Masked Singer creator seals Asian co-development pact

Wonwoo Park, the creator of hit format The Masked Singer, has forged a co-development partnership with Japan’s Asahi Broadcasting Corporation and incubator Empire of Arkadia (EOA) for music entertainment format ‘100’. 

The partnership was conceived by Asia-based EOA, founded by former Endemol Shine APAC and The Story Lab exec Fotini Paraskakis. It will see Park’s label dI turn, ABC Japan and EOA turbo-charge the format to tap into global demand for prime-time music entertainment shows. 

100 features innovative interactive gameplay combined with structural twists, typical of North Asian formats with production of localised versions already underway in Japan and Korea, for ABC on 8 November and in Korea in February next year. 

2022-founded EOA will distribute the format at the inaugural Mip London in February 2025. 

The partnership brings together formats veterans by EOA, this ground-breaking partnership is led by format veterans Park, ABC Japan’s Satoshi Shiba, former producer of Japanese breakout hit In The Middle of Nowhere, and Paraskakis, international format specialist and co-creator of recent reality game show format Koso Koso. 

Shiba said: “This is our biggest attempt at format co-development in the international arena. We have great partners in dI turn and EOA, and by taking a fresh, more strategic creative approach, we believe we have a format that has the potential to reach millions of viewers around the world. We are really thrilled to be launching this IP, it’s a fantastic, fun show, pure entertainment.” 

Park said: “Seeing an idea come to life is always exciting. We started out with an original premise from Korea, added creative strategies from Japan, plus ideas that resonate globally, building all this into a known international structure and we are absolutely delighted with the final result.  

“We hope ‘100’ will unite generations, transcend language barriers and serve as another breakthrough for Asian creativity on the global stage.” 

Paraskakis said: “Being able to originate and scale a format internationally with two of the hottest creative industries in the world is an extremely exciting proposition and a tough one to beat.”