Terence Cao, Sam Loh take TikTok dramas beyond low-budget comedy with new action thriller
It has been 20 months in the making, but e-commerce platform Star Live’s latest micro drama, The Executioner, is finally here — and it is no April Fool’s joke.
Directed by veteran filmmaker Sam Loh, the action-packed series premiered on April 1 on TikTok and Instagram, positioning itself as Singapore’s “first vertical action series”, filmed for mobile viewing.
Based on its trailer and first two episodes, The Executioner delivers a gritty, fast-paced mystery filled with tension and fight sequences that action fans would appreciate.
The idea came from veteran actor Terence Cao, who saw a gap in a space largely dominated by content from China.
“A lot of people have the misconception that micro dramas are cheap, low-budget productions set in an office, and slapstick,” Cao told Stomp ahead of the series’ gala premiere at The Cathay.
At the same time, as the world emerged from the pandemic, Cao realised something else was being overlooked — local stunt performers.
“TV is not giving them enough exposure,” added Cao, who began his acting career alongside peers such as wushu champion Vincent Ng and stunt actor Sunny Pang.
Pang has since seen international success, recently starring alongside Tom Hardy in the 2025 Netflix action film Havoc.
Shooting stunts in vertical mode
Star Live — founded by Cao and director Jack Neo — then brought together longtime collaborators, including Pang and Loh, to bring the project to life.
Pang, who plays Lee’s henchman, The Cleaner, told Stomp that he took on the project as an experiment. “My mentor always told me you have to try everything,” he said.
The 54-year-old head of Ronin Action Group echoed Cao’s concerns about limited opportunities for stunt actors, adding that in the years following Covid-19, his team sometimes had only two or three projects annually.
As a result, some of Pang’s crew left to find work elsewhere. He said he did not blame them, as everyone needs to make a living.
“Angry for what? I don’t have job (for them) — that’s my problem, not theirs.”
Against this backdrop, Pang hopes the series can help create more work for local stunt performers, while also testing audiences’ appetite for homegrown action content.
However, filming action in a vertical format posed challenges. Pang said framing fight scenes was particularly tricky, as actors could easily move out of shot.
This is evident in the first episode, where Ng’s character Yoon spars with his daughter Paulyn (Grace Teo) at Wufang Singapore, a wushu academy founded by Ng.
At times, parts of their bodies fall out of frame — a limitation of the format.
Still, Loh manages to keep the action centred and watchable.
Like many directors, Loh’s experience lies in traditional landscape filmmaking. His past works include television mini-series The Driver (starring Pang and Jesseca Liu) and movies such as Hell Hole (2019) and Siew Lup (2016).
That said, the filmmaker refuses to shy away from new formats. “The world is changing fast, so we need to adapt to the times and not get left behind,” Loh said, citing declining cinema attendance as a reason for exploring new forms of content.
Writing was one of the trickiest parts of the process. While worldbuilding remains important, Loh said everything has to be “compressed” into easily digestible bite-sized reels.
Each episode runs for about two to three minutes on average.
“My longest reel is about four minutes… that one I already feel very long [sic],” he said.
Despite the constraints, the writing holds up. The first two episodes establish a clear, high-stakes conflict between Yoon and Lee, hinting at a deeper backstory.
The series is also elevated by an original score by Shabir Sulthan, which enhances the tension throughout.
Going beyond Singapore
The team’s efforts appear to have paid off.
Cao said The Executioner has already been “snapped up” Wah! Drama, a Hong Kong-based microdrama app operated by Sun Wah Media Group —making it the first local micro-drama to expand beyond Singapore.
The cast and crew are set to head to Kuala Lumpur for the premiere event in the second half of April.
At the Singapore premiere, the actors — which included the likes of Internet personalities Simon Khung (better known by his moniker Simonboy), Jaze Phua and Thai influencer FahFah (Fah Chatchaya Suthisuwan) — kept details of the plot under wraps.
As they lined up to face the audience, shrouded in black hoods, they each introduced themselves simply as “The Executioner”.
With about 40 episodes planned across several seasons, the mystery has only just begun.
Who the real Executioner is remains anyone’s guess.
New episodes of The Executioner will be released every three days on Star Live’s TikTok.
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