Singapore’s Robot Playground Media is cooking up something dark and delicious with “A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts,” an animated horror anthology that pairs Chinese cuisine with supernatural terror. The project, selected for Taiwan Creative Content Fest (TCCF), adapts Chinese-American author Ying Chang Compestine’s bestselling 2016 YA book into a feature-length collection of four interconnected tales.

Set in a haunted restaurant outside time, the film follows a ghostly host serving four unforgettable horror stories, each centered around a legendary Chinese dish. From a murdered stepdaughter’s spectral revenge with egg fried rice to a cursed fishing village bound by blood and tang yuan during winter solstice, the anthology weaves a dark tapestry of generational sin and ancestral reckoning.

“The book caught my attention first – its concept of short ghost stories centred around Chinese food was so unusual and cinematic,” says Ervin Han, producer-director and co-founder of Robot Playground Media. “I immediately saw its potential for animation: the visual richness, the sensory detail, the blend of culture and horror.”

Han emphasizes the project’s universal appeal despite its culturally specific roots. “Chinese cuisine is globally recognized, and the stories reflect that same diaspora influence – familiar yet deeply rooted in tradition,” he explains. “Pairing that universality with the horror genre felt like a potent combination, something that could travel widely while staying authentically Asian.”

The production represents a significant cross-border collaboration, bringing together animation studios from Singapore, Indonesia, Taiwan, Ireland and India. Robot Playground Media is producing alongside Lumine Studio in Jakarta, Xanthus Animation in Taiwan, partners in Ireland, and Toonz Media Group in India, with executive producer Justin Deimen’s Goldfinch Asia backing the project.

Production is well underway, with the first episode “Egg Fried Rice” already 80% complete. The remaining three episodes – “Hot Pot,” “Beef Noodles,” and “Tang Yuan” – are slated to enter production through 2025, with the full feature targeted for completion in late 2026.

As creative producer, Han is giving each director creative freedom within a clear mandate. “Keep it visually rich, emotionally resonant and don’t be afraid to have fun with it,” he says. “Animation allows for such range in tone and expression, and horror, especially, is a genre with infinite shades to play with – from the poetic to the grotesque, the darkly funny to the deeply tragic.”

Food preparation takes center stage in the visual storytelling. “We also make the food – and the preparation of each dish – central. It has to be visually enthralling, because food is our soul; it’s how we live, how we connect, and in this case, how we remember the dead,” Han notes.

The anthology’s first volume explores themes of ancestral sin, family, piety and consequence. “They’re morality tales in their own twisted way,” Han said. “Across the four films, we want to take audiences through a spectrum of emotions – fear, wonder, melancholy, even dark laughter – and, hopefully, leave them hungry for the next course.”

Han sees TCCF as an opportunity to elevate Asian creative voices on the international stage. “My hope is to develop something that feels deeply rooted in Asia yet speaks naturally to audiences everywhere,” he says. “Chinese food and its rituals are instantly recognizable around the world, and when paired with genre horror and the visual freedom of animation, it becomes something both familiar and fresh.”

The project brings together veteran industry talents. Writer Lee Thean-jeen is a Singaporean director and screenwriter best known for Mediacorp’s Channel 5 drama series including “AlterAsians,” “The Singapore Short Story Project,” and “Code of Law.” Executive producer Justin Deimen is managing director of Goldfinch Asia and a founding member of the Southeast Asian Audio-Visual Association.

Additional producers include David Gulshan, VP of feature film international sales at India’s Toonz Media Group; Allen Jordan, founder of Indonesia’s Goshen Group; and Bruce Yao, CEO of Taiwan’s Xanthus Animation.

Founded in 2013, Robot Playground Media has built an award-winning track record producing original animation, VFX and motion graphics for Disney, Warner Bros Discovery, Netflix and MTV. Han, who has over 20 years in animation, is a multiple Asian Academy Creative Award national winner and Asian Television Award winner. He previously created the three-season adult animated comedy “Downstairs,” which streamed on Netflix and Mediacorp.

Festival and market rollout is expected to follow the late 2026 completion, positioning “A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts” as a showcase for Southeast Asian animation’s growing international ambitions.