Dated: 6 December 2005
Six local film companies get a flying start with the Singapore Film Commission’s (SFC) grant of $20,000 to $40,000 under its inaugural Project Development Scheme. Launched in July this year, the aim of the scheme is to seed the production of “Made-by-Singapore” live-action film projects by Singapore production companies. The grant acts as a catalyst by providing support for the development phase of a film.
The selection was made after an intensive one day Pitching Session held last Thursday, 1 December 2005, at the Shangri La Hotel, in conjunction with the Asia Television Forum. On the submission deadline, 30 October 2005, a total of 30 applications were received for the Project Development Scheme. The six projects were awarded from a shortlist of 12 submissions by a panel of judges from the international and local media arena.
The six Project Development Scheme grant recipients are MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, Ground Glass Images, Oak3 Films, as well as newcomers such as One Ton Cinema, Monsoon Pictures and Red Ink Media. The details of the awardees and synopses of their projects are attached in Annex A. The assessment criteria included:
creative and artistic merits as well as commercial potential of the submitted projects,
professional quality of the treatment/script, development budget, development strategy and financing plan,
applicant’s achievement, track record, relevant experience and creative potential, and
benefit and value to the applicant and the Singapore film industry in developing the project.
Mr Seto Lok Yin, Director of the Singapore Film Commission said, “The Singapore's film industry has scored remarkably well in the international film fraternity picking up international accolades and touring the global film festival circuits. This sector is certainly growing and we would like to encourage more film companies to build on the momentum and strengthen Singapore’s presence in this area.”
“We are indeed very encouraged by the response to Singapore Film Commission's Project Development Scheme which presented many original new project ideas. Many of these projects have universal themes and that would make them exportable. The maturing of our film industry bodes well for Singapore's vision to be a global media city,” added Mr Seto.
The members of the judging panel comprising five international and local professionals from the media industry not only provided a thorough assessment of each project that was pitched but they also shared valuable insights with the participants. The judges were Mr Michael Wrenn, Acquisitions, Pacific Office, Celluloid Dreams (France);Mr Elliot Tong, Vice President of Film Production &Acquisition, Focus Films (Hong Kong);Mr Devesh Chetty, Co-Executive Chairman, RGM Holdings;Mr Kenneth Tan, Managing Director, Golden Village and SFC Board Member;and Mr Man Shu Sum, Programme Director, Media Development, Media Development Authority.
Commenting on the quality of the applicants and the story ideas, Mr Michael Wrenn said, “I was struck by the quality of the work as well as the international mindset of the stories presented. Singapore filmmakers sit in the unique position of being able to make English language stories with Asian faces should they so choose and both the Mandarin and English language projects assessed reflected this uniqueness whether period or contemporary, auteur or genre. Singapore society is on the edge of the East and West culturally and politically and this too was reflected in the work. It is exciting to see a range of projects in a mix of languages and genres coming from one country and the quality of the submissions heralds interesting and commercial work to come.”
The Pitching Session for the SFC Project Development Scheme will be an annual event to encourage more filmmakers to turn their passion and creative ideas into viable projects. Application for 2006 will start from 1 August and close on 31 October 2006. For more information on and application of the Project Development Scheme, please visit www.sfc.org.sg
For more information, please contact:
Casey Chang (Ms)
Assistant Director
Corporate and Marketing Communications
Media Development Authority
Tel: (65) 6837 9344
Email: Casey_CHANG@imda.gov.sg
Sharanjit Kaur (Ms)
Manager
Corporate &Marketing Communications
Media Development Authority
Tel: (65) 6837 9365
Email: Sharanjit_KAUR@imda.gov.sg
Fax: (65) 6336 4142
About the Singapore Film Commission The Singapore Film Commission (SFC) is an agency under the Media Development Authority (MDA) which facilitates and assists in film development for Singapore. The MDA’s aim is to develop Singapore into a Global Media City, where its Media 21 strategy seeks to establish Singapore as a media exchange;export Singapore-made content;internationalise local media companies;nurture local media talents and develop digital media. The SFC’s key areas of focus are: Funding, Facilitation and Promotion. Its mission is to “nurture, support, and promote Singapore talent in film-making, the production of Singapore films, and a film industry in Singapore”. For more information, please visit www.sfc.org.sg
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