A Starry Night 星光依旧灿烂 goes international and multiplatform in Singapore and China
Source: http://www.mda.gov.sg/NewsAndEvents/PressRelease/2009/Pages/13042009.aspx
Coming to a train or a train station near you, on cable television, the internet, bus shelter displays, outdoor digital screens and through mobile downloads is the first subway drama – A Starry Night 星光依旧灿烂 – which will broadcast simultaneously across nine cities in Singapore and China (Beijing, Chongqing, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Nanjing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Tianjin) from 27 July to 2 October 2009.
Reaching out to audiences across an array of media platforms, the Mandarin 50-parter is a collaboration between the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA), Singapore media company Ufinity, and Chinese company Prime Time Entertainment. The series is supported by media platform owners SMRT Media, StarHub, The Straits Times RazorTV and At-Life Pte Ltd in Singapore; and Digital Media Group (DMG), Youku.com and Sina.com in China; and produced by Singapore's Threesixzero Productions.
Singapore commuters will be able to enjoy the drama on more than 250 television displays in the train stations along the North-South, East-West and Circle lines. Following each daily broadcast of the two-and-a-half minute episodes in the train stations, the drama will be available on the internet (www.razortv.com.sg); cable TV (E City, StarHub Channel 56), mobile (StarHub Mobile Gee! portal), and 300 At-Life outdoor digital screens (located in QB House, McDonald's, Delifrance Bistros and elevators in prime Central Business District buildings). In addition, My Paper will carry daily episodic synopsis for audiences to keep abreast of the drama's developments.
In China, the drama will be screened on television screens within the trains, train stations and bus shelter displays managed by DMG Media Group. As with Singapore, the daily episodes will be available on Youku.com, China's top, fastest growing website; and Sina.com, the largest Chinese-language infotainment web portal. Together, the series will reach out to commuters on more than 1.4 million daily passenger trips in Singapore and 15 million commuters in China. The outdoor digital screens will reach out to 13.4 million viewers across Singapore while online portals will also reach out to at least 1.7 million viewers in Singapore and 9.8 million viewers in China.
The drama tells of a love story between a Singapore singer (Singapore Project Superstar alumna Kelly Poon 潘嘉丽), and a Shanghai youth (Taiwanese actor Robert Fan 范植伟) who pursues his studies and music aspirations in Singapore. Through the former, the Singaporean sees her hometown with a fresh pair of eyes. Filmed mainly in Singapore, the series presents the best of Singapore’s picturesque locations and heritage as well as an international crew including director Lisa Chen 陈秀玉 (Taiwan), and casts Mei Xin 美心 (Singapore), Nathan Lee 李承铉 (Korea), Ivan Huang黄阅 (China), Lawrence Wong王冠逸 (Singapore), Johnny Jiang 姜育恆 (Taiwan) and Sky Wu 伍思凯 (Taiwan). The series’ soundtrack also features Singapore singers and songwriters. Plans are also in place to expand the drama into a feature film for theatrical release in late 2009.
Said Dr Christopher Chia, Chief Executive Officer, MDA: "A Starry Night is a significant milestone as Singapore's first subway drama which will also be repurposed for Singapore and Chinese audiences to enjoy on multiple media platforms. Besides increasing the avenues for Singapore-made content to be enjoyed, the series also showcases our many iconic locations and talents from production to music composition. Boosting this multiplatform project is the involvement of regional talents from China, Korea and Taiwan which may herald the way of things to come in the future."
Added Ms Teo Chew Hoon, Managing Director, SMRT Investments Pte Ltd: "SMRT Media is proud to launch the subway drama series A Starry Night on our platforms. With more than 1.4 million passenger trips daily, our network of 58 train stations is a good platform to reach out to the masses. We are delighted our commuters will be the first to catch the subway drama in Singapore, as SMRT's daily broadcast is an episode ahead of other channels. Through the wide range of media platforms on our extensive network, we will continue to enhance the travelling experience of commuters on the move."
Said Mr Felix Soh, Digital Media Editor, Singapore Press Holdings: "Razor is proud to be part of this ground-breaking and innovative project. As the online portal, we provide an additional platform to enjoy the series. It promises to be a very successful endeavour. I myself watched the first few episodes of A Starry Night and I’m already addicted to it!"
Said Mr Chan Kin Hung, Head of Products and Solutions, StarHub: "We are excited to partner MDA and Ufinity to experiment with the innovative 'bite-sized' drama serial A Starry Night, that is specially tailored to entertain busy individuals with each episode created to last only two-and-a-half minutes. We know that our customers lead active lifestyles and by offering this drama serial on our mobile and cable TV platforms, we make the content readily accessible to busy individuals. They can view the content at their convenience either on the mobile phone anywhere, anytime or catch several episodes at one go in the comfort of their home via cable TV."
Press Contacts
For all press and trade enquiries, please contact:
Jimmy Wu
Director - Business Development
Phone: +65 6603 8338
Email: bd@ufinity.com