Film Company, United Media Asia, Partners Indonesian Media Behemoth

Film financier, producer and distributor United Media Asia—headed by Michy Gustavia, Go-Jek’s former SVP of Acquisitions and Development—has signed an exclusive first-look deal with Indonesian media giant Kompas Gramedia.

Singapore and Indonesia-based United Media Asia is repped by Creative Artists Agency (CAA) and backed by an investment fund, will leverage Kompas Gramedia’s media network, including radio and TV channels and print, led by the Kompas newspaper, to expand local-language South East Asian content production for global distribution.

United Media Asia, launched last year, has added to its production slate The Villa, a local-language horror film centered on Indonesia’s tumultuous colonial past and starring Osric Chau. Garin Nugroho, whose coming-of-age drama Memories of My Body was selected as Indonesia’s submission for consideration in the international feature film Oscar category, will head the creative direction.

United Media Asia is also at work on The Betrayal, the first part of an action-revenge trilogy to be shot in Bali and Japan. Both films are scheduled for a 2020 theatrical release.

“We are excited to be working alongside global companies with the scale and influence of Kompas Gramedia and CAA. With more than 30 years of combined industry experience, UMA’s mission is to empower local creatives and creators, by providing them with the means to tell their stories at a world-class level and with the ongoing support of CAA, share them with the region and the world,” UMA founder and CEO Michy Gustavia said in a statement.

CAA brokered the deal with Kompas Gramedia on behalf of United Media Asia.