SINGAPORE – Media OutReach Newswire – 12 December 2023 – The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) has announced a S$30 million international co-production fund to support the creation of high-quality drama series with local flavor and international appeal , as well as a S$25 million top-up to the Virtual Production Innovation Fund to further develop the industry’s virtual production (VP) capabilities. Both funds were announced by
Tan Kiat, Minister of State for Communications and Information at today’s opening of the Asia TV Forum and Market (ATF), an event of the Singapore Media Festival (SMF). Led by IMDA, the SMF celebrates its 10th anniversaryth edition with the theme “Do it here”, inspiring the region’s media talents to continue to bring a decade of dreams, content and connections to life.
A call to create globally compelling Singapore stories with international partners
2. The International Co-production Fund enables Singapore media companies to pursue co-productions with international partners to create content with a distinct local flavor for Singapore’s story to reach a global audience via streaming platforms. Singapore’s diverse media talent pool can use the fund to deepen their skills by collaborating with international counterparts in creative roles such as producers, directors and writers. The fund will be open to Singapore media companies with experience in producing long-form content. Local media companies with upcoming co-production projects to create Singaporean stories that will appeal to both Singaporeans and global audiences are invited to submit their proposals to IMDA between 11 December 2023 and 31 January 2024.
3. The new International Co-production Fund complements the range of existing overseas co-production initiatives. Alongside the International Co-production Fund, which aims to bring Singapore stories to international audiences, media companies can tap into IMDA’s Media Talent Advancement Program to help local talent develop their portfolio and experience, or to the Singapore On-Screen Fund to highlight Singapore as a destination through content. IMDA’s past co-production initiatives have produced successful films in the region like
I’m hungrythe first Singapore-South Korea co-production film selected as Singapore’s entry for the 2023 Academy Awards and nominated for four Golden Horse Awards in 2022.
Enabling innovation in virtual production to meet industry demands
4. IMDA also announced the injection of an additional S$25 million into the Virtual Production Innovation Fund over the next three years. This intensifies efforts to develop more local virtual production talent to meet the growing demand for virtual productions in the industry.
New funds to develop virtual production talent and build capacity
5. The fund will expand the local virtual production talent pool by bringing in foreign trainers to provide higher quality training, expanding training for professors at Institutes of Higher Education (DIH) and introducing modules VP in existing media studies program. For example, Ngee Ann Polytechnic and Republic Polytechnic will offer VP programs from April 2024. Local virtual production studio, Aux Media Group (Aux), will also partner with XON Studios, one of the pioneering VP studios in South Korea, to train and supervise. local filmmakers to use VP for their narration.
6. The Virtual Production Innovation Fund was
announced for the first time in December 2022 with a tranche of S$5 million to encourage local media companies to experiment with VP, and has seen remarkable success in enhancing the industry’s capabilities and opportunities with this emerging technology. To date, more than 20 creative projects have been made possible through the Virtual Production Innovation Fund and have exposed more than 300 media professionals with hands-on experience in virtual production. For example, Mediacorp applied for VP in one of its upcoming Chinese drama series.
Once upon a time on New Year’s Eve, recreate historic landmarks such as the National Theater of Singapore and the Old National Library on Stamford Road to awaken a sense of nostalgia among Singaporeans. Local production company Refinery Media used VP to create a dense forest environment and a mythical dragon in
The Sleeping Beautya project that was selected as part of the IMDA Virtual Production Innovation Call (short form).
7. Local businesses and talent with IMDA-supported VP projects over the past year have recognized the value of using VP in production and how this technology has helped open up new dimensions to their storytelling . The injection of new funding will allow more media companies and local talent to hone their capabilities with this emerging technology while working on projects using VP.
8. As IMDA strengthens its support for media companies adopting emerging technologies, local VP studios such as Oceanus Media Global and Aux are already investing in upgrading their VP studios to meet growing demand. Nanyang Polytechnic will also step up efforts to strengthen local PV capabilities.
The Future of Film and Content Production at ATF
9. International showcases and in-depth discussions on the role of technology will be on the agenda at this year’s ATF, which runs until December 8. Attendees can attend the virtual production afternoon at the Singapore Pavilion, where panelists from Mediacorp and local production houses Weiyu Films and Ajacent Media will present a teaser of their latest VP works and delve into their work experiences with virtual production. A panel of industry experts and creatives from Mediacorp, Viddsee and Scrawl Animation as well as a legal expert from the National University of Singapore will also be on hand to discuss the impact of generative AI on the entertainment industry. media.
10. To learn more about the Singapore Media Festival and Asia TV Forum & Market, please visit https://www.imda.gov.sg/sgmediafest. Media materials are available in this digital kit here.
For more information on the
new International Co-production Fundplease visit
imda.gov.sg/internationalcoproduction.
Hashtag: #IMDA #SGMediaFest #MakeItHere
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
