IMDA builds stronger media capabilities through the following strategic industry partnerships at Singapore Media Festival 2021:
- Beach House Pictures and Clover Films to bring OTT content and feature films to the global stage
- Netflix to organise a Series Writing Workshop for up to 20 writers, and six Southeast Asia Co-Production projects to receive up to $300,000 in funding
- Training and mentorship programme with YouTube, Titan and KOBE to support Singapore’s online creators to be launched in 2022
SINGAPORE – 01 DEC 2021
Building on their strong track record of successful made-with-Singapore creative projects, Singapore media companies Beach House Pictures and Clover Films are partnering global players to co-create content for a global audience.
The partnerships, facilitated under the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s enhanced Capability Partnership Programme1 (CPP), will see media companies in Singapore, like Beach House Pictures creating a series of premium documentaries for international over-the-top (OTT) platforms and broadcasters including CuriosityStream. Meanwhile, Clover Films will be partnering with iQIYI on a slate of online films. The partnerships are expected to benefit more than 80 local SMEs and more than 500 media talent in Singapore through job creation and opportunities for upskilling in the next two years.
Netflix, with support from IMDA, will be organising a Series Writing Workshop in the first quarter of 2022. Up to 20 writers from Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia will participate in the virtual workshop, which aims to help writers sharpen their series writing abilities in the media industry. The workshop will be conducted by industry experts Christopher Mack, Director of Grow Creative at Netflix, and screenwriter and producer Joe Peracchio. Guest speakers such as writers behind Netflix’s popular series expected to be added to the exciting line-up.
These new initiatives were announced by Minister for Communications and Information, Mrs Josephine Teo, the guest-of-honour of the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore (SS), held as part of the annual IMDA-hosted Singapore Media Festival (SMF).
Minister Teo, in her opening address, also shared that six new Southeast Asia Co-Production films have been selected for IMDA’s Talent Progression Programme2 (TPP) Content Development grant. These comprise two collaborations each with Malaysia and Thailand, and one collaboration each with Philippines and Vietnam. The films are helmed by five Singapore producers from Akanga Film Asia, August Pictures, E&W Films, Threesixzero Productions and Zhao Wei Films, and are anticipated for completion between 2022 and 2023.
Mr Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, IMDA, said, “A compelling story can bring magic - move you, give you purpose. Through our initiatives we want to make Singapore the place where media businesses and content creators can come together to co-create magical Asian stories for the world.”
Bringing Singapore Online Content Creators Global
In recognition of the potential opportunities of the creator economy, IMDA is also looking at how to help local online creators in Singapore reach global audiences and capture value from overseas markets in the media sector.
The VidCon Summit Asia held on 25 November celebrated local online creators who have established themselves as Singapore’s most influential creators, where their successes were recognised in their respective niches and creators such as Jian Hao Tan, Dharni, and Annette Lee were spotlighted based on data from Tubular across various categories.
To better understand the creator economy, IMDA will be studying the new media value chain and ecosystem to identify areas of opportunities for Singapore creators. The study is expected to be completed by June 2022.
Additionally, IMDA will partner with YouTube and explore collaboration with Creative Service Providers such as Titan and KOBE to provide training and mentorship to build the capabilities of our top local online creators in Singapore in areas like content marketing, audience engagement, and data analytics to generate targeted opportunities for monetisation.
Through this programme, which will be launched in 2022, IMDA will also be intensifying its efforts to nurture a growing local pool of skilled manpower to support the growth of the media industry in Singapore, including the new media sector, through collaborations with the industry.
Bringing Asian Storytelling to the World with SMF 2021
SMF, hosted by IMDA, returns in a hybrid format from 25 November to 5 December, offering a refreshed line-up of events that reimagines Asian storytelling and takes it to the global stage.
SMF will include constituent events such as the highly sought-after Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), ScreenSingapore (SS), and Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF). This year’s 11-day event also marks the return of VidCon Asia Summit (VidCon) and Singapore Comic Con (SGCC).
For more details of the Singapore Media Festival and its partner events, visit https://www.imda.gov.sg/activities/activities-catalogue/singapore-media-festival. Media materials are available in this digital kit here.
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