Foreword:

Hello! It has been a while since you have last received a newsletter from us at Richmanclub Studios in March. We have had an exciting few months since then till now, and we would like to take this newsletter to update you on developments in the studio. We hope you have had a exciting time so far this year as well. Some people on the mailing list have shared their experiences with us here, from new jobs, to new directions in life. Do keep your emails coming, or if you haven't, do write to us, we wish to make this newsletter a 2-way affair. So without further ramblings here are the stories of Richmanclub Studios so far.

April 2004: Short Film Fall selected as official selection for the Zebra Poetry Film Awards in Germany

Adapted from Kat's poem of the same name, our 4 minute final cut of the short film, last shown on Singapore's Arts Central channel, was selected from over 800 international films to become the official selection in the German international film festival for films that are a poem, or adapted from poems.
This was the only festival we submitted our niche audience short film to, and of course are elated when it was officially selected.

Richmanclub Studios officially registered as a private limited feature film production studio, and introduction of Lalaland
After finally finishing all our University course work in April, we have officially registered the studio, and are now a full private limited company. Rich is the chairman and creative officer, and Kat is the managing director, finance and accounts. Jensen, who was in-charge of technology, has since left the studio for France, and we wish him all the best for the future. So finally after 7 years since the name Richmanclub was created by Rich, 1 year after doing freelance work, the studio name is finally made official for operations, and we are back to running the studios together, Rich and Kat.

Allowing our dreams to go crazy again, we have invented a land where Richmanclub Studios will dwell. It is a place where all workers will be able to play, create whatever they wish, and the land grows together with our imagination. We call this place, Lalaland. Who knows, if it is in God's will, we will have a theme park as well. In the future, should we have visual effects, sound, and games departments, we shall all be housed in the whimsical compounds of Lalaland.

May 2004: The Alien Invasion begins production

Our first major studio project is a short film for the Singapore Management University's 1st Commencement ceremony. We had submitted our proposal for a action comedy short film, instead of the usual corporate video kinda thing, and the university took the risk with us, and gave us the commission. The production would grow to involve over 80 real-life pioneer students, staff and faculty members...including Rich and Kat. For the first time, a crew was assembled to tackle the huge logistics and filming demands. Due to the limited budget all were unpaid volunteers, and we wish to acknowledge and thank them here in no particular order: KS(production assistant, for bearing with Rich's crazy antics), Roger( live-sound recordist, for being referred to by Rich as Robin, KS,or ahhhh.....), Yong En(costumes and makeup, for making those crosses on the SMUX guys and pushing Rich on the chair), Shil(costumes and makeup, for the Gatsby attack and attention to detail), En Ling( "Behind the Scenes" title designer for animating the green alien with a crash helmet), and finally Jensen( production manager of logistics, for the card box transportations and liberal use of rafia strings).

June/July 2004: Commencement 2004 and The Alien Invasion's premiere

Due to the huge cast(who are mostly working), Kat had to deal with an almost impossible film scheduling, and had to make hundreds of phone calls. The entire filming was spread across 3 weeks, and ending in early June, thus leaving Rich with only 3 weeks to create all the heavy visual effects, film editing, music composition, and sound effects design. Kat had to complete a 25 minute 'Behind the scenes' documentary while sorting out the production budgets. Thank God that the film was finished in time for the Commencement ceremony on 10th of July! Rich and Kat were definitely at their most relaxed when they put on their gowns, for the ceremony that they had waited for years....or rather Rich had waited for years...Kat liked to study more. A 13 minute version of The Alien Invasion opened the ceremony before the students' procession.We would like to thank all the cast and crew members who had went along and believed in the film. That night, at the Commencement Ball, the 17 minute "director's cut" of The Alien Invasion was shown to great response, with the audience shouting and cheering along with the action on screen. Rich would go on to make almost 20 more versions of the film before he was satisfied with the current 18 minute final cut.

October 2004: The Alien Invasion is nominated for the prestigious Golden Horse Awards!
With the final cut only finished in late August, we rushed the final cut over to Taiwan for the final dateline of nominations for the "Oscars of the East", the Golden Horse Awards.
And surprise!
Rich received the official notice in early October, that our first official film from the studio, The Alien Invasion, has been nominated for a Golden Horse in the International Digital Shorts category. We thank God for that!
The nomination is not only historic for us, but it is also the first film from Singapore to be nominated in this category, and only second Singaporean film to make it for the awards. This year, Rich is the only Asian nominated in this international category, outside Taiwan. Rich and Kat will be traveling to Taiwan for the festival and awards ceremony in November. Wish us luck for the results!
Click here to read a pdf of the news article, "SMU grad's film up for Golden Horse", on this.

Coming Short film
We are currently in pre-production preparation for our first flagship short film, that is made not for university coursework, commissionings, just a story we wish to tell, in our own way, to hopefully introduce the world to the story-telling of Richmanclub Studios. Production will begin in mid-October, and hopefully finished in November this year. We will keep you updated as progress develops.

Our first feature film
More excitingly, we are currently in talks to produce our first full-length feature film( movies shown in cinemas). If all goes well, the film could begin production as soon as December this year, with Rich as Director, and Richmanclub Studios as the production company, and hopefully premiere in Singapore cinemas during Spring 2005. Once again we will keep you informed of any developments.

New Richmanclub Studios website and Conclusion
In a closing note, Richmanclub Studios' new website will be up by 10th of October. It shall feature more corporate information, interesting stuff on the studio, news, pictures of the growth of Lalaland, while still allowing downloads of previous short films. We shall drop you a mail again when it is officially launch on that date. In the meantime, you can still visit the old site by clicking here.

It has been a long email, and our updates shall happen mor frequently from now on. We thank you for sticking on the list these years, and hope that you would see Lalaland being built with us.

Take care there, and till the next time,
Rich and Kat.
October 2004.