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DISTINGUISHED DECADE
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” turns 10 at London’s Palace Theatre today, July 30, cementing its place as the longest-running play in modern West End history to be performed as a two-part theatrical experience.
Produced by Sonia Friedman Productions, Colin Callender and Harry Potter Theatrical Productions, the production has been seen by more than 2.5 million people at the Palace Theatre since opening in 2016 – over 300,000 of them first-time theatregoers. Across 1,762 combined performances of Part 1 and Part 2, the show has logged more than 8,300 hours on stage, with 276 cast members having appeared in the production and 45 making their professional debut.
Globally, the play has reached more than 14 million people across five current productions in London, New York, Tokyo, the Netherlands and a North American tour, and has collected a record 60 major awards, including nine Laurence Olivier Awards — the highest total ever awarded to a play – and six Tony Awards. Playwright Jack Thorne said: “Creating ‘Harry Potter and the Cursed Child’ has been a truly wonderful experience, and we are all delighted to be celebrating 10 years in the West End.” The original two-part production runs at the Palace Theatre until Sept. 20. A reimagined one-part version begins Oct. 9.
ARTIFICIAL AMBITION
Yash Raj Films and Google will co-host an AI filmmaking workshop for India’s creative and production community on Aug. 4 at YRF Studios in Mumbai, giving participants hands-on training with Flow, Google’s AI creative studio. Among the first events to place Google’s Flow team inside a major international studio environment, the session will focus on integrating AI tools into existing production workflows while keeping creative control with filmmakers. Optional deep-dive modules and networking with Google’s AI engineering and product teams are also on offer. Akshaye Widhani, CEO of Yash Raj Films, said: “We’re choosing to have that conversation early and on our terms, in the room with the people building this technology.” Dr. Arathi Sethumadhavan, director, user experience research, technology & society, Google, said: “We are already seeing incredible momentum with Google Flow in India.”
SARAWAK SPOTLIGHT
KC Global Media Asia has unveiled “AXN Ultimate Challenge: Sarawak,” a four-episode adventure competition series produced in partnership with AXN Asia and the Sarawak Tourism Board. Each 15-minute episode follows two content creator teams – Khenji Saito and Adam Samuel, and Estelle Fly and Saffron Sharpe – competing in challenges drawn from Sarawak’s landscapes and culture, with local figures including Chef Achang Libat and Blowpipe Masters Cikgu Nyoging and Alfa lending authenticity to the series. The show is hosted by Mark O’Dea and produced by KCGM Studios. It premieres on the AXN Asia YouTube channel July 31, followed by the AXN Taiwan YouTube channel on Aug. 4, and begins its linear run on AXN East Asia, AXN Singapore and AXN China on Aug. 4. George Chien, KC Global Media’s co-founder, president and CEO, said: “We look forward to audiences across the world becoming inspired to experience Sarawak for themselves.”
