If you’ve watched a Singapore drama and marvelled at a beautifully composed shot, a particularly slick edit or a scene that left you thinking about it long after the credits rolled, chances are there was a whole team of people behind the scenes making it happen.

These behind-the-scenes professionals had their moment in the spotlight at the second Mediacorp Screen Awards (MSA2026), held at Mandarin Oriental on Friday (Oct 2).

Unlike the star-studded Star Awards, the Mediacorp Screen Awards are largely about the people behind the camera – the directors, cinematographers, writers and editors responsible for turning an idea on a page into something visual for audiences to watch.

And if this year’s results are anything to go by, a few productions clearly struck the right creative chord.

The biggest sweep of the night came from Emerald Hill – The Little Nyonya Story, which won all four Drama craft awards in the Chinese section.

Kok Tzyy Haw took Best Direction, Tommy Lee Heng Soon won Best Cinematography, Ang Eng Tee received Best Screenplay and Poon Yiu Tung picked up Best Editing.

For those keeping score, that comes after Emerald Hill was named Best Drama Serial at Star Awards 2026. In other words, the show didn't just connect with viewers and awards voters as a finished product – the individual crafts that went into making it were recognised too.

And it wasn't the only clean sweep of the evening.

Monochromatic Pictures' Korban S2 accomplished the same feat in the Malay Drama categories, with Jeevan Nathan winning Best Direction, Roszali Samad for Best Cinematography, Umie Isa and Razi Salam for Best Screenplay, and Hafiz Yusri and Andy Tseng for Best Editing.

Meanwhile, Tamil supernatural thriller Aah! by Millenia Motion Pictures took home three awards.

Sweeping three of the four Tamil Drama awards, including Best Direction for Yahssir M and K Rajagopal, Best Cinematography for Mohammad Shahril, and Best Screenplay for Rashida, Yahssir, K Rajagop...