Canadian-owned Beach House Pictures and Singapore producer-distributor Clover Films are receiving support from the Singapore government for their international outreach efforts.
The partnerships were supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s enhanced Capability Partnership Program. They will see Blue Ant Media-owned factual entertainment firm Beach House creating a series of premium documentaries for international streaming platforms and broadcasters, including the U.S.’s CuriosityStream.
Clover Films announced in August that it is partnering with Chinese streaming platform iQiyi on a slate of four online films. One is a heartwarming Singaporean comedy “Reunion Dinner,” which is to release at Chinese New Year in 2022. Another is an untitled horror-thriller directed by Kelvin Tong.
These initiatives were announced by Minister for Communications and Information, Josephine Teo, the guest-of-honor at the Asian Television Forum & Market and ScreenSingapore opening ceremony on Wednesday, held as part of the annual IMDA-hosted Singapore Media Festival.
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The partnerships are expected to benefit more than 80 local SMEs and more than 500 media talents through job creation and opportunities for upskilling in the next two years.
Netflix, with support from IMDA, will be organizing 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.
The workshop will be conducted by industry experts Christopher Mack, director of Grow Creative at Netflix, and screenwriter and producer Joe Peracchio.
Teo said that six new Southeast Asia Co-Production films have been selected for IMDA’s Talent Progression Program content development grant. These include two collaborations each with Malaysia and Thailand, and one collaboration each with Philippines and Vietnam. The films are overseen by Singapore-based 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.
