Jovita Toh founded Encore Inflight in 2010 with a view to “bringing airlines fresh, high-quality content that was not making it to theaters or cable.” Her new company, Silk Route Entertainment, was founded in September 2024 and is focused on helping talented creators get their content seen. Silk Route Entertainment exhibited at APEX Content Market in Dubai for the first time this year, where Toh provided APEX Insights with an insight into the goal of her new venture.
“It’s a passion project for me,” she explained. “I’ve been in the industry for 25 years. I’ve been to all these film festivals where I watch beautiful content that never gets seen by the world because nobody picks it up – it’s not in theaters or on streaming platforms. Small film producers put their life savings into these movies, along with a whole lot of passion.
“I gravitate towards films with good messages in them; ones that can maybe change the way people think or look at the world or look at someone else.”
“So, the driver for me isn’t commercial. When I thought about what to do next [after Encore], I figured that maybe I could start a company that leverages my relationship with the airlines to get some of these beautiful movies on board,” Toh continued. “Even if one or two airlines pick it up, maybe when [the producers] go for funding for their next movie, they would get a leg up in their careers. I really just want to support creativity in the industry.”
She has already had success marketing her chosen titles to airlines. Her first was picked up by Singapore Airlines.
In terms of its core focus, Toh said Silk Route Entertainment is more geared toward dramas, true stories and biopics: “I gravitate towards films with good messages in them; ones that can maybe change the way people think or look at the world or look at someone else.”
Toh isn’t letting language barriers stop her, either. “Most of the time my films are in a language airlines don’t take, but if it’s a good story then I can usually convince them. It’s a lot of hard work for less money,” she confessed. “At Encore, we used to buy one movie and every single airline would take it. Now, one title might get two airlines to take one film, then I need to find another film for the next two airlines. But it’s satisfying an itch for me!”
“I figured that maybe I could start a company that leverages my relationships with airlines to get some beautiful movies onboard.”
One film Toh is particularly excited about bringing to the in-flight entertainment market is Cielo, made by Spanish director and writer Alberto Sciamma. Set in Bolivia, it follows the fantastical story of a nine-year-old girl who transports her mother’s body across the desert in a barrel in a quest to find a lake that she believes will take them both to heaven. “It’s beautifully made and the little girl who plays Santa, Fernanda Gutierrez Aranda, is completely mesmerising.
Silk Route Entertainment has worldwide rights for Cielo, excluding Bolivia, which will be available in July 2026.
Another title Toh is delighted to have acquired the rights for is Into the Blue, which is based on the true story of Philippe Croizon, who lost his limbs in an electrical accident at work but goes on to swim the English channel with the help of his partner Suzana, a cattle farmer who meets Philippe after fleeing an abusive husband. It is coming to theaters in April so will be available to the in-flight market around October. “I’m really proud of this one,” she said.
To read more about which new titles companies attending APEX Content Market 2026 have on offer, click here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source apex.aero ’
