It has been a tough year for many, and the filmmaking industry is just as hard-hit with thousands experiencing difficulty in finding work and opportunities to create new films. Ironically, the scarcity of new content comes at a time when audiences need it the most to bring hope and entertain them while being encouraged to stay at home.

In recognising the challenges faced by the filmmaking community, Viddsee launched “StoriesTogether,” an initiative across the Southeast Asian region that aims to give hope through films during challenging times. The initiative was launched on the 14th of April and comprised several activities carried out in Singapore, Indonesia, and The Philippines.

Ho Jia Jian, co-founder and CEO of Viddsee said, “The StoriesTogether initiative was our way of banding together and providing ways to support our community of storytellers and fans through these hard times. We hope our efforts, together with our partners including the IMDA, will help filmmakers to continue to grow in their craft and passion, and our audiences connected as we tackle through the months ahead.”

Among these include:

1. #TogetherAtHome (#DiRumahAja for Indonesia) Watch Parties streamed on YouTube and Facebook for Singaporean, Filipino and Indonesian audiences, and includes collaborations with organisations such as Zero Waste Singapore and The Hidden Good. Since the initiative began there have been over 30 live watch parties, with more scheduled in the coming weeks.
2. Viddsee Berdiskusi, which are live-streamed candid conversations with personalities within the Indonesian filmmaking community.
3. Curated playlists Emerging From The Waves, which explores themes of inner peace and journey of rediscovery; and Embracing The Thread Of Life, which weaves the theme of acceptance and forgiveness to heal the mind, body & soul.
4. Supporting similar regional efforts by promoting them on the platform. Among them include the Lockdown Cinema Club, a Philippines-based crowd-funding initiative that invites viewers to “watch all you want, give what you can,” with funds going to over 1,000 low income, no work-no pay film industry workers.
5. The StoriesTogether Content Fund, which is part of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) Public Service Content Fund initiative worth S$8m that was announced on April 14 to help local media companies benefit from more production project opportunities.

Spurring content creation through the StoriesTogether content fund

Following a call-for-proposals that went out in May, Viddsee Studios has selected eight short films and four short-form series that will be produced under the first phase of the StoriesTogether Content Fund.

Through this initiative, Viddsee Studios will work with 12 Singapore-based media companies to create a diverse range of films and series that cut across multiple genres of thrillers, drama, and comedy. This also includes SG Retell, Viddsee Studios’ first motion illustration series that explores and reimagines popular Singaporean myths and legends in different visual styles created for the digital medium.

This initial slate is expected to be released in stages from November 2020 with the launch of until February 2021. There will also be a call for proposals for the second phase of short films and series out in late-August 2020, with their debuts scheduled in March 2021.

The 12 media companies that will be involved in this phase are Butterworks, Bert Pictures (which produced Ramen Shop, Zombiepura, and HBO’s Food Lore), Little Red Ants Creative Studio, Millenia Motion Pictures, The Moving Visuals Co, Papahan Films, Orange Socks, Cutscene, Akanga Film Asia (which produced A Land Imagined), Taipan Films, Oak3 Films, and Sproud.

Among the notable names involved in this phase are director K Rajagopal (Akanga Film Asia), whose film A Yellow Bird was screened at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, and producer Juan Foo (Taipan Films), who is also the producer of Circle Line, Singapore’s first creature feature that is currently in its final stages of post.

In the coming months, the StoriesTogether initiative will encompass more efforts across the region, including the Viddsee Juree Awards in Indonesia, the Philippines and Singapore, special screenings, and weekly premieres. For more information on StoriesTogether and its upcoming activities visit https://www.viddsee.com/storiestogether.