PRESS RELEASE:
First Win for Singapore at LA Web Fest
At one of the most prestigious international web festivals, the Los Angeles Web Series Festival, Singapore production company, BananaMana Films, was awarded Outstanding Directing in a Drama for their web series “What Do Men Want?” originally created for the Singapore iPTV platform Toggle.sg. The two directors, Jason Chan and Christian Lee, were unable to attend but had one of the series’ actresses, Liz Lazan, represent them at the festival. This is the first time a Singapore drama series has been officially selected for competition by the festival and also the first win for Singapore.
Originally produced as a web series for iPTV the 13 half hour dramedy has since been picked up for national release on free to air TV in Singapore (Mediacorp Channel 5). It will air on October 21st 2014.
International Interest in Singapore Show
Before it even airs on Singapore’s toggle.sg or Mediacorp there has been interest from overseas. An Australian distribution company, Fred Media, is in talks to represent the drama series at MIPTV at Cannes 2014.
“The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive!” says Jason Chan (co-director, co-writer and one of the lead actors of the series) ”we are so proud to represent Singapore at an international level at the LA Web Fest and bring back an award. We think there is immense potential regionally to create drama serials that have a global reach. The fact that this series is already getting international recognition from both festivals and distributors tells us we’re doing something right towards making dramas that can cross borders.”
About BananaMana Films
BananaMana Films, established in Singapore, hope to create more dramas locally with regional cast and crew to reach a global audience. Their mission statement: to create long form, narrative drama with Asian actors in the English language (with a global reach). Though it seems like a niche that has challenges, both Jason and Christian (the company’s co-founders) believe they can make it work and that their first drama, “What Do Men Want?”, is already paving the way towards making this a reality.
Liz Lazan, actress, receiving the award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for BananaMana Films
Watched an episode last night. Very funny. Reminds me of How I Met Your Mother.
Thanks Des! Hope you enjoy the rest of the series. And if you ever feel like discussing anything to do with the weird and wonderful characters we have pages on each episode. Just go to Q&A for “What Do Men Want?” Thanks again for the encouragement!