Friday, December 4, 2009

WORLD CLASS FILM STUDIES COME TO SINGAPORE

Once again we get bypassed for quality film education or production opportunities. Previously, I personally felt sad that Lucasfilms decided to start a facility in Singapore some years ago, allowing direct intake of talented animation graduates in Singapore to find work on international animation projects.
At that time, we were expounding the virtues of our Multimedia Super Corridor and other spin off projects from the initiative. But all that is now water under the bridge, just like our expensive multi-million dollar Saladin The Movie Trailer.
Now, New York University, one of the best places any filmmaker could have to learn about filmmaking has set up a center in Singapore.
This is the link to their website : TISCHAsia
Now, here's the kicker, the resident Artistic Director for the campus in Singapore is non-other than multi-Academy Award winner Oliver Stone. Serious! No kidding.
The institution offers Degree and Post Graduate course in Film Production, Writing and Digital Animation.
A quick look at the Masters in Fine Arts course, which has a two-year duration, will take you back about US$41,000.00. (Just about RM150,000).
Now if FINAS knew about this, or even MOSTI, and if our Ministry of Communication, Culture and Arts are serious in producing world class filmmakers, they should think seriously about sending and sponsoring a batch of maybe 12 post graduate students to this school.
Once these pioneer batch graduates from NYU TischAsia, they can then teach ten students each in three years time. By 2015, we would then have at least 100 world class filmmakers in our midst.
Is this a dream? Maybe, but it's an achievable dream. FINAS is thinking of spending millions in doing co-production with South American companies, they spend millions financing film festivals and events, they spend millions sending their officers to film markets overseas, they lend millions to untested producers and filmmakers who either screw up the production or make movies that no one wants to see.
So why not just put aside about RM2 million to send 12 talented or young filmmakers who have shown potential to this NYU Tisch Asia Campus to do their post graduate Masters course and actually improve our dilapidated film industry within the next five years.
Please???

2 comments:

kamalariffin said...

cool I second that. Kalau nak best lagi lawan.. kita bawak USC turun Malaysia

Anonymous said...

RM50 juta galakan terbit dokumentari tempatan
Dis 10, 09 1:38pm

Sebanyak RM50 juta diperuntukkan kepada Suruhanjaya Komunikasi dan Multimedia Malaysia (SKMM) untuk kegiatan mencipta kandungan tempatan khususnya filem-filem berkaitan dokumentari untuk pasaran tempatan dan antarabangsa.

Menteri Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim berkata kementerian berhasrat menonjolkan kemampuan filem dokumentari tempatan memandangkan filem-filem cereka tempatan belum mencapai tahap antarabangsa kerana keterbatasan atau halangan modal.

"Sejak tiga tahun yang lalu, memang telah dibincangkan isu-isu ini dan syukur di bawah pentabdiran SKMM telah diperuntukkan RM50 juta bagi tahun hadapan untuk menjalankan kegiatan mencipta kandungan tempatan.

"Di samping itu, animasi tempatan, dokumentari, drama tempatan termasuk cerita agihan plot termasuk filem di Sabah dan Sarawak akan kita perbanyakkan pada 2010," katanya di Dewan Rakyat hari ini.

Beliau berkata usahasama dengan beberapa syarikat penerbitan dokumentari seperti Discovery Channel dan National Geographic untuk menjalankan filem dokumentari berkaitan dengan Kota Kinabalu dan Gunung Kinabalu di Sabah, Gua Niah di Sarawak serta status Pulau Pinang dan Melaka yang diiktiraf oleh Unesco sebagai tapak warisan sejarah di Malaysia.

Rais berkata menerusi kerjasama antara SKMM, Perbadanan Kemajuan Filem Nasional Malaysia (Finas) dan Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), telah banyak melahirkan filem dokumentari yang kini sudah berjaya mendapat tempat di luar negara seperti di Festival Filem Cannes dan pasaran luar negara termasuk di Australia, Tokyo dan Hong Kong.

Antara filem-filem dokumentari yang berjaya dipasarkan, katanya, termasuk dokumentari berkaitan kedudukan Raja-raja Melayu di Malaysia terbitan Finas, dokumentari tentang terowong di Kuala Lumpur, Silat, "The Perak Man: Unbearing The Passed".

Rais berkata stesen televisyen milik kerajaan telah menyiarkan tayangan filem luar negara hanya selama 1,140 jam dalam setahun membabitkan tayangan program cereka atau filem cereka, drama dan suntingan material lain.

Beliau berkata bagi stesen swasta, semua pemegang lesen penyiaran di bawah Akta Komunikasi dan Multimedia mempunyai syarat-syarat khas yang memberikan keutamaan kepada penyiaran rancangan tempatan untuk mempromosikan budaya dan identiti Malaysia sama ada dalam bentuk filem, cereka, dokumentari mahupun drama dan rancangan hiburan.

Katanya syarat berkenaan menetapkan 60 peratus daripada kandungan yang disiarkan hendaklah dalam Bahasa Malaysia.

"Oleh yang demikian, sememangnya keutamaan diberikan kepada kandungan tempatan sekaligus mengehadkan kandungan asing," katanya. BERNAMA