ZEE Entertainment | Natpe & Content Americas

Interview by Manjyot Sandhu, SVP – Digital Syndication & Marketing ZEE Entertainment

¿What is Zee in the world? 
From giving India its first private satellite TV channel in 1992 to reaching 1.3 billion viewers around the world today, ZEE has presence with its linear & digital assets across APAC, MENA, Africa’s & The Americas for its International Business offerings.

ZEE is currently home to one of the world's largest libraries of streaming and creative entertainment content in multiple languages, including dubbed language catalogs in English, Arabic, French, Russian and others. Covering all genres: romance, family, thriller, and historical dramas; Reality and Formats; Lifestyle and fitness programs including nutrition, cooking, fitness, and beauty; Scripted comedy; Children; Adventure and travel along with real-life motivational stories.

¿What products do you have localized in Spanish? 
ZEE brings a new series fully dubbed in neutral Spanish to NATPE / Content Americas. SER – The Secret, a series filmed in Lebanon which has experienced great success throughout the MENA region and that will perform spectacularly in Latin America as it brings the perfect combination of glamour, mystery, women empowerment, and aspirational beauty.

The night that billionaire mobster Amer Zahran disappears minutes before celebrating his birthday, no one misses him. The next morning, however, everyone wishes that his body had been found to settle the case. The possibility of him being alive and its consequences terrifies his partners and family.

As Detective Jad Harb progresses in his investigation, he discovers that everyone close to Amer had motives and plans to eliminate him, but no one planned to kidnap him.

During his exhaustive investigation, Jad finds himself in a dilemma when he falls in love with Taleen, Amer's beautiful and much younger wife… or widow.

¿Will Taleen's beauty lead Jab off target in his investigation?
The first season of SER is 60 episodes long of 45 minutes and “will keep everyone guessing until the very last episode who did it while hoping the underneath love story materializes”.

In addition, ZEE brings the fully dubbed classic drama, Jodha Akbar, based on the true history of Akbar the Great’s reign of the Mughal Empire during the XVI century (1556-1605), Jodha Akbar is a love story about a marriage of alliance that gave birth to eternal love between a great Mughal Emperor, Akbar, and a Rajput princess, Jodha. Jodha Akbar is an Indian Epic Historical drama, that also portrays how a Mughal Emperor acquires the historical title “Akbar” from the people of India. It is composed of two seasons with a total of 187 episodes of 45 minutes.

Your co production approach in the international market and especially in Latin America. Already examples?
Zee recently coproduced with TelevisaUnivision, The Spice Trails, Latin America which has been very well received worldwide and licensed to multiple territories globally. Lebanon and Egypt, respectively. Its latest Co Production was acquired by Amazon Prime for the MENA region. Similar adaptations have been done across the Asia Pacific & Africas with lead broadcasters & OTT Platforms.

 What is coming in the future about Zee new strategies for the region?
We have a comprehensive pipeline to localize our content for the Latin American market and the co-produce in the region; adaptations of our legacy stories which have seen great success globally with local producers. We take immense pride in being the home of storytelling with some of our shows traveling to over 150 Countries globally.

'Latin America is a world-renowned television series production powerhouse, and we look forward to creating beautiful adaptations in partnership with the region's leading producers', Ashok Namboodiri, Chief Business Officer at ZEE Entertainment.

 

LC