wait to share the final outcome of our partnership with viewers.”
Mark Chang, Chairman of Taiwan’s Bossdom, said: “We spend lots of efforts to expand the business in entertainment industry. Twisted Strings is a stunning project, especially the script. I’m delighted to work with Screenworks and all the partners in this project.”
With the support of the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), Director Huang Xi and lead actor Lee Kang-sheng will attend and showcase the title at Series Mania Forum in France, Lille, on August 30.
This series marks the third original project by the regional content and streaming service player, Catchplay, just nine months after the recent establishment of its production subsidiary, Screenworks Asia, jointly backed by TAICCA.