Christopher Lee to Star in Singapore's First AI-Hybrid Drama
Source: The Straits Times
Singaporean actor Christopher Lee stars in Crooks, Singapore's first AI-hybrid drama that uses AI-assisted environments to expand cinematic scale. The nine-episode series, inspired by Eighteen Chefs founder Benny Se Teo, reskills over 50 crew members in AI-enabled production techniques.
Singaporean actor Christopher Lee will star in Crooks, a nine-episode drama that claims the title of Singapore's first AI-hybrid series. Now in production, the show uses AI-assisted environments to expand its cinematic scale — turning controlled live-action sets into fully realised period backgrounds including a restaurant, opium den, and hospital.
The series is inspired by the true story of Benny Se Teo, the former convict who founded Eighteen Chefs in 2007. Lee plays Ah Cheng, a former convict who inherits a failing restaurant and tries to rebuild his life through the kitchen. Production company B-01 Films says over 50 crew members are being reskilled to work in AI-enabled production pipelines, from virtual set design to AI-assisted relighting and spatial expansion.
Producer Boi Kwong, whose previous film Geylang earned a Golden Horse nomination, is clear about the creative philosophy: AI augments the world around the performance, it doesn't replace the actor. "AI cannot replace the tremble in an actor's voice, the silence between two people, or the truth of a performance," he told The Straits Times.
Why it matters for Singapore: Crooks puts Singapore on the map as a testbed for AI-assisted storytelling — not as a gimmick, but as a practical production tool that lets smaller crews punch above their weight. If it works, it opens a new lane for Singapore's film industry: producing higher-scale content without Hollywood budgets. The crew reskilling programme is also a blueprint for how AI can create jobs rather than eliminate them in creative industries.