SINGAPORE – The Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) on Wednesday announced the launch of a $5 million Virtual Production Innovation Fund to support the local media industry in developing capabilities needed to harness virtual production technology.

This was announced by Senior Minister of State for Communications and Information, Mr Tan Kiat How, at the opening of the Asia TV Forum & Market and Screen Singapore at Marina Bay Sands.

Virtual productions combine physical and virtual film-making techniques to create cutting-edge media. He said: “Visual effects are no longer applied only in post-production, but iterated throughout the pre-production time frame.”

This allows film-makers to create visual effects in real time with fewer physical limitations, he added. “The possibilities are limited only by the imaginations of our film-makers.”

He gave recent examples of films that use virtual production. They include Dune (2021), The Batman (2022) and Black Adam (2022).

Mr Tan said IMDA will issue a call for proposals to co-fund short-form content – such as music videos, short films and brand commercials – using virtual production.

Companies can submit their proposed content concepts at go.gov.sg/vpinnovationcall until Feb 15.

The proposals will be evaluated based on their creative appeal and ability to best use virtual production technology to bring their project’s creative vision to fruition. IMDA will co-fund up to 50 per cent of the project’s cost for selected proposals.

By supporting these projects, the local industry will deepen its understanding on how virtual production can lift its creativity to the next level and produce even more interesting content, said IMDA in a press statement.

The $5 million fund will also provide support to train local expertise in these areas.

IMDA has also partnered the National Film and Television School (NFTS) in the United Kingdom to tailor its Certificate in Virtual Production course for Singapore’s media lecturers, trainers and industry professionals, Mr Tan announced.

In the statement, IMDA provided further information. Virtual production technology uses LED screens to display realistic background environments for television or movie scenes. The screens are powered by a video game engine so that the camera is able to capture actors and visual effects in real time.

“Production will no longer need to be dependent on location, road closures, location fees and permits as well as the weather, set construction and space rental,” according to the statement.

The IMDA-NFTS partnership will see 15 Singapore media lecturers, trainers and industry professionals receiving hands-on training at NFTS’ virtual production facilities as well as attend lectures conducted virtually from December to April.

In addition, IMDA is collaborating with Epic Games to create an industry challenge. Epic Games is the creator of the advanced real-time 3D creation tool, Unreal Engine, which powers games such as Fortnite.

Starting in the first quarter of 2023, the challenge will encourage companies to experiment with and use Unreal Engine for virtual production. Teams with shortlisted projects will receive direct mentorship and training from Epic, while also receiving prize money from IMDA to support content production.

In the statement, Mr Justin Ang, assistant chief executive of media, innovation, communications and marketing at IMDA, said: “We are excited to see more innovative and compelling stories resulting from the use of virtual production to strengthen Singapore’s position as a hub for content and IP creation.”

Johnny Lau, 58, creator of the Mr Kiasu comic books and who also helped produce the 2001 sitcom based on the character, has used virtual production technology and hopes to submit a proposal.

Working with students from Singapore Polytechnic, he helped produce a nine-minute thriller, 18. It was filmed at the AUX Media Group’s virtual production facilities in Kallang Avenue.

Lau enjoyed the creative control that came with the process. Also, with the backgrounds already baked into the scene during filming, the post-production process was shortened, he said.

When he was involved in making the Mr Kiasu television series and other shows, much of the filming was done at real locations, where he and the crew were limited by weather, traffic, the need for official permits and other inconveniences.

“If we had this technology when we were making the shows, we could have shot up to 40 per cent of it in the studio,” he says.