Leon_Cheo

Leon Cheo

Leon Cheo

Singaporean film director, producer, and screenwriter

Leon Cheo (born 1985) is a Singaporean film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for being the creator, writer and director of the short-form series People Like Us. Its second season was nominated for Best Short-Form Series at the 48th International Emmy Awards, the first Emmy nomination in the category in Singapore’s history.[1]

Quick Facts Born, Nationality ...

Biography

Leon Cheo is a graduate of Ngee Ann Polytechnic with a diploma with merit in Film, Sound & Video, with most outstanding academic performance and best film production. He also graduated magna cum laude with a BFA from Chapman University Singapore.[2]

Career

In 2007, Cheo wrote and directed his thesis film Nightless Day (2007), which garnered three Crowbar Awards – Silver for Short Film, Gold for Art Direction, and Silver for Cinematography.[3]

In 2011, Cheo produced Charles Lim’s All the Lines Flow Out (2011), which was featured at the Singapore Biennale 2011,[4] and winning Special Mention at the 68th Venice Film Festival.[5] He also produced the video installations for Boo Junfeng’s Happy & Free (2013) and Liao Jiekai’s Bukit Orang Salah (2013), both of which were featured at the Singapore Biennale 2013.[6][7]

In 2012, Cheo wrote, directed and produced the short film The Three Sisters (2012), which won Best Short Film at the 2012 NETPAC-Jogja Asian Film Festival.[8]

In 2014 and 2015, Cheo was the Films and Multimedia Producer for Singapore’s 49th and 50th Golden Jubilee National Day Parades.

In 2015, Cheo produced and directed the short film Move Out Notice (2015), which was nominated for Best Script at the 6th Singapore Short Film Awards[9] and broadcast on the Lifetime (Asia) channel.[10] He also produced Boo Junfeng’s Parting, one of the short films in the 7 Letters (2015) omnibus,[11] Singapore’s submission to the 88th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film.[12]

In 2016, Cheo created the short-form series People Like Us, produced in collaboration with Action for AIDS Singapore.[13][14] The first season of People Like Us won Best Short TV Drama at the 11th ITVFest (The Independent Television Festival), Best Web Drama Series at the Formosa Festival of International Filmmaker Awards, and Best Supporting Actor – Drama at the 8th Indie Series Awards.[1] The second season of People Like Us, released in 2019, was nominated for Best Short-Form Series at the 48th International Emmy Awards,[15] clinching additional nominations for Best Drama Series at the 11th Indie Series Awards,[16] Best Ensemble and Best Show (Episodic) at the 5th New Zealand WebFest[17] and Best Drama at Bilbao Seriesland 2019.[18]

In 2019, Cheo's short film SIN-SFO (2018) won Best Live-Action Short and Best Director at the National Youth Film Awards in Singapore.[19] The film also premiered in-competition at the 25th Austin Film Festival, nominated for Best Narrative Short.[20]

Cheo is an alumnus of Berlinale Talents (2014), Asian Film Academy (2013) and Tokyo Talent Campus (2012).[8]

Filmography

Narrative Shorts

  • SIN-SFO (2018) - "Writer/Director/Producer"
  • Nuts (2016) - "Writer/Director/Editor"
  • Move Out Notice (2015) - "Director/Producer"
  • Departure (2013) - "Director"
  • Triple X (2012) - "Writer/Director"
  • The Three Sisters (2012) - "Writer/Director/Producer"
  • Acronym City (2010) - "Director/Producer"
  • Swing (2010) - "Writer/Director/Producer"
  • Four Dishes (2008) - "Writer/Director"
  • Nightless Day (不夜天) (2007) - "Writer/Director"

Short-Form Series

  • People Like Us (2016–) - "Writer/Director"

Video Installations

  • Happy & Free (2013) - “Producer”
  • Bukit Orang Salah (2013) - “Producer”
  • All the Lines Flow Out (2011) - "Producer"

References

  1. [1]
    Loh, Genevieve Sarah (26 September 2020). "Two Singapore productions land International Emmy Awards nominations”. CNA Lifestyle. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  2. [2]
    "Bio". Leon Cheo. 2008-08-19. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  3. [3]
    “Crowbar 2007 Results”. Archived from the original on 6 October 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2021]
  4. [4]
    "All Lines Flow Out 2011, Charles Lim : general view [2] | PictureSG". eresources.nlb.gov.sg. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  5. [5]
    "All the Lines Flow Out | IFFR". iffr.com. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  6. [6]
    "Boo Junfeng | Happy and Free (2013) | Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  7. [7]
    "Liao Jiekai | Bukit Orang Salah (2013) | Artsy". www.artsy.net. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  8. [8]
    “Leon Cheo | Producer”. Infocomm Media Development Authority. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  9. [9]
    Yeo, Chris (March 2015). “6th Singapore Short Film Awards: Thoughts on Best Script”. SINdie. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  10. [10]
    Productions, Gonella. "MOVE OUT NOTICE". Gonella Productions (in French). Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  11. [11]
    "PARTING (2015)". Peanut Pictures. 2020-08-31. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  12. [12]
    Chan, Boon (8 October 2015). “7 Letters is Singapore's entry to the Oscars in the Best Foreign Language Film category”. The Straits Times. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  13. [13]
    “People Like Us”. Action for AIDS Singapore. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  14. [14]
    Artavia, David (20 February 2017). “Singapore's First Series About Gay Life Is a Hit”. HIV Plus Magazine. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  15. [15]
    "Nominees – International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences". Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  16. [16]
    "11th Annual Indie Series Awards Nominations". Indie Series Awards. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  17. [17]
    "#NZWF19 Finalists – NZ Web Fest". Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  18. [18]
    “Seriesland Festival Official Selection 2019”. Archived from the original on 11 July 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
  19. [19]
    "NYFA 2019 Winners". *SCAPE Singapore - Dream It. Live It. | Youth Development. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
  20. [20]
    "Past Films". Austin Film Festival. Retrieved 2021-03-18.
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