Production and distribution While watching the Iranian film Children of Heaven, Singaporean filmmaker Jack Neo and his wife were moved to "holding hands and crying after seeing the love shared by the children". Children of Heaven inspired Neo to explore issues faced by Singaporean youths in his 2002 film I Not Stupid. Following the success of I Not Stupid, he decided to adapt Children of Heaven to a 1960s Singaporean kampung setting, to emphasise the messages of friendship and kinship. Homerun was produced by MediaCorp Raintree Pictures on a budget of S$1.5 million. It was shot on 35mm film. The production crew included Titus Ho as executive producer; Chan Pui Yin and Daniel Yun as producers; Kane Chen as cinematographer and Lawrence Ang as film editor. In addition to writing and directing, Neo also penned the lyrics to the theme song, which was sung by Koh Mei Xian and composed by Li Yi. Filming took place in the rural outskirts of Sungai Muntoh during November and December 2002. The cast endured a rigorous schedule, including extensive travel times to the filming location and many running scenes. The child actors' school commitments made the planning of reshoots difficult; moreover, the production team decided to delay post-production work in Thailand due to the SARS outbreak. On 7 August 2003, distributor United International Pictures released Homerun in 37 theatres, at the time a record for a Singaporean film. Homerun's worldwide theatrical distribution was carried out by the production company, Raintree Pictures, while the Hong Kong screenings were carried out by Golden Scene following their previous success with I Not Stupid. A Chinese language version was released as both a two-disc VCD and one-disc DVD by Panorama Entertainment, one of the Hong Kong-based "mainstays" of independent film distribution. Political commentary Elements of Homerun compare and contrast Singapore's situations in 1965 and in 2003. For example, while Mrs Chew is giving birth, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew's voice can be heard on a radio in the background, announcing Singapore's separation from Malaysia. Other events in the film parallel those in Singapore's history, such as the riot at the rubbish dump alluding to the labour strikes and riots of the 1960s, as well as the threat of terrorism in the new millennium. One of Kiat Kun's friends is nicknamed "Little Red Dot", a phrase used by former Indonesian president Jusuf Habibie to