Story Lab Apprenticeship 2020/2021 – G.H.Y Culture & Media

An initiative by G.H.Y Culture & Media (Singapore) (“GHY”), supported by IMDA Infocomm Media Development Authority to nurture and grow Singapore’s creative talent pool by providing structured training programs in the fields of scriptwriting, directing and producing, in return for new innovative and creative story ideas, new content creation and higher production quality that is on time and within budget.

Potential talents have the opportunity to learn from Chinese industry professionals by being attached to live productions in China. Each individual will be attached to a Chinese production for at least 12 months. They will be guided by 1 or more professional instructors and have hands-on experience in scripting, directing or producing for a real shoot.

The onsite training will be conducted in China/Malaysia/Singapore, at the actual production shoot locations. At the shoot locations, there will be production offices, workstations, and workshops set up for meetings, trainings and other production purposes. The trainees will be directly involved in one of the following drama projects of Beijing Changxin or G.H.Y Culture & Media, or others to be determined at a later date. Some upcoming projects include “The Ferryman – Legends Of Nanyang”《灵魂摆渡。南洋传说》, “Sisterhood” 《南洋女儿情》, “Nanyang Transport Volunteers” 《南洋英雄泪》, classic Singapore period dramas from our Nanyang Trilogy.

Some renowned mentors who will be working closely with GHY includes Xiao Ji Xiang Tian 小吉祥天 is best known for creating, supervising and writing the supernatural suspense drama “The Ferryman”《灵魂摆渡》, which won the Best Internet Drama Award in the 2014 Internet Drama Research Conference. Ang Eng Tee, Singapore Award- Winning Scriptwriter, who has more than 30 years of experience. Singapore’s highest-rated Channel 8 television drama “The Little Nyonya (2008)” might never have seen the light of day had it not been for his creation.

GHY is set up to be one of the core filmmaking studios for the region. We will deliver content to China and International TV broadcasters and OTT platforms from 50 hours in 2019 to 200 hours within the next 4 years. This is in line with the current demand for digital content.

Being a part of the program open doors to this mega content demanding market, China.   At the end of the mentorship program, trainees who pass the grade will be hired by GHY locally for long-term work either in Singapore or posted to Malaysia or China’s office. They will participate and contribute meaningfully in our own productions.

About G.H.Y Culture & Media

Incorporated in May 2017, G.H.Y Culture & Media (Singapore) Pte Ltd, previously known as Perfect World Pictures (Singapore) Pte Ltd, is set up to be one of the core filmmaking studios for the region.

Our China counterpart Beijing Changxin (a company in the G.H.Y Culture & Media Group), which was founded in 2011. Beijing Changxin is an entertainment company based in China, with business segments that include quality content production, artist management, distribution and marketing of film, television and online content. Beijing Changxin’s films and television series have won many important awards in Chinese and overseas markets, including the Flying Goddess Award 中国电视剧飞天奖, Magnolia Award 上海电视节白玉兰奖, Tripod Award 中国华鼎奖, Huabiao Award 中国电影华表奖, Hundred-flower Award 大众电影百花奖 and Golden Horse Award 台湾金马奖 .

On the television side, the Beijing Changxin produces between 200-400 episodes of TV dramas every year, with most of which airing on satellite TV stations at prime time. Past popular TV dramas include “Dog Stick” 《打狗棍》, “Red Lady”《红娘子》, “Yangko Dance” 《大秧歌》,“Brave Heart”《勇敢的心》, “The Legend of the Condor Heroes”《射雕英雄传》.

Beijing Changxin’s online series and movies are big hits in the country. “The Ferryman” 《灵魂摆渡》 series 1-3 crossed 2 billion viewership. The recent “The Ferryman – Manjusaka”《灵魂摆渡 – 黄泉》 became the first online movie, to break the revenue sharing record of RMB 40 million with 170 million views in just 120 days. This small budget online movie was made with less than S$ 2 million budget and telecast on iQiyi.

Similar to its parent company Beijing Changxin 北京长信影视传媒, GHY will be an entertainment company that caters to the production, distribution and marketing of film, television and online content, content related advertising, merchandising as well as events and talent management.

The incorporation of GHY in May 2017 is a strategic move by Beijing Changxin, to expand its operations into the key Asia markets. The company aims to bring the best film practices and technologies into the South East Asia region from our award-winning China counterpart.

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With the proven track record of our China counterpart, the trainees are guaranteed to be exposed to big scale drama productions and learn top-notch techniques from the veterans there. GHY will monitor the progress of the trainees and make necessary adjustments in the learning journey of the trainee to ensure the learning target is met.

The Story Lab Apprenticeship programme is an initiative developed by IMDA in partnership with leading media companies. The programme aims to provide promising fresh media professionals with structured training and opportunities to acquire key skills and competencies across in-demand job roles in the media sector. These roles range from producing, to writing, digital marketing and content creation. Through an immersive and experiential on-the-job training programme, selected apprentices will be able to gain valuable exposure and experience in the business of media.

For more information on the Story Lab Apprenticeship programme, please click http://bit.ly/2MjraSZ

Roles Required:

1. Junior Scriptwriters

• Supports the script development processes by supporting the origination or development of an idea for consideration by key stakeholders.
• Identifies relevant sources for research, collates and assesses information from various sources and verifies sources of information, based on industry requirements and presents findings to the decision makers for development of programme ideas.
• Assists with the development of scripts and checks the accuracy of the final written materials and checks for any conflicts with legal, compliance and copyright requirements.
• To conceptualise ideas and possesses an understanding of the pre-production and production process and should be effective in managing relationships in order to liaise with multiple stakeholders.

2. Assistant Directors

• Supports the creative development of the content by coordinating the production operations.
• To develope and implement production schedules, communicating the director’s creative vision to the actors and providing creative inputs during editing.
• To guide the artists and works with the director to plan the shot order and oversee the securing of locations, props and other equipment.
• To manage tight deadlines and coordinate with production cast and crew in the planning and scheduling of shooting operations.

3. Assistant Producers

• Supports various phases of content development by coordinating the business and creative aspects of the production, securing funds for production and hiring key cast and crew members during the pre-production phase.
• To coordinate the creative production operations including liaison with key cast and crew, implementing schedule and script changes under guidance and ensuring smooth transition from production to post-production phase.
• To manage the end-to-end casting process including doing research to identify upcoming talent, communicating requirements to talent agencies using casting calls, coordination of the auditioning process as well as the contracting process with the finalised cast.

Eligibility Criteria

• Singapore Citizens/Permanent Residents
• Fresh Professionals who are within three calendar years of graduation
• Diploma, Degree qualifications, or any other relevant qualifications in media-related courses or mass communication with strong writing skills in mandarin.

Application Period

30 August 2019 to 31 December 2021

To Apply

Pls send in your CV and a short write-up about yourself and relevant experience together with the following documents to production@ghyculturemedia.com

– Proof of Citizenship/Permanent residency

– Educational Certifications/Transcripts and Portfolio (if any)

** Only shortlisted candidates will be notified