After over a Month of preparing, organising and planning, I’m happy to say that LAUNCH 2 is taking shape and will be landing on Thursday 9th September 2010. There are a lot of new exciting developments I look forward to share in the days leading up to the big Event – So you don’t want to miss this!

The first LAUNCH in Feb 2010 was very well received with over 200 creatives from the Singapore Film, TV and Media Industry attending. Click here to read about the event on the Launch Block website. I was very happy to get all the great feedback when I recently made some calls to past attendees – I’ve included some of them in this blog post – see below:)

Launch Singapore's Premier Networking Evening for Film, TV & Media

“LAUNCH was a very well conceived concept, and exceptionally executed.  Great venue, great atmosphere and a great opportunity for creatives and content producers to network.

I personally made some valuable contacts and look forward to the next one!”

Karen Johnston
Programming & Acquisitions Director,
Asia Pacific
NBC Universal

“Launch! is a networking event for our very own film, media and entertainment industry originating from the strong desire to create a thriving community that shares a common vision and passion.

Definitely worth supporting and hope to see it grow bigger over time!”

Kelvin Sng
Managing Director
Kelvin Sng Productions Pte Ltd (KSP)

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LAUNCH 2 is getting a make over and promises to be even bigger and better with many enhancements to make the networking evening more effective and just as importantly more FUN!

To get the latest updates on LAUNCH 2 developments including how to register for this Exclusive Film, TV & Media Networking Evening follow the LAUNCH BLOCK at Twitter, Facebook and of course at the website! www.TheLaunchBlock.com

If you have any suggestions or feedback especially any feedback you would like to be considered to make LAUNCH 2 even better, please feel free to post your comments below!!!

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“Launch provides a unique forum for Singapore’s acting community. It enables actors to meet with producers, educators and colleagues, allowing them to extend the reach  of their professional contacts. Expanding the cultural environment is the next step that will help Singapore to become a true world capital, and Launch gives those who are building the nation’s culture a place to grow.”

William C. Kovacsik
Assistant Arts Professor
NYU Tisch Asia

Cut - Team Word Short Film for the 48 Hour Film Project Singapore 2010

Three weeks ago, I had the opportunity of joining my acting friends from WORD ( A weekly scene acting workshop where actors come together and work the craft with visiting directors) to participate in the Singapore arm of the 48 Hour Film Project. Led by Waikit, a group of us ‘wordies’ got together over the weekend of the 31st April to the 2nd of May and made a short film in 48 hours!!! Always wanted to be part of one of these competitions, and I’m definitely glad I participated. . Great fun and surprising what you can can put together in a weekend!

On Friday 31st April – all the Teams gathered at TISCH ASIA and were given the debrief including the elements that must be included in the film:

Prop: Pillow
Line: Well, That Certainly Changes Things.
Character: Eugene or Eunice Ling – Personal Trainer

Everyone also had to draw a genre from a hat and we got horror!

Here’s our film below: Do leave a comment at the bottom too!

THE 48 Hours, Screening & Awards:

Ideas started flowing from 7pm with the initial two team members – Waikit and Tushar. By 11pm our team of 6 had come together and by midnight we had a storyline. We then split up tasks while some of us went out to get props required, the rest of us starting blocking out the story and developing the characters. Finally we started shooting around 4am. Unfortunately none of the footage was good enough. so after wrapping at about 8am Waikit (our trusty DOP, Director and editor) went home and wrote out a script ready for us to shoot later on saturday night after most of us tried to get some rest:)

Team Word after Wrap on Sunday Morning

We shot from 11pm till about 8.30am, and despite Waikit not getting home till about 10am and even having a half hour nap, we managed to get our film in on time by 7pm that day! Great work on Waikit’s part!

All the finished entries were screened at a real cinema – This was very exciting to have my first film I had helped make shown in a cinema, nay an Imax Screen at the GV Cinema on Wed 12th May. A day later after all the films were revivewed by the panel of judges – we were informed we got selected for the final screening and were very happy to find out we Won Best Acting (Ensemble) and Best Directing!!!

48 Hour Film Wrap Party with Event Organisers

With Steve outside the Cinema before our Debut Short Film Screening Next to "48 Hour Film" Poster

48 Hour Film Project Screening at GV Grand IMAX!

End of Screening

With Most of the Word Cast & Crew from CUT after our screening (missing Jacklyn!)

With the Organisers at the Best of Screening - Happy after Winning Best Acting (Ensemble) and Best Directing:)

Thanks to Meghan Shea and Mike Rogers from 48 Hour Film Project for organising everything and giving us an opportunity to participate

It was great to be a part of it and good encouragement to continue working on the craft of film making!

Do leave a comment!!

CREDITS –

Team Word are: Tushar Ismal, Jacklyn Kuah, Steve Lai, Derrick Siu, Simon Wong & Waikit Kun
Produced by Team Word
Story by Team Word

Script, DOP & Editing by Waikit Kun
Cast: Tushar Ismal, Jacklyn Kuah, Steve Lai, Kate Lim, Derrick Siu & Simon Wong
Props: Tushar Ismail & Steve Lai
Make Up: Kate Lim
Photography : Derrick Siu & Steve Lai
Design: Simong Wong of Chemistry

Over a month ago, my good friend Steve and I decided to give The Amazing Race Asia a shot.

Fresh from the scars of being rejected as co-hosts for eNews Asia during their open casting in February, we thought we would join forces (double our chances??:) and get in the Ring for another shot of TV screen time. With a only few days before the deadline we decided to take the plunge and apply for the Amazing Race Asia (TARA). Luckily for us, the deadline got extended for another 9 days which gave us a bit more time to make the video in between our crazy schedules at the time and finally fill out that long application form!

Applications closed on March 31st. Details on the TARA website stated that selected participants would be contacted in April. I had planned to post this video earlier, but decided against it on advice from others in case posting our video audition may affect our chances. Well Its now the Beginning of May. .We think we missed the boat, so we’re happy to finally post this video up now for your viewing pleasure:)).

Big thanks to everyone who helped make the video – Daniela for playing TARA, Cloudie for helping us with the pool shots and Anthony for helping us shoot the video ).

We had great fun making the video.. hope you enjoy it! and if you do please do post your comments below!!

23rd Singapore International Film Festival

About 3 weeks ago I got an excited call from multi-talented Director Joshua Simon sharing the news that the short film he cast me in was selected as a finalist for the 23rd Singapore International Film Festival Singapore Short Film Competition.  This was definitely great news and kudos to Joshua’s vision and imagination for writing and directing this short film as part of his Film Media Studies course at Ngee Ann Polytechnic.  Over 70 films were submitted this year from which 7 Finalists were selected.

I remember being quite excited when I was cast to do the 25th Laura – my first short film ever, only a couple of weeks after arriving in Singapore in June last year (2009).  It was exciting for a number of reasons – previous to this, most of my acting roles were for small guest roles, this was my first lead as an actor.  Also I don’t think I have shot in film previously – although I could be mistaken .  I’m really excited for Joshua and his crew, hope they win a Silver Screen Award!!!

The 25th of Laura

25th of Laura

By Joshua Simon / Singapore / 2009 / PG / 13

Laura is a missing emotion and puzzle piece in the photographer’s life and knows that. With a soft smile and looks, she challenges and tests his desperation in needing to complete his life.

Cast: Derrick Siu, Robert Devoe, Myra Tay
Producer: Tan Shu Jun
Music & Cinematography : Marjorie Teo
Art Direction: Pamela Soh
Sound Design: Zheng Hui Ting
Editor: Sabreena Shanu
Special Thanks: Douglas Kwon, Zef, Rick Chan, Lau Chee Meng

It was definitely a great experience and I look forward to seeing the film on the big screen as well as the other finalists.  The Film is screening along with the other 6 Finalists at 11.30am on Saturday 17th April(1st Screening) & 24th April (2nd Screening) at Sinema Old School.

• Book your tickets at sistic here
• Direct link to the Singapore Short Film Competition webpage
• Direct link to 25th Laura page

Here are some Production stills that were taken during the shoot in July 2009.

25th Laura Crew

LAUNCH 2.2.2010

Nearly 200 creatives showed up to support LAUNCH!, Singapore’s Premier Networking Evening for the Film, TV, Media and Arts industry on February 2nd 2010. There was a great vibe at the Helipad and a great crowd came out including over 20 local production companies, several talent agencies, directors, producers, casting directors, creative directors, writers and many actors, hosts, models and other creatives. It was a wonderful chance to catch up with past and present work colleagues, as well as meet and network with new contacts.

Beatz, Joshua Simon & Steph Micayle

Entertainment by Singapore’s only Beatbox A Capella Crew BEATZ went off as did the fantastic accoustic set performed by the very talented Joshua Simon and Steph Micayle.

Many new friendships and connections were made which hopefully will be a springboard for future collaborations and projects! Thank-you to all of you who supported the Evening and we look forward to seeing you at the next LAUNCH! Event.

Check out the Official Photos from LAUNCH Here.
The event was also covered by Lifestyle Asia , check out the photos here.

You can also checkout the facebook event page here

Don’t Forget to leave your comments and feedback below in the comments box !!!

For more information on The Launch and up coming activities, go to www.TheLaunchBlock.com and leave your details there

Thank-you to The LAUNCH Sponsors:

Official Designer: Blabbering Chilly Jilly – thanks for staying up till the wee hours of the morning and doing such a great work on the Launch Logo and Board design!

Official Photographer: Joe Hani and team from XKuisit Photography

XKuisit

And a Special thanks to everyone who helped make the event possible

Brainstorming – Simon Yin, Bobby Khanna, Karen Teo and many others for helping with brainstorming the brand Name and website.

Support – Kelvin Sng, Chris Lee & Laura Kee

Advisors – Nic Chee @ Sinema Academy, Caine Teo – Ape Communications for event advice. Marcus Foo.

Design – Joshua Simon – for helping create the original LAUNCH Graphic and VIP Invitations

Printing – Barry Seah from TLS- Performance for all his help and assistance in making the printing happen despite the problems we faced!

Spreading the Word – Jason Chan & Wendy Ho from AADB, , All the Wordies – Laura Kee, Jacklyn Kuah, Simon Wong, Tushar, Steve Lai, Jae Leung, Ethan Tan, Ethan Chia, Waikit, Mike Kwah and Ray Loh

Media – City News for covering the event – Thanks to Theresa,  Rubez and Michael.

Setting Up - Laura Kee, Jacklyn Kuah, Waikit Kun, Tushar Ismail, Steve Lai, Farid.

Registration – Laura Kee and Jacklyn Kuah for their amazing effort at the registration desk and organising the printing of the name tags. Alan Tan for his great assistance and Tushar Ismail and Ethan Chia for filling in after.

Event Facilitation – Simon Wong, Steve Lai, Tushar Ismail, Farid, Mike Kwah,Laura Kee, Jacklyn Kuah

Entertainment: Thanks to Jeff Lim for managing the Sound and of course the perfomers – BEATZ (Mr. Z, Chrisso, Fallenangel & Queen K) and Joshua Simon and Steph Micayle and the EMCEE for the evening – Adrian Rodrigues

Additional Photography: Thanks to Timothy Boey from Lifestyle Asia

Venue: Helipad – thank-you to Addamm, Hannah, Kenneth and all the staff for making it a pleasure to work with

Feedback – And thank-you to the many many people I chatted with asking for your thoughts and ideas about putting on the LAUNCH event, your feedback was invaluable in helping make the event what it was!

ABOUT LAUNCH:

Launch began as an idea in late 2009. After arriving in Singapore looking for work as a host and actor, Derrick was fortunate to have worked with many great cast and crew on various productions and events. Realising that most people in the industry are too busy and rarely get the chance to interact with each other outside the work environment, the idea to organise a mixer and bring creatives together for a chance to not only catch up socially with past work colleagues, but also to expand possibilities of future work by meeting and making new contacts in the industry. After some research, the idea became a work in motion and the concept of LAUNCH was born on Jan 15th 2010.

As an extension of LAUNCH – Singapore’s Premier Networking Event for the Film, TV and Media Industry, TheLaunchBlock.com was established and aims to exist as a platform for creatives to connect, collaborate and create! Become a member and Be Part of the Launch movement today!

FEBRUARY:

2.2.2010 – Launch EVENT takes off! Great turn out and a Great Vibe on the night!

5.2.2010 – Hosted Ben & Jerry’s Vivo City Relaunch

9.2.2010 – Auditioned for E! News Asia

12-14.2.2010 – Celebrate Chinese New Year with Friends

15.2.2010 – Started to work on bringing Bill Pepper to Singapore for the first time to conduct Voice Workshop Intensives & Masterclasses for professional voice users.

23.2.2010 – 3.1.2010 – Trip back to Australia -  Got to see George Michael in Concert while I was there!

MARCH

6.3.2010 – Assisted with Drum Cafe Corporate Team Building Session for COKE in Batam

10-12.3.2010 – Participated in a Reality TV Show on a Cruise – watch out for it in June:)

14.12.3.2010 – Acted in Corporate Video with INSEAD

15-18.3.2010 – Acted in “Pursuit of Pleasure” NYU Short Film

20-31.3.2010 – Produced Amazing Race Asia 4 Video Application

23.3.2010 – Moved House!

26-27.3.2010 – Presentation Skills workshop with Nicole Stinton (Stint on Stage) for NUS Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy students

26.3.2010 – 8.4.2010 – Manage and oversee Bill Pepper’s First Voice Workshops & Masterclasses in Singapore at the Drama Centre.

As you can see its been a hella busy 2010! ). .

hope to take some time off in April. . . .will add photos soon!

Derrick

Wow. what a challenging but rewarding week it has been in organising LAUNCH. After troubleshooting server issues for  The Launch Block website over 4 days and then the new server issues, tickets for the event finally went LIVE on Tuesday.  The brilliant final design for the event courtesy of the very talented Jill from Blabbering Chilly Jilly Design also got completed.  It was also very exciting to finally get the registration and ticketing system set up through Eventbrite.  A super cool tool that has lots of great functionality to streamline any rsvp-ing or events ticketing.

I have to say before finally settling on a date, I communicated with many many people, to find out the feasiblity of putting on such an event in Singapore.  There were many different opinions – many supporters and also many naysayers.  So it has definitely been very exciting seeing the buzz grow for this event and gratifying to know that the event is being very well supported and that there are already over 20 Production companies attending, as well as many established artists, agencies, actors and directors.   Its shaping up to be a great evening.

Besides the design, and ticketing system and letting people know about the event, I’ve also been very busy organising printing of materials and some other finishing touches to ensure the evening has a quality touch will report on these after the event:).

I’m also very grateful for a group of friends who have been very supportive and have assisted me with getting the word out! Thank-you to each of you!!

Almost everything has been organised and I can’t wait for everybody to have a fantastic enjoyable evening in good company with the prospect of forging some new bonds and the beginnings of some great creative works!  If you still would like to attend you can click on this link to register and save $5 by using the Coupon Code “Launch2010″

Hope to see you there!

Derrick

Exclusive Networking Evening for Creative Artists

I’m very excited to announce that a networking event I’ve been thinking about organising in the last couple of months for the Film / TV / Theatre industry is happening!! Its been a busy couple of weeks developing the concept and coming up with the name. but now its done. Its going to be a great night connecting with colleagues and meeting new people, and some very cool things are coming together for the event, which I will be revealing in the next few days.

Anyway here is the blurb on Launch:

LAUNCH
Exclusive Networking Evening for Creative Professionals
in the Film, TV and Theatre Industry.

Don’t miss Singapore’s Exclusive Networking Evening for Creative Artists, providing a platform for minds to mingle and a springboard for future projects and collaborations.

Date: Tuesday 2nd February
Time: 7.00pm-10.00pm
Venue: To be Revealed.

To register your interest in attending this event and getting priority registration. please send an email to: derrick@derricksiu.com and write in the SUBJECT –

1. Launch Registration
2. Your Name
3. Your Title (eg : Actor, Agent, Producer, Director, Writer, Model, etc)

More details will be coming on the 25th Jan 2010.

Here is the Promo clip that was running on Channel 5 Yesterday:

Here is the program summary I copied from the website:

Tomorrow Night 7.30pm Channel 5:
Lost Chapters The Forgotten Soldiers
(Part 1) (Chinese Subtitles)The Forgotten Soldiers is about Singapore’s first soldiers. A forgotten story of brave men, who answered a call to arms when many had yet to call Singapore home. In Episode 3 of Lost Chapters, we look at the story of Song Ong Siang and Lim Book Keng, two stalwarts in the Peranakan society who lobbied in the early 1900s to form the first local volunteer force. In this lesser known story, we reveal a story of patriotism, loyalty and willingness to fight and die for Singapore. In During that time, the mettle of the first company of soldiers is tested during the Sepoy Mutiny and World War 1. The story transits to World War 2 when a new breed of volunteers lead by Captain Yap Pheng Geck, fights for Singapore.

Happy New Year! I wish you a grand 2010! Personally I got off to a rocky start with some Holiday drama, but thats behind me now, and I’m back and ready to rock it in 2010:)

Now, I know I have been very slack on my blog, but I have made a New Year Resolution to update happenings at least weekly for 2010. You see, since the History Auditions last October, things have been extremely crazy busy with Radio Courses, Short Films, Acting workshops with Word and Drama Lab (TISCH School of the Arts) and various other film projects, so have had very little time for my blog, but have definitely decided to make it a priority this year.

Anyway being my first post for 2010, I thought I it would be a good idea to put down a few of my major goals I wanna kick for this year: (and use for reflection at the end of the year – hopefully a happy reflection:)

1. Be in a short film that is selected for a Film Festival
2. Master Basic Conversational Mandarin
3. Learn to Sing and Join a Choir
4. Learn Wushu and finally get a 6 Pack (hmm. .I think this may prove to be the most challenging!:)
5. Visit SE Asia countries esp – HK, Thailand and Taiwan

Finally Its been 3 months since my last post, so one of my last resolutions/ goals is to do retrospective blog entries for the major happenings for me here in Singapore for those 3 months.

So Stay Tuned for my retro entries and my new weekly entries here on my Blog. Love to hear your thoughts – post your comments below and share your resolutions or goals for 2010!