Discovery Launches Initiative for Vietnamese Filmmakers

HANOI: Discovery Channel has launched a new initiative in Vietnam to support aspiring filmmakers, with a view to producing five specials that will air across the region.

First Time Filmmaker (FTFM) Vietnam will provide local filmmakers with hands-on training and professional development from award-winning producers from Discovery Channel. The resulting five half-hour documentaries, premiering on Discovery Channel next year, aim to tell the country’s story over the last two decades. Proposals are being sought on the theme: “Vietnam’s Urban Transition.” Twelve proposals will be chosen by a panel of foreign and Vietnamese judges and the finalists will attend a three-day television documentary production workshop in Hanoi in September. Five directors will be chosen to make their films under the supervision of Uproar Asia, the executive producer. 

Commenting on the launch, Kevin Dickie, the general manager and senior VP for Southeast Asia at Discovery Networks Asia-Pacific, said, “The First Time Filmmakers initiative is designed to provide local filmmakers with an avenue for them to tell their stories about their country to the world. We hope to find compelling, original ideas that will be chapters in the story of Vietnam’s extraordinary growth, and uncover new talent from here.”