Narrative-Driven Storytelling
Productions
I was involved in the conception, pitching, strategy, planning, creative production (pre and post), partner sourcing, and project management of all these concepts.
*Not permitted to share performance data, but click on the social links to see how these concepts were received.
Army Daze Reunion
To make War Machine’s US-centric premise more accessible to Singaporeans, we reunited the cast of 90’s local cult classic Army Daze to don their fatigues after 20 years for a critical mission briefing from Brad Pitt’s General McMahon. The nostalgia play earned us lots of love from Singaporeans, and press coverage from Today Online.
SafeMode: Black Mirror Recovery Centre
The familiar world-wary dread one gets post-Black Mirror binge was the thoughtstarter I brought to the brief, and I came up with a twisted faux-wellness centre ad that offered Taiwanese viewers a safe place to recover after watching Season 2. Fans thought our approach was as edgy and sinister as the source material it was inspired by.
Bahasasini
Malay subtitles and dubs were introduced on the service, so we made Netflix Bahasasini, an episodic series that celebrated Malaysia’s local language and has our ‘jurubahasa’, Fariz, assembling a team of talented Malaysians to assist in translating Netflix and everyone’s favourite shows into Bahasa Malaysia. Not only was the cast a hit, but real-life translators swung by the comments to give us props for the authentic representation of their experience.
Series (3 Eps)
那些不能準時過年的故事 · Stories Of Those Can’t Celebrate New Year
Our task was to cut through the cluttered Chinese New Year ad season’s usual family-oriented fare in Taiwan. We opted to tell heartfelt stories of the oft forgotten people who find themselves working through the holidays are kept company by their favourite shows… and not just on their devices. Departing from our usual humorous tone and approach, this resonated with not only fans, but the everyday folks from the local police station and hospital that lauded us for acknowledging them and being relatable.
Anthony Wong Braces For The Defenders
Our challenge was to create buzz around The Defenders for Hong Kong without showing any of the title characters in our promo. If we couldn’t use the cast’s likeness, then we had to seek someone equally big - Hong Kong legend big. Anthony Wong starred as our gangster boss sensing the threat of The Defenders on his turf, much to fans’ delight on our Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taiwan social channels.
The Queen’s Kaki
Who’s better company for a Queen than another queen? For the sophomore season of The Crown, our royal gets a surprise social visit from none other than local comedy legend Kumar, whose outstanding delivery bagged us more than half a million views on Facebook.
D’Netflix Report: #DoneClaim!
#DoneClaim is an internet joke about the longstanding belief that cultural practices, expressions, and everything else in SEA originated in Malaysia - hence the claim. Luqman Podolski is Detektif Hamdahn in D’Netflix Report, a satirical series where he tries to prove the truth of the matter.
Unraveled
Orange Is The New Black’s visceral violence and sensitive subject matter made it tricky to recap 4 seasons of the series without losing important context for new viewers. So we used crafted felt puppets as a way to navigate around censorship and still feature the show’s most memorable moments. Initially produced for Singapore and Philippines (can you spot the easter eggs?), it was syndicated by global Netflix teams and has since clocked more than 2 million views on YouTube.
Kampung Things
We wanted to subvert the latest Raya trend of “subverting sadvertisements” altogether by tying it to the launch of one of our biggest global franchises: Stranger Things 4. Honouring the spirit of connection with family and friends in the season, we married the fun and spooky soul of ST4 with a local countryside adventure for a new Raya celebration story.
#DefendSG
Coinciding with Singapore’s National Day, we celebrate the street-level heroes who defend what makes Singapore great, just by doing their thing. Spotlighting five standout individuals from all walks of life, we used quotes from The Defenders to pay them a gritty, badass homage.
Stranger Yishun
As a follow-up to our viral Yishun in the Upside Down post, we gave the people what they wanted and dropped a mini episode to take it even further, imagining what the estate would be like if it were engulfed to full effect. Our dark portrayal of the locale delighted fans and we earned press coverage for “keeping the Yishun narrative alive”.
Uncle Tat’s guide on how to celebrate CNY your way
The late Ng Man Tat starred in our Chinese New Year spot to share some lessons about stressing less about upholding tradition and being your most authentic self instead. In a one day shoot, we filmed enough for four markets and kept a tight post-production schedule to ensure that each one had their own unique version.