Jump to content

The Dream Makers (Singaporean season 2)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from The Dream Makers II)

The Dream Makers
Also known asThe Dream Makers 2
志在四方 II
GenreDrama
Media Industry
Romance
Office Politics
Written byRebecca Leow
Directed byLoh Woon Woon
Wong Foong Hwee
Doreen Yap
StarringLi Nanxing
Zoe Tay
Huang Biren
Jeanette Aw
Rui En
Qi Yuwu
Romeo Tan
Julie Tan
Zhang Zhenhuan
Chen Meifeng
Damian Lau
Opening theme终于 by Kit Chan
Ending theme當世界只剩下我一個人 by Serene Koong
学者愛 by Eric Chou
狠狠愛 by Wu Jiahui
Country of originSingapore
Original languageChinese
No. of episodes32 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersPaul Yuen
Wong Foong Hwee
Production locationsSingapore
Australia
Running timeapprox. 45 minutes (excluding advertisements)
Original release
NetworkMediacorp Channel 8
Release4 December 2015 (2015-12-04) –
18 January 2016 (2016-01-18)
Related
The Dream Makers (2013)

The Dream Makers II (Chinese: 志在四方II, often abbreviated as ZZSF2) is a 32-episode Singaporean drama produced and telecast on Mediacorp Channel 8. It stars Li Nanxing, Zoe Tay, Huang Biren, Jeanette Aw, Rui En, Qi Yuwu, Romeo Tan, Julie Tan, Zhang Zhenhuan, Chen Meifeng & Damian Lau as the casts for the second series.

The series finale end credits include a special tribute to MediaCorp actor, Huang Wenyong, who died in 2013, and all those who contributed assiduously to the country's TV industry.

Plot

[edit]

The show starts three years after Zhou Weiyun (Zoe Tay) was transferred from the Variety department to the Drama department as Vice President. Since the death of Yu Fan (Chen Hanwei), Weiyun's outlook on life had changed. She becomes more cheerful and personable in her dealings with others. She lives with her mother, who has dementia and focuses on her career to produce sentimental television programs. The rising popularity of internet content has caused the ratings for traditional television shows to fall, adversely affecting advertising revenue.

Her bosses decide to hire Guan Xie En (Huang Biren) as a second Vice President to create healthy competition within the department. She is a business management genius and takes over half of Weiyun's production resources, splitting the department into two teams. Although initially in charge of the 7pm primetime slot, Xie En reels enough sponsors to take over Weiyun's primetime slot of 9pm. Some of Weiyun's subordinates attempt to betray her to join Xie En's team but fail.

Meanwhile, Lin Tao (Li Nanxing) takes over the helms of the variety department. His creative and innovative input lead to soaring ratings for variety shows. His eager for success is motivated by a personal vendetta against his good friend Richard, who owns a competing drama production house. Richard previously absconded with his money and even stole his girlfriend.

For years, Lin Tao has been watching over Eddy (Edwin Goh), a former teenage thief who became his godson. Lin Tao soon finds out that Eddy is the son of Xie En, who divorced his father and gave up custody of him and his younger brother Eden (Damien Teo). Eden is led to believe his mother is dead. After their father dies, the brothers go to live with Xie En, who tries to mend her relationship with her estranged sons.

Joey (Ian Fang), Weiyun's cocky nephew joins the entertainment industry. Weiyun reprimands him frequently, straining their relationship. Joey's parents die in a freak accident while on a Greek holiday sponsored by Weiyun. Overwhelmed by the sudden loss of his family, Joey's antics turn for the extreme. Feeling guilty for causing his parents' death, Weiyun tries to make it up to Joey. The struggles that both Weiyun and Xie En face help develop a mutual understanding between them.

Fang Tonglin (Rui En) is excellent in both hosting and acting, pressuring the reigning queen of the station, Zhao Fei Er (Jeanette Aw). Meanwhile, Tonglin and Jason Lam's (Qi Yu Wu) relationship stabilize with marriage on the cards. Jason has been promoted to executive producer, but his artistic vision leads to clashes with the company's more commercial approach to production. Fei Er still has not gotten over him, secretly envying Tonglin. She is paired as an onscreen couple with Zhong Yiming (Romeo Tan), a new actor who found success in major Chinese-speaking markets, but loathes his narcissistic personality. Eventually, their tension blossoms into romance.

A filming accident with Jason and Joey injures a passerby on set. Joey pushes the blame to Jason, who eventually quits. He starts a career as a hawker, leading to various arguments with Tonglin, whose popularity has risen.

A new television station is also awarded a broadcasting license, introducing added competition to the industry, and Lin Tao is poached to run the company's productions. Lin Tao recruits VBS's best talents to follow him, but is horrified to find out Richard will be his superior in the new company. The fighting and rivalry leaves Weiyun bitter and disillusioned, and she considers leaving the entertainment industry.

Cast

[edit]

Development and production

[edit]

The first season concluded with overwhelming success: high viewership ratings on television and video streaming portals, huge turnout for its on-ground events, and won 9 out of 21 nominations in Star Awards 20. Towards the end of 2014, MediaCorp announced a sequel to the series.[1] As the series will coincide with MediaCorp's big move from Caldecott Hill to Mediapolis@one-north, MediaCorp shared plans to promote the show, including a mega-bulk publicity plan on major television, radio, and interactive media channels, and a charity gala premiere to increase sponsors' advertising profits.[2]

The cast of the series had imaging sessions for the show in May.[3][4] Jeanette Aw's wardrobe was expanded by the production team to match her role's elevated career status. Julie Tan revealed that she began her preparation work for her role by watching Japanese dramas and practicing her expressions while looking into a mirror, and also made a trip to Taipei for five days to observe the behaviour of 'taimei's there.[5][6][7][8][9]

Filming commenced on 10 June 2015, and held its lensing ceremony on 19 June. Taiwanese actress Chen Meifeng appeared in the lensing ceremony during her 5-to-6-day stint, dismissing rumours that she is in a relationship with Li Nanxing.[10][11][12] It was also revealed that the show will end on 15 January 2016 with 32 episodes. Additional promotional photography was held on 29 June, involving the main cast.[13][14] In addition, Zoe Tay and Aw went to China International Film & TV Programs Exhibition (CIFTPE) in Beijing to promote the show.[15] The bridal magazine sequence was shot on 24 July at the Peranakan Museum, with Aw, Romeo Tan, Rui En and Qi Yuwu.[16][17]

Damian Lau went to Singapore in September for the show. One of his scenes involves a flashback with him attempting suicide from a 13-storey HDB flat. Because the haze had hit unhealthy ranges, Lau was under the weather and declined all media interviews, but felt much better at the time Toggle interviewed him. During the filming, Li, dressed in his 1990s style haircut in the scene, brought in herbal tea for him, while Tay offered local cakes and snacks.[18][19][20][21]

The production crew and cast (Tay, Li, Qi, Aw, Rui En and Romeo Tan), together with the Toggle reporting crew, head to Melbourne on 25 September for around 10 days of filming. Toggle made live reports throughout their stint. The cast also provided their experiences while filming for the show on Thursdays, beginning from 15 October.[22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] Filming wrapped up in October 2015.

Soundtrack

[edit]

Kit Chan, who previously performed theme songs for My Home Affairs and Devotion, recorded the show's theme song, "Finally" (《终于》).[32][33] Serene Koong, who performed the theme song for the first season, recorded one of the sub-theme songs for the series, "All Alone" (《当世界只剩下我一个人》). She revealed that her eyes became swollen from crying after binge-watching the first season twice, and eventually composed the lyrics of the song in half a day.[34][35] Other sub-theme songs include "Happiness is Not Difficult", the first season's theme song also sung by Koong, "Learn to Love" By Eric Chou and "Hate-Love", an acoustic version of "Finally" with different lyrics.

Song title Song type Performer Composer(s) Lyricist(s) Song Arranger(s) Producer(s) Provided by
终于
(Finally)
Theme Song Kit Chan 陈洁仪 Wu Jiahui 伍家辉 Cheryl Lee 李欣怡 Terence Teo 柯贵民 Banshee Empire
当世界只剩下我一个人
(All Alone)
Sub-theme Song 1 Serene Koong 龚芝怡 Serene Koong 龚芝怡 Kenn C Serene Koong GoodGirlMusic
幸福不难
(Happiness Is Not difficult )
Sub-theme Song 2
学者爱
(Learn to Love)
Sub-theme Song 3 Eric Chou 周兴哲 Eric Chou Eric Chou
Wu I-Wei
Sony Music
狠狠爱
(Hate-Love)
Sub-theme Song 4 Wu Jiahui 伍家辉 Wu Jiahui Wu Jiahui Small Box Music

Release

[edit]

An autograph session for the series was on 7 November 2015, at Square 2, hosted by YES 933 DJ Kenneth Chung Kun Wah. Zoe Tay, Romeo Tan, Zhang Zhenhuan and Ian Fang were present at the event, and interacted with the audience. The first 150 audience to form the queue for the event will get to receive an autographed poster and a goodie bag each. A meet-and-greet session was held on 15 November at Junction 10, where Dennis Chew joined the above-mentioned cast. Similarly, the first 150 audience to form the queue for the event will get to receive a limited-edition tumbler and a goodie bag each.

A press conference was held on 18 November 2015. Zoe Tay, Huang Biren, Jeanette Aw, Rui En, Qi Yuwu, Romeo Tan, Julie Tan, Zhang, Fang and Chew attended the conference.[36][37][38][39] During the conference, the cast shared their experience in making the show.

Previously planned as a charity gala premiere, Mediacorp announced a charity gala finale at its new premises at Mediapolis@one-north which was held on 16 January 2016.[2] Besides Zoe Tay, Huang Biren, Romeo Tan, Julie Tan, Zhang Zhenhuan and Ian Fang, supporting cast Joey Feng, Damien Teo and Maxi Lim also attended the finale. This event was hosted by DJs Chung Kun Wah and Lin Lingzhi. The event began at 7.00pm, but before that, a red carpet was held for the event at 5.30pm, where eight lucky winners from a Facebook contest got a hair and face makeover, and strutted down the red carpet along with the cast. The lucky winners also got a pair of tickets and pre-show cocktail party, for both the winner and an accompanying partner.

Apart from an entertaining showbiz talk, audience also got to take part in a charity auction, where items featured in the show, including Zhou Weiyun and Guan Xie En's identical dresses, lanyards, Fei Er's merchandise and Jason and Tonglin's wedding merchandise were put up on sale. Minimum bids began from $25 each of the lanyards and the glass shoe to $200 for each of the dresses. The highest bidder went to Chen Guang's lanyard and bear, where she was invited to the finale to collect these items on stage. The finale episode was then screened to round up the day's event.[40] Over $20,000 went to Mediacorp Cares beneficiaries, from tickets sales, auction sales and sponsor donations.[41][42]

Social media

[edit]

Online popularity contests involving cast members were held on Facebook and Instagram, which began on 11 October. Each week, users can support the casts' posts according to the challenge by liking them. The cast with the highest total likes on their posts will win for that week.

Two "Battle of the Queens" and three "Battle of the Dukes" challenges have been organized on social media.

Results

[edit]

Online exclusives were also released on Toggle and MediaCorp Channel 8's YouTube channel. Titled "The Gossip Makers" (8卦四方), these videos attempt to poke fun of the Singaporean entertainment scene, and gets audiences ready for the return of The Dream Makers.

Home media

[edit]

The Dream Makers 2 DVD has been released in Poh Kim Video stores.

Awards and nominations

[edit]

The series was notable for marking four distinctions in the history for any Drama Serial in a Star Awards ceremony: the series broke the number of nominations in the 2016 at 26 (surpassing the series' first season's 21); the series broke the most wins in an award ceremony at 12 (surpassing both the first season and The Little Nyonya, both with nine); the series became the first show to sweep every winning category (with the exception for two, "Top Rated Drama Series" and "Favourite Male Character", the latter of which the show was not nominated for), and lastly, the second drama (after Holland V in 2003) to sweep every of the four major acting categories.

Accolades Category Nominees Result
Star Awards Best Director Loh Woon Woon Won
Wong Foong Hwee Nominated
Best Screenplay Rebecca Leow Nominated
Best Programme Promo Kee Chee Wee Nominated
Best Cameraman for Drama Programme Tommy Lee Heng Soon Nominated
Best Editing For Drama Programme Simon Poon Won
Joyce Teo Nominated
Steven Lee Nominated
Star Awards Rocket Award Julie Tan Won
Star Awards Young Talent Award Damien Teo Won
Best Theme Song
(《终于》)
Kit Chan Won
Best Supporting Actor Edwin Goh Nominated
Zhang Zhenhuan Won
Best Supporting Actress Julie Tan Won
Best Actor Romeo Tan Nominated
Qi Yuwu Won
Best Actress Jeanette Aw Won
Rui En Nominated
Zoe Tay Nominated
Best Drama Serial The Dream Makers II Won
Star Awards Favourite Female Character Jeanette Aw Won
Rui En Nominated
Huang Biren Nominated
Favourite Onscreen Couple (Drama) Qi Yuwu &
Rui En
Nominated
Qi Yuwu &
Jeanette Aw
Won
Zhang Zhenhuan &
Julie Tan
Nominated
London Choco Roll Romeo Tan Won
Bioskin Flawless Skin Award Julie Tan Nominated
Fame Awards 2016 Best Actor in a Leading Role Qi Yuwu Nominated
Best Actor in a Supporting Role Edwin Goh Nominated
Asian Television Awards 2016 Best Supporting Actor in a Leading Role Zhang Zhen Huan Nominated
Best Supporting Actress in a Leading Role Julie Tan Nominated
Best Drama Serial The Dream Makers II Nominated

References

[edit]
  1. ^ 展望2015年四方盒:本地剧有何看头?
  2. ^ a b Ch 8 The Dream Makers 2 Trailer – Youtube
  3. ^ "27年来从未合作 郑惠玉力邀黄碧仁飙戏" (in Chinese). Toggle. 13 May 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  4. ^ "First look at The Dream Makers 2". Toggle. 14 May 2015. Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  5. ^ "Jeanette Aw on her Best Actress award chances with The Dream Makers 2". Toggle. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  6. ^ "欧萱再演"赵菲儿"恐患忧郁症 陈欣淇演"台妹"自费飞台" (in Chinese). Toggle. 15 May 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  7. ^ "Disfigured but not defeated: Rui En's new challenge in The Dream Makers 2". Toggle. 3 June 2015. Archived from the original on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  8. ^ "瑞恩化毁容妆 戚玉武返新陪产" (in Chinese). Toggle. 4 June 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  9. ^ Han Wei Chou (19 May 2015). "Rui En, Jeanette Aw to crank up the drama in The Dream Makers 2". Today. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  10. ^ "陈美凤跟李南星不来电 夸陈罗密欧小鲜肉". Toggle. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015.
  11. ^ "Sticky situations 101 with The Dream Makers 2 cast". Toggle. 20 June 2015. Archived from the original on 20 June 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  12. ^ "状况!《志在四方2》演员应变法" (in Chinese). Toggle. 21 June 2015. Archived from the original on 5 July 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  13. ^ "The Dream Makers 2 gets real with the Star Awards". Toggle. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  14. ^ "《志在四方2》海报造型抢先看 欧萱近2万元礼服凌驾阿姐" (in Chinese). Toggle. 7 July 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Zoe Tay & Jeanette Aw bring 'The Dream Makers 2' to Beijing". Toggle. Archived from the original on 26 December 2015. Retrieved 23 October 2015.
  16. ^ "The Dream Makers 2: Of weddings & babies". Toggle. 25 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  17. ^ "欧萱结婚待时机 陈罗密欧欲办"世纪婚礼"" (in Chinese). Toggle. 27 July 2015. Archived from the original on 29 July 2015. Retrieved 19 January 2016.
  18. ^ "李南星贴身侍候刘松仁 郑惠玉天价镜子随身带" (in Chinese). Toggle. 21 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  19. ^ "Li Nanxing buys herbal tea for Damian Lau". Toggle. 22 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  20. ^ "刘松仁笑看郑少秋不和传闻 称郑惠玉把他当儿子养" (in Chinese). Toggle. 23 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  21. ^ "Damian Lau: Zoe Tay treats me as her son". Toggle. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  22. ^ "LIVE blog: The Dream Makers 2 head to Melbourne". Toggle. 25 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2015.
  23. ^ "直击!《志在四方2》墨尔本外拍花絮 (持续更新)" (in Chinese). Toggle. 30 September 2015. Archived from the original on 5 October 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  24. ^ "Throwback Thursday with Qi Yuwu in Melbourne". Toggle. 15 October 2015. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  25. ^ "Throwback Thursday with Romeo Tan in Melbourne". Toggle. 22 October 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
  26. ^ "Throwback Thursday with Jeanette Aw in Melbourne". Toggle. 29 October 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Throwback Thursday with Zoe Tay in Melbourne". Toggle. 5 November 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015.
  28. ^ "Throwback Thursday with Rui En in Melbourne". Toggle. 12 November 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  29. ^ Joanna Goh (17 December 2015). "What you didn't see on TV: The Dream Makers 2 in Melbourne". Toggle. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  30. ^ "《志在四方2》墨尔本幕后花絮" (in Chinese). Toggle. 18 December 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015.
  31. ^ Joanna Goh (21 January 2016). "Sightseeing Melbourne a la The Dream Makers 2". Toggle. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  32. ^ "陈洁仪为《志2》发声 望演阿哥阿姐老板" (in Chinese). Toggle. 24 October 2015. Archived from the original on 27 October 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  33. ^ "Kit Chan has a particular affinity with Zoe Tay's dramas". Toggle. 27 October 2015. Archived from the original on 14 November 2015. Retrieved 31 October 2015.
  34. ^ "龚芝怡为《志在四方》哭肿眼 新专辑盼与李荣浩合作" (in Chinese). Toggle. 5 January 2016. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016.
  35. ^ "Serene Koong writes sub-theme song for Dream Makers 2 in half a day". Toggle. 5 January 2016. Archived from the original on 14 January 2016. Retrieved 8 January 2016.
  36. ^ "The Dream Makers 2 actors offer their characters one piece of advice". Toggle. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015.
  37. ^ "瑞恩梦想拍武侠片 欧萱最爱冯绍峰" (in Chinese). Toggle. 20 November 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  38. ^ May Seah (20 November 2015). "Zoe Tay goes up against Huang Biren in The Dream Makers 2". Today.
  39. ^ "星光游乐园" (in Chinese). iWeekly. 23 November 2015. Archived from the original on 22 December 2015. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
  40. ^ Joanna Goh (19 January 2016). "The best of The Dream Makers 2". Toggle. Archived from the original on 28 January 2016.
  41. ^ "《志在四方2》慈善谢幕礼 筹超过2万元善款" (in Chinese). Toggle. 18 January 2016. Archived from the original on 19 January 2016.
  42. ^ Denise Ngo (18 January 2016). "HOT OR NOT: The Dream Makers 2 Charity Gala". Toggle. Archived from the original on 23 January 2016. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
Preceded by
The Journey: Tumultuous Times
2014-15
Star Awards for Best Drama Serial
The Dream Makers (season 2)
2015-16
Succeeded by
Hero
2016-17