City Singapore Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Naman Ramachandran The online edition of the Singapore Comic Con lasts nearly a month (Dec. 3, 2021 – Jan.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAmazon Prime Video is hatching plans to launch its streaming service in Southeast Asia, the company said on Thursday.

Naman Ramachandran Acclaimed Germany based Indonesian filmmaker Monica Vanesa Tedja is preparing for her feature directorial project “Dear Family,” selected at the Southeast Asia Film Lab, which is part of the Singapore Media Festival.Tedja got hooked on the medium watching her father film family vacations with his handycam when she was seven.

Naman Ramachandran Diverse aspects of the human condition are key drivers of the projects from Vietnam selected at the Southeast Asia Film Lab, which is part of the Singapore Media Festival.Linh Dan Nguyen Phan went to film school in New York and then went to Vietnam and worked as a cinematographer and also directed a few shorts.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefBandLab Technologies, a Singapore-based venture capital fund that owns historic music media title NME, will reorganize itself under the new name Caldecott Music Group.Headed by Kuok Meng Ru, scion of one of Singapore’s most famous business families, the company will operate under three divisions: tech, media, and retail.The BandLab Technologies name will be retained as the brand for the tech division.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCanadian-owned Beach House Pictures and Singapore producer-distributor Clover Films are receiving support from the Singapore government for their international outreach efforts.The partnerships were supported by the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA)’s enhanced Capability Partnership Program.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefQueer and transgender communities in Singapore are – and remain – marginalized by a prevailingly conservative and paternalistic culture. But that does not mean that they must stay silent or remain unseen.Film and theater director, producer and activist Glen Goei and film director Quen Wong are behind “Some Women,” an autobiographical documentary film by and about Wong, a trans-gender Singaporean woman.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefIn a place as crowded, high tech and self-aware as Singapore it can be difficult to find the unique and the unknown.Yet that was the challenge laid down by the Singapore Tourism Board when opening its SG Stories Content Fund for a second funding round.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefVeteran film distributor Sreyashii Sengupta has been appointed Southeast Asia CEO for Continental Entertainment, a new Singapore-based film marketing and distribution firm.The firm was registered in January and is controlled by Shibasish Sarkar, former group CEO of Reliance Entertainment and chairman of NASDAQ-listed SPAC company International Media Acquisition Corp (IMAQ).Continental recently handled its first theatrical release, the Singapore distribution of

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCompanies from Taiwan will be out in force at next week’s Asian Television Forum in Singapore.Prominent among them is Portico Media, a company involved in production, sales and distribution of LGBTQ content.

Naman Ramachandran The Philippines is a vibrant filmmaking region in Asia and that brio is underlined by the brace of projects from the country selected at the Southeast Asia Film Lab, which is part of the Singapore Media Festival.Paul Rembert Patindol (sometimes credited as PR Patindol) was training to be a chemist but he came to a point in life where he needed a different kind of magic, and turned to filmmaking instead.His short “Hilom” won the youth jury prize at the Singapore International

Marcus Lim Online platforms are connecting influencers with brands in ways that are cutting out agencies and other traditional middlemen, according to panelists at the influencer and content creator convention, VidCon Asia.The event was held Thursday as an in-person event at Singapore’s Suntec Convention Centre, as part of the Singapore Media Festival.TikTok executives pointed to the platform’s Open Application Campaign, a feature that allows creators to apply directly to be a part of brand

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAudiovisual rights markets in Asia are coming up with new features to attract and retain executive interest, as business travel in the region remains deeply troublesome.The Singapore Media Festival, which kicked off on Thursday, is opting for a hybrid format, with a mix of in-person and online component events.

Jill Arul Even through the tumultuous times marked by interrupted shoot schedules and travel restrictions, the tenacity and drive to create authentic stories continues to propel Asian media far beyond any barriers.Now, after not convening in-person for a year — in some cases, two years — media conferences and festivals are springing back to life, including the Asia TV Forum & Market and ScreenSingapore (ATF|SS), Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF), VidCon Asia Summit and the Singapore

Naman Ramachandran Asia-based production firm Beach House Pictures has acquired a majority stake in Tan Si En and Kris Ong’s Singapore-based Momo Film Co.Tan Si En’s producer credits include 2021 Cannes selection “The Year of the Everlasting Storm,” and Anthony Chen’s Toronto, London and Pingyao title “Wet Season.” Kris Ong, a script consultant at HBO Asia, is also a writer-director whose latest short film “Sunday” had its world premiere at the Palm Springs International Shortfest in 2019.

Singapore is to start charging Covid-19 patients 'unvaccinated by choice' for healthcare services, the country's government has said.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefThe Singapore International Film Festival is to be held as an in-person event this year, after operating as an online-offline hybrid in 2020. It will open with Indonesian filmmaker Edwin’s “Vengeance is Mine, All Others Pay Cash” and run Nov.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefRising Chinese-Singapore entertainment group GHY Culture & Media has revealed that its proposed takeover of producer and distributor Clover Films is not going ahead.GHY announced plans in mid-June to acquire a 51% stake in the 12-year-old indie film company without revealing financial details.In a stock exchange filing, GHY said that its MOU with Clover and its period of exclusive negotiations had expired.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefAsia-based TV production firm Beach House Pictures is launching Space Lion Studios, a Singapore-based post-production facility.The move is intended to capture work flowing from the current content boom in Asia and the expansion of streaming video platforms.The facility will offer services ranging from technical consultation and workflow planning, to editing, motion graphics design, VFX and CGI coordination, to sound editing and audio mixing, and color

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefLeonardo DiCaprio’s Appian Way Productions has teamed with Singapore’s Golden Ratio Films and Canada’s Blisspoint Entertainment to shoot “Pep,” a biopic of legendary mid-20th century featherweight boxer Willie Pep.The film is poised to begin production in Hartford, Connecticut, Pep’s home-state, with Robert Kolodny directing from a screenplay by Steve Loff.Pep, born Guglielmo Papaleo, had an extraordinarily long career spanning 26 years and nearly 2,000 rounds as

WarnerMedia’s New Singapore Base

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCAA Sports, part of entertainment and sports agency Creative Artists Agency, is to open a new office in Singapore and has hired Adrian Staiti to the newly created position of president, APAC. He will report to head of CAA Sports International Matthew O’Donohoe.Staiti was previously president of APAC and president of global sales for SportFive (formerly known as Lagardere Sports).

EXCLUSIVE: M.Y.R.A. Entertainment, the film financing company that has credits including Terence Davies’ recent Toronto premiere Benediction, screening in San Sebastian this week, and Call Me By Your Name, is opening an office in Singapore as it eyes a move into Asian projects.

allegations of sexual harassment and workplace discrimination.The Straits Times reported today (August 17) that Singapore’s Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices (Tafep) is investigating the company following anonymous feedback it received on July 23, including links to articles about allegations of sexual harassment and discrimination at the Singapore outpost of the French video game giant of Assassin’s Creed fame.The feedback to Tafep came after Kotaku published a

Kotaku has found reports of sexual harassment, toxic management, and poor pay are all prominent at Ubisoft Singapore, with one former developer going so far as to say it’s internally known as “one of the worst Ubisoft studios in terms of culture”.According to the report, Ubisoft Singapore is rife with problems including “not paying some local junior developers enough to move out of their parents’ homes” despite having “soaked up…government subsidies” with problems also including sexual

Singapore-based music conductor Adrian Tan died of a cardiac arrest on Monday at the age of 44. Tan was the music director of the Singapore Wind Symphony and the Braddell Heights Symphony Orchestra where he led the bands and orchestras at professional level.

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Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefRising Chinese-Singapore entertainment group GHY Culture & Media is to acquire majority control of independent Singapore film distributor Clover Films. The move was described as a “strategic investment” and leaves current management in charge of operations at Clover.Stock market-listed GHY is to buy 51% of the shares of privately-owned Clover, but it did not reveal a valuation.

Naman Ramachandran Berlin-based sales agent Films Boutique will represent worldwide rights for Cannes Un Certain regard selection “Rehana.”The film, originally titled “Rehana Maryam Noor,” is written and directed by Bangladesh’s Abdullah Mohammad Saad and produced by Singapore’s Jeremy Chua.Saad’s debut feature “Live from Dhaka” won best director and best actor at the Singapore International Film Festival in 2016, and went on to screen at other festivals including Rotterdam and Locarno.Chua is

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle Editor“Crazy Rich Asians” author Kevin Kwan didn’t have to look far for role models when he decided to be a writer. His aunt was a journalist in his native Singapore at The Singapore Monitor.“At the time, it was a new newspaper.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau ChiefCinemas in Singapore are once again cutting the capacity of their venues following a government order that raises the national anti-coronavirus restrictions. So far there are no plans to halt film releases.The move follows a Ministry of Health announcement on Tuesday that requires higher levels of testing for any event with more than 100 people in attendance.

He's amassed a £16 billion fortune, owns more land than the Queen and has properties in London, Singapore and France. But today the ever inventive Sir James Dyson, Britain's richest man, has a particular reason to celebrate.

Ashley Cain has revealed that his daughter Azaylia could tragically have just days to live.The seven month old has been battling with leukaemia, and was set to travel to Singapore to receive treatment, but doctors have now discovered tumours throughout her body.

Singapore has become a thorn in Netflix's side when it comes to demanding video content be removed from the streaming service.

Ashley Cain's girlfriend Safiyya Vorajee has revealed their daughter is "in a lot of pain" as she's undergoing procedures ahead of their trip to Singapore for treatment.The Ex On The Beach star's seven month old daughter Azaylia was diagnosed with leukaemia at eight weeks old and has battled the cancer ever since, with a number of failed treatments.

Ashley Cain has revealed that he is flying to Singapore with daughter Azaylia because it is the “only option to save” their “beautiful little girl”.The 30-year-old welcomed his seven-month-old daughter with girlfriend Safiyya Vorajee last August, with her horrifically battling cancer since birth.