EXCLUSIVE: Jacen Tan’s Kungfuland, the first ever official scripted co-production between Singapore and Canada, has started production at AUX Infinite Studios in Singapore.
Idrissa Sanogo Bamba (Steal Away, The Fire Inside) and Glow star Emma Wong head the cast of the film along with Dion Johnstone (Sweet Magnolias) and Hugh Tran (Paige Darcy: Reluctant Detective). Veteran Hong Kong actor, filmmaker and martial artist David Chiang (The New One-Armed Swordsman) appears in a cameo role.
Set in Chinatown 1999, the film pays homage to the 1970s golden era of martial arts films, as well as nostalgically recreating the world of video stores and VHS tapes. The story follows a kungfu movie nerd who gets stuck in his favourite films and must fight to save his long-lost father, before the real world erases them both forever.
The production is combining Virtual Production technology with Shaw Brothers-inspired physical sets with the aim of creating a world that is both nostalgic and modern.
Produced by Singapore’s Ajacent Media and Canada’s 100 Dragons, the film is being made under the Singapore-Canada official co-production treaty with support from Infocomm Media Development Authority of Singapore (IMDA), Telefilm Canada and Ontario Creates.
Ajacent Media founder Jacen Tan is directing the film and also co-wrote with fellow Singaporean Andrew Ngin and Canada’s Maninder Chana. Tan’s directing credits include horror comedy Zombiepura, which played at New York Asian Film Festival, and sold widely across Asia for both theatrical and streaming release.
“I searched far and wide for a kungfu comedy and found it in Singapore in 2024 during the ATF x SAAVA IP Accelerator 2024,” said 100 Dragons’ Teresa M. Ho, who is producing the film with Kat Goh. “It’s with great excitement that 100 Dragons embarks on the first scripted feature-length Singapore-Canada Treaty co-production with like-minded partners, Ajacent Media.”
Tan said: “I grew up watching and rewatching old-school kungfu movies on VHS, dreaming of jumping into the screen. Kungfuland is a nostalgic mash-up inspired by Shaw Brothers martial arts films, powered by the latest Virtual Production technologies. Who doesn’t love drunken masters, rooftop qing-gong, long-browed villains, one-hit pressure points, and masked ninjas who politely attack one at a time?”
Exec producers on the film include Singapore’s Mike Wiluan, Choong Chyi Kei, Desmond Francis and Christopher Shaw, along with Canada’s Michael Paszt, James Fler and Andrew Thomas Hunt, and U.S.-based Efuru Flowers. Christine Tyson is on board as a co-producer.
AUX Infinite Studios, a joint venture between Wiluan’s Infinite Studios and Choong’s AUX Media, is providing VP services for the production, while Infinite Frameworks provides 3D virtual environment assets. NYSE-listed tech consultancy Enigmatig is also supporting the production.
LA-based Flourishing Films is handling international sales on the film, excluding Singapore, where Shaw Organisation will distribute, and Canada where Raven Banner Releasing has rights.
Teresa M. Ho is represented by Anthony Marotto at Independent Artist Group.
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