Southeast Asian VOD service HOOQ has revealed six titles for pilot development its inaugural HOOQ Filmmakers Guild, an annual initiative launched in June 2017.
The HOOQ Filmmakers Guild allows directors, producers or scriptwriters to submit scripts and treatments for TV shows, with the top five receiving $30,000 to produce a pilot episode that will debut on HOOQ. The best out of these five pilot episodes, decided by HOOQ subscribers and a judging panel comprising top film talent around Asia, will be converted into a full series produced and debuted on HOOQ.
The 2017 selections are Bhak (India), Suay (Thailand), Haunt Me (Singapore), How to Be a Good Girl (Singapore), Aliansi (Indonesia) and Heaven and Hell (Indonesia). These projects were chosen around 500 submissions received by HOOQ over a two-month period across Southeast Asia.
Peter Bithos, the CEO of HOOQ, commented, “HOOQ has always been a big supporter of the Asian film industry. The HOOQ 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 through connecting with the Guild’s judges, who are the crème de la crème of the Asian film business. We are so excited to announce the six pilots that we have selected to be produced! There were so many great ideas to select , so we decided to produce six pilots instead of the five that we have intended. We look forward to the completed pilots and hope that everyone will get HOOQ’d on them!”
Judge Puttipong Promsaka Na Sakolnak said,“The number of submissions was far more than what any of us were expecting.”
“I was deeply amazed by the quality of the submissions, so much so that it made judging really difficult,” noted judge Mouly Surya, director of Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts. “It was an affirmation to me that Asia truly has immense talent when it comes to filmmaking.”
Judge/actor Nicholas Saputra stated,“Not only were their submissions for the HOOQ Filmmakers Guild fantastic, they are so energetic, creative and bursting with ideas and serve as a reminder to all seasoned filmmakers to never lose that spark inside of us.”
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.”
