Local TV’s new frontier in online
For the past few years, Toggle has been churning out original series that are distinctly more quirky than what you would find on, say, Channel 8 or Channel 5.
In the ever-changing television-viewing landscape, there are all kinds of tastes to satisfy.
Our local free-to-air television channels may be bastions of mainstream-ness, but for the past couple of years, Mediacorp’s on-demand online viewing platform, Toggle, has not-so-quietly been churning out its own original series, both in Mandarin and English, that are distinctly more quirky than what you would find on, say, Channel 8 or Channel 5.
Currently being rolled out on Toggle is the army-themed drama Yes Mdm, starring Oon Shu An and directed by Michelle Chong. Last month, the gritty and cinematic thriller Trapped Minds was released, starring Ann Kok and Chris Lee in a doomed marriage.
Next month, the online platform is launching an original 13-episode comedy series called I Want To Be A Star. In the show, big names including Dennis Chew, Kym Ng, Chew Chor Meng, Ya Hui, Shane Pow and Henry Thia play no-name extras on the sets of television dramas who try to work their way up into becoming full-fledged actors. You could think of I Want To Be A Star, perhaps, as the more irreverent — and infinitely more fun — version of Channel 8’s The Dream Makers, which is also set in a fictional TV station.
It may surprise you to find out that Toggle produces at least 10 original shows a year. “Original programming allows us to create alternative offerings,” said Simone Lum, vice-president, Partnership and Programming (Connected Media) at Mediacorp. And, at the same time that it reduces their reliance on acquired content, “it also allows us to differentiate ourselves from other over-the-top (OTT) players”.
Upcoming original shows include Soul Reaper, a supernatural drama starring Ian Fang and Romeo Tan; K.O, a martial arts themed drama starring Andie Chen; TGI ... WTF, a talk show featuring Jeremy Chan and Sonia Chew; and The Breakup List, an English comedy starring Benjamin Kheng as a guy jilted at the altar who goes on a quest to find out why he’s such a terrible lover.
“We want our users to know that digital content need not be of lower production quality,” said Lum, adding that it is also “about giving what our users want to see”.
MORE FREEDOM
As an online platform, Lum said, Toggle has more room to play around. “We can offer up to R21 content, which allows us to explore more experimental topics. Dialects and Singlish can also be offered,” she said (although there are still guidelines on how much of these can feature).
The cast of I Want To Be A Star were unanimously pleased about the fluidity of their dialogues in the show. “I can speak in dialect! I love Teochew,” Ya Hui enthused. “And slang,” said Shane Pow, adding that it also helps their acting. “I think it’s more personal, more real and more fun. We really speak like this in Singapore. In Channel 8, sometimes we use a lot of idioms that you wouldn’t use in real life. Look at Henry Thia — if he spoke properly, you’d want to laugh. But when he doesn’t, it’s more natural. And everything is funnier.”
Because of that, said Kym Ng, “there is a lot of freedom. We can be more local”. “When you watch it, it feels more intimate. I guess, in a sense, we can be more true to the audience and to ourselves. If you can’t do this and you can’t speak like that, then you’re just showing something for the sake of showing it.”
It’s not just about using more authentic language. Toggle also takes on themes that may be a little more left-field. “Channel 8 dramas always discuss family problems. But I Want To Be A Star is about relationships and friends. It’s about fulfilling dreams,” said Dennis Chew. “It’s not just more creative; we can also be more daring.”
It is essential to be daring, he continued, “or else our dramas will be full of stereotypes. With this new platform, people will see Mediacorp dramas that have a very different feel”. He added: “They might even take a second look and say, ‘Is this a Mediacorp drama?’”
WORLD WIDE WEBSERIES
The other special thing about online dramas is that they aren’t just self-contained stories; they can also extend into the social media world, increasing audience engagement. “Almost all of our Originals are produced with transmedia content to complement the main series,” Lum said. “For example, Run Rachael Run, a comedy about the adventures of a young intern as she journeys into the real world, featured the intern’s active Twitter and Instagram accounts prior to the start of the series.”
Run Rachael Run, incidentally, received a bronze medal in the 37th Annual Telly Awards as well as nominations in the 2016 Miami Web Fest, the 2016 KWeb Fest and the Bilbao WebFest.
The only other local company consistently producing web series that have done well internationally is BananaMana Films, whose offerings have garnered several international nominations and awards. Their show What Do Men Want also aired on Toggle in 2014.
“In the near future, we plan to offer more premium content over and above our existing pot of offerings,” said Lum. “And we will continue to fine-tune our offerings based on the response we receive for our original productions.”
Thanks to the power of the Internet, these could be the baby steps of a brave new world for local television.
Catch I Want To Be A Star starting Sept 5 on toggle.sg
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