Singapore – Home-grown online entertainment channel Viddsee launched a new Singapore Film Channel with the support of the Singapore Film Commission (SFC), part of the Info-Communications Media Development Authority (IMDA). This was announced at the opening of the Singapore Media Festival. The channel is dedicated to showcasing diverse and unique stories from home-grown filmmakers. The partnership is part of SFC’s efforts to cultivate greater awareness and appreciation for Singapore films.

Up to 30 short films will be curated for the channel, which will feature works by up and coming student filmmakers such as Tariq Mansor, Lauren Teo and other notable independent filmmakers from Singapore such as Kirsten Tan and Leon Cheo. The works selected for the channel offers a wide variety of genres from documentary (Longest Distance Relationship by Lee Sin Yee), comedy-drama (The Lying Theory by Lauren Teo, and Move out Notice by Leon Cheo), to animation (The Violin by Ervin Han, and Ways of Seeing by Jerrold Chong).

As part of the partnership with SFC, Viddsee will also be commissioning their first original short film by a Singapore filmmaker, to produce a heartfelt Singapore-inspired story for a local and regional audience. The film will be released in the first half of next year.  Co-founded by the engineering and filmmaking duo Derek Tan and Ho Jia Jian, Viddsee- which has attracted over 500 million users globally- utilises data and insights to grow its viewership and to optimise content discovery. With its access to audience and proprietary marketing insights, Viddsee will leverage data and audience engagement analytics, as well as online marketing tools and strategies to drive viewership to Singapore films on the channel and extend their reach to a new audience.

Viddsee will also spotlight selected feature filmmakers such as award-winning local filmmaker K. Rajagopal, to further the exposure and awareness of their works. This includes customised marketing campaigns on Viddsee’s platforms, which will showcase the filmmaker’s past works and trailers of upcoming feature films.

“We are excited to have SFC’s support, as it is a catalyst and facilitator in the development of the Singapore film industry. Together with the IMDA’s efforts to connect content creators with technology, we hope to also nurture the next generation of digital content creators on our platform,” says Viddsee’s co-founder Derek Tan.  The Singapore Film Channel is now live on www.viddsee.com/singapore-film-channel.