{{Short description|Singaporean film director (born 1976)}} {{family name hatnote|Chai|lang=Chinese}} {{Infobox person | name = Chai Yee Wei | image = | imagesize = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1976|06|21}} | birth_place = Singapore | education = {{ubl|Catholic High School|Catholic Junior College}} | occupation = {{hlist|Film director|writer|producer|businessman}} | years_active = | known_for = | spouse = Diane Chan | partner = | website = | awards = Grand Prix George Lucas Award | module = {{Infobox Chinese |child= yes|hide= no |headercolor=lightblue | t = 蔡於位 | s = 蔡于位 | p = Cài Yúweì }} }}
'''Chai Yee Wei''' (born 21 June 1976) is a Singaporean film director, writer and producer. He is also the founder of Mocha Chai Laboratories and A Little Seed, an authorised Apple iTunes aggregator. He also founded production company Hot Cider Films, Japanese curry specialty restaurant Curry Favor, as well as an IT company and wedding photography businesses.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/movies/2014/01/07/life-interview-chai-yee-wei-life-fate-drama-and-irony|title=The Life! Interview with Chai Yee Wei: A life of fate, drama and irony|last1=Lui|first1=John|date=8 January 2014|access-date=15 September 2014|publisher=Singapore Press Holdings|agency=The Straits Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140110035727/http://stcommunities.straitstimes.com/movies/2014/01/07/life-interview-chai-yee-wei-life-fate-drama-and-irony|archive-date=10 January 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref>
== Career == Chai's debut feature film ''Blood Ties'', which premiered on 10 September 2009, was funded under the Singapore Film Commission's New Feature Film Fund. Chai had also made countless comedy shorts, such as ''Loser, Lau Sai (Diarrhoea)'' and ''My Blue Heaven'', amongst others.
''Twisted'', released in Malaysia in 2011, is Chai's second feature film. It won "Best Feature" at the 2012 Detroit Nightmare Film Festival and was selected for the 2012 Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, 2012 Grimm Up North International Horror Film Festival, and 2012 Focus on Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
''That Girl in Pinafore'' is Chai's third feature film released in 2013. Set in the 1990s, it is a comedy-musical starring Daren Tan, Julie Tan, Hayley Woo and Jayley Woo. The film premiered at the 2013 Shanghai International Film Festival and shown at the Festival Nits de Oriental, Taoyuan International Film Festival, and Focus on Asia Fukuoka International Film Festival.
''The Voice of China'' producers watched ''That Girl in Pinafore'' in Shanghai and sought Chai to direct a music movie, ''Voice of China Turn You Around'', with the singers from the first two seasons of ''The Voice of China''. The film was pre-sold to the Fox TV Network and had a limited theatrical release in China in January 2014.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
In June 2018, Chai was awarded the Grand Prix George Lucas Award at the 20th Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia for his short film ''Benjamin's Last Day At Katong Swimming Complex'', a wistful, nostalgic story about a young boy's sexual awakening, as well as the impact on our heritage triggered by Singapore's rapid urban development. It premiered at the Singapore International Film Festival in November 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/first-short-film-in-10-years-wins-big|title=Singapore director Chai Yee Wei's first short film in 10 years wins big|last=hermes|date=2018-06-19|work=The Straits Times|access-date=2018-06-19|language=en}}</ref>
That same year, Chai was chosen to be one of 15 Directors to be part of "15 Shorts: Films For Good" organised by the National Volunteer and Philanthropic Centre. His film ''Sister'' is based on the friendship between Catholic nun Sister Gerard and convicted murderer Catherine Tan.{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}}
== Personal life == Chai was educated at Catholic High School and Catholic Junior College.<ref name="today20130731">{{cite news|newspaper=Today Online |title=Salute to Singapore: Director Chai Yee Wei’s homegrown gem | date= 2013-07-31 |access-date=2013-08-12 |last= Sarah Loh |first=Genevieve |url=http://www.todayonline.com/entertainment/movies/salute-singapore-director-chai-yee-weis-homegrown-gem }}</ref> He is a huge fan of Xinyao, and his interest in this influenced him to create the 2013 film ''That Girl in Pinafore''.<ref name="today20130731" />
==Filmography== ===Film=== * ''Blood Ties'' (2009) * ''Twisted'' (2011) * ''That Girl in Pinafore'' (2013) * ''Benjamin's Last Day at Katong Swimming Complex'' (2017; short film) * ''Sister'' (2019; short film) * ''Wonderland'' (2023)
===Television series=== * ''Voice of China - I Want You'' (2014) * ''Mr. Midnight: Beware the Monsters'' (2022) * ''Venus on Mars'' (2023)
==References== {{Reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|3566258}} * [www.mochachailab.com Mocha Chai Laboratories] * [www.alittleseed.com A Little Seed] * [https://archive.today/20121224204259/http://www.soe.org.sg/files/interview2008.php?a=&c=&year=2008&i=304 Spirit of Enterprise] About Yee Wei's entrepreneurial attempts * [https://web.archive.org/web/20111228182745/http://twitchfilm.com/interviews/2009/09/an-interview-with-blood-ties-director-chai-yee-wei.php Blood Ties] Chai Yee Wei's Debut feature film * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140905054444/http://poskod.sg/Posts/2011/6/8/POSKAD-Chai-Yee-Wei-Diane-Chan POSKOD.SG] About his new home * [https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/06/e674648b084c-filmmaker-from-singapore-claims-george-lucas-award-grand-prix-at-ssff--asia-2018.html Filmmaker from Singapore claims George Lucas Award, Grand Prix at SSFF & Asia 2018] Short Shorts Win *[https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/entertainment/first-short-film-in-10-years-wins-big] Straits Times- Singapore director Chai Yee Wei's first short film in 10 years wins big
{{Chai Yee Wei}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chai, Yee Wei}} Category:1976 births Category:Singaporean film directors Category:Singaporean people of Hakka descent Category:Living people Category:Singaporean screenwriters Category:Singaporean film producers Category:Singaporean television people Category:21st-century Singaporean businesspeople