1. Proposal for:
MEDIA DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
OF SINGAPORE
BEYOND THE DOT.
A 10 x 24-Minute Infotainment Programme
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2. SYNOPSIS
Singapore was termed “the little red dot” by former Indonesian President Dr. Habibi. He was in an unfriendly mood when
he made that statement, but he certainly was not lying. Indeed, Singapore is a “little red dot” on the world map. But
Singapore has managed to break this stigma with her many creative talents succeeding beyond “the little red dot” on a
global scale.
BEYOND THE DOT takes you on a comprehensive journey to uncover, to question, and to be inspired by successful
Singaporean creative talents residing abroad.
These talents having found their havens will share with us their life, their love, and their passion, which will inspire and
give faith to Singaporeans back at home that they too can chase their dreams and achieve success beyond their home
country.
BEYOND THE DOT promises to leave you full of drive and passion to go out there and make your dreams come true.
CONCEPT & TREATMENT
Format
BEYOND THE DOT is an inspiring and captivating 10 x 24-minute English language infotainment programme. It pries into
the lives of various Singaporean creative talents who have carved a name for themselves in other parts of the world.
Through their success stories, we gain interesting insights into their lives to better understand their psyches and learn
their formulae for success.
In each episode, a different creative talent is featured. Each episode is insightful and always inspirational, as we see
these passionate individuals venture out of their comfort zones to achieve recognition abroad. These talents hail from all
ends of the creative industry, from filmmaker to fashion designer to actress to pianist to chef.
But what do all these talents have in common?
What is the motivating force behind their fervent pursuit of their passion? And most importantly, what pushed these
talents to embark on a new life abroad? Just how much greener are the pastures abroad, if they are in the first place?
There will be three segments in each episode. In the first segment, the background of these talents will be introduced as
we hear their stories coupled with old photographs and video clips since their younger days, to their teenage years, to
their adulthood and finally to their move abroad. What can be better than to ease the distance between the audience and
the characters by learning about their growing up stories first?
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3. In the second segment, we will follow a day in the life of these talents to gain a deeper insight into their character and
understand them. A 24-hour journey of these talents will give the audience a clearer picture of what these talents
experience daily – work, leisure, and interpersonal relationships. Interviews with these talents will be conducted to further
understand them. What have they learnt from this experience of building a career from scratch overseas? Have they
achieved what they set out to in the beginning? How do they keep their passion burning? What obstacles have they
encountered? Do they have any regrets so far? What are the differences between the creative industry abroad and in
Singapore? What motivated them to go abroad and build their careers?
In the third and final segment, interviews will be conducted with the family, friends and colleagues of these talents. What
were their initial reactions when these talents made the decision to venture abroad? Were they supportive of the
decision? How much faith did they have in these talents initially? What are their views on people pursuing their creative
talents as a professional lifelong career? Opinions of community leaders, sociology experts and other renowned
personalities in the same field will be sought after to present a more balanced and objective point-of-view.
There will be no host for this programme. Instead, the talent along with other interview subjects will propel the plot forward
with their stories and viewpoints to keep each episode going. Voiceovers and narrations will be utilised when necessary to
link the various parts of each episode to produce a seamless and eloquent presentation of each success story.
Visual & Sound Treatment
A combination of both stunning visuals and sound is necessary to bring out the very creative and ‘arty’ nature of this
programme.
To complement the creative talents featured and to reflect the nature of the creative industry, this programme has to be
visually invigorating – with vibrant colours and dynamic MTV-style shots and editing. However, there is also a moving and
inspirational side to this programme when the talents speak of their well-deserved successes. On top of that, interviews
with other subjects are also serious by nature with important information disseminated. Thus, this part of the programme
is slightly softer in their visual approach – with fast cuts comprising of static straight-on shots – to adopt a more credible
tone to capture the audience’s undivided attention so as to allow them to feel inspired and informed. In tune with the
creative arts nature, each episode will be relatively fast-paced with quick cuts.
The soundtrack of this programme will consist of mainly electronic music of varying tempos to suit the different mood of
each segment. Electronic music will definitely lift this programme to give it a fresh yet soothing mood which directly
reflects what the creative arts is all about – contemporary, yet always comforting.
OBJECTIVES & TARGET AUDIENCE
In the recent years, an increasing number of Singaporean creative talents are travelling abroad to seek job opportunities.
Out of this group of people, many of them have excelled in their various capacities on an international level like never
before back in Singapore. What constituted to this social phenomenon? Why are our creative talents venturing abroad?
What made them choose to become ‘leavers’? Why didn’t they want to pursue their dreams in Singapore?
BEYOND THE DOT strives to firstly show that there are Singaporean creative talents present in our society, to combat
common misconceptions of most Singaporeans being incapable of crafting and appreciating the arts. Secondly, the
programme explores why these talents venture abroad. Lastly and most importantly, the success stories of the talents
featured will inspire and stir up the fiery passion in the audience so that they would be undaunted in pursuing their dreams
no matter how trying it may be.
The success stories featured in this programme will attract both amateurs and professionals of the creative industry, as
creative talents are featured specifically. These practitioners in the creative industry will be interested to hear the
viewpoints of those who have made it in the face of obstacles in a different country. Students in arts schools will also be
attracted to this programme about the creative arts scene, with the hope of finding their source of inspiration.
Consecutively, educators of the creative arts will make up the secondary audience wanting to learn more about such
successful talents so that they may impart the necessary skills and the right attitude to their students.
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4. BEYOND THE DOT: THE SERIES
The following are some examples of the creative talents the different episodes will feature:
“Fashion Designer – Ashley Isham”
Think along the lines of Louis Vuitton, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo; the
Singaporean fashion designer is slowly carving a name as celebrated as these
designers. Ashley Isham left Singapore for London in 1996 to fulfil his love for fashion
and he now has his own boutique and label. He is amongst one of the few established
young designers working in London today.
“Hollywood Filmmaker – Pearry Reginald Teo”
Convinced that he wanted to make films since his national service days, Pearry
Reginald Teo went on to become the first Singaporean movie director to make a
Hollywood film. His first short film Liberata Me (2002) was screened at Cannes Film
Festival and won the Best Horror prize at the New York International Film Festival. His
Hollywood movie, The Gene Generation, stars Bai Ling and Faye Dunaway and is
made on a seven-figure budget.
“Artist – Ming Wong”
Ming Wong is an artist exploring performance, moving image, language and cultural
identity, currently based in London. He has countless awards to his name, having
performed in a variety of projects – exhibitions, film installations, art education
projects and theatre.
“Photographer – John Clang”
Without a paper qualification in the arts, John Clang has proven that passion and
experience are the secrets for success that matter most. He quit school midway
through a disappointing education at an arts college in Singapore and started to
work as a photography assistant. By the age of 21, he was exhibiting his
photographs at an art gallery. After his move to New York in 1999, he has
established himself as one of the emerging photographers in the United States with
projects for Nordstrom, IBM, Adidas, Reebok, Hermes, British Airways, Nylon,
Surface, Interview and The New York Times Magazine and Rank among others to
his name.
“Pianist – Melvyn Tan”
Musically-gifted since a very young age, Melvyn Tan started piano lessons almost by
accident. It was not long after that music and he became inseparable. To bring that passion
even further, he moved to London at the tender age of 12 to study music. Since the early
1980s, he has been the glimmer of hope in the revival of the fortepiano. More recently, his
career has been taken to new heights with his performances of more contemporary music on
the modern piano.
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5. “Hairstylist-turned-Chef – Christopher Yeo”
The story of a hairstylist-turned-chef is indeed an astounding story to be told. Christopher Yeo has a foundation in the
F&B line having graduated from Singapore’s Hotel and Catering School. After working for two years at a hotel, he went on
to study hair design in London. For five years, he worked as a hairstylist in London and then in San Francisco where he
set up his very own hair design school. However, his roots in F&B did not leave him. He is now the proud owner-chef of
four restaurant branches. Christopher Yeo takes pride in being the first restaurateur to bring authentic Singaporean
cuisine to the Bay Area.
“Architect by day; Restaurateur by night – Choong Yin Lee”
Xi Yan pioneered the private dining concept and it took Hong Kong by storm since 2000. Choong Yin Lee, the co-founder
of Xi Yan, is a Hong Kong-based Singaporean architect by day. He has been working in Hong Kong for 30 years as an
architect and he is part of the executive committee of The Association of Architectural Practices of Hong Kong. Through
an architect-by-day-restaurateur-by-night, there are plenty of lessons to learn.
“Actress – Gwendoline Yeo”
Gwendoline Yeo moved to the United States as a teenager. She was crowned Miss Chinatown
USA in 1998/9 which led her to hosting and commercials. It was from there that her TV and film
career took off and blossomed. Her most celebrated role as an actress is possibly Xiao-Mei, Eva’s
maid in Desperate Housewives.
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