Singapore | Drama | 2011 | 97 minutes | Mandarin (with English subtitles) | PG
Directed by Jean Yeo
Premieres 9 April 2011
When Jeff quits his engineer job in pursuit of his dream as a professional chef, he could never imagine his father’s violent objection.
By sheer chance, he is discovered by a veteran TV producer, Jia Ying, whose cooking program is facing a crisis after their diva host, Yang Tai, walks out of the production.
Jia Ying manages to turn Jeff into an up and coming celebrity chef through professional packaging, while Jeff’s father joins forces with Yang Tai in a plot to stop Jeff’s dream and resurrect Yang Tai’s dying career.
About the Director: JEAN YEO
Jean studied English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore at a time when no media courses were available in Singapore. Without financial means to go overseas, she still pursued her dreams of working in the media industry and was selected by the Singapore Broadcasting Corporation (now MediaCorp) to be a TV-writer even before her graduation.
Jean went on to graduate with honours degree and was offered a scholarship to pursue a Masters degree, which she declined to follow her passion of being a Producer-Director. Over her six years with the station, she skillfully executed roles ranging from writing, directing to executive producing. Jean found her ultimate passion as a drama director. A highpoint in her broadcasting career came when the station sent two episodes of the then highest rated English drama series, ‘Growing Up’ – one which she wrote and the other which she directed – for competition at the Asian Television Awards. That year, ‘Growing Up’ won the highest honour of the Asian Television Awards – The Best Drama Series Award. An episode of ‘Growing Up’ Jean wrote also went on to make national history as the highest rated episode when it was featured on the newspaper as “…making the nation cry”.
In 2000, Jean spearheaded Ochre Pictures, an independent production company focusing on quality television content. Under Jean’s leadership, the company has grown from a two-man operation to a formidable team of 15 producers, writers and directors, producing quality content across all genres for international broadcasters such as The Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel and The Disney Channel. Since its inception, Ochre’s programmes have been nominated almost every single year at the Asian Television Awards.
Jean’s more recent directorial accolades include Cooking Without Clothes (2010) and The Leap Years (2008). Cooking Without Clothes, produced for Channel U under the support of Media Development Authority of Singapore, has just been invited to Screen under Spectrum Category of The Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2010. A trailer of Cooking Without Clothes has also been invited to be screened at The Singapore Pavilion at The World EXPO now held in Shanghai. Cooking Without Clothes has also been nominated the Best Single Drama at the Asian Television Awards in 2010.
In 2008, Jean released her inaugural feature film, The Leap Years. It went on to make film history as Singapore’s highest grossing locally-produced English-language feature film. It is still the highest box office for a locally produced English feature film since its release. The Leap Years was also invited to Screen under Panorama Category of The Shanghai International Film Festival in June 2008. The Leap Years was also invited twice to Vancouver, first as the closing film for Vancouver Singapore Film Festival in 2009, and later by explorASIAN in 2010. As a respected member in the local media industry, Jean has been invited to sit on the panel of judges for the Asian Television Awards in 2005 and 2006, as well as for Singapore’s National Scriptwriting Competition organized by the MDA in year, 2002, 2004 and 2006. Jean is also a Founding Member and ex-Vice President for the Association of Independent Producers of Singapore.
Cooking Without Clothes will be screening at Sinema Old School on 23rd of April 2011
