Producers push 7 letters box-set sales for charity

THERE are still around 500 box sets of the acclaimed SG50 film compendium 7 Letters up for sale - and the producers are keen to sell as many copies as possible as the licence from the police to raise money from the project is valid only until the end of the year.

Proceeds from the project, including donations and ticket sales from the screenings, as well as sales of the limited-edition DVD box sets, will go to charity after costs are covered.

Royston Tan - project executive producer and one of the seven local directors who contributed a short film to the compendium - says that at least $250,000 has been raised thus far.

About half of the 1,000 box sets have been sold. They are priced at $200 each and are available at Kinokuniya and Objectifs - Centre for Photography and Film.

Producer for 7 Letters Karen Khoo, 40, adds: "We are hoping to give as much as we can to charity by the end of December so that we can start the year for them on a good note."

While the plan is to still contribute to charity the proceeds from sales of DVD box sets past December, she notes that it is "quite a complicated thing to do" given the licence expires at the end of the year.

The film box set is designed by President's Design Award 2014 recipient Larry Peh and his team at &Larry and includes personal mementos such as photographs and handwritten notes from the directors.

Tan points out that there will be no reprints in the future.

The beneficiaries of the 7 Letters project are Alzheimer's Disease Association, the Children-At-Risk Empowerment Association, the Movement for the Intellectually Disabled of Singapore, the Pertapis Senior Citizens Fellowship Home, the Singapore Buddhist Lodge Welfare Foundation, the Student Care Service and Transient Workers Count Too.

bchan@sph.com.sg

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