SINGAPORE — Thirteen new “made in Singapore” films are expected to be released the next year, including Jack Neo’s Ah Boys To Men II, Chai Yee Wei’s That Girl In Pinafore, and Michelle Chong’s sophomore effort, 3 Peas In A Pod.

The slew of local films was announced by the Media Development Authority (MDA) yesterday as Singapore gets ready to host more than 4,000 film and television trade delegates from 60 countries at the Asia TV Forum & Market (ATF)/ ScreenSingapore 2012 from Dec 4 to 7 at the Marina Bay Sands.

The event will combine a converged film and television market and feature global industry players, including studios, broadcasters, production houses, distributors and financiers in attendance. Local players are expected to put up a strong showing at the Singapore Pavilion with around 116 local media companies showcasing more than 600 hours of the best in local content.

Seven of the 13 news films will also be featured at Sneak Peeks — an MDA organised event to market Singapore films to international distributors — including The Wedding Diary II by Clover Films, which has been selected as the closing premiere of ScreenSingapore. The noticeable Asian focus is further highlighted with The Last Tycoon, making its world premiere in Singapore at Shaw Theatres with international star Chow Yun Fat gracing the red carpet on Dec 4. Produced by China’s Bona Film Group, its CEO Yu Dong is a confirmed speaker at the ScreenSingapore conference.

But with criticism of last year’s inaugural ScreenSingapore, what differences can we expect from this second edition as it moves from a standalone event to sharing space with this year’s ATF? Yeo Chun Cheng, assistant chief executive officer (Industry), MDA, said that amongst the several major changes like schedule (it moved from June to December) and Reed Exhibition’s acquisition of the event, one change particularly stood out.

“I think the biggest criticism of last year’s ScreenSingapore was the lack of a platform or forum that appeals to the local market. It seemed to be a very international event and very Hollywood,” said Yeo. “One of the biggest critics was Lim Teck (Clover Films’ managing director) and so we went to talk to him to see what we could do. And he has been very good! He has joined the board for ScreenSingapore as a member, and actually has been an active driver in crafting the programme for ScreenSingapore to give it a more local perspective.

“It’s still an international event, but we want to make sure that the content that we craft is also relevant to our local guys as well. This is one big change.”

He also said their decision for a stronger Asian focus was meant to give local audiences and local participants “a better fit in many ways”. “So I would say, a bigger Asian focus but not necessarily an exclusive Asian focus,” he said. “In many ways, we were trying to optimise what was working for other events and shed away with those things that didn’t.”

In line with the converged market, MediaCorp will showcase its latest transmedia drama, 96°C Cafe.

The mini drama will be telecast online on xinMSN and continue its run as a 20-episode serial on MediaCorp TV Channel 8 and stars Tay Ping Hui, Cynthia Koh, and Desmond Tan. The drama’s theme song is supported under MDA’s Development Assistance grant, which provides funding support for original Singapore compositions.