SAFF Project Market: Where Film Concepts Go To Become Reality

Slated to make its fourth appearance later this year, the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market will soon begin calling for new feature film concepts to be submitted. Brainchild of ScreenSingapore and the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA), SAFF Project Market could just be the golden ticket to making your filmmaking dreams come true.

Conceived in 2015 to promote opportunities for the meeting and matching up of film creatives with their investor counterparts, the SAFF Project Market has since acquired a reputation among the international film industry for generating regional and international collaborations. It is increasingly attended by a thriving network of global buyers, distributors, commissioners, collaborators, and media financiers; and is where writers, directors and producers are given a chance to present their shortlisted projects to prospective backers.

Despite SAFF’s relatively new emergence in the international film financing circuit, more than a few of its success stories have already begun showing up in the limelight around the world. Most notably, Malaysian production “One Two Jaga” had the recent honour in April of opening the 20th Far East Film Festival in Udine, Italy. Produced by Bront Palarae and directed by award-winning actor-director Shahili Bin Abdan, it had been one of the Top 10 projects selected for SAFF Project Market 2015.

Aside from winning the RED Digital Cinema package worth SGD25,000 at the time, Bront shared that the film’s participation in SAFF 2015 sparked off a 40 per cent sponsorship by FINAS (National Film Development Corporation Malaysia), while igniting vital relationships with project stakeholder Jazzy Pictures and the Far East Film Festival programmers.

“What SAFF Project Market did was give the right kind of exposure to our project. It gave confidence to sponsors and funders to come on board later, and also helped us connect with key industry players within the region,” Bront said.

Philippines’ “Eerie”, one of the Top 15 finalist projects at SAFF Project Market last year, is also all set for its upcoming world premiere this year. Directed by one of Southeast Asia’s most awarded young filmmakers and directors, Mikhail Red, and produced by Micah Tadena, the film found a co-producing partner and distributor through SAFF 2017.

“We closed the deal with our Singaporean producer at SAFF, making Eerie a Filipino-Singaporean co-production. We also met our international distributor through SAFF,” Micah shared. “It’s been a wonderful collaborative process with all the companies involved and we’re hoping for Eerie to be the first of many projects together.”

Also currently in the latter stages of production is Kerwin Go’s “Mina-Anud,” a Filipino project produced by Epicmedia with Regal Entertainment, one of the invited financiers to SAFF in 2017.

Not far behind in the pipeline are Ishan Shukla’s “Schirkoa” and Mattie Do’s “The Long Walk”, similar project finalists from the SAFF Project Markets 2017 and 2015 respectively. “Schirkoa” is an animated film currently in production, while “The Long Walk” will commence filming in September. Both productions secured financing with Singapore-based producing and incubation outfit Aurora Media Holdings through the SAFF Project Market.

Ishan elaborates on his experience at SAFF, “I was really fortunate to find amazing partners in Silver Media Group, Aurora Media and 108 Media – they are our co-producer, financier and distributor respectively. Before SAFF, I was very closed-off in my approach to pitching. It was only after SAFF that I realised there are several methods and strategies to producing, funding and distributing a film. Yes, a market like this is definitely overwhelming for a creative, but there is real experience and knowledge to be gained.”

Justin Deimen, Group Managing Partner of Aurora Media Holdings adds, “We are excited and so proud to see our involvement as producers and investors in the SAFF Project Market come to fruition. This gives us great satisfaction—to be able to play a part in working with regional filmmakers and providing them the support and collaboration to produce and release their films to the world market.” Justin is also the Executive Director of SAAVA.

Yeow Hui Leng, Group Project Director of ScreenSingapore and Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF), Reed Exhibitions said, “Since its inception, SAFF Project Market has been a key platform where Southeast Asian talents share their ideas with collaborators who can take the concepts further. We are thrilled that stories have been birthed and look forward to more novel submissions in the coming year.”

The SAFF Project Market 2018 will be held at Marina Bay Sands Singapore from 5 - 7 December. It comprises the prestigious Ties That Bind (TTB) workshop for training and mentoring potential European-Asian co-productions, as well as the SAFF Film Financing Conference on the last day. It is co-located with ScreenSingapore, which forms part of the Singapore Media Festival (SMF).

Submissions for Southeast Asian Film Financing Project Market will open on 2 July 2018. Interested writers, directors or producers may submit their film treatments by 2 September 2018. For more information on eligibility and criteria, please visit www.screensingapore.com.sg.

About ScreenSingapore 2018
ScreenSingapore is Southeast Asia’s definitive marketplace for filmmakers, producers, distributors, financiers and film buyers to explore co-production opportunities, seek financing, make deals and stay abreast of the evolving film landscape.

After its continued success in 2017, ScreenSingapore will once again host the Southeast Asian Film Financing (SAFF) Project Market, in partnership with the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA) and Ties That Bind: Asia/Europe Producers Workshop (TTB), to connect promising filmmakers
and producers from Southeast Asia and Europe with international co-producing partners, festival programmers, distributors, commissioners, and financiers.

For more information, please visit www.screensingapore.com.sg

About Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) 2018
Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) – the region’s leading entertainment content event – is the platform of calibre to acquire knowledge, network, buy, sell, finance, distribute and co-produce across all platforms. It is the premier stage in Asia to engage with the entertainment industry’s top players from around the world. It’s where the best minds meet and the future of Asia’s content is shaped.

ATF also offers the opportunity to discover vital trends, crucial statistics and significant foresight in TV’s digital, kids and formats arenas. Its business match-making opportunities open doors to some of the best new offerings in the region. With over 5,000 international buyers and sellers from more than 60 countries, ATF presents valuable business prospects for top of the line benefits.

For more information, please visit www.asiatvforum.com

About Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA)
The Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association (SAAVA) is a non-profit association that seeks to unify media producers in the region. The association's mission is to advance creative development across the region, promote Southeast Asian audio-visual content and capabilities globally, as well as stimulate business collaborations between its members.

To find out more, please visit www.saava.org

About Reed Exhibitions (RX)
Reed Exhibitions is the world’s leading events organiser, with over 500 events in over 30 countries. In 2017 Reed brought together over seven million event participants from around the world generating billions of dollars in business. Today Reed events are held throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Africa and organised by 38 fully staffed offices. Reed Exhibitions serves 43 industry sectors with trade and consumer events. It is part of RELX Group, a global provider of information and analytics for professional and business customers across industries.

About the Singapore Media Festival (SMF)
The Singapore Media Festival, hosted by the Infocomm Media Development Authority, is set to become one of Asia’s leading international media events, where the industry meets to discover the latest trends, talents and content in Asia for Film, TV and digital media. Taking place from 29 November to 9 December 2018, the Singapore Media Festival brings together established media events such as the Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF) and ScreenSingapore and SMF Ignite. For more information about the Singapore Media Festival, please visit www.sgmediafestival.com.

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This release was published on openPR.