Book talents, venue: Filmplace launching one-stop portal to fix “scattered” creative industry

Filmplace, the Singapore-based film location sharing startup is founded by local filmmaker Lincoln Lin, who has worked in the creative and media industry for over a decade.

Prior to Filmplace, he founded his first media company in 2012, which started The Live Radio, one of the largest internet radio in Singapore with over 77,000 daily listeners.

He then started his own video production company which was involved in movies like Long Long Time Ago, Ah Boys to Men 4, and Luck Boy; as well as worked on projects with Meta and Google.

“Throughout my entire career, I had learnt the challenges faced in business and the creative industry. This is also what leads me to start Filmplace to solve all these problems within the global creative industry and wanting to build an ecosystem around it,” said the 28-year-old.

In 2019, he founded Filmplace to basically solve problems faced by the creative industry, including expensive and time-consuming location scouting and difficulties in securing the right talent for projects.

Filmplace digitalises these processes and has since expanded globally, with 2,500 registered locations and almost 6,000 users from over 30 countries.

COVID-19 brought the filming industry to a standstill

During the early days of Filmplace, the company faced the challenge of finding the right balance between supply (getting more hosts) and demand (getting more paying customers like brands and production companies).

Particularly, they need to ensure that their hosts get enough revenue, yet being able to give paying customers what they want. Thankfully, the company was able to achieve this balance quickly after launching.

However, the biggest challenge for Filmplace came with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which shut doors and made filming impossible.

Regardless, the company saw this downtime as an opportunity to upgrade its system, get more supply, and provide more support to its existing users and hosts to build a trusted community.

Despite the challenges posed by the pandemic, Filmplace was also able to secure over US$450,000 in funding and saw an increased interest in the business as location scouting for productions had to take place virtually or locally instead of overseas.

In fact, the company is now seeing a return of companies, particularly in advertising, with marketing and content creation budgets.

Supporting local content creators

Following the success of the Filmplace website, the company has recently launched a mobile app that allows global content creators and filmmakers to book filming venues on the go.

The app’s user-friendly interface makes it easy for filmmakers to be productive, and Filmplace’s unique ability to translate contracts and documents into the preferred language of each country’s laws makes it efficient for collaborations to transcend physical borders.

In response to the rapid growth of the creative industry over the past three years, Filmplace is also looking to launch a new platform called Filmplace Talent, which aims to connect global creative talents and brands with content creators in Singapore.

Currently in its trial phase, Filmplace Talent is slated to officially launch by the first quarter of 2023.

Lincoln explained that one of the main challenges facing content creators is the ability to connect with people outside of their own networks. He also observed that content creators lack a “common space” to find what they need — from casting talents, locations, production specialists to collaborative working opportunities.

The local arts and creative industry is extensive, but scattered. Freelancers and content creators already have it tough — their opportunities come sporadically as they do not have access to locations or services like major corporations do.

While we have started out as a film location sharing service, Filmplace Talent will now bring us to the next level as the first full-fledged content creators’ marketplace with one-stop solutions for content creators, actors, casting specialists, and crew members. Creatives can also reach out to one another through us, creating connections that mutually benefit their careers.

Essentially, Filmplace Talent is a content creators’ community marketplace that helps new and emerging creators showcase their portfolio, collaborate with global brands and talents, as well as learn and secure projects.

Filmplace Talent is co-led by renowned content creator Ryan Tan, who is also the director and founder of Overkill Singapore.

As a content creator for many years, Ryan knows the expectations and challenges that come with the industry, including ensuring a streamline of sustainable projects. As such, he will be able to share tips and advice with content creators who list on the platform as a consultant and mentor.

According to Lincoln, the platform will allow local talent to list their skills and portfolio for free, but they will be charged a “performance-based” commission fee for every successful booking. Casting agencies can also book talents at their charged price while paying a small commission fee.

Separately, a monthly subscription model will grant access to Filmplace Talent’s extensive analytics, including the talent’s demographics and engagement rate.

So far, there are already hundreds of creative talents, including influencers, actors and crew members, listed on the platform.

They’re eyeing the PPL market next

Currently, Filmplace is in talks to expand into the product placement (PPL) market.

For example, Singapore brands will be able to get a product placement slot in a Korean drama distributed internationally through its platform.

This is going to be quite a gamechanger and a massive opportunity. Brands will pay for PPL and then use Filmplace locations and talents. It’s a four-[way] win.

Brands win because they can finally get into foreign PPL without heavy cost. Production companies win because they get sponsorships, our users win because they can get projects, and Filmplace wins because we can connect and help everyone, and still make money.

This expansion is not far-fetched, considering that Filmplace is already active in South Korea. Filmplace was selected as one of the top 30 startups in the Global K-Startup Grand Challenge (KSGC) program in 2020 and COMEUP 2021, both of which were organised by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups of the Republic of Korea.

In addition, Filmplace also partners with film commissions in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Busan, and have collaborated with other notable partners such as the Jeju Urban Regeneration Center, Asia Cultural Center (Gwangju) and Nonsan City Hall.

It’s clear to see that with the recent launch of its mobile app and upcoming talent platform, Filmplace is positioning itself as a comprehensive resource for the creative industry in Singapore, helping to connect local talent and support the growth of the local arts and creative industry.

“Eventually, our vision is to become the market leader in the creator’s economy where brands and creators come together to collaborate, emerging creators can learn from the expert and talents can secure projects together,” said Lincoln.

Featured Image Credit: Filmplace