Riding on its first year’s achievement in 2015, ScreenSingapore, in partnership with the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA), has launched the call for submissions for its second edition of the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market 2016 today. It aims to match promising feature-length projects with a global network of media financiers, distributors, and collaborators who can bring these projects to fruition.
Due to its previous edition’s success, which saw an overwhelming 148 entries, SAFF Project Market 2016 will feature up to 15 projects, from 10 in its inaugural year. It will be held at Marina Bay Sands, Singapore from 7 to 9 December 2016, which includes a financing conference and the Ties That Bind (TTB) cross-cultural Europe/Asia co-producing workshop.
“Last year really proved that Southeast Asia was ready for its own platform, and we’re looking forward to cementing SAFF as being the region’s largest film financing platform for years to come. Half of the projects selected last year have attached financiers and partners, while the rest made great strides in their development. The producers involved last year saw the benefit of working with ScreenSingapore and found a great international network through SAAVA and TTB,” said SAAVA, executive director, Justin Deimen.
Continuing the end-goal of connecting producers and their promising in-development fiction and non-fiction feature-length projects with commissioners, investors, and co-production partners, this initiative is in line with SAAVA’s mandate to represent regional media investment and facilitate good practices in content producing, financing and distribution in order to promote Southeast Asian creative industries internationally through its members and partnerships.
“Judging from last year’s success, ScreenSingapore will now be a strong platform for promising minds in filmmaking. Opportunities and knowledge transfer is essential for growth in this scope. Adding the final turbo boost of international financiers and co-producers within the region to push projects forward, we are pleased with this highly valuable stage that can only flourish with time,” said Asia TV Forum and Market and ScreenSingapore, senior project director, Yeow Hui Leng.
The selection of the final 15 projects will be made by an esteemed panel of international film industry experts like the executive producer of Academy Award-winning The Danish Girl, Kathy Morgan; executive producer of Silver Media Group/chairman of the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA), Chan Gin Kai; CEO of European Audiovisual Entrepreneurs (EAVE), Kristina Trapp ; founding partner of Golden Gate Ventures, Jeffrey Paine; Two-Time Sundance/Three-Time IDFA winning filmmaker, Leonard Retel Helmrich.
A new inclusion to this year’s panel, Kathy Morgan said, “The SAFF project market is a crucial bridge for filmmakers in Southeast Asia. I am delighted to work with professional organisations like SAAVA and events such as ScreenSingapore to nurture a new generation of producers from Asia and to help them bring their projects to the rest of the world.” She will also be speaking on international distribution at the ScreenSingapore Conference.
According to their data, the animation film industry takes up to 15 per cent of the total number of films produced and for one of those films to participate in this festival it has to adhere to these guidelines:
Fiction/ Documentary/ Animation prohects with a minimum length of 70 minutes.
- Applicant can be the project’s Writer, Director, or Producer.
- While this is open to international applicants, all projects submitted must contain a Southeast Asian element in one or more of the following significant creative roles:
- Lead (Majority) Producers from Southeast Asian nationality.
- Director and/or Writer from Southeast Asian nationality.
- Shooting location of Production.
- Overall thematic thrust of the Project (involving Southeast Asian lead characters or involving uniquely Southeast Asian issues etc.).
- Projects must have already have either a Director or Producer attached at the point of application.
- Project submitted may not be in a late stage of production at the time of application, and must yet be fully financed.
Submissions for Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market will begin on 13 July and close on 5 September, 2016.