Singapore Media Companies Announce New Collaborations with international Partners at ATF and ScreenSingapore 2013

SINGAPORE, Dec. 6, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

• The Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) hosted Asia's leading converged media entertainment market, the Asia Television Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore where more than 4,000 international film and television trade delegates from 60 countries set foot in Singapore to trade, market, distribute and screen their content at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre from 3 - 6 December 2013.
• Singapore took part in this year's event with a strong showing of more than 70 film, television and animation companies bringing over 600 hours of locally-produced content to the Singapore Pavilion, for sale and distribution.
• Specially curated onsite events such as business matching sessions and "Sneak Peeks" brought more collaboration opportunities for Singapore and international filmmakers and television producers, and also gave international buyers and distributors an exclusive preview to local content.
• For the first year, the SGFilm Channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/sgfilmchannel) was also available at the pavilion, giving international visitors a taste of Singapore's filmmaking capability, through 50 quality made-in-Singapore short films produced by local directors.

KEY SINGAPORE FILM AND TV MARKET ROUND-UP AT ATF AND SCREENSINGAPORE 2013:

1. Singapore announces launch of week-long international content week in end 2014

-- This exciting event, made up of Asia Television Forum & Market (ATF), ScreenSingapore, Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) and Asian Television Awards (ATA), will see the co-location of four key film and television events into a multi-faceted, seamless trade show that will meet the needs of international film and television media players looking for strategic business and promotional opportunities in a single event.  

-- It will offer a strategic combination of TV Awards coupled with Silver Screen Awards to celebrate the best of Asian film and TV talent; a powerful merger of film festival and market for the film trade; a strengthening of an already very established TV market for content buyers; and for Singapore audiences, a chance to catch first rate films with a distinctive South East Asian flair.

-- The event name and programming details will be announced in 2014.

2. 25th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) returns in 2014

-- The festival, which has been instrumental in launching the careers of Singapore's most notable filmmakers such as Eric Khoo, Royston Tan, Kelvin Tong and Boo Junfeng, will return in 2014 under the international content week and a new directorship.

-- The new SGIFF Board will be led by Chairperson, Ms Shaw Soo Wei, the former Executive Director for the Hong Kong International Film Festival Society. Other board members include Mike Wiluan, Chief Executive Officer, Infinite Studios and Michael Lim, Assistant Director, Animation and Digital Arts, NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia. The Festival Director is Ms Yuni Hadi, co-producer of Ilo Ilo, which received the Camera d'Or Award at this year's Cannes Film Festival and won Best Feature Film at the 50th Golden Horse Awards.

-- For the first time, the Festival will have a market through its co-location with ScreenSingapore, offering filmmakers greater distribution, financing and networking opportunities with international delegates in attendance.

3. Singapore-based August Media Holdings announced that popular pre-school animated series Ella Bella Bingo has been sold to the Middle East

-- Season 1 of August Media Holding's popular pre-school animated series, Ella Bella Bingo, has been sold to Doha, Qatar based, Al Jazeera Children's Channel (JCC), now known as Jeem TV. This agreement gives JCC exclusive Arabic language rights over Ella Bella Bingo in the Middle East and North African countries.

-- The deal comes just three months after the news of Norwegian broadcaster, NRK, optioning another 52 episodes of Ella Bella Bingo.

-- Co-produced by August Media Holdings and Norway's Kool Produktion AS, Ella Bella Bingo is targeted at pre-school children and follows the adventures of happy-go-lucky Ella and her friends. Each seven minute episode is about how Ella uses her boundless creativity, infectious enthusiasm and a never-give-up attitude to solve everyday problems in spectacularly innovative ways.

4. Singapore's Silver Media Group and Los Angeles based Ford Movie Group inked three MOUs to create six social and action films and distribute content

-- The first Memorandum is for the creation of "InspirAsia", a slate consisting of compelling stories with strong social messages. The first film of three to be produced in the slate is Lanun, a crime saga about maritime piracy that exposes poverty and the conundrum of crime versus survival, which will start production in 3rd quarter 2014.

-- The second Memorandum is for the creation of "ActionAsia", a slate of three action thrillers set in locations all over Asia. The first film of the slate is Home Invasion, a suspense thriller set in Singapore, which will start production in 2nd quarter of 2014.

-- Besides production of original content, the collaboration extends into distribution of acquired content as well. Setting up a regional headquarter in Singapore in partnership with Silver Media Group, Ford Worldwide Distribution will be releasing Western feature films and television programming throughout Asia. It will also be acquiring Asian properties seeking global distribution.

5. Singapore's Infinite Studios and Indonesia's Screenplay Productions announce US$4m  joint venture to produce a slate of Indonesian box office movies

-- Singapore's Infinite Studio, through its sister company, PT Kinema, will be partnering Indonesia's Screenplay Productions to produce a slate of Indonesian box office movies that will also have international appeal. The first movie slate will comprise six movies with a total budget of US$4million.

-- The joint venture will see the production of an average of six titles per year with the aim of building a library of films that will have broad market appeal domestically in Indonesia as well as overseas.

-- The partnership will benefit from Screenplay's expertise in producing and distributing content for Indonesian market, and Infinite Studios' experience in co-producing international feature films and its modern production facilities which include state-of-the-arts sound stages, backlot, and post-production services.

6. Singapore's MyChinaChannel and StarHub Cable TV partners with China Business Network TV to co-produce Singapore Special edition for Brainstorm

-- Brainstorm, a tent-pole programme on Shanghai Media Group (SMG)'s China Business News TV (CBNTV) will make its production debut in Singapore on 6 Dec 2013. The programme will be jointly produced by China's CBNTV, and Singapore's StarHub Cable TV and MyChinaChannel (MCC).

-- This special edition of Brainstorm is produced to mark the ten-year anniversary of the programme, and it will be recorded in the iconic city of New York and Singapore. Experts and distinguished scholars from China and Singapore will debate and discuss two topics that are of high interest and relevance to the Asian business community.

-- The first topic is 'Asia Pacific's Economic Outlook and New Opportunities'. Discussion will centre on recent socio-economic developments in the Asia-Pacific region and its impact on existing business models. The second discussion topic is 'China Urbanization -- sharing Singapore's experience on planning and management'.

-- China Business Network is a wholly owned subsidiary of Shanghai Media Group (SMG), the second largest media group in China.

7. Singapore's M2B World partners with The Dive Channel to debut 600 hours of quality diving content on WOWtv

-- Singapore's M2B World Asia Pacific, a major provider of interactive on-demand-entertainment content, has entered into a deal with The Dive Channel, a company which produces quality underwater content, for a dedicated channel on WOWtv platform which will help extend the channel's reach to more than 100 million viewers worldwide.

-- The Dive Channel will also debut in the Chinese market with a run of 20 documentaries series, a dive-related variety show and a sports diving program.

8. Singapore's Antares International Media announced exclusive representation agreements with France's Ladies First Distribution and Brazil's Prodigo Films for their entire libraries in Asia

-- The partnership will see quality Hollywood, European and Brazilian content in both 4K and HD such as Hollywood Makeover and Copa Hotel brought to audiences in the fast growing Asian market.

9. Singapore's Viddsee launches all-new Channels to collaborate with content partners to showcase more short films online

-- In collaboration with content partners such as regional film festivals, online video platform Viddsee (https://www.viddsee.com/) has launched its all-new Channels feature, to showcase short films on dedicated channels to the online community. This will help film festivals extend their physical programming to an online audience, making short films truly accessible to anyone not present at the physical venue. Viddsee is currently working with content partners to make festival short films from around Asia, such as Hong Kong, Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, and Cambodia, accessible to the world. This will add to the more than 200 Asian short film titles currently available on Viddsee.

About Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA)

The Media Development Authority of Singapore (www.mda.gov.sg) promotes the growth of globally competitive film, television, radio, publishing, music, games, animation and interactive digital media industries. It also regulates the media sector to safeguard the interests of consumers, and promotes a connected society. MDA is a statutory board under the Ministry of Communications and Information (www.mci.gov.sg).

For media queries, please contact:
Ang Yi Eng (Ms)
Assistant Manager (Industry Communications)
Communications         
Media Development Authority
Mobile: +65 9276 3170
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Media Development Authority of Singapore