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Welcome to Global Breakouts, Deadline’s fortnightly strand in which we shine a spotlight on the TV shows and films making noise in their local territories. The industry is as globalized as it’s ever been, but breakout hits are appearing in pockets of the world all the time and it can be hard to keep track. So we’re going to do the hard work for you.

Today’s pick, Gangnam Project, comes to you from Canada and the UK, where it airs on CBC and the BBC. Gangnam Project taps into universal themes of cultural belonging. And in a kids content market changing rapidly, it is a sign of the the times that the Canadian and British broadcasters have tapped into the phenomenon that is K-pop.

Name: Gangnam Project

Country: Canada, UK

Network: CBC, Cbbc

Producer: Pillango Productions, Aircraft Pictures

International sales: Federation Kids & Family

For fans of: Xo,...

A group of Filipino prisoners who just want to dance are the central characters in a new musical. Romeo Candido‘s Prison Dancer, which is beginning a limited run at Ottawa’s National Arts Centre, is based on a viral YouTube video that has picked up nearly 60 million views since 2007.

Prison Dancer is co-created by Candido and Carmen Leilani De Jesus and directed by Nina Lee Aquino. The musical’s star, Julio Fuentes, is also credited as its choreographer. According to CBC News, the new show is the first musical fully created by a group of Filipino-Canadians.

“I thought it was a no-brainer — I thought other people were going to write a musical about this,” Candido told CBC News. “I just thought it was ripe for storytelling.”

The “no-brainer” in question is a timeless viral video that was first uploaded by creator bryanfgarcia. The video handed the spotlight to 1,500 inmates...

Exclusive: Canadian prodcos Pillango Productions and Aircraft Pictures have just wrapped Gangnam Project, a new tween dramedy series set in the world of K-pop, with co-commissioning broadcasters CBC Kids and Cbbc.

The 10×30’ series, which was shot in Toronto and South Korea, is a coming-of-age story, inspired by Pillango Productions producer Sarah Haasz’s personal journey. Set in Korea, Gangnam Project tells the story of Hannah Shin (Julia Kim Caldwell) a spirited Canadian/Korean teen with dreams of becoming a K-pop star and connecting with her Korean heritage. One summer, she accepts a job as an English tutor and flies to South Korea to work at an elite K-pop training school and ends up getting much more than she bargained for. Hannah is tasked with tutoring one of the school’s top students Chan-Mi, who is proving a little challenging.

In a bid to win her and the other students over,...

Producers on the 14 projects include Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo and acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle.

International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM) has unveiled the 14 projects that have been selected for this year’s edition of the IFFAM Project Market (IPM).

Producers on the projects include Singaporean filmmaker Eric Khoo, who is presenting Huang Junxiang’s creature feature Prisoners Of The Pacific; acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle, who is reteaming with Jenny Suen on comedy Peaches; and Camille Gatin (The Girl With All The Gifts), who is producing Wang Haolu’s adaptation of Alastair Reynolds’ short story Fellow Travellers.

Around one quarter of...

The Iffam Project Market (Ipm) will return digitally this December for a fifth edition during the International Film Festival & Awards Macao (December 3-8) with projects produced by Cate Blanchett, Eric Khoo and Camille Gatin. Scroll down for lineup.

According to organizers, a total of 14 projects will comprise the “intensive program of presentations and meetings conducted digitally with members of the global industry from December 3rd – 5th”. The projects will be eligible for four cash awards (listed below).

Projects include acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle’s collaboration with director Jenny Suen on Cate Blanchett-produced comedy Peaches; Eric Khoo-produced Singaporean creature feature Prisoners Of The Pacific; sci-fi Fellow Travellers from The Girl With All The Gifts producer Camille Gatin; and The Dragon Returns, in which Bruce Lee is brought back from his staged death and retirement to save his old friend Chuck Norris from imprisonment.

There has been no recent word from Macao...

Almost five years ago, the world fell in love with a completely unexpected phenomenon -- Filipino dancers performing Michael Jackson's "Thriller" as part of their rehabilitation therapy. And now, like every great trend, it's returned -- but this time, there's lyrics, there's choreography and there's the potential for much, much more.

"Prison Dancer", launching in March 2012, is a web series that takes its inspiration from those very same prisoners that racked up almost 50 million views on YouTube. Created by Toronto-based director and writer Romeo Candido, along with his partner Carmen De Jesus and producer Ana Serrano, "Prison Dancer" will be a 12-part web series, with the long-term plan landing it on the stage for a live performance. But first, they have to build up the love.

"We want it to be interactive -- we want audiences to really understand the songs, and the characters," explains Serrano. "All episodes will...