{"id":131508,"date":"2025-11-13T18:04:15","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:04:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/131508\/"},"modified":"2025-11-13T18:04:15","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T18:04:15","slug":"disneys-eric-schrier-carol-choi-talk-laser-focus-on-korea-and-japan-for-streaming-future-of-live-sports-apac-showcase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/131508\/","title":{"rendered":"Disney’s Eric Schrier & Carol Choi Talk ‘Laser Focus’ On Korea and Japan For Streaming, Future Of Live Sports \u2014 APAC Showcase"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tSince his high-profile departure from FX<\/a>, Disney TV Studios chief Eric Schrier has become actively involved with shaping the Disney+<\/a> APAC content slate through his other mandate as president of Disney\u2019s global original television strategy.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe and APAC original content head Carol Choi sat down with Deadline at the Disney APAC Showcase<\/a> in Hong Kong this week, bullishly revealing the coming years for Disney+ in Asia would see it \u201claser focused on Korea and Japan.\u201d They also addressed whether ESPN+ and local live sports offerings would land on the platform in the region.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen Schrier started his assessment of Asia, his goal was to sharpen the focus of the slate. \u201cWe really evaluated, as we were just making content all over the place and were not really strategically focused,\u201d Schrier tells Deadline.<\/p>\n

\n\tHe quickly put into place a \u201clocal-for-local\u201d strategy and urged a big push for Korean content, which had been in the spotlight globally and, in his words, \u201ctravels really well throughout the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWith his plan now two years in, and Disney+ well-established in Asia, plans are now to bolster the streamer\u2019s unscripted slate, cross-medium adaptations and Japanese live-action shows. Schrier said there will also be more shows in genres such as travel and romance that appeal to female viewers.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cLooking at manga and webtoons in Japan and Korea, and anime, we\u2019ve done really well in Korea with intense male shows,\u201d says Schrier, referring to a swathe of action series like The Worst of Evil, Light Shop and Big Bet. \u201cWe are starting to broaden out into more female-appealing shows, especially the Korean genres that have a more female appeal to them like travel and romance.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHe cited fantasy series The Remarried Empress as an example of this new direction. Based on a webtoon, the romantic fantasy starring Shin Mina\u00a0(Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha),\u00a0Ju Jihoon\u00a0(Light Shop), Lee Jongsuk (Big Mouth) and Lee Seyoung (The Red Sleeve) follows an empress, whose husband shocks her one day when he returns home with his mistress and demands a divorce.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n\tChoi says: \u201cWe\u2019ve definitely expanded some of the genres in shows that we\u2019ll be introducing this year. We\u2019re getting into more fantasy romance-type of genres in Korea, and expanding to more unscripted shows. Not all unscripted shows are [going to be] introduced here, but that\u2019s something that we\u2019re looking and expanding into.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBolstering investment in Japanese live action and animation<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Korea has been the poster child of Disney+\u2019s APAC slate in recent years, Schrier and Choi are staunchly committed to Japan as a major recipient of investment. Locally, they work alongside Gaku Narita, Executive Director for Original Content Production and Development at Disney Japan, and this past June met with numerous producers in the country to assess the lay of the land.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI\u2019m very intrigued about what\u2019s happening in Japan,\u201d says Schrier. \u201cJapanese live-action programming hasn\u2019t really taken off yet. There\u2019s a really great hotbed of creativity there that is untapped, and it\u2019s a good market for us, for Disney+, so we want to grow it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSo how has the content mix shifted from 2024 to this year? Choi points to a special focus on that tricky-to-find Japanese live-action, along with unscripted shows and cross-medium adaptations.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cThe heritage of storytelling is so rich in Japan, and we are also excited to see a lot of cross-medium [adaptations], from games to shows to manga,\u201d she says. \u201cThere\u2019s just a lot of opportunity there. With a lot of established IPs, there\u2019s already fandom. Whether it\u2019s from one medium to another, or a kind of adaptation of manga-based IP, those are a lot of areas that we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhen we ask about Disney+\u2019s other top-priority market in Asia-Pacific, beyond Korea and Japan, Schrier picks Australia, which he calls \u201ca huge market for us,\u201d adding: \u201cThe U.S. content travels very well there.\u201d He highlights Disney+ originals coming out of Australia like The Artful Dodger, which will debut its second season soon. Streaming<\/a> content quotas set to be introduced to the country, and we\u2019ll see if this impacts the plan.<\/p>\n

\n\tSchrier also points out that the Disney+ business is well-complemented by ESPN sports offerings in Australia. \u201cWe have our sports business there,\u201d he adds. \u201cThe ESPN sports business is really strong. We just launched ESPN as part of Disney+, and that\u2019s proven to be a really big success for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tESPN and the future of sports on Disney+<\/p>\n

\n\tAs for whether the ESPN+ sports tile will launch in other territories in APAC besides Australia and New Zealand, Choi responds in the negative. \u201cIt was the most natural to launch first with Australia and New Zealand, because we have some of the best sports rights and the ESPN business there, as well as a large sports fan base that marries with the rights that we have,\u201d adds Choi.<\/p>\n

\n\tThe main challenge about the APAC sports rights market? Choi says that the region\u2019s market is rather \u201cfragmented,\u201d with some soccer leagues working well in a few countries, and baseball being the sport of choice for others. \u201cWe are constantly looking at what\u2019s available and where the market is mature enough to integrate sports into our offering,\u201d says Choi.<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Schrier remains tight-lipped on what future sports rights the streamer is exploring in the region, he hints that there will announcements coming soon. \u201cYou\u2019ll see us opportunistically get into some sports in some local territories,\u201d says Schrier. \u201cWe have that capability in live sports, so on a global basis, we\u2019re looking at sport in an opportunistic way where it can complement what we\u2019re trying.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHulu, now an international tile for Disney+, will also bring a new dynamic to the platform\u2019s content strategy outside the U.S. <\/p>\n

\n\tIger said on Disney\u2019s earnings call today: \u201cAs Hulu replaces the Star tile on Disney+ in markets outside the U.S., we are expanding our international reach by investing strategically in our own originals and working with local studios to license content that brings more high-quality local storytelling to the platform. We are taking a disciplined approach to the markets we are prioritizing, and we have confidence in our long-term strategy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tLeaving the door open for new markets<\/p>\n

\n\tWhile Disney+ has sharpened its focus on Korea, Japan and Australia, Schrier leaves the door open for other markets to come into play in future. It was just three years ago that the streamer was busy commissioning in Southeast Asia, particularly Indonesia, before pulling back on operations<\/a> there. <\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cGreat stories can come from anywhere, and there are also creators in various parts of our region,\u201d says Schrier. \u201cHow do we bring some of that together, whether it\u2019s a story that may have come from another market that could leverage Korean talents, or filming in different locations? We\u2019re constantly monitoring and seeing where we can have the next breakthrough.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChoi adds: \u201cWe have a lot of free-to-air partnerships. That\u2019s another distinction that we are doing really well across the world, which is that we don\u2019t see Disney+ just as a standalone service that comes into each market and takes over.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cWe want to partner with our free-to-air broadcasters and local services, whether it\u2019s co-productions or original content, whether it\u2019s bundling or next-day content that comes off broadcast and goes onto the service. We see our service and other services in each market as complementary, not cannibalistic.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tCiting the example of Korea-Japan series<\/a> Merry Berry Love, just announced at the Disney APAC Showcase, Choi says that Disney is able to connect creators and content partners across the region and beyond. She says that CJ ENM was looking for distribution partners in the region as well as creative talent in Japan to develop the show. Disney+ was able to step in to connect Korean and Japanese teams, given its existing strategic partnership with local broadcaster Nippon TV.<\/p>\n

\n\tParks and merchandise<\/p>\n

\n\tShogun fans may be disappointed to hear that there will be no Shogun ride coming to Disneyland anytime soon, with Schrier saying that Disney\u2019s parks and experiences arm is focused on \u201ckids and family,\u201d with Disney+ focused on providing content that\u2019s \u201ccomplementary to that\u201d for adults.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019ll see a Shogun ride in Disneyland, but there are aspects where we can partner with the parks in a really big way,\u201d says Schrier. \u201cFrom a local content standpoint, our shows do very well. There are kids and family products, so we\u2019re trying to make shows that really are complementary in the adult space.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tHowever, Schrier says that if he could dream up a ride at Disneyland, he would love to make one for Sons of Anarchy. Perhaps he\u2019ll always be an FX guy at heart.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Since his high-profile departure from FX, Disney TV Studios chief Eric Schrier has become actively involved with shaping…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":131509,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[220,4550,81953,146,85,46,9028],"class_list":["post-131508","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-breaking-news","tag-disney","tag-disney-apac-showcase","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-streaming"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131508","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=131508"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/131508\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=131508"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=131508"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=131508"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}