Chee Kong Cheah (CheeK)

Chee Kong Cheah, also known as CheeK is a Malaysia-born Singaporean director, writer, TV series creator, producer and creative media executive. Chicken Rice War and television series The Kitchen Musical were some of his notable work decades ago. From 9 November 2015 – CheeK has been appointed to the newly created position of Chief Content Officer at MediaCorp Singapore.[1] Founded the creative collective a plethora of pinatas [2] in 2017 to explore machine learning/AI and content creation. 2018 – conceptualize and develop local original scripted series and non-scripted formats for Disney North Asia (China, Japan, Korea) [3]

CheeK
Born
Chee Kong Cheah

November 2, 1966
Penang, Malaysia
NationalitySingaporean
OccupationDirector, Writer, Producer
Known forChicken Rice War The Kitchen Musical

Career

CheeK began his career in television and film-making in 1990 as a Producer/Director at the former Singapore Broadcasting Corporation. He is a creative professional with more than 20 years of experience in entertainment, films and television production in Asia. He has held various senior management positions at MTV Asia, MTV Japan and STAR TV."[4]

Apart from his broadcasting career, CheeK is also a film and TV series maker/creator. He started in short film making and won the Best Short Film award at the Singapore International Film Festival in 1994 for his short film, Married. In 1997, he won the Best Short Film and Special Achievement with Beansprouts and Salted Fish.

CheeK wrote, produced and directed his début feature film Chicken Rice War in 2000, which garnered international awards such as the Discovery Award[5] at the 2001 Toronto International Film Festival. He also achieve the Young Artist (Film) Award from The National Arts Council of Singapore that same year.

CheeK was the Executive Vice President and Head of Creative for The Group Entertainment. Since he joined The Group Entertainment, CheeK has created, directed, co-wrote and executive produced the TV series, The Kitchen Musical – which premiered on AXN Asia on 21 October 2011 in 19 countries across Asia. There has been strong interest in adapting the series for various markets including the USA.[6] CheeK was also involved with Imagine Group to create The Challenger, a reality television series about Muay Thai which aired 15 September 2011 on AXN Asia which unfortunately did not achieve what was expected in the ratings.

On April 18, 2012, it has been publicly announced that The Kitchen Musical won Gold World Medal for Best Writing, and Bronze World Medal for Best Performance at the 2012 New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards.[7][8] The Kitchen Musical was nominated for two International Emmy Awards (Best Drama Series and Best Actor) in 2012.[9]

In October 2013, Scripps Networks Interactive, Asia Pacific (Food Network Asia, Asian Food Channel, Travel Channel, HGTV) announced that it has hired CheeK as the Head of Creative, Content and Marketing, responsible for developing and executing programming strategies, original productions, and setting the creative and marketing direction for Scripps’ channels in the region.[10]

On 19 October 2015, MediaCorp Singapore appointed CheeK to the newly created position of Chief Content Officer to drive the content strategy and development for its extensive portfolio of entertainment products across its TV and digital platforms as well as content syndication for local and international markets. He will also oversee The Celebrity Agency.[11]

Personal life

Besides his career in the entertainment industry, CheeK is a wine and food lover with a Diploma in Wines and Spirits from WSET – and a Certified Sommelier (Court of Master Sommeliers) qualification, as well as French Wine Scholar and Certified Sake Sommelier certifications. He writes a regular column about wine and food pairing on the popular Hungry Go Where site.

Filmography

Films
YearFilmNotes
1994 Married (Short Film) Singapore International Film Festival − Best Short Film (1994)
1997 Bean Sprouts and Salted Fish (Short Film) Singapore International Film Festival − Best Short Film, Special Achievement Award (1997)
2000 Stories About Love Director
2000 Chicken Rice War Director, Writer, Producer

2001 Toronto International Film Festival − Won
Miami International Film Festival (2002) − Won
Buenos Aires International Festival of Independent Cinema (2002) − Won

2002 Digital Compassion 02 (Documentary) Director

Television
YearFilmNotes
2004 Rouge Director
2011–2012 The Kitchen Musical Director, Writer, Producer

New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards (2012) − (Gold) Best Writing
New York Festivals International Television & Film Awards (2012) − (Bronze) Best Performance
International Emmy Awards (2012) – Nominees in Drama Series and Best Performance by an Actor categories

References
  1. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-10-21. Retrieved 2015-11-05.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  2. "a plethora of pinatas". Archived from the original on 2017-11-15. Retrieved 2017-11-15.
  3. "linkedin".
  4. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2014-02-02. Retrieved 2014-02-01.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  5. "Amelie Woos Toronto Public" Archived September 10, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, 2001 Toronto International Film Festival
  6. "'Ugly Betty' producer plans to bring 'The Kitchen Musical' to the US", August 19, 2011
  7. "Kitchen Musical' bags 2 awards in New York", April 18, 2012
  8. "New York Festivals Winners & Finalists (Singapore)" Archived April 22, 2012, at the Wayback Machine, April 18, 2012
  9. International Emmy Awards (2012)"
  10. http://realscreen.com/2013/10/18/scripps-hires-head-of-content-marketing-for-asia-pacific/
  11. https://variety.com/2015/tv/asia/cheek-to-head-content-at-mediacorp-1201621065/
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