Asia Digital Entertainment launches ‘Showtime’

Asia Digital Entertainment (Private) Limited held a soft-launch for Sri Lanka’s premier entertainment magazine, ‘Showtime,’ at a press conference.

‘Showtime,’ a bimonthly magazine targeted at entertainment enthusiasts between the ages of 18 and 60, focuses on the local and international movie and music scenes as well as the local television industry.

Part of the Asia Capital Group, Asia Digital Entertainment has produced local and international films and hopes to appreciate and uplift Sri Lanka’s entertainment industry by introducing ‘Showtime’.

Elaborating on the movies that the company has produced, Asia Capital Group’s Chairman Manohan Nanayakkara said: “We are making English movies, which are technologically sophisticated films with international crews and casts. We also work with many young filmmakers on the domestic films we are producing, and are trying to open up new avenues to them with regard to cinema.”

Nanayakkara joined the press conference via Skype.

The informative and thought-provoking interviews and reviews that ‘Showtime’ features take an unbiased, analytical viewpoint of current as well as past film and music productions. It will also discuss future possibilities as far as the entertainment industry is concerned.

“Through the magazine we hope to re-establish the professionalism that was present in the industry during the 1960s and 1970s,” said Chief Operating Officer of Asia Digital Entertainment Lalinka Muthukumarana. “If we can do that, the effort that is put into a production by everyone involved will improve and that will in turn raise the quality of the entertainment industry.”

As much as ‘Showtime’ captures the attention of movie and music enthusiasts, it also engages the interest of members of the film, music and television industries in the country. The articles in the publication are written with the objective of advancing Sri Lanka’s entertainment industry by examining entertainment content that is available locally as well as internationally.

In addition to write-ups about movies, music and television programmes, the magazine also features reports on the talent behind the productions like actors, actresses, producers and directors.

The brainchild of Nanayakkara, Asia Digital Entertainment is a pioneering movie production company that has actively endeavoured to promote the use of digital technology in Sri Lanka’s film industry.

Having already used the technology to produce the critically acclaimed ‘Flying Fish,’ or ‘Igillena Maluwo,’ and several other movies, the company hopes to use digital technology exclusively in the future.

Asia Digital Entertainment hopes to further support the development of the digital movie industry in Sri Lanka with its acquisition of a Red Camera, which can record remarkably high-resolution footage in digital format. The company works chiefly with young Sri Lankan filmmakers and tries to highlight these filmmakers’ perspective of contemporary society in Sri Lanka.

Another one of Asia Digital Entertainment’s innovative goals is to establish a digital distribution system for movies in Sri Lanka, which will decrease distribution costs and make the movie industry more productive.

Asia Digital Entertainment’s parent company, Asia Capital Group, is a financial conglomerate, which is now expanding into a general conglomerate. Asia Securities (Private) Limited is the Group’s stockbroking arm and the leading stockbrokers in the country. Asia Asset Finance Limited is an investment company that deals in loans, leasing and fixed deposit accounts. Asia Wealth Management Company (Private) Limited is an investment banking company.

In addition to these finance-based companies the Group also includes Asia Leisure, which operates three exclusive boutique hotels in the country. The Group is also involved in ventures related to information technology and tea packaging.