Beverley McGarvey, president of Community 10 and head of streaming at Paramount Australia and New Zealand, opened the Asian Academy Artistic Awards Nationwide Winners Convention in Singapore on Dec. 3 with a rallying name for the area’s content material business, praising the range and youthful vitality of Asia-Pacific programming whereas emphasizing the important significance of strategic deal-making in as we speak’s fragmented media panorama.
Talking on the two-day convention forward of the Grand Awards Gala on Dec. 4, McGarvey, who additionally serves as chair of the Asian Academy Artistic Awards, mirrored on her expertise judging one of many 40 classes among the many report 340 judges this yr, marking a 30% enhance from 2024.
“The variety has been nice throughout the board this yr,” McGarvey stated. “Each style has been coated by way of what’s been nominated, and each market has been coated.”
Coming from a background in English-language content material throughout Australian, U.Okay., Canadian and American markets, McGarvey stated she was significantly struck by the age demographics of Asia-Pacific programming. “There have been a lot of reveals that actually featured a lot of younger individuals and featured a lot of tales that I feel would actually resonate with youthful audiences,” she stated. “In a lot of platforms within the English-language talking markets, issues are getting older up fairly a bit. And that’s simply not true in all of the content material that I’ve seen right here.”
The convention precedes the gala ceremony that includes 331 nationwide winners from 16 international locations competing for the Golden Goddess trophies, with high-profile contenders together with Jacob Elordi for Prime Video’s “The Slender Street to the Deep North” and Cate Blanchett for Apple TV’s “Disclaimer.”
McGarvey devoted vital consideration to the evolving economics of content material manufacturing, arguing that strategic deal-making has grow to be as essential as inventive execution within the present market. “An important concept doesn’t make an incredible present — nice execution makes an incredible present,” she stated. “To get to that time of nice execution, it type of begins with the deal.”
The exec highlighted the rising complexity of rights administration in an period of a number of platforms and rising applied sciences, together with synthetic intelligence. “Twenty years in the past, 15 years in the past, we began to purchase much less broad rights, and we didn’t use them for about 5 or 6 years,” McGarvey recalled. “Now you progress ahead to as we speak, and it’s important to purchase so many alternative rights. You must assemble a deal that enables you to take action many alternative issues.”
McGarvey cited examples from Paramount’s current Australian productions that display the corporate’s versatile method to windowing and platform technique. “NCIS: Sydney” airs on Paramount Plus in Australia and different markets, on CBS within the U.S., and on Community 10 in Australia as a second window after Paramount Plus. Conversely, the Australian model of “Ghosts” launched on Paramount Plus earlier than airing weekly on Community 10, permitting the free-to-air broadcasts to advertise the streaming service.
“Each present is completely different, each style is completely different, each market is completely different,” McGarvey stated. “Though you may create guardrails, we’ve received to be intelligent and assemble issues that service that product one of the simplest ways potential.”
Past content material partnerships, McGarvey highlighted the rising significance of know-how collaborations. Community 10 not too long ago partnered with LG to hold the community’s sign on the electronics producer’s digital program guides as a stay stream. The deal addresses the fact that lower than half of Australian households plug in a terrestrial aerial, making certain discoverability for free-to-air content material.
McGarvey additionally pointed to Community 10’s reimagined “Huge Brother” for instance of multi-platform technique focusing on youthful audiences. The truth format now features a stay TikTok stream alongside conventional broadcasts, with episodes additionally accessible on YouTube. “For those who’re no matter age you might be and also you haven’t watched free-to-air probably because you have been born, you would possibly watch the TikTok stream, after which it brings them again into our ecosystem,” she stated.
Regardless of the complexity of recent content material distribution, McGarvey returned to a elementary precept. “An important present will at all times discover an viewers,” she stated. “An important present, effectively executed, will at all times discover an viewers. Possibly not tomorrow, however it would finally work if it’s received nice tales and nice characters.”
The Nationwide Winners Convention continues Dec. 4, that includes panels on generative AI and copyright, platform technique and deal-making. The Grand Awards Gala takes place at Capitol Theatre on the night of Dec. 4.
The 2025 Asian Academy Artistic Awards marks the seventh version of the ceremony.
