Please wait...
Please wait...

Hooq picks six pilots from talent initiative

Asian SVoD service Hooq has announced six TV pilots for development from its fledgling initiative designed to unearth new film talent in the region.

Bhak (India), Suay (Thailand), Haunt Me (Singapore), How to be a Good Girl (Singapore), Aliansi (Indonesia) and Heaven & Hell (Indonesia) were picked out from more than 500 submissions to Hooq’s Filmmakers Guild programme.

The scheme, which is in its first year, invites directors, producers and screenwriters to submit scripts and treatments for television series. The top ideas receive US$30,000 to produce a pilot episode to air on Hooq, the joint venture between telecoms giant SingTel, Warner Bros and Sony Pictures Television in the Philippines.

The best of these pilots, as judged by Hooq subscribers and a panel of leading Asian film talent, will be made into a full series for the SVoD service.

“Hooq has always been a big supporter of the Asian film industry,” said Peter Bithos, Hooq’s CEO. “The Filmmakers Guild was designed with this aim in mind and focuses on developing the next generation of Asian film talents by providing them with the opportunity to showcase their ideas and develop their skills.

“There were so many great ideas to select from so we decided to produce six pilots instead of the five we intended.”

The six shortlisted for pilot span a range of genres including comedy, thriller and supernatural. Dramedy Bhak, written by Arjun Chatterjee and Shreyom Ghosh from Big3 Media, focuses on the adventures of two young filmmakers in Bollywood.

Thai crime thriller Suay, written by Marcelo von Schwartz, follows the story of a transgender dancer who receives a severed ear belonging to her best friend and mentor and descends into Bangkok’s underbelly to seek answers.

Haunt Me, by Oman Dhas and Goh Ming Siu from Third Floor Pictures, tells the story of a widower who encounters the supernatural after moving into her late husband’s family home. Fellow Singaporean entry How to be a Good Girl, from Abundant Productions, follows a socialite-turned-convict trying to turn her life around after prison.

Offbeat comedy Aliansi, by Muttaqiena Imaamaa, focuses on a broke Jakarta-based creative executive who gets a second chance thanks to a mysterious millionaire. Finally, Bobby Prabowo and Eric Tiwa’s Heaven & Hell explores the Eastern Indonesian criminal underworld.

Mouly Surya, director of critically acclaimed film Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts and one of the judges, said she was amazed by the quality of the submissions, which were an “affirmation to me that Asia truly has immense talent when it comes to filmmaking.”

Fellow judge Erik Matti, a veteran of the Filipino film industry, added the submissions “took screen craft to another level.”

“The level of detail and the amalgamation of brave ideas, Asian culture and stunning creativity brought out some of the most amazing submissions I have ever seen,” he said.

Hooq’s initiative is the latest in the company’s growth strategy in Asia, which Bithos revealed to C21 earlier this year. The service, available in Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia and the Philippines, is targeting Malaysia and Vietnam as it attempts to expand its reach in the region.

Please wait...