The Singapore Film Commission and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) have agreed to back training and development program Emerge, which supports writers, directors and producers to develop Chinese-language original films.
The announcement was unveiled on Friday within the context of the Asia Television Forum (ATF) in Singapore. Signatories included the executive chair of SFC, Justin Ang and chairperson of TAICCA, Homme Tsai.
The 12-week programme will combine hybrid and virtual sessions held in both Singapore and Taiwan from March to May 2024. In-person classes are scheduled to take place in Singapore in March, hybrid workshops and consultations online and in Taiwan, culminating in a final pitch day and award ceremony, planned at the Marche du Film Market in Cannes, May.
The session will include experienced global film producers, directors and executives including Ron Howard, Sukee Chew (“Sugar23”), Trey Callaway (“9-1-1 Lonestar”), Derek Tsang (“Better Days”) and Jojo Hui (“The Warlords”) as guest lecturers.
This is the second edition of Emerge, after a previous round backed by TAICCA, Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment and Cora Yim’s Sixty Percent Productions.
“With the increasing demand for Asian storytelling all over the world, this collaboration provides a truly international platform for Singapore filmmakers to take their skills to the next level,” said Ang.
“Leveraging the resources of Hollywood and leading multinational film and television companies in Asia, the collaboration seeks to craft content that resonates on a global scale,” said TAICCA chair Homme Tsai.
“We had a successful inaugural Emerge with TAICCA and Sixty Percent Productions, which allowed us to work with talented storytellers that yielded results,” said Imagine executive chairmen Grazer and Howard, in a joint statement.
“Emerge has been fruitful since its launch last September, with five Taiwanese TV projects incubated and a TV series [Chang Kaichih and Chen Fang Chi’s “Gunshot”] greenlit by Public Television Service in Taiwan for further development. We are delighted to extend our program to developing films with filmmakers from Singapore,” said Yim.
