108 Media, a Singapore-based content distribution and development company with offices in Toronto, Japan and Europe, has picked up international sales rights to docuseries “Fearless: Rise of the Johor Southern Tigers.” The series spotlights Johor Darul Ta’zim FC (JDT), a soccer team, whose victories have helped build a community, a society, a state and a nation.
“Fearless” is co-directed by Leon Tan (producer of “War of the Worlds: Goliath”) and Tony Pietra Arjuna. It is produced by Kuala Lumpur-based Supernova Media, and comprises of 5 x 22-minute episodes, with English language narration and subtitles.
Filmed during the 2019-20 season, “Fearless” tracks the personalities of the JDT team, their superfans known as the “Boys of Straits,” boardroom politics, lifts the lid on the team’s new Sultan Ibrahim Stadium, and examines the team’s progressive youth academy program.
“Some ridiculed our dreams but this exclusive, behind the scenes series shows what Johor Darul Ta’zim FC is really all about and how we have become a force to be reckoned with. ‘Fearless’ features never-before-seen footage of how the Southern Tigers have become an empire, the struggles and success, how the club is managed away from the public eye and the drive behind our endless pursuit for success, on and off the pitch,” said HRH Major General Tunku Ismail Ibni Sultan Ibrahim, Crown Prince of Johor. The Crown Prince, who has backed the team for 8 years, is also interviewed for the series.
“We are immensely impressed with the scale of ‘Fearless’s’ production values, its inspirational, narrative value surrounding the sport and its ability to unite an entire region,” said Abhi Rastogi, CEO of 108 Media.
The company pitches itself as operating “a fully integrated cross-border and cross-cultural media and entertainment ecosystem, spanning financing and investment, production and development, branded entertainment, network sales, and content licensing business divisions.” It has previously been involved with faith-based sports drama “100 Yards”; “Eerie,” by cult Filipino director Mikhail Red; and horror-action film “Best Served Cold.”