Hooq re-opens talent search

Pan-Asian SVoD firm Hooq has begun the third edition of its initiative seeking aspiring filmmakers from Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines, India, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam.

The Hooq Filmmakers Guild is now open for entries here until September 30 and will see five scripts selected to be developed into pilots.

With the company expecting the number of submissions to rise beyond 500 this year, it will also be increasing its investment for the development of each pilot episode by 30% to US$40,000.

Hooq said the additional boost comes as an effort to further support South-East Asia and India’s emerging talent and elevate the quality of content they produce.

Bryan Seah, head of original productions at Hooq, said: “We know that great stories have the ability to transcend boundaries, and as the leading VoD service in South-East Asia, we want to give budding filmmakers the chance to share the stories that matter to them across the region.”

The judging format sees a panel of film talent from around Asia shortlist five scripts to be developed into pilots. Hooq subscribers will then choose their favourite pilot episode, which will then be turned into a full season on Hooq.

The initiative first launched in 2017 and previous winners include Bhak, written and directed by Arjun Chatterjee and Shreyom Ghosh from Big3 Media, and She’s A Terrorist & I Love Her, a dark comedy from Singapore directed by Terence Chia and Haresh Tilani.

Entrants must be either in film school or working as professionals in the film industry with prior film production experience.

They are required to submit a script and treatment for a miniseries or a full series, with a maximum of 13 episodes for a single season, in order to qualify. There are no restrictions in terms of genre, but submissions and productions must be in the language of the applicant’s country.