Singapore's government agency, the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA), has set up a S$55-million/US$41 million fund to "support international co-productions and enhance local virtual production capabilities".

The new purse was announced at the opening of the ATF market in Singapore this morning by senior minister of state for communications and information, Tan Kiat How.

The funding is split between production and tech.

S$30 million/US$22.4 million will be allocated to the International Co-Production Fund with S$25 million/US$18.7 million over three years going to the one-year-old Virtual Production Innovation Fund, which was set up in December 2022 with S$5 million/US$3.7 million.

The International Co-Production Fund, open to Singapore media companies with a track record in long-form content production, "empowers media companies in Singapore to pursue co-productions with international partners to create content with a distinct local flavour for the Singapore story to reach global audiences through streaming platforms", the IMDA said. 

IMDA is accepting proposals for the co-production fund from 11 December to 31 January 2024.

The Virtual Production Innovation Fund aims to "intensify efforts to develop more local virtual production talent to meet the increasing demand for virtual productions in the industry".

This includes education and training  programmes.

IMDA said this morning that the virtual production and innovation funding had to date supported more than 20 creative projects.