Jessie Mei Li, Karena Lam, Justin Chien & Toby Stephens Among International Cast Set For PCCW, SK Global Premium Series ‘The Season'
The English-language series features an ensemble cast of international talent including Jessie Mei Li (Shadow And Bone), award-winning Hong Kong actress Karena Lam, Justin Chien (The Brothers Sun), Yvonne Chapman (Avatar: The Last Airbender), Celina Jade (Wolf Warrior 2) and Toby Stephens (Percy Jackson And The Olympians).
More from Deadline
Taiwan Showcases New Films & Series At Filmart, With Top Talent In Attendance
CreAsia Studio & Vision+ Unveil 'My Chef In Crime' Series For Indonesia - Filmart
UK & China Seek Co-Pro Opportunities; BBC Studios Sets 'Walking With Dinosaurs' iQiyi Streaming Launch For China - Filmart
Chilean director Marialy Rivas (The Jetty) serves as the show's lead director and executive producer. Agatha Lo will executive produce for PCCW Media and Chloe Dan, Matt Aragachi and Dylan Tarason for SK Global, with Aaron Shershow (Expats) as producer. Production is expected to start in Hong Kong soon.
Yalun Tu is known for writing and producing credits on NCIS: Hawaii and Wu Assassins, as well as My Undead Yokai Girlfriend for Prime Video Japan.
The cast is rounded out by Koki, winner of the Rising Star award at this year's Asian Film Awards, as well as Anson Lo of Mirror and Marf Yau from Collar, both bands managed by PCCW group, as well as hosts and actors Thor Lok and Mishy Lee.
The six-part show, unveiled at Hong Kong Filmart today, follows a close-knit group of friends gathering for a summer of sun-drenched luxury as Hong Kong's boating season begins. But what starts as a glamorous escape soon spirals into a web of deception, power struggles and life-altering consequences.
PCCW's regional streaming service Viu, available in 16 territories in Southeast Asia, Middle East and South Africa, will stream the series with additional distribution details to be announced.
Janice Lee, Managing Director, PCCW Media Group and Viu CEO, said: 'We believe The Season is a story that will connect with audiences everywhere through the characters' personal journeys, relationships and conflicts at times. We hope that the show, set against the backdrop of Hong Kong, will give an added layer of energy and vibrancy to the series and provide a window into Hong Kong's unique culture, international spirit and iconic scenes that is authentic.'
Los Angeles-based SK Global has produced romantic comedies Anyone But You and Crazy Rich Asians, crime drama The Place Beyond The Pines, and Asia-set drama series Thai Cave Rescue and Delhi Crime.
Best of Deadline
James Mangold's 'A Complete Unknown': Everything We Know About The Bob Dylan Biopic So Far
2025-26 Awards Season Calendar: Dates For Tonys, Emmys, Oscars & More
2025 TV Cancellations: Photo Gallery
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Boston Globe
‘Task,' the new series from ‘Mare of Easttown' creator Brad Ingelsby, looks like it'll hit similar themes
We can assume Ruffalo will earn just as much scrutiny for his accent work as Kate Winslet did for her time on 'Mare.' (Though we should give her some extra credit for starting from an English accent.) Advertisement 'Mare' was a buzzy hit when it aired, earning a slew of Emmy nominations, plus wins for Winslet as the lead, Evan Peters as her partner, and Mass. native Advertisement You can decide for yourself whether 'Task' seems likely to replicate that success when it premieres at 9 p.m. on Sept. 7 on HBO. Lisa Weidenfeld is an arts editor at the Globe. Lisa Weidenfeld can be reached at
3 hours ago
How to spot a fake Labubu: Pop Mart's advice for getting the real deal
Can you tell the difference between a Labubu and its imposter, the Lafufu? This is the question "Good Morning America" posed last month when we tracked down one of each of the plush toys, asked collectors to weigh in and got Pop Mart's thoughts on the matter. Keep reading to find what we learned. Labubu vs. Lafufu: What are they? Labubus are plush toys on keychains that are based on characters created by Hong Kong-born Belgian artist Kasing Lung. They typically feature oversized eyes, tall rabbit-like ears, and serrated, toothy grins. They have fur-covered heads and bodies but bare feet and hands. Chinese brand Pop Mart picked up the characters and transformed them into a collectible series in 2019, leading to their current global popularity. Lafufus are counterfeit versions of Labubus that have proliferated in the wake of the original's popularity, with everyone from street vendors to Facebook sellers either selling them outright as fakes or attempting to pass them off as originals in order to profit off the scarcity of the original. Why are Labubus so popular? "GMA" got in touch with Pop Mart to inquire on the toys' popularity and why it believes Labubus have been such a sensation. While celebrity fans of the plush "always help drive awareness," a company representative said, "Pop Mart's sales momentum is primarily rooted in sustained fan engagement and global expansion." "Our growth has been powered by a passionate collector base, organic creator content and consistent demand across a wide range of IPs -- from SKULLPANDA and Peach Riot to Molly and CRYBABY," they said. "These cultural moments are great visibility boosters and part of a much larger fandom story." For more insight, "GMA" asked Labubu collector and enthusiast Ensito to weigh in and found his explanation to be a combination of cuteness and exclusivity. "It's just a little bit of a high, like, trying to like get yourself in a position where you can get that exclusive thing that everybody wants," Ensito explained. "And let's face it, when [Blackpink's] Lisa wore them on her purse, obviously all of us were like, 'What?! Lisa's wearing them?!' Like, why not?" He added, "I collect designer bags as well. So for me, it was kind of like, 'What can I put on my bag to be, like, really cute and trendy?'" Spotting the differences Naturally, when something becomes this viral and hard to find, the copycats aren't far behind. "GMA" asked Pop Mart how to ensure you're getting a real Labubu while shopping, and the company reiterated the importance of purchasing directly through Pop Mart or going through a verified retailer to avoid buying a counterfeit product. The list of authenticated vendors is a fairly short one: Pop Mart retail stores, the Pop Mart app, Robo Shops, the store's official TikTok Shop, verified third-party retailers like Amazon's official Pop Mart storefront and official Pop Mart booths at events like San Diego Comic-Con. "This is true for all character collections," the representative added, "whether it's Labubu, SKULLPANDA or seasonal drops." If you're still planning to shop outside of one of these retailers, however, they offered some tips. "[Our] figures are renowned for their clean sculpting and meticulous paint application," the representative said, which means any sloppy or chipping paint on the eyes, teeth or nose can be an easy red flag to spot. Labubus will also come with official branding and packaging, and each figure comes with Pop Mart tags and artist attribution, depending on the series. The Lafufu "GMA" acquired, for example, was easy to spot as counterfeit because of glaring spelling mistakes on the top tag. The stitching on that Lafufu was also noticeably lower quality than that of the Labubu, as you can see in the uneven edges, and it did not have the correct number of teeth, which is exactly nine. As with this particular Lafufu, the mistakes can be obvious, and -- to some collectors -- even charming. Bizarre or warped faces, misshapen bodies and other differentiating factors can be funny, with many Labubu collectors opting to nab the more standout fakes as part of their larger collection. Many Lafufus, though, are nearly indistinguishable from their authentic counterparts. One common scam, for example, involves counterfeiters acquiring authentic Labubu boxes but replacing the toy inside with a Lafufu before carefully resealing the flap and attempting to pass it off as authentic. Pop Mart said it has tried to counteract measures like these and began stepping up security features in its 2024 releases, including an engraved Pop Mart tag and the artist name on the figure's foot, as well as QR code on the figure's tag linking to the official Pop Mart website for verification, where you can type in your confirmation number to authenticate the toy. By contrast, Lafufus or other counterfeit products will likely not include these details. When asked for any final thoughts on spotting the difference between Labubus and Lafufus, Pop Mart reiterated, "We encourage fans to shop directly from Pop Mart and official retail partners to guarantee safety and product authenticity."
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
'We had too much drama' - meet the Real Housewives of London
The Real Housewives franchise has spread around the world, with viewers lapping up the partying and catfighting of wealthy socialites in locations from Orange County to Sydney to Nairobi. But there hasn't been a series based in London - until now. "Go back to Paddington." On its own, it sounds harmless enough, more like directions than an insult. But for Belgravia's gilded set, being told to leave the rarefied streets and return to a supposedly less desirable part of the English capital cuts deep. It's Amanda Cronin, a former model and now skincare founder, who makes the remark in a clip from The Real Housewives of London. For Cronin and her five co-stars - Juliet Angus, Karen Loderick-Peace, Juliet Mayhew, Panthea Parker, and Nessie Welschinger - it's just one of the many dramatic moments as the international franchise arrives in the city. Speaking in a West End hotel, Cronin laughs about how quickly the insult went viral and stands by the fact that her co-star Angus, an American socialite who also appeared in Ladies of London, should be banished from SW3. Cronin says she "didn't hesitate" when she was asked to be on the show. "It's just a massive opportunity and such a blessing - to be a housewife is huge so I grabbed it and ran with it." Parker, an Iranian-born north London socialite, admits she had her doubts about joining, but didn't want to live with the regret of turning down such a big franchise. And the brand really is huge - there have been 11 US editions and more than 30 international ones. The London version's cast claim their exploits put the rest in the shade, with producers cutting the cameras and telling the women to dial down the drama at times. 'Too much drama' Angus says producers of other reality shows often bemoan that everyone is getting on and there isn't enough drama. "But that did not happen once" on this series, she says. Cronin says: "The producers came to my room one day and said 'You're too strong, your blows are too low and there was too much drama'." Parker adds that producers told her they were doing her a favour by cutting out parts of an argument in the first episode. "I don't think anyone has seen anything like this before," says Welschinger, an award-winning cake designer whose creations have graced Buckingham Palace. Perhaps the reason for so much friction is the fact that the group of six women weren't friends before the show. They knew of each other, but the links are tenuous - some share a dentist, others mingled in the same circles, while a few attended similar exclusive soirées in the capital. Emotions certainly did run high when they came together for the show, and many of the women admit to having regrets about saying certain things, or feel embarrassed about how they acted when the cameras were rolling. But Loderick-Peace, a Housewives veteran from Jersey UK and Cheshire, says she doesn't dwell on her mistakes. "You cannot live your life looking in the rear view mirror, you're going to stress yourself out. You just have to own it and life is about making mistakes, rising up, brushing yourself off and starting all over again." The group grew closer "because we spend so much time together filming", she adds. "Filming feels like a year, so you get to know each other on another level. We even got to know each other better than how we know some of our closest friends." Before stepping in front of the cameras, the London housewives sought advice from women who had previously been in their positions. Mayhew, an Australian-born former Miss Galaxy Universe, jokes that Taleen Marie from the Dubai show advised her to take lots of Valium. Welschinger says Lisa Barlow from Salt Lake City told her to "enjoy every second because a lot of women want this but not everyone can get it". Loderick-Peace adds that several existing housewives told her the most important thing was to "just be yourself" - and all the London cast insist they have put their authentic selves on screen. "You can't curate a persona because audiences realise that," she explains. Most of the housewives are no strangers to reality TV, and as a result tend to forget the cameras are rolling after a while. But that's not always the case for their families. We meet spouses and children, some of whom are more enthusiastic than others about being tangentially pulled into the Real Housewives vortex. "I sat down and discussed the pros and cons with my family, and after three weeks everyone said yes," Parker says. Except one, that is. "My eldest son didn't want to be in it at all and I begged him to be on a FaceTime so he did. Then he was regretting it, but I said he was giving himself too much importance and it was probably only going to be two seconds." Cronin and Loderick-Peace's children chose not to appear, but Welschinger says her whole family, particularly her husband, enjoyed the experience. "I think it was because the production team made you feel safe and they know what they're doing so you can trust the process." The husbands, usually dressed in suits as they leave for work or take business calls, appear fleetingly in the first episode. For some of the housewives, their lifestyle is made entirely possible through the salaries of their spouses. Loderick-Peace, whose husband is the former chairman and owner of West Bromwich Albion football club, says that's not the full picture. "Behind every successful man there's a strong woman and men can't do it on their own," she says. Parker reveals her mother-in-law wanted her son to marry a woman who also worked. "My husband said, 'Why would I do that if I have a woman that's going to be making my home amazing, treating me like a king and making sure there's no stress when I come back from work?'" she says. Some critics claim the Real Housewives franchise is inherently anti-feminist - an exercise in pitting women against each other for entertainment. But the cast push back on that narrative. As well as the heightened drama we see on screen, the friendships, mentoring and mutual support have emerged, they say, and continued after the cameras stopped rolling. The Real Housewives of London is available to watch on Hayu from 18 August. Real Housewives star felt pressure of representation Would-be reality TV contestants 'not looking real' Meeting the Real Housewives of Lagos
