Short film gets social

PETALING JAYA: With cat videos, catchy dance hits and snippets of must-see television shows littering today’s timelines, it’s harder than ever for quality short films to reach an appreciative audience.

While those interested in the medium can get their fix at film festivals, not everyone enjoys equal access to said events.

This prompted Singapore-born Derek Tan and Malaysian Ho Jia Jian to form Viddsee, an online social viewing and sharing platform to showcase Southeast Asian short films.

The Star Online met the filmmaker-engineer duo for a chat on all things micro-cinema during their recent trip here.

Take one

While Western content is easily discovered online, the pair feel that the Southeast Asian region’s wealth of stories is one that bears looking at.

For instance, Laos and Cambodia have vibrant filmmaker communities, but few have access to films made there.

And apart from the already established Thai, Indonesian and Filipino markets, much of Southeast Asian cinema remains “untapped”.

“Though diverse in culture and language, Southeast Asian stories are fundamentally human ones that can transcend various countries,” said 29-year-old Tan.

With a shared love for creating, watching and sharing cinema, their industry experience inspired and informed the creation of the nine-month-old platform.

Their own short film, Cashless, had made the festival rounds and piqued interest among friends. But like many other filmmakers, the post-festival lack of exposure was a problem.

“Traditionally, if you’re really lucky, the film gets picked up and distributed via DVD format. We thought of putting it on Youtube and Vimeo, but it did not get the expected views,” said Ho.

The 26-year-old hastened to add that views should not be a short film’s sole measure of success: “It’s more about the hearts that you touch.”

What began as a Facebook page experiment to share a curated selection of short films soon showed that the material enjoyed a certain traction.

“People were sharing it out, but the conversation fragmented when comments were shared across several platforms,” said Tan, who noted that it did not lend to quality exchanges or a holistic user experience.

“I thought: what if I built a single, online platform to screen more films and shared that love with people on a massive level? Wouldn’t that be beautiful?” Tan said of their cross-border endeavour.

Luckily, this passion has paid off.

With their site’s collection of over 200 short films and an audience of 100,000 unique visitors since its inception, the two have tapped into a growing appetite for quality Southeast Asian micro-cinema in the region.

Take two

On Viddsee, videos do not crowd the screen. Instead, each film takes centre stage.

Micro ratings also allow viewers to independently rate elements such as story, camera, acting and sound, while the newly added Channels feature aggregates film collections.

“Films are social. We use stories to communicate, so you want to talk and share about what you watched. It’s human,” said Tan.

Thus, the site’s chat element attracts a passionate audience who share opinions “just like film critics”, with one such exchange taking place on the immensely popular Hentak Kaki by James Khoo.

Despite 30% of visitors being returning audiences from over 100 countries, audience development remains a challenge for the lean team.

“We had to build our audience from zero, and break the preconceived notion of short films as arty farty and experimental.

“A lot of good, local short films are mass market material. It can be something culturally contextual. As a Malaysian, I should be able to relate to it,” said Ho, who was happy to report that visitors now include “aunties, uncles, and parents of friends.”

Though Viddsee hosts the work of many talented budding directors, the site has its share of big-name draws.

Long before Anthony Chen’s Ilo Ilo won the prestigious Caméra d'Or award at Cannes, his earlier short films had showcased elements from the story of a Singaporean family’s relationship with their Filipino maid.

“Bits and pieces of Ilo Ilo’s style, story and characters are present in Reunion Dinner. We created a channel for Chen’s short films so the audience can have a taste of his earlier work, ” said Tan.

And thanks to partnerships with noted institutions such as the National Museum of Singapore and Tropfest Southeast Asia - the regional edition of the world’s largest short film festival - Viddsee can tap into regional curators’ wealth of knowledge and access to larger bodies of work.

“Tropfest SEA and Viddsee found each other on Twitter! We will host their finalists’ films for the Audience Choice Award. That way, physical festivals can extend to larger online audiences,” Ho shared.

On the content creation end, filmmakers can also study the wealth of curated material available and benchmark themselves against other quality work produced in the region.

Three, two, one, action!

Their community-based approach also aims to build a following for filmmakers and create audiences ready for new material.

“We believe in self distribution and filmmakers owning their work. We want this platform to help them understand the value of their work and learn how to share it with the world.

“As modern storytellers, filmmakers are sharing different topics and themes by documenting events and collective ideas happening within society,” said Tan, who added that one’s work should not “languish in a hard drive in a drawer.”

Quizzed on the site remaining free-to-use, Ho said it was a conscious decision as people were unlikely to pay without a prior taste of what local films have to offer.

Some filmmakers just want to showcase their work to build an audience and name within the industry, while others want to procure funding for their upcoming projects.

“We’re trying to design business models around that. For instance, crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter or Indiegogo get a certain commission if a project meets its funding goals,” he added.

“Filmmakers should have the resources to make and share these films with a receptive audience seeking stories about experiences in their own region,” Tan added.

Thus, while the site is currently running on a Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE) grant, the duo are prioritising audience development over any thoughts of monetization: “The first step is to build the community’s trust in Viddsee as a platform for independent micro-cinema.”

And if the change glance at their schedule - one packed with filmmaker and curator meetings in a bid to spread the message of micro-cinema for the masses -  is anything to go by, Viddsee is well on its way to achieving its eventual goal of being a platform for Asia, by Asia.

Visit www.viddsee.com to view short films from the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Laos, Myanmar and more.