05/04/2023
๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ง ๐ฆ๐ง๐ข๐ฅ๐๐๐ฆ: ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ง๐๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐ ๐ฆ๐๐๐๐๐ก๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ง๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ก
The first English session was โThe Business of Writing" with Dennis Yang, CEO & Founder of Studio76.co; and Peter Choe, Founder & CEO, Blintn, who dialed in from South Korea just for this panel discussion. โI think it made for a great learning experience to have perspectives from our industry peers in Taiwan and South Korea. That regional outlook from both Peter and Dennis was, I hope, very useful to the audience,โ said TJ.
Considering how filmmaking is a commercial enterprise, the panel discussed if there is a brighter future for writers who focus on popular genres. Dennis urged the writers to ask themselves instead, "Why do you want to tell the story? Why is it so important? Could this story be told by someone else or are you the best person to tell the story? I want to know the relationship between the story and the creator. It is best that it has a personal connection".
Dennis added that "Not many writers are multi-skilled enough to take on different genres.โ He advised writers to stick to a genre that they are good at and spend several years polishing their skills in storytelling. โDoes genre define the story or does the story define the genre? A lot of writers like to start with the genre. I would say the story is the food itself, and genre the spices that bring out the core message, and that's my personal opinion.โ
Peter agreed with Dennis saying, "I'm focusing more on quality than genre because now that language barriers have been lowered, all kinds of content can be distributed globally and the social and viral impact of content can be very strong.โ Peter highlighted that the choice of audience is important in each country, or sometimes each region as different markets are known for their strengths in genre or topic, yet he reminds writers that โthe most localized content is the most globalized content and I recommended focusing much more on the content, which is to match it with your own sentiments than just following some kind of trend.โ
Another rare learning opportunity was to be had when three internationally-positioned media professionals came together for the second English session, โMaking Stories Travelโ. The panelists were: Tan Kheng Hua, award-winning actor and producer based in Singapore and North America, where she is starring in Warner Mediaโs remake of โKung Fuโ, Dinesh Ratnam, Senior Director of International Business Department at iQiyi, representing Southeast Asia and China; and Samm Haillay, award-winning film producer & consultant who dialed into the panel discussion from the United Kingdom.
Samm, who reads โhundreds of scriptsโ a month is also on the jury of RisingStories 2023. โIt will be great to see a bunch of content from a different part of the world and see what concerns people have coming from Singapore and the wider regionโ he said. Lee Thean-jeen, Managing Director of Weiyu Films, Singapore, moderated the panel discussion
When asked what the panel looked for in a script, โI look for energy in either the pitching document or the script that, when I am looking through it, just pops out of the page. And hits my heart and touches me in a way that I cannot really explain, but I know it's good,โ said Tan Kheng Hua who is also on the judging panel. Panelist Dinesh added that โI think the challenge for writers is really straddling โ straddling that balance of local and global, and finding the right platforms to work with that also believe in the story, to then be that champion in bringing the story to life.โ
When asked what he looks out for as a judge, Samm said โfirst of all, I'm looking for a thesis and what the film is about.โ He observed that many scripts tend to be โa group of ideas backed by a group of ideas with no real understanding of what and why the film is discussingโ. He continued, โI'm looking for structure. A script has to be properly structured and I know it might be a little bit boring for people to hear that, but it's so important, especially when writing in a genre โ there have to be certain turns, certain elements, certain characters, which fulfill functionality.โ
One overarching theme that seemed to emerge from the panel discussions was that, no matter where the content originates or which market it is intended for, writers should strive for a personal engagement with the stories they seek to tell, and while they should โwrite local,โ they should also โthink global.โ
โMore Than Just Storiesโ was part of a series of industry outreach sessions held in Taiwan and Singapore, in conjunction with the 2023 RisingStories International Scriptwriting Competition (โRisingStories 2023โ). Organized by Studio 76 โ with Blintn, GroupM, Mission Entertainment, Rising Films, Southern Flame, Taiwan Dream Institute, and Weiyu Films as partners โ RisingStories 2023 is currently calling for entries. Submissions close on 14 April.
๐ Visit our website for more information and submit your stories now https://risingstories.asia/
