“A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts” becomes a horror animated series from a book

108 Media, the world's content development, financing and rights management studio, has begun pre-production of the award-winning English-language book YA by author Ying Chang Compestine  Banquet for hungry ghosts (A feast for hungry ghosts) for a new anthology animated horror series (8 x 30 ′), which will be produced by North America and Asia for the global market.

The book will be adapted and all episodes will be written by Los Angeles-based showrunner and Tricia Lee with the series directed by famed Taiwanese director Lester Hsi, who conceived Taiwan's biggest box office horror hit in 2020 and subsequent Netflix hit. The Bridge Curse (The curse of the bridge).

“I'm thrilled to be working with the 108 Media team and partnering with Lester to bring these delightfully macabre ghost stories to the screen,” said Lee, who was nominated on Hollywood's 2020 Black List, CAPE List and Young & Hungry List. for his writing. "Each animated story will leave you elated, cold to the bone and hungry for more!"

Set in different eras surrounding Chinese culture around the world, the series consists of eight self-contained stories of "hungry ghosts", arranged like eight courses of a banquet in live appetizer / dessert bookends (unique footage for each language and market) wrapped around its animated main dish, with each different dish representing a horrific horror tale that speaks to our deepest regrets and desires.

Hsi will lead the project as the creative director of the series, applying his skill in blending stunning imagery and special effects in interesting mixed-genre stories to the artistic vision of the show. He will be responsible for visual presentation, animation and effects, as well as directing the creative talents of various Taiwan-based animation studios. The director, who studied multimedia art animation at graduate school, said that Banquet for hungry ghosts (A feast for hungry ghosts) will fulfill his dream of creating a brilliant animated project.

Billed as the first animated horror series of its kind, combining elements of real recipes, animation, live action and historical touchpoints, Banquet for hungry ghosts (A feast for hungry ghosts) will be produced and funded by 108 Media with development and production being conducted jointly by Los Angeles and Taipei towards delivery in early fourth quarter of 2022 in English and Mandarin simultaneously.

108 Media, along with a collective global talent of Asian-American writer-producers, Asian directors and Taiwanese animation companies, aims to keep the series diverse, authentic and creatively balanced for global markets. 108 Media will also co-produce this project with Taipei-based Studio76 and its distribution arm Studio886, which is dedicated to developing original IPs from Taiwan and the wider region, focusing on the production and distribution of content that travels to global markets.

Compestine author, he is an award-winning writer, a sought-after speaker and a cookery show host. She is the author of over 20 books and a leading national authority on Asian culture and cuisine, who is frequently invited to lecture in schools and various organizations around the world.

“Almost everything I write has something to do with food, I believe it's a combination of history, literature and cuisine that allows us to truly understand a culture and its people,” Compestine said. "By using food and ghosts as metaphors, I hope to entice my audience to learn more about Chinese culture and gain a better understanding of life there, both in the past and in the present."

Justin Deimen, President (Production) of 108 Media who identified the material through his longtime friendship with Compestine, said, “This is such a wonderful and vibrant book with a collection of stories so wisely conceived and presented in such a way disturbing with a disturbing sense. of human weaknesses. Working with the creative team of Ying, Tricia, Studio76 and Lester has been a joy and I hope that through this unique hybrid adaptation of high-genre animation, more viewers can get a taste of the chilling and rich stories from around the world. ”

Studio76 and Studio886 will lead the distribution of the series in Greater China along with 108 Media that sells to the rest of the world. CEO Dennis Yang commented: “Banquet for hungry ghosts (A feast for hungry ghosts) combines elements of traditional oriental culture with western audiences and we are extremely happy to work together with the collaboration of a multinational team that demonstrates the strength of Taiwanese talent ”.

The production will be produced by Justin Deimen, Tricia Lee, Ying Compestine, Micah Tadena and Matthew Wilson for 108 Media, and Dennis Yang and Lester Hsi for Studio76.