PT Tarantella Pictures Megah · Jakarta, Indonesia
Emotionally driven stories for the world's screens. An Indonesian film and content studio producing mainstream theatrical films, social-impact features and pioneering short-form content — rooted in local truth, built to travel.
Featured production · In cinemas 27 May 2026
A social-impact feature about domestic violence, resilience, and the courage to break silence. The film follows a woman's journey from silence to strength, told with emotional honesty and cinematic power.
Supported by KOWANI (National Women's Congress of Indonesia) and Komnas Perempuan (National Commission on Violence Against Women) as cultural and social partners.
Next feature · In pre-production
Working title: Little Brother · Drama, Family
An Indonesian remake of the beloved Korean drama 안녕, 형아 (Hello, Brother) — a story of two brothers, one impossible wish, and the kind of love that shows up instead of speaking up.
Seven-year-old Kresna sees the world through video games and wayang shadow puppets, and his favourite target is his older brother Bima — until Bima collapses and is diagnosed with cancer. Unable to comprehend mortality, Kresna teams up with Robin, a friend he meets on the hospital ward, and sets off on a magical quest to find the mythical monkey warrior Hanoman and his legendary healing water.
Love isn't always spoken — sometimes it's shown through presence, sacrifice, and the quiet act of staying by someone's side.
With Putri Fiyonda as Bu Justika and Agung Karmaloqy as Om Demian.
About the company
PT Tarantella Pictures Megah is a Jakarta-based film and content production company developing emotionally powerful stories across feature films, television and digital formats — released across Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and India, and increasingly developed as international co-productions.
Stories centred on women's rights, justice and contemporary Southeast Asian realities — including Suamiku Lukaku.
A multi-picture slate of Indonesian remakes of proven Korean box office titles, in development with Indonesian and international partners.
Next-generation short-form storytelling for digital platforms, building on the award recognition of Pura-Pura Nikah. See Tarantella Ai Studio →
The founder
Director · Producer · Storyteller
Indian-born and Indonesia-based, Sharad Sharan is one of Southeast Asia's most prolific filmmakers. Trained in the United States and formerly of Bollywood, he has shaped over 120,000 minutes of television programming and produced and directed four box office record films across the region.
As Founder and President Director of PT Tarantella Pictures Megah, he continues to develop and direct a slate of theatrical features, digital originals and international co-productions.
Filmography
A selection of produced, directed and co-produced titles.
Awards & recognition
Pura-Pura Nikah won the Gold Award for Best Micro-Drama at the 6th ContentAsia Awards in Taipei — selected from 510 entries across 28 categories, judged by 99 industry juries from across Asia. It was the inaugural winner of the category, defeating entries from Korea, Japan and Thailand.
Current slate
Social-impact drama. In Indonesian cinemas 27 May 2026, with Sinemart, Cinema XXI and TIX ID.
Indonesian adaptation of the Korean box-office franchise — comedy-action, part of the Indonesia–Korea co-production slate.
A multi-picture slate of Indonesian adaptations of proven Korean titles, positioning Indonesia as a hub for Asia–Korea co-production.
Korean remake. Director and producer, 2026–27.
Next-generation short-form for digital platforms, produced through Tarantella Ai Studio →
A new theatrical feature continuing the focus on women's stories and contemporary Indonesian social realities.
Partnerships & co-productions
Director's statement
Cinema should do more than entertain. It should disturb where silence has become normal. It should heal where pain has become inherited.
Whether I am working in a 90-minute feature or a 90-second micro-drama, I am searching for the same thing: truth. Truth in the performance, truth in the human situation, truth in what the story asks of the person watching it.
Every culture I have worked in has taught me the same thing — the deepest human stories cross every border. A mother's fear, a woman's dignity, a family's fracture, a person's decision to speak when silence felt safer. These are not local stories. They are universal ones told in local voices.
This industry is changing faster than anyone predicted. What does not change is the fundamental human need for stories that feel real, that move us, and that stay with us. That is what we are building here. Every project. Every format. Every time.
Sharad Sharan · President Director
Production · Co-production · Press
We welcome enquiries from producers, distributors, co-production partners, investors, festivals and press.
sharad@tarantellapictures.com Send an enquiryTarantella Ai Studio · Jakarta · Vertical Micro-Drama
We build vertical micro-drama at series scale — locked world bibles, locked character anchors, and finished 9:16 episodes. Seven series across fantasy, sci-fi, gothic and contemporary romance, all looking for a platform.
Produced, not previs
The slate
Every title is written, shot-listed, storyboarded and produced against a locked bible — not decks for an idea, but decks for a running pipeline.
Fantasy romance · Dragon-shifter
Fantasy romance · Mermaid mythology
Fantasy romance · Cursed emperor
Sci-fi romance · Alien prince
Gothic romance · Immortal protector
Fantasy romance · Reincarnation revenge
Contemporary romance · Secret child
Series 01 · Episodes 1–5 produced
She was offered as a sacrifice. She woke up as a bloodline the world was told no longer existed.
On the night she is offered as the Dragon's bride, orphan servant Lyra Ashborn survives the unsurvivable — and awakens a bloodline the Empire thought it had erased. Beneath the mountain, an entire hidden kingdom of dragons has waited centuries for their true Queen to return.
The cast · Four leads, one triangle
19, servant and sacrifice. Believes her parents are dead and her life is worthless — until the night proves both wrong.
The Masked Warrior — and the Dragon himself. Has protected Lyra in secret for years and finally reveals both faces at once.
26, charismatic royal offering rescue and safety — unharmed by dragon fire, and marked by a symbol he doesn't want Lyra to see.
Has hunted Lyra for twenty years and claims her outright as "my Queen" — the season's real antagonist, patient and ancient.
Episodes 1–5 · every one ends on a cliff
Offered as the Dragon's bride, Lyra survives the unsurvivable — and awakens a bloodline the world was told no longer existed.
Episode cliffThe Dragon brands a crest into her palm and tells her the first lie of her life was about her own parents — cut to black on her scream.
Lyra's awakened Dragon Mark turns her own execution into a massacre of her executioners — and the masked warrior reveals he was never human at all.
Episode cliffPrince Darius leaps down from his horse, hand raised: “STOP! Nobody attacks her.” Smash cut to black.
A prince's cloak and a warrior's warning pull Lyra in two directions — until a witch who has hunted her for twenty years arrives to claim her by a title she's never heard.
Episode cliffLyra touches the chained Dragon anyway — and her eyes ignite pure gold. Smash cut to black.
Ten thousand soldiers and dragon fire chase Lyra and Kael through an ancient gate into a kingdom that has been waiting, Kael says, for its Queen.
Episode cliffPrince Darius rides in through the dragon fire, completely unharmed, and smiles. “Going somewhere?”
Darius reveals a truth about Lyra's mother that shatters her trust in Kael in a single line — and a roar echoes from somewhere far beneath the kingdom.
Episode cliffDeep in the dark, ancient eyes slowly open. Hold on the stare — closing the first five-episode arc.
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Visual style
Blood-moon crimson and black volcanic rock as the baseline; molten-gold light whenever the Dragon bloodline is active; crystal-blue the instant the story enters the hidden kingdom; black-violet dread whenever the Shadow Witch is near.
Series 02 · Episodes 1–3 produced
One rescue. One broken law. One pearl that's running out of magic.
On a storm-wrecked night, Naia — the Sea King's daughter — breaks her people's oldest law to save a drowning human. She can't stay away from him after, even though the Tide Pearl that lets her walk on land is cracking a little more, every single time.
The cast · Two worlds, one romance
19, the Sea King's daughter. Breaks her people's oldest law the night she saves a drowning human — and can't make herself stop going back.
Lighthouse keeper's son. Spends weeks searching every shore for the girl who pulled him from the sea, certain she was real.
Merman noble, calculating and precise. Already suspects Naia's secret — and hasn't decided what to do with it yet.
Sea King of Thalassar. Lost his sister to this exact law once. Terrified of losing his daughter the same way.
Episodes 1–3 · the pearl cracks a little deeper each time
A storm wrecks Kai's fishing boat. Naia breaks her people's oldest law to save a drowning human — and can't make herself stay away from him afterward.
Episode cliffKai turns and sees her in the open water. Neither moves. She's not hiding this time. Fade out — now what?
Kai searches obsessively for the sea girl who saved him. Thalassar's sentinels detect a magic breach near the human shore — and Kestrel pays Naia a suspicious visit.
Episode cliffHer tail splits into legs for the first time. The pearl spiders with a new, deeper crack. Her voice flickers and goes quiet for one terrifying second.
Naia meets Kai on land in human form for the first time. King Thorne detects the matching royal signature and confronts her, invoking her exiled aunt's fate.
Episode cliff“It turned her to foam before sunrise. I will not lose you the same way. Tell me his name.” Fade out.
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Visual style
Teal-and-gold as the baseline, with bioluminescent aqua and violet whenever the Tide Pearl is active, and volumetric sea-mist haze across every shoreline scene. Warm lantern-lit shores where Kai lives; cool coral-and-gold halls where Naia's family rules.
Series 03 · Episode 1 produced
Every unworthy bride has burned. The flame knelt to her.
When her stepsister bribes her way out of marrying the Phoenix Emperor — a union that has burned every unworthy bride before her — healer Wren Sorrell is shoved into the fire ritual in her place, expecting to die. Instead, the flame kneels to her.
The cast · Five locked anchors
Lead. A healer sent into the fire ritual in her stepsister's place — and the first bride the flame refuses to burn. An ember-crescent birthmark flares on her wrist.
Lead. The Phoenix Emperor. Molten-gold eyes, loose embers that bend toward Wren across a room — and a court that has never seen him step in front of anyone.
Rival stepsister. Bribed the priests to walk free of the marriage and sent Wren in her place — then denounced her as a witch to the entire palace.
Antagonist. Reads the mark as prophecy, not blessing: “The Ember Twin ends a throne. It doesn't save one.” Taps a silver rod once before he gives an order.
Palace handmaiden. An anchor built and locked ahead of the episodes she appears in, so the look holds when the season reaches her.
Episode 1 · “The Bride Who Wasn't Chosen” · six beats
Two palace guards drag Wren across stone in a ceremonial shroud. Delphine falls into step beside her, twisting her ring: “Burn quietly, sister.”
Forced to her knees before a ring of ceremonial flame. The fire arcs at her like a living thing — then curls gently around her fingers. The gallery gasps.
Ashrael descends the dais and pulls back her veil himself. “No one has ever knelt in that fire and stood back up.” The birthmark glows brighter under his touch.
Vane cuts through the hall: “That mark is scripture, not blessing.” Guards close in — and the Emperor steps between them and her.
In a private antechamber Wren admits her stepsister bought her way out. “And instead the fire chose you.” Then the door bangs open — “She's a witch!”
Guards seize Wren's arms. Ashrael's embers detonate into a wall of fire that forces the Inquisitor back a full step.
Episode cliffThe Emperor has just declared open war on his own court, in front of the entire palace, for a woman he met minutes ago.
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The world
Episode 1 plays entirely across the Ember Rite Chamber — throne dais and ritual flame — and the private antechamber beyond it. Both were built and locked as reference anchors alongside the cast, so every one of the twenty-six setups is generated against the same room and the same faces.
The mark on Wren's wrist is the season's engine. The court reads it as the Ember Twin — the omen that ends a throne. The Emperor reads it as the first thing his fire has ever refused to destroy.
In production
The same pipeline, pointed at four different genres — a dying star, a two-hundred-year secret, a five-hundred-year grudge, and a five-year silence. Each has Episode 1 scripted, storyboarded and produced.
Sci-fi romance · 60-episode season
Seven years after she survived a blackout crash that should have killed her, mechanic's fiancée Mira Vance is the one person Earth's most buried government program has quietly watched ever since — and the night a Prince from a dying world comes to collect her, she learns the government isn't the only one counting down the clock. Neither is he.
Ep 1 Four Minutes of Dark · Ep 2 The File That Never Closed · Ep 3 The Prince Who Found Her · Ep 4 The Covenant's Shadow · Ep 5 The Line He Crosses
Episode 1 cliffA sleek black craft rises out of the bay and turns, deliberately, toward town — and the silver mark on Mira's forearm refuses to fade this time.
CastMira Vance · Ethan Reyes · Kael Vesh · Envoy Soran · Director Elena Vass · Agent Dale Price · The Hollow Covenant
Gothic romance · Immortal protector
When an impossible rescue on a dark street turns out to be the same secret her dying grandmother has guarded for sixty years, Iris Calloway learns her family has had a protector for six generations — an immortal who needs her blood to survive, and who has never once let himself be seen. The first time she gives it to him on purpose, something in him starts to change.
Ep 1 The First Taste
Episode 1 cliffThe first deliberate feeding just made Silas measurably human — and the one person whose entire purpose is to stop that is already at the gate with a deadline in her hand.
CastIris Calloway · Silas · Margaret Calloway · Lady Rosalind Vesh
Fantasy romance · Reincarnation revenge
For five hundred years the immortal Snake Queen Seraya has waited for the reincarnation of the prince who once vowed eternal love to her — then murdered her family and shattered her kingdom. When a dying warrior is carried into her court bearing his birthmark, she gets her chance for revenge. She just has to marry him first.
Ep 1 The Man Who Came Back
Episode 1 cliffShe isn't just planning revenge any more — she has declared it to the entire court, and Arka has no idea he just became both her prisoner and her intended husband.
CastSeraya · Prince Arka · Captain Renn
Contemporary romance · Secret child
Bakery owner and single mother Sofia Delgado is served notice that her building has been bought by Voss Holdings. She storms the tower to fight it and finds the CEO is Xander — the man who left her five years ago under his father's pressure. The old wound tears open, until her son Mateo wanders in and puts Xander face to face with a child he never knew existed.
Ep 1 The Name on the Notice · 6 movements · 24 shots · 90 sec
Episode 1 cliffMateo walks through the same door Sofia burst through — and Xander's controlled-CEO mask finally cracks all the way.
CastSofia Delgado · Xander Voss · Mateo · Tasha
How a Tarantella series runs
AI sits inside the pipeline, not on top of it. The story room still comes first and the grade still comes last — the middle just moves faster than it used to.
Premise, hook map and beat sheet. We lock the cliff of every episode before a single frame exists — roughly a hook every 10–15 seconds.
A locked character and location consistency system — twelve anchors on Dragon, ten on Pearl — so episode 60 matches episode 1.
Every setup previsualised with a reference frame before generation begins — seven series boarded across four genres to date.
Shot-by-shot production against the approved reference frames — driven by the breakdown, never by prompt roulette.
Dialogue, ADR and localisation. Bahasa Indonesia first, with Malay, English and Korean passes where the market needs them.
Cut for rhythm, scored, graded to the locked palette, then mastered to platform spec. This is where a generated sequence stops looking generated.
What we make
A hook is a hook whether you have ninety seconds or ninety minutes. What changes is how long you can make an audience wait for the turn.
Vertical serialised drama built for swipe-through platforms — fantasy, sci-fi, gothic and contemporary. Every episode opens on a turn and closes on a cliff.
Festival-length work and branded narrative. Where we test look, tone and technique before committing a season to it.
Theatrical and streaming features, produced in Indonesia with regional co-production partners across Malaysia and Korea.
The studio
Tarantella Ai Studio is the AI-native arm of PT Tarantella Pictures Megah, an Indonesian film and content studio working across Indonesia, Malaysia and Korea. We came up making conventional film and television — the AI just let us make more of it, faster, without handing the story to a machine.
The tools got cheap. Taste didn't.
Every project starts with a beat sheet and a hook map. Nothing generates until the cliff of every episode is locked.
A locked reference model for every character and location, so the look holds identical across every episode and every new setup.
Every shot composed for full-screen mobile from the first frame — never a widescreen cut cropped down after the fact.
Sixty vertical episodes on a schedule a traditional crew can't hold, delivered to platform spec.
Partner with us
Full screenplays, shot breakdowns and storyboards for the produced episodes of any title on the slate — available on request for platform-fit review.
Continued episode production against the locked series bible and visual pipeline already in place.
Open to licensing, co-production, or platform-exclusive release discussions across ID, MY and KR.
Commissions · Co-production · Licensing
Send a logline, a deck, or a half-formed idea at 2am. We read everything.
sharad@tarantellapictures.com Send a brief