Anak Wayang

THE END

2011-12-16T01:48:00.003+08:00

It was fun whilst it lasted. Writing has always been a passion. Something that makes me feel whole. If I write, I know I am alive...but only if what I write makes sense. Of recent, it hasn't. Not in its content, nor in spirit.
Maybe I need a break. Maybe I need to stop. Maybe I've lost it.
Whatever the reason is, anak wayang ends here.
In hindsight, I wished I had taken more time to post my thoughts.
I also wished I had the balls to also speak what was really on my mind. Even with muted words, I have irked a few. Well, I hope it's a few. If there were more, you have my apologies. So you can imagine what would have happened if I had disregarded decorum and just put some people in their rightful place.
Anyway, if there was anyone who thought that the reason for me starting this blog was to be well known, I have to say that they are way off base. Even when the anonymous comments, some of which I published and some of which I didn't, accused me of trying to hang on to my father's coattails, I really couldn't give these anonymous cowards a damn because those who know me, know that this is not nor have ever been the case.
I write because I love to write.
And I write what I see; I write what I know. Sometimes, it hurts others, but I cannot allow that to prevent me from doing what I have to do. Which was to set some things right, whenever or however I can albeit in measured terms.
I truly have to thank everyone who dropped by to read my blog and I do appreciate your kind words. Don't ever believe any writer who says that they are happy to write for an audience of one, and do not need compliments or in my case, criticism or condemnation.
As writers, we want to be read or heard. Our words mean nothing if it is never read. The world would not have changed if the words of Lao Tze, Socrates, Marx, Plato, Shakespeare, Gandhi and many others remained bound and hidden between covers, unread. This is of course not to say that my words are in the same league as these wise men, but if any of my writings and jottings did make my reader pause and think, and even elicit a small Ahaaa!! from them, I would be totally elated.
So, without much else, I bid all of you adieu, and selamat tinggal.
Goodbye.
Elvis may have left the building, but for Anak wayang, he fades to black.
The End.

A LITTLE SOMETHING ABOUT THE RECENT FFM

2011-12-10T13:19:00.004+08:00

I won't delve into the recent FFM fiasco lah. Eventhough many of my readers and fans want my take on it, I would not offer my in-depth analysis of something that creaks and rattles every year.

If I did I would be repeating myself. It's the same thing over and over again, and I have already said my peace on FB about the quality of the jurors. The results of the recent FFM reflect the quality of the said jurors.

What I would like to repeat is that I still despise the racial separation of films in the festival.

It is called Film Festival Malaysia not film festival berbahasa Melayu.

So, you really cannot fault any movies made in Malaysia, by Malaysians, for Malaysians, and then tell them their films cannot qualify for the main awards. WTF.

I mean lets be frank about Merong Mahawangsa, Having watched it, I am quite sure there was more English dialogue than BM dialogue. Heck, even the Chinese princess and her maid were speaking the Queen's English.

So how do you justify MM for winning so many awards including the biggie Best Film Award?

If Great Day or even Homecoming, both which had more Mandarin dialogue than BM, were in cinematic terms a better movie than MM, shouldn't they be declared Malaysia's best film?

Or does FINAS want the non-BM films to start their own festival and chuck out the Bahasa Malaysia movies?

And how would we feel if these non-BM films win big in overseas film festivals and yet the BM films like Majika or MM do not win at any prestigious film festival overseas?

Won't the foreign film press make fun of our cinema industry? And are we happy when they they accuse our film industry as racist? Do we need another black mark in the global arena?

Now, if it is at all possible, can the people who organise the festival tell me, if I decide to make a movie like The Artist (a Cannes award winning favourite and now an Academy Awards hotshot), what category would the film be categorised in?

For those in FINAS who don't know about The Artist, it is a movie shot without dialogue.

Now, if I were to make a movie like that - with no BM dialogue, there's no English dialogue, and there's no Chinese dialogue. A silent movie as such.

It is bona fide Malaysian movie. Let's make it more interesting. I fill the movie with a hundred percent non-Malay actors, funded by Chinese producer, with Chinese psyche and cultural references. Tell me oh organisers of FFM, where would this film stand in competition?

Confused? Scared? Create another category for silent film?

Rules of festivals can be changed lah. Mistakes can be made and always happen. Only the Quran cannot be changed.

So, come on folks, stay with the times. Cinema is moving fast and it is borderless. The only language that matters in making movies is the language of cinema. Full stop.

FOOTNOTE: Are FINAS and the persatuans doing anything about the influx of foreign workers in our cinema industry? These includes actors, stunt directors, producers and directors. Are their paperwork properly done and legal? Do they pay government taxes? Do they have active work permits? Do we still need them?

NERVOUS NUMBERS FOR LOCAL PRODUCERS AT THE BOX OFFICE

2011-12-02T13:43:00.003+08:00

Last month (November) after the mid year euphoria of local movies chalking up excellent coins - KL Gangsters pulling in RM11 million, Hantu Bonceng raking in RM8.5 milion and Bini-biniku Gangster tallying RM4.7 million), the box office report for October and November aren’t flattering.

The biggest earner is the horror-comedy Alamak Toyol! which to date has taken in RM3.5 million.

Sadly, scraping the bottom of the barrel were Abuya (RM210,000) and Apa Tengok Tengok (RM190,000).

The surprise B.O. showing of November would be newly crowned MFF Best Film Director Shamsul Yusof’s Aku Bukan Tomboy which is finding it hard to repeat the RM11 million taking of KL Gangster. The gender-bending rom-com took in only RM1.5 million though most pundits expect it to break RM 2 million. This box office taking will hardly cover its reported RM1.5 million production cost.

Only two other movies (apart from Tomboy and Toyol) recouped more than RM1 million at the box office. They are horror fare Al Hijab (RM2.3 million) and Klip 3GP (RM1.2 million).

Even the CGI fest Libas, produced and directed by Jurey Latif (who won Pengarah Harapan award at the recent MFF for this film) which bowed in on Sept 29th and entered the October screening window only managed to scrape in RM1 million at the box office.

The average total in box office takings for the 8 movies screening from October to November is just shy of RM9 million. This averages RM1.15 per title. Not a good average for the Malay film industry.

Producers and directors of Ombak Rindu (Osman Ali) and Misteri Jalan Lama (Afdlin Shauki) will be nervously checking the box office tally, as these two films bowed in at the end of November and their fate will only be known by year's end.

From what I heard, tearjerker Ombak Rindu is expected to do excellent business and may even break the RM5 million which is unusual for a drama-tearjerker. Misteri Jalan Lama is said to have been a casualty.

Next up would be Datin Ghairah, Songlap, Satu Malam Kubur Berasap and Papa I Love You, which would fill up the 2011 Malaysian movie slate.

Let’s see if the year ends with a bang or a whimper.

(All numbers are taken from Finas’s website at http://finas.gov.my/index.php?mod=industry&sub=cereka&p=Filem2011)

FOOTNOTE: You really can’t trust foreign newspapers these days or you wonder where they get their facts from. Read these headlines from theguardian UK – “Malaysia's first gay film is a controversial hit” and AFP –

“Malaysia's first gay film a box office hit”:

The following is an excerpt from the AFP report – “Malaysia's first gay-themed movie has been a hit at the box office but an official from the conservative Islamic party Thursday called for it to be banned despite its anti-homosexual ending.

"Dalam Botol" ("Inside a Bottle") raked in one million ringgit ($330,000) in the first five days, making it a local hit, the Star daily reported, despite Malaysia's conservative views on homosexuality.”

If this is true then Finas’s box office report must be false. Which is which? In the Finas website where I get all my box office information, Dalam Botol only took in a little over RM500,000.00. Not the million ringgit taken in five days as stated in the AFP report.

This does not make Dalam Botol a hit at all, even in local B.O terms.

If the foreign press are faking their reports, they then have another agenda which is to say that maybe gay themed movies are accepted by local film viewers. Hmmmm...if this is true than it is a sad state of affairs for professional journalism.

DIGITAL CINEMA - THE FUTURE NOW.

2011-10-29T13:18:00.002+08:00

The likelihood for Malaysian movie industry to go fully digital is real, and it may be sooner than you think.

Today, and without much fanfare, the cinema owners have actually been installing digital projectors. According to unofficial sources, there are 82 digital screens in Malaysia today. And by mid of 2012, there will be a total of 300 digital screens.

What this means is that local film producers, including indie filmmakers, now have a viable digital market place. They can begin their film projects digitally, finish it digitally and exhibit it digitally.

Not a single foot of celluloid throughout the whole process.

Currently about 70 percent of the local film industry is shooting digital but end up spending hundreds of thousands of Ringgit in kinetransferring the whole digital master into celluloid for screening at local cinemas.

If you are a producer with bottomless pockets, you can print 80 copies at RM5000 a pop. This means RM400,000.00 in production costs.

If you are a producer who just have enough, you only make 30 prints adding RM150,000.00 to your production cost.

Now with 300 digital cinema screens across the country by mid or end of next year, digital films can have as big a market as they want to without converting to celluloid for exhibition.

Some TV stations are already anticipating this cinematic paradigm shift. From what I heard, they are currently on the look out for producers who are willing to producers titles for a cost of RM500,000.00 (less than half the current production budgets of digital to film).

With these kind of budgets, young indie producers might consider taking the mainstream leap into movie making, whilst the old school filmmakers would now re-educate themselves into producing digital films. They must now understand what shooting in DSLR cameras mean, or what is the difference between the REDcam, the Cinealtas, the ArriDs and the P2s.

What I fear is that greedy producers would just slightly upgrade their RM70,000.00 made-for-TV telefilms pocket hundreds of thousands in production budget money, and pass it off as a digital movie for digital cinemas.

If digital cinemas screen these z-grade digital movies that didn't even spend a sen for quality color grading and tweaking, the public would be disappointed in both the technical and content quality and soon enough, give digital films the thumbs down.

For example, there is a production company that I heard is offering producers RM400,000.00 to produce digital movies in these digital cinemas. And their business model is that they don't really care about box office performance at all. What they want is to quickly screen the movies at these digital cinemas and then be allowed to screen their titles on Astro First within three weeks.

This is because Astro First seems to be working fairly well for local producers. Even weak titles give a hefty profit to the producers' bottomline.

Whatever the reason is, the future of digital filmmaking is already at our doorsteps. It is up to the filmmakers, the producers, the directors, the writers, the actors, the cinematographers, the distributors and the cineplexowners to make sure that digital filmmaking become an acceptable medium of cinema.

OH THE HORROR!! THE HORROR!!

2011-10-29T11:45:00.002+08:00

Lovers of good classic literature would know where the famous quote above was lifted from. The exact line is: “He cried in a whisper at some image, at some vision—he cried out twice, a cry that was no more than a breath—"The horror! The horror!".

It is from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness.

However, for cineastes (who may not have read Conrad), the line, for them, was a famous quote from the Francis Ford Coppola movie Apocalypse Now. In the movie, which was based on Conrad’s novel, Brando’s Kurtz lay dying and in his dying breathe, mouths the words “The horror! The horror!”

Today, the quotation is given a new meaning in Malaysia, when our former Prime Minister recently gave us his two cents worth about the state of Malaysian cinema – “Oh the Horror! The Horror!”

Whilst Kurtz was implying something else all together, Tun Mahathir was talking about the rather high number of horror movies being produced by our local film producers.

Obviously, the local media and blogs picked up on Tun M’s concerns. Him being our former national CEO and all, his words were like a clarion call for many authorities to act upon this so-called and perceived danger to local society.

In fact, Immediately after his statement, the Lembaga Penapisan Filem or the Censorship Board, invited industry players for a special round table discussion about the issue. I attended the discussion.

They even invited a representative from JAKIM to present its position on and its perspective about prescribed and allowable content for Malaysian films.

Since it was basically a closed door meeting I won’t divulge what was spoken or discussed, but, for now, the industry censorship has decided that the approach remains at status quo, due to the reason that LPF has a very liberal and understandable DG who wants to see the local industry flourish, albeit with some self restraint.

It is due to the LPF’s supportive approach to the local industry that we get to see movies like Gangster, Dalam Botol and Nasi Lemak 2.0, and of course the ‘thousands’ of horror titles that are produced.

However, LPF is not the only body that has a say in what you get to see on TV and cinemas. There are other parties, and individuals who take it upon themselves to be reactive to things they hear, and when Tun M says something, they listen.

Which is why, our local free to air TV stations will jump and cut down on the commissioning of horror titles (tv series). The lallang-mentality of local media who cover the local film industry will however throw some gasoline into the fire and suddenly flay the local film industry for making horror movies and nothing else. Only suddenly they noticed lah.

The horror genre has always been an easy scapegoat for society’s ills. Horror films it seems will “menggugat keimanan orang-orang Islam hingga percaya kepada tahyul”. Surprisingly, only locally produced horror films can do that. The zombie-fest and vampire strewn movies from Hollywood, Korea, Indonesia and Thailand, doesn’t seem to have an effect on locals - Muslims and non-Muslims alike.

I have always maintained that horror films are mere popcorn entertainment for the masses. If horror movies are so effective, turning all its viewers, or even the majority of its viewers, into a blithering mass of scaredy cat Malaysians, we should have been a failed nation ever since Cathay Keris began producing the pontianak movies more than fifty years ago.

However, somehow, much to the amazement of learned scholars who advised the government over the years, we have survived the pontianaks, the orang minyaks, the hantu pocongs, the bomohs and the pawangs and the dukuns, and have gone on to participate in the growth of a strong and wonderful democratic nation that we call Malaysia.

My problem with Tun M’s statement is Why? Why does he want to even comment on the current state of Malaysian cinema? Is it wrong that local film producers produce mostly horror movies? Is it wrong for movie patrons to spend their hard earned money to go get spooked in out cineplexes?

Why when he was PM, didn't he support the growth of quality Malaysian movies? Give grants to make the Malaysian film industry better than its neighbours? Identify filmmakers to create quality content and internationally acclaimed movies? Increase the price of commissioned television programmes by RTM, so that producers don't have to depend on producing cheap horror movies to make ends meet?

You see, the film industry, like most other industries, is business first, art second. Good or bad, this is unfortunately the case in a free competitive industry .

I am personally an avid horror film fan, but that's not to say I don't appreciate quality dramatic movies. Nevertheless, I would defend any producer's right produce horror movies - no matter how bad they are. In time, the viewers will become jaded when the quality of local horror movies go South. Film fans are a notoriously fickle crowd. Today they like horror movies, tomorrow comedies, and the day after gangster movies. So why make a big fuss?

To Tun M, whom I respect as a statesman, stick to the more important issues of nation building and acting as the voice of reason in the season of madness in local and international politics and economics.

The proliferation of local horror movies, truth be told, doesn’t affect local mentality nor psyche. Even if it does, it is really no big deal.

The phenomenon is nothing compared to the explosion of kopitiams and kedai mamaks in the country that charge obscene prices for Kopi O, Nescafe Ais, roti canai, roti bakar and nasi kandar. These establishments swipe hundreds of Ringgits per person per month out of their salaries. It is also nothing compared to the inexplicable growth of tomyam warungs all over the country as if it is now the national dish.

So Tun, trust me, horror movies do not corrupt nor pervert the minds of the Malays and other Malaysians. You know what does.

24th Malaysian Film Festival November 2011 - A Preview

2011-10-07T02:37:00.003+08:00

The coming Festival Filem Malaysia 24 in mid November has attracted 41 entries which is according to Finas a record of sorts. It is the highest number of movies competing in the history of the festival.

However, the big hike in entries doesn’t mean an increase of good quality movies.

The list of movies entering for the BM section are:

1. Mantra

2. Senario asam garam

3. 4 Madu

4. Cuti Cuti Cinta

5. Ngangkung

6. Aku Tak Bodoh

7. Hantu Kak Limah Balik Ke Rumah

8. Aku Masih Dara

9. Janin

10. Khurafat

11. Damping Malam

12. Sini Ada Hantu

13. Kembar Siang

14. Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa

15. Ratu the Movie

16. ...dalam botol

17. Cun!

18. Di Larang Masuk

19. Senjakala

20. Pemburu Istana

21. Seru

22. Momok Jangan Panggil Aku

23. Kongsi

24. Nur Kasih The Movie

25. Karak

26. KL Gangster

27. 3 2 1 Cinta

28. Rasuk

29. Sekali Lagi

30. Tolong Awekku Pontianak

31. Flat 3a

32. Senario Ops Opocot

33. Karipap karipap Cinta

34. Hantu Bonceng

35. Bini Bini Ku Gangster

36. Libas

37. Al Hijab

38. Sumpahan Puaka

39. Raya Tak Jadi

40. Jangan Pandang Congkak 2

41. Klip 3GP

The list of non-BM language films are:

· Lolio Popo

· Great Day

· Nasi Lemak 2.0

· Garuda

· Appalam

· Homecoming

The breakdown of genres are as follows :

·PURE HORROR - 15 TITLES
· COMEDY/HORROR – 6 TITLES
· DRAMA – 5 TITLES
· COMEDY - 13 TITLES
· ACTION/ADVENTURE – 2 TITLES

The most prolific director is of course non other than Ahmad Idham who has 6 titles in the running. He is followed by three other directors who have three movies each in the competition. They are Razak Maidin, Azhari Zain and Bob Hashim. Three other directors come next with two titles each – Syamsul Yusof, Yusry KRU and Pierre Andre.

As for producers, it is obvious that Metrowealth has the most entries.

The surprising entry in the BM language section is Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa. Most would agree that the BM usage in this movie does not allow this movie in this section.

A surprise omission from the competition is Dain Said’s Bunohan, a movie that has received good reviews in various international film festivals. Another movie not in the list is the much hyped Dua Alam.

From observing industry and local media talk, the front runners are Merong Mahawangsa, KL Gangster, Nur Kasih, ...dalam botol, Khurafat and Hantu Kak Limah Balik Ke Rumah.

Rank outsiders would be Ngangkung, Karak, Cun! and Mantra.

If language is not a consideration, Homecoming and Great Day should be in the forefront. Appalam which is a remake of Afdlin’s Pappadom, could be in the running too if well done.

HELLO NAGUIB RAZAK

2011-09-02T12:37:00.005+08:00

Naguib Razak is the new Director-General Finas. When I called him a week back he confirmed the rumors. He started work yesterday (1st September 2011). Congratulations Naguib. You got your work cut out for you.

The New DG Naguib Razak (left) with former FINAS DG Dato' Mayhiddin Mustakim.

A documentary filmmaker (with awards to boot), Naguib is nevertheless a surprise choice to head the local film development authority. He takes over from Dato Mahyiddin Mustakim who left Finas in June after nearly four years at the helm.

Naguib is an unknown quantity as an administrator and as manager, though most of his documentaries are of international standard. Running a small documentary project is totally different from running firstly the 'political' government agency called FINAS, and secondly taking care of myriad problems, requests and needs of the local film industry.

I see Naguib as someone in the mold of the first Director-General of FINAS, the late Ismail Zain (picture below), an artist turned DG.

Why? Naguib's appointment might be a return to the core of FINAS's function which is to develop quality Malaysian cinema - not to fund it or support it. The development of Malaysian cinema (this includes both Malay movies and Chinese-language Malaysian movies plus local Tamil-language movies) has been fairly ignored. Development is not infrastructure. Building multi-million ringgit buildings that hardly anyone uses is not the key to creating quality cinema. It is building a new generation or even rejuvenate current generation of filmmakers into inspired auteurs. I believe Naguib will listen to those who want to offer something different to the screens - more creative, more cutting edge and hopefully more thought-provoking stuff without losing sight of its Malaysian origins - culturally, socially and psychologically.

I believe, because of Naguib's background, the documentary filmmaking industry in Malaysia is in good hands. However, the feature filmmaking industry which is basically made up of three segments - the commercial filmmakers (i.e. MIG, Grand Brilliance, Tayangan Unggul), the indie filmmakers (Ho Yuhang Woo Ming Jin Amir Muhammd et al) and the serious filmmakers ( Uwei and Dain Said etc) are a different kettle of fish altogether. And it may take awhile for Naguib to figure out how to approach, tackle and lead this segment of the industry.

Whilst the commercial filmmakers are doing reasonably well, what with their movies making RM9million at the box office per pop, FINAS should not let them dictate the future of Malaysian cinema. The world is really waiting for quality Malaysian cinema which to date has actually been shouldered by the indie filmmakers with their no-budget digital movies.

FINAS should really look into giving grants or funding quality cinema. If a mat rempit or Malay gangster script lands on their lap asking for loan, think twice about funding it and look instead at the other script which wants to give insight to the local Malay woman's psyche or something like that. However, if the horror movie script and mat rempit script is truly interesting and original sure why not, but as a body that sets the strategy to improve Malaysian cinema and get it noticed internationally, FINAS needs to get its act together soonest possible.

Whatever it is, I hope Naguib asserts himself in FINAS and in the industry soonest possible. We need to know his direction and his strategies soonest possible. We need to know if he is a no-nonsense man or someone who sways like a lallang. We really need to know if he can stamp his mark as someone who is really serious in supporting and developing the local film industry.

I wish Naguib the best of luck. He is young and energetic and I truly hope to see him push the boundaries of being a FINAS DG. It is a hot seat, but in life a hot seat is better than a cold one. The industry and its citizens will support him in his role as the DG, but if they see the DG as someone who is not going to bring changes but instead support the status quo, the support will wane.

Oh yes, one request Naguib, can you please investigate all the persatuans in the industry? Check if they have their books in order, if they carry out the duties responsibly and if they are actually representing the workers in the industry. It would be great if you did and then get ROS to come in and clean up these persatuans once and for all.

NETWORKING WITH MALAYSIANS WHO HAVE MADE IT INTERNATIONALLY

2011-09-01T18:34:00.005+08:00

There is a saying in Malay that translated into English sounds like this: a frog under a coconut shell. (Katak bawah tempurung). It sorts of sums up the mentality of our film industry or for those who wants to be picky and doesn't like me generalising stuff – sums up the majority of our film industry.

We seem to be satisfied with what we have and praise ourselves, pat ourselves on the back and compare each others' work and am totally satisfied with it. Some of the filmmakers I know just want to make movies for the following reasons – cari makan, maybe win some popularity award locally and to be part of a glamor industry.

Very rarely do you hear that they are in it to hone their craft as filmmakers, that they were inspired by movies by Bergman, Satyajit Ray, King Hu, Scorsese, Teguh Karya, John Ford or Kurosawa (for my generation) or by Spielberg, Lucas, Luc Besson, Beat Takeshi, Guy Van Sant or Guy Ritchie (for the younger generation). Or that they are in it to be able to screen their works at Sundance, Venice, Cannes, Berlin or Torino. They are happy to get screened in Rotterdam or Jeju or some small unheard of festivals around the region.

Making it in the film world sometimes isn’t by choice but sometimes by chance. For some, the need to make quality movies seen by a world audience made them leave our shores as they cannot find investors and funders who share their vision of creating a better Malaysian cinema. Of course, the stifling censorship rules here is not something world-class filmmakers can work with too.

Investors are aplenty if you bring scripts that pander to the basest common denominator of our local film going culture – horror and comedy. Drama? Tough. Epics? Expensive and doesn’t draw crowds. Action? Well, this should be the latest trend after the blockbuster performance of KL Gangster – really. Just check out the movie coming soon entitled Bini Bini ku Gangster.

I do not want to knock these genres because great movies do exist in these genres – Exorcist (US), Halloween (US original), The Exile (Hongkong), The Election (Hongkong), Hangover (USA), Godfather (USA), My Wife’s A Gangster (Korea), Shaolin Soccer (Hongkong), 4bia (Thailand) and Ring (Japan) many others.

But somehow, there is a lack of movies that could travel overseas, get quality distribution and also winning important awards at known festivals. Would the world market want to see Merong Mahawangsa when they have Bangrajan and Langsuka? Would they want to screen KL Gangster when they have Merantau, Ong Bak and Beat Takeshi movies?

What do we need to break this barrier? I believe to start off, we need to meet with Malaysians who have made it overseas. Either with those who made movies that make money or won awards. And there are a few.

At the top of the list would be Michelle Yeoh.

A Hollywood and Hongkong film action icon, Datuk Michelle Yeoh is one person who could single-handedly help give Malaysian filmmakers exposure to the world.

Datuk Michelle Yeoh, former Bond girl and cast as Suu Kyi in her latest movie

She knows people, she knows how the business works internationally and she is talented. Her latest movie about Myanmar heroine Suu Kyi may actually garner her an Academy award nomination.

Second on the list is James Wan, a Kuching-born Australian filmmaker whose claim to fame is creating and directing the first Saw movie. He also supervises the Saw franchise which is in its seventh outing (Saw 3D). His latest directorial effort is Insidious.

Saw franchise creator and director is from Kuching

He is the only Malaysian-born filmmaker to have produced 8 Hollywood feature length movies to date of which he directed five. He is what Hollywood refer to as flavor of the month filmmaker due to the overwhelming success of his Saw franchise.

Third in line would be critically acclaimed Tsai Ming Liang who is now Taiwan’s top filmmaker. Like Wan, Tsai was born in Kuching but instead of US-bound, he went to Taiwan to make movies.

Tsai Ming Liang is one of the most original directors of his era

As a Malaysian-born filmmaker, he has most impressive awards list having won at the prestigious Venice (Vive L’amore), Berlin (The River) and Cannes (The Hole). No other Malaysian or Malaysian-born filmmaker can boast such an impressive CV.
Fourth in the list is a relative unknown but a powerful socialite in the US. She is Florence Low Sloan, who has just produced her critically acclaimed movie Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, directed by Wayne Wang.

Florence Low-Sloan with hubby and Meryl Streep

Malaysian-born Florence is married to the former CEO of MGM, Harry Sloan. The daughter of local developer magnate Tan Sri Low Keng Huat, Florence formed a company called Big Feet Productions which produced Snow Flower and the Secret Fan. Considered as one of the most powerful Asian ladies in the US, her partner in the movie company is another powerful Asian woman, Wendy Deng Murdoch, the third and current wife of media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Fifth would be Encik Shahril Ibrahim, a friend of mine who left for the US and stayed on to become one of the top CGI software engineers in the American film industry.

Shahril (Right) chilling out with friends back home in KL.

He began his film career as the software development head in Bossfilms supervising CGI work on Species, Multiplicity, Outbreak, Turbulence and Desperate Measures. He is now attached to Californian award winning effects house Ryhtm & Hues as Senior Advisor.

These are amongst the few Malaysians who have the pulse of the international film industry in their hands. These are the people that the Malaysian film industry should know and meet up and network with. These are the people that FINAS or the Malaysian government should woo to set up companies and exploit their experience overseas as filmmakers.

Forget about baby-gloving Shahrukh Khan with titles and location sponsorships. Get these people who are Malaysian-born and get them to introduce filmmakers, young and old (me, me and me), to producers, investors and distributors who would be able to identify talent and nurture them and open doors of opportunities in the international filmmaking scene.

BEST MOVIES I'VE WATCHED THIS YEAR

2011-08-01T13:15:00.002+08:00

Below are a short list of movie's that I've watched and enjoy - either as popcorn kinda entertainment or for its aesthetics.

US of A
Tough year...haven't seen anything I really liked. However, be it known that I have not seen the final Harry Potter movie or Captain America. Not that I think these two would change my mind that nothing interesting have come out of Hollywood this year. Am waiting to get my hands on Woody Allen's latest movie Midnight in Paris. However, I did enjoy watching I am Number Four, Fast Five, Hanna and Source Code. Big disappoints? Green Hornet, Pirates of the Caribbean, Transformers.

ENGLAND
Loved Attack The Block. Unpretentious fun. Ten times better than Hollywood's Super 8. The King's Speech is another must see. Can't wait for the second edition of Sherlock Holmes later this year.

CHINA
Wayne Wang's Snow Flower and The Secret Fan was mesmerising. Though the story was a little convoluted, I just allowed myself to be taken by the flawless cinematography which was like watching the famous Chinese painter Chan Yifei's works come to vivid life.

KOREA
Nowhere Man and I Saw The Devil stands out from the rest.

JAPAN
I enjoyed a Takashi Miike's 13 Assassin - a remake of the famous 13 Ronin samurai movie.

INDIA
I loved Peepli Live. Though its a 2010 movie, I only got to watch it this year.

MALAYSIA
I only enjoyed a couple of movies that were produced locally. However I can only say that I truly enjoyed only one movie Homecoming. Eventhough its a co-pro between Malaysians and Singaporeans, I have to say that it was an excellent movie to watch. No Bahasa Malaysia-language Malaysian movies made my list.

INDONESIA
Sang Pencerah, Bebek Belur, 3 Hati and A Mirror Never Lies. Excellent cinema. Good movies.

THAILAND
I loved Hello Stranger! and Suck Seed.

DREAMS DASHED, WONDERING WHAT'S NEXT

2011-08-01T12:52:00.002+08:00

Being a filmmaker isn't much fun. Especially when it's so difficult to get your ideas, your thoughts, your dreams onto the screen.
Malaysian movies (not cinema) are going great guns. Formulaic, noisy, brash movies are minting loads of money, making the new generation of filmmakers smile proud and their producers swooning in amazement.
With KL Gangster breaking all box office records for a Malay movie, producers today would not be happy if their movies now break the RM6 million mark. If KL Gangster can recoup more than RM12 million at the box office, why can't other filmmakers do the same.
So expect a slow of slick action movies ala KL Gangster to hit the screens forthwith. No story, no character development, just fast paced mindless action.
At least, this genre is a welcomed break from the numbing horror movies that filled the local cinema slate last year. Of course, we have that crappy epic called Merong Mahawangsa which will most probably sweep most of the awards at the coming Malaysian Film Festival.
That would be a travesty as the movie could not even meet the festival's language ruling.
Meanwhile, we await the latest offerings from Adflin Shauki who has just completed his Papadom 2 and Mamat Khalid who surprisingly is doing a sequel to his unappreciated Rock. The sequel which recently wrapped principal shooting in Taiping and Ipoh is simply called Rock 2. Having made one of the biggest box office hits of his career last year with his Hantu Mak Limah Pulang Ke Rumah, I guess he is entitled to chase his dreams.
Other filmmakers like the prolific Ahmad Idham and Prof Madya Razak Maidin seemed to have reached their plateaus. Most of Ahmad Idham's movies are forgettable mush whilst Razak who has now taken over UITM's Faculty of Arts and Creative Technology (FACT) as its Dean, will be taking a sabbatical from filmmaking whilst creating little Razak-clones for the Malaysian film industry.
Whilst all these are happening, nothing much is happening in FINAS as the industry is kept wondering who would fill the vacant post of Director-General. The former DG, the now Dato' Mahyuddin Mustakim, left at the end of June. Since then the two Deputy KPs have been holding fort for FINAS. Previously, there was so much hype about who is going to replace Mahyuddin but surprisingly this time round, the Malay press have been keeping mum about the choices available for the hot seat.
Personally, I hope the government would choose internally. I believe having a professional administrator is much better having someone with experience or connections to the film industry (for the time being). FINAS needs to be stabilised after Mahyuddin's stint, not that he left FINAS in a mess, but it really needs someone who will not be conflicted and distracted by stuff that is not beneficial to FINAs and the film industry itself.
Having a civil servant, who is efficient and who is supported by a punch of Director (Pengarahs) who are already in the groove, would be ideal. FINAS then could look into the possibility of actually reshuffling their Board, again dropping all those with connections to the local film industry (to avoid claims of conflicts of interest) and appoint professionals from NGOs, banks, staturoy bodies and other agencies including academicians.
Meanwhile, if FINAS still needs the advice and intelligent musings of practitioners like Mustafa Maarof and David Teoh, they can always create a Film Industry Advisory Panel.
I doubt all this will happen, but one can always hope.

Thai Epics - We Can Only Dream To Match Them.

2011-06-28T01:06:00.003+08:00

Thai filmmakers are getting more and more ambitious with their movies. Ever since Tanit Jitnukul's massive hit Bang Rajan was released in 2000, Thai filmmakers, who can pool millions of dollars for their quest of producing epic movies, have tried to better it.

One such filmmaker is Prince Chatrichalerm Yukol whose Suryothai in 2001 sort of set new standards for the Kingdom's epic movies.

Such was Suryothai's impact in global cinema, that Francis Ford Coppola agreed to lend his name as Executive Producer in the re-cut international release.
Award winning filmmaker, Nonzee Nimbutr, whose horror flick Nang Nak, became a massive hit domestically and internationally, also tried his hand at directing an epic - the 2008 movie Queens of Langkasuka. Nonzee's movie, even with its faults, to me was the best Malay epic ever produced in Thai language. Those who watched it know what I mean.

However, it is Prince Yukol that sealed his status as the Kingdom's best epic filmmaker. He stamped his class with his Naresuan Trilogy.

The first part was released in 2007. Part two, released as Kingdom of War overseas was released a year later. However, the final part (Naresuan 3) was only released earlier this year.
Budget-wise, the trilogy is the most expensive produced films in Thailand's history.
And if you had seen any of the three, you can see why.
I haven't seen Part 3 yet, but Part 2 was a truly amazing epic.
Eventhough the story is a little convoluted due to the many palace intrigues and the politics of ancient Siam, the pay off at the end is worth the wait.
The final battle scenes which lasted easily an hour in duration is also breathtaking.
Watching Naresuan makes me believe that unless we really have similar kind of funds, we shouldn't even try to make epics.
Naresuan makes both Puteri Gunung Ledang and Merong Mahawangsa look so pitiful. Not only in technical terms, but also in the storytelling department.
Just look at the trailer of Naresuan 2 and you'll know what I mean.

Catch the movie, be patient in trying to remember the names of the princes and lords, the numerous kingdoms at war, the beautiful heroines and the numerous colorful tribes involved in this bit of Ayuthiya history, and enjoy the movie as it sends you on a rollercoaster ride in the last act.

Do Malays really care about their heritage and past?

2011-06-02T18:37:00.007+08:00

This post is not about movies. Like I said, sometime I would write about something else that I think is important to me, and hopefully important to others too.

The title of this post as one can read is "Do Malays really care about their heritage and their past?"

Why of a sudden?

Well, I believe not many knew of plans for a Museum of Malay Civilisation. It was to trace the origins, traditions, beliefs, history and diaspora of the Malays and was to be located in Putrajaya.

I thought that this museum should have been constructed and set up a long time ago because I believe not many Malays actually understand their heritage and better still not many non-Malays appreciate the Malay race - its history, its culture and traditions and its origins.

Unfortunately, this project and proposal didn't see the light of day.

If I am not mistaken, the museum that was supposed to house the Malay civilisation permanent exhibit has now become the Museum of Natural History in Putrajaya.

I am not sure why the museum was scrapped. Maybe someone in the government believes that such a museum is not politically correct. If this is so, it is sad.

This talk for the above museum was maybe five-six years ago. Now it is a forgotten chapter in our history. Not even a chapter, hardly a footnote even.

Then sometime back, about two years ago, there was talk of turning the old Istana Negara into a Museum Di Raja Malaysia. This historic building, previously owned by a famous Chinese millionaire Chan Wing.

Wikipedia states:

The palace was originally a double-storey mansion built in 1928 by a l

ocal Chinese millionaire,Chan Wing. During the Japanese occupation from 1942–1945, it was used as the Japanese officers’ mess. After the surrender of the Japanese, the building was bought by the Selangor State Government. It was then renovated to become the palace of His Majesty the Sultan of Selangor until 1957.

The Federal Government then bought the palace in 1957, to be converted into the Istana Negara for the newly created sovereign post

of Yang di-Pertuan Agong of Malaya which was about to achieve independence that August as scheduled. Since then it has undergone several renovations and extensions. But the most extensive upgrading was carried out in 1980, as it was the first time that the Installation Ceremony of His Majesty DYMM Seri Paduka Baginda Yang di-Pertuan Agong was held at the Istana Negara. Prior to this the Installation Ceremonies were held at the Tunku Abdul Rahman Hall in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur with the first one held in 1957.

In about a year's time, the new billion over-Ringgit National Palace will be completed and it will be the new official residence of our Yang Di Pertuan Agong.

So the old Istana Negara will be vacant.

I thought then the idea to turn the old Istana Negara into a Royal Museum was long overdue.

Malaysia's constitutional monarchy is unique if not the only one of its kind in the world. The Malaysian Agong-ship is as old as the nation, created in 1957 when the country achieved its Independence.

But whilst the Agong's position is only 54 years old, the Malay Sultanate is much older. Quite old, in fact, and its history should not only be recorded, but should be exhibited and made known to all Malaysians and other interested parties in a single museum.

The content in such a Royal museum would be educational, interesting and entertaining.

Simple facts like the Melaka Sultanate is not the first nor the old

est Malay sultanate in the Malay Peninsula should be made available to the public, at least to correct misconceptions.

Little forgotten facts like the late Sultan Abdullah of Perak, who was exiled to Seychelles when wrongly found guilty by a kangaroo court of being involved in the assassination of Perak Resident J.W.W. Birch.

The British exonerated the Sultan and allowed him to return to Malaya albeit without allowing him to claim to his rightful throne. However he managed to retain the title of ex-Sultan of Perak upon his return to his homeland.

Whatever it is, the Malays hold the Malay Sultans or Rajahs in high esteem. They have daulat. The Malays lay all their hopes in terms of upholding religion (Islam), budaya (culture) and ras (race) on this system of monarchy.

It would not be far fetched to say that without the Malay monarchy or the Malay Sultans, the Malay race would be nothing.

So, archiving everything about the history of the Malay monarchy is akin to archiving the history of the Malays.

And since the museum of Malay civilisation was stillborn, I was really hoping that the plans to turn the Istana Negara into the National Royal Museum would materialise.

Unfortunately, my hopes were dashed.

I hear commercialisation again wins the day.

Reliable sources recently said that the proposal to turn the old Istana Negara into the Royal Museum has been officially scrapped and now, it seems, someone has won a negotiated bid to turn the 83-year old property into a 6-star luxury hotel.

Another one bites the dust.

What is again frustrating is that if my sources can be relied on, the proposal for the Royal Museum has been approved by various levels of government including the Economic Planning Unit. Yet, it was rejected without rhyme nor reason.

A building listed under the National Heritage list somehow manages to slip through leaks and into the hands of hoteliers who want to commercialise the area into something I believe will not be appreciated by most Malaysians.

Remember the old Majestic Hotel? Destroyed. Remember Bukit Bintang Girl School? It's now the Pavilion.Remember St Mary's Girl School? Flattened. Remember Pavilion Cinema? A carpark. Remember the old Museum of Kuala Lumpur in Dataran Merdeka? Now it's a restaurant.

What next? The Parliament building? The St John's Institution? Victoria Institution?

That's just in Kuala Lumpur. What about the hundreds of other historical buildings in danger of being torn down to make way for modern buildings.

If Istana Negara can be turned into a 6-star hotel, what can we say about other buildings with lesser historical impact?

I think the powers that be should really take pause, and realise that sometimes, the conservation of heritage is more important than dollars and cents. Their decisions can embarrass and even insult the people they promised to serve.

Malay movies raking money! Or is it?

2011-05-21T18:15:00.003+08:00

If we were to take the Finas box office charts as official, then the last quarter of 2010 seems to be the beginning of a new era of Malaysian or Malay movies. The numbers that were being coined are above anyone’s wildest imagination and expectation.
The top five movies of 2010 and including the first six months of 2011, all broke the six million ringgit mark.
Whilst most people thought Mamat Khalid’s Hantu Kak Limah Balik Rumah was the box office king, according to Finas’s list, which according to its site is accurate as of April 2011, the horror comedy Ngangkung, produced by MIG, is the current box office king with RM8.18 million in ticket sales.
Khurafat, directed by last year’s best director winner, Shamsul Yusof, took in RM8.08 million which pushes Mamat's Kak Limah into third place with RM7.90 million.
Another MIG production, Adnan Sempit made the top five list with RM7.66 million.

Many thought Adnan Sempit’s box office take was a fluke for Malay movies, having been the first local production to amass takings that exceeded the previously untouchable RM7 million mark. But now, four movies have since passed that mark within 12 months.
KRU’s convoluted and confusing and hardly ‘Malay’ movie Merong Mahawangsa: The Malay Chronicles, took in RM6.5million to date and just made it to the Top 5 list. However, as most industry people already know, MIG’s Kongsi directed by actor-director Farid Kamil, has already bypassed Merong’s take within a week of its release.
In fact, David Teoh of MIG is confident Kongsi will be the first local movie to break the RM10million barrier.
Whilst some are calling the last 12 months an exciting period for Malay movies, with 5 movies taking in a total of nearly RM50 million, what they fail to notice the other titles that fell on the wayside. Amongst these include Associate Professor’s Razak Mahyidin’s horror flick Ratu and M. Jamil’s miserable Momok 2.
Others that didn’t even show on the radar include Senjakala, Seru, Haq, Dalam Botol, Di Sini Ada Hantu, Cun!, Di Larang Masuk, Penunggu Istana and Kembar Siang.
Ratu was the worse performing movie having only taken RM200,000 at the box office. James Lee’s Di Sini Ada Hantu did better by getting RM1.2 million. Momok 2: Jangan Panggil Aku took in less than half a million. However, I cannot seem to get an official box office report for Antara Dua Alam.
These are all rought estimates as listed on FINAS’s website and as most people in the industry knows, 50 percent of the take goes to the cinemas and distributors. Therefore the producers only take half of the box office takings.
These means, Ratu’s take for the producer is about RM100,000 whilst Di Sini Ada Hantu’s producers Double Vision and Tayang Unggul take in less that RM600,000.
If the average cost of producing a local movie is in the region of RM1.5 million, then in actual fact, not many producers are actually making a profit from their movies this last 12 months.
Merong Mahawangsa, reputedly made from grants totalling in access of RM10 million, had a box office take of over RM6 million but take away the cinema’s owners take of RM3million, their net take was only RM3 million plus. Therefore, they are still RM7 million in the red. Their only saving grace for KRU is that the grants given to them for the movie are ‘grants’ and not loans.
These figures are also only revenue earned in Malaysia. Therefore news of sales of Merong Mahawangsa made by its producers that the movie has been sold to overseas markets for more than RM20 million ringgit is be good news to everyone on board KRU and the institutions that gave them the grants. The movie, if the sales figures announced are true, is therefore a financial success.
Other producers. Are now sweating cold beads waiting for the release of their films. Grand Brilliance's Nur Kasih went head to head with the latest installment of Pirates of The Carribean. Movies with clout like Thor and Fast And Furious are still pulling in the crowds taking away possible revenue from local filmmakers.
However, Nur Kasih is not really being affected by the foreign movies but rather of Kongsi’s phenomenal showing in the same week. The coming week’s school holidays will be crucial to Nur Kasih’s success. More so since the reportedly production cost for this movie based on TV3’s successful series cost RM2.8 million to produce.
On the other hand, Datuk Yusof Haslam would be relieved to see Kongsi’s screen success as his latest movie, directed by Shamsul, is also of the same genre entitled KL Gangster, and he would be happy if it could match Kongsi’s take.
Other movies waiting on the sideline nervously include 321 Cinta, Rasuk, Sekali Lagi, Tolong Awek Aku Pontianak, Karipap Karipap Cinta, Libas, Flat 3A, Hantu Bonceng and Raya Tak Jadi.
All except Libas, are either comedy or horror. Libas, is a comedy-sports-action movie in the vein of Stephen Chow’s Shaolin Soccer.

VIEW FROM THE OSCARS 2011

2011-02-28T19:43:00.004+08:00

So The King’s Speech took home the grand prize at this year’s Oscars. What is it about? About a King’s struggle to give a speech free from his stuttering problem. Of course, the story is not that straight forward but from a small royal affliction, Tom Hooper, created a beautiful tapestry of characters, conflicts and human resolve.

Of all the films that were nominated (ten of them), I personally thought that 127 hours was its main competition. The Danny Boyle movie, based on a true story, struck a chord with me about a man facing great odds who sacrificed his hand to gain freedom and reclaim his life.

I wasn’t much of a fan of Nolan's Inception nor Finch's The Social Network.

Let’s compare to what we have been throwing accolades to last year. Best movie? Magika? Best director? Shamsul Khalid for KL Drift 2?

Is Magika something that we would be proud of in world cinema where critics prefer movies like Sin Nombre from Mexico, Departures from Japan, Ajami the jont venture pic from Israel and Palestine, Old Boy from Korea, Uncle Boonmee from Thailand and Laskar Pelangi from Indonesia.

Don’t we have good stories to tell the world?

Sure, FINAS is helping us tell something to the world through their international documentary funding projects but what about world cinema? What do we have?

Nothing much actually.

How about the people from the indie scene? Well, maybe we could consider former indie turned main stream filmmaker James Lee’s Sini Ada Hantu? A horror comedy for world cinema? Why not also throw in Nangkung and Mak Limah Balik Ke Rumah too?

Maybe in the near future, the foreseeable future we could show or be proud of Uwei’s latest opus Hanyut or Yusri’s epic Merong Mahawangsa. But on the other hand, we are just guessing since the two movies have not seen the light of day yet.

Would Yusry’s epic be as grand and as cinematic as Thailand’s Suryothai which even cuaght the eye of Francis Ford Coppola, or is it going to disappear from the global cinema radar like Indonesia’s Fatahillah?

Uwei’s Hanyut, inspired by Joseph Conrad’s novella, is also something that we look forward to especially when he has not directed anything of note for the past ten years.

Meanwhile, the indie movement led by auteurs like Ho YuHang, are making their own mark worldwide with their Chinese-Malaysian movies. Recent interesting movies include Chiu Keng Guan’s Great Day or Ahnui’s Ice Kacang Puppy Love.

Without sounding like a bigot, these Malaysian pieces of cinema does not actually show Malaysia but are quite Chinese in spirit and landscape. Nevertheless, I don’t mind because good cinema is cinema, and good cinema is not race-based. If a Tamil language Malaysian movie wins an Oscar for Best Foreign Language movie so be it.

Furthermore, the Malaysian Malay-language cinema will not be jolted from their state of narcolepsy. They are comfortable with their mind-numbing comedies, mat rempit movies and horror shlock. It mints money, so what do they care.

It really doesn’t matter that the movies they make doesn’t promote positive Malay values or culture. Nor does it matter to them if the movie does not tweak even a 14 year old's intellect. It makes money. That’s the yardstick for success and good movie making in Malaysia. Makes money - mut be good. Didn't make money - it has to be crap.

No matter how good your movie is, even if it wins awards at world cinema festivals, when it doesn’t make a dent at the local box office, you are deemed a failure. Simple as that.

So if you wanna wait and hope that local filmmakers can come out with movies like Sin Nombre or 127 hours or Black Swan or Biutiful or Departures, don’t hold your breathe.

HANTU POKOK PISANG COMES ON SCREEN AGAIN

2011-02-08T14:06:00.003+08:00

Some years back (2003) I did a direct-to-video production entitled Histeria (not to be confused with the 2008 James Lee movie of the same name). It starred the late Hani Mohsin. The movie was based on a few local and urban legends. It was also remade as a stage presentation called Hantu Hantu Yang Saya Kenali. It was remade (with permission) into a VCD production again entitled Momok by M. Jamil and then the format is repeated (without permission) in his movie Momok.
James Lee's latest movie Sini Ada Hantu produced by Double Vision and Tayangan Unggul also rehashed two of my old stories - Hantu Pokok Pisang and Kereta Mayat (which was a short story in one of my earliest horror anthologies called Teater Seram). I reworked Hantu Pokok Pisang again into one of my episodes in Bilik No. 13.
It's always nice to see how others do it.

MFP'S RAJA BERSIONG (1967) DIRECTED BY DATUK JAMIL SULONG

2011-02-08T13:14:00.004+08:00

My father's last movie for Malay Film Productions was Raja Bersiong based on our first Prime Minister Tunku Abdul Rahman's original story. It was also the first widescreen color movie to have come out of Jalan Ampas, but not the first color movie - Ribut and Hang Tuah having been released in color a few years before.
Unfortunately it was also claimed to have been the movie the broke Jalan Ampas's back - having been the studio's most expensive movie to date and it wasn't a box office hit.
I have watched the movie many times but of recent the copy has been missing. No DVD copies around. So it was heartening to find out that someone had actually posted the movie on Youtube.
Do view it. Most people are put off with the dialogue which was unique - it was presented in pantun form, one of the few Malay movies to do so. Another movie directed by my father done in this manner was Bidasari.

Here it is: Jamil Sulong's Raja Bersiong based on Tunku's story and produced by MFP in 1967.

Hope you enjoyed this movie. One of my dreams is to actually take this legend onto stage and present it at Istana Budaya. It has all the elements - conflict, tragedy, horror, history, music and an epic feel.

PROBLEM WITH PERSATUANS – AGAIN

2011-02-06T17:35:00.002+08:00

(I wrote about the persatuans about two years ago)

During out shoot recently, the authorities came for a visit. To check on my crew and staff and artistes. They actually checked our membership status to the four main persatuans that Finas endorses – SENIMAN, Profima, FDAM and Karyawan. Of course there are others, but these are those that are usually on set. SENIMAN is basically for actors, as is Karyawan but anyone can actually be a member. Profima was previously Persatuan Pekerja Pekerja Filem Malaysia (PPFM) but because their acronym clashes with Persatuan Penerbit Filem Malaysia (PFM), they decided to change it to Professional Film Workers of Malaysia or something like that.

Anyway, to produce anything in this country, you must be a member of one of these associations (persatuans). Legally I’m not sure how secure this is. I was once a Union member as a journalist and I know how that works but in the chaotic world of filmmaking, could Finas actually enforce such a ruling if it is legal.

I’ve actually asked a lawyer friend and he said that at most the requirements are just advisory but not mandatory. Why? Because one can question the standards of each persatuan and what they offer to the industry. There is no pre-qualification like the architects or engineers.

The persatuans within the film industry are merely a social association working with the framework of the Rules and Regulations as set our in the Registrar of Societies.

If persatuans are that powerful, every industry would have to bow to the thousands of associations out there. Kesatuans are different as are associations of professionals i.e. architects, engineers, contractors, builders and such. There are various bodies and authorities and agencies that monitor the standards of their work.

Anyway, back to my location shoot. Half of my crew were not Profima members. And at that moment, we were shooting a scene that was supposed to be Australia in winter. And to make that scene authentic, we need kweilohs. So we got a casting agency to get some kweilohs for extras.

Hahhaha...we forgot to mention to our agent that we need kweilohs who are members of Seniman!

Jeez..how can we forget that!! We also needed special permission to use foreigners in that scene. Fuhhh lagi problem. Luckily for us we just got a memo and a warning – for using kweilohs who are not Malaysians and non-Seniman members, for hiring crew members that were not members of Profima.

Wokey.

WTF do I need to hire someone from an association that these people don’t believe in? I know so many who pay subscription fees just to work in the industry and they really don’t care what the association does or doesn’t do. It’s like a toll to work. Sounds familiar tak? You want to work in the industry? Sure, pay your membership fee. Annually. Then you can work to your hearts content.

What kind of mentality or industry that accept this kind of situation?

Are we going to be bullied into doing this? What do we (the producers) get out of hiring bonafide members? Are members truly qualified to work as a gaffer? A bestboy? A clapper loader? A key grip? A production manager or assistant director? Is there a guarantee of their performance and quality of work? None right? They are just Malaysians who decide one day to “Hey I think I can earn some decent money working on a technical crew of a TV or film production”, and all I need to do is join Profima. That’s it. Nothing to it. So why do you want to blame me for using some crew member whom I know have worked for years in the industry and is more professional and proficient in his work as a tech crew but did not join Profima?

What is it that these associations including Profima or FDAM done for the industry lately? From newspaper reports Profima just organised an awards ceremony that not many people knew about or was invited to participate or attend. What’s more mind boggling was that one newspaper even mentioned that the event cost more than RM3 million to stage!

Wow! How the association exco members or its normal members ever approved such a budget is beyond me. If you read the articles of the Societies Act Section carefully, I’m really not sure how many of the associations can survive scrutiny. Isn’t there any member out there who doesn’t want to find out how Profima spent money for the event? Don’t they care what happens to the society’s funds?

Don’t the members know that they as members have the legal right to check the books of their association at any point of time (reasonable hours or working hours)?

Anyway, if these associations that Finas holds high esteem for are maybe entities that are not managed properly, how can they be pillars of professionalism in the industry? So why bother?

I think it is about time Finas steps it foot down and demand a complete and detailed review of all the associations in the industry. Check their accounts, see if it is audited. If they do not want to show it to Finas, get a members to compel them through the Registrar to allow them to check their administrative procedures and their accounts. Hire a lawyer to review all the associations constitutions – trust me – the constitutions of these association are at best a sheet of rules and regulations that cannot stand the test of law.

If the associations want to be considered a powerful and the pillars of the industry, be above board, be clean, be exemplary and above all be incorruptible.

Do all this and I will guarantee that you will see the members become more proactive in the management and administration of the societies. And as a producer, we will be more than glad to support and cooperate with these entities.

The ten most powerful people/production companies in Malaysian film industry

2011-01-29T13:34:00.003+08:00

Most every publication have their lists on who is the most powerful people in the film industry. Hollywood Reporter, Entertainment Weekly, E! And even Fortune produce lists showing people like Oprah, Steven Spielberg, Peter Jackson, John Cameron, Jon Favreau etc.

Who are the most powerful people in the Malaysian film industry?

Below is my list based on productivity, influence, popularity, box office impact and other factors. Least of all quality of product. Yup serious. Quality is not an important factor at all. This is not my first Most Powerful list - I did it a few times before when I was a film critic and a columnist for a couple of local newspapers in the 80s.

We will start from the last in the list to the top of the list.

Number 10

The indie film movement. This group of upstarts have been making waves for the past few years. Even though their films hardly make a dent in the local box office market, their movies have been attracting international acclaim and interest. Only recently, Malaysian Liew Seng Tat won an award at the high profile Sundance Film Festival in the US. Other indie filmmakers have been winning various awards at other international festivals in Rotterdam and Taiwan. A couple have already left our shores to ply their craft overseas and have been successful. A few of these indie filmmakers have also tried their hands on making mainstream movies and only James Lee seem to be making enough box office to be considered a serious mainstream filmmaker. His latest film Sini Ada Hantu opens in February 2011 and this follows his modest hit Histeria which was released in 2009.

Number 9

Shamsul Yusof

This young director is making waves with his action movies. None of his movies have lost money for his father’s company Scope Productions. Locally, his movies have also been winning technical awards for the past few years. At 25, he is a relatively newbie but with his win as the Best Director at the Malaysian Film Awards, he has been seen by many as one of the best hopes for Malay mainstream movies.

Number 8

KRU pictures and brothers. This siblings has gone far from their hiphop beginnings. Their empire has grown quite extensive including a couple of huge concessions in the corporate world. In the film industry, they have been making inroads though box office wise, their movies have not made big coins. They however made it big last year when their fairy tale musical comedy Majika won the Best Film nod at the National Film Awards.

They are also in the midst of completing their multi-million ringgit film studios in Cyberjaya and awaiting the release of their multi-million ringgit epic Merong Mahawangsa. They have also entered international production arena with the release of their animated movie Disco Worms and the box office dud Deadline starring the late Britanny Murphy.

Number 7

Grand Brilliance

They have not been producing much the past two years, but the ability for them to produce at a moment’s notice makes them a serious player. With Media Prima and Primeworks behind them, GB will soon be amongst the major film produces again. What to watch out for is the cinema version of TV3’s major TV hit Nur Kasih.

Number 6

Line Clear Films – the company owned by the Maidin brothers. Associate Professor Razak Maidin is the creative force behind this team and has been constantly producing four to six titles a year. However, whilst they are still churning out mainstream stuff, they need to recreate the magic of five years ago when Razak’s films were making serious box office impact. His recent titles weren’t much to shout about, but nevertheless, their productivity is still something to watch. However, with Associate Professor Razak being tipped to head FACT in Uitm there might be a chance that Line Clear might not be as prolific as before.

Number 5

FINAS - the National Film Development Corporation. Why are they in the list? Because they sit on a major fund for the players. This fund, both grants and loans, allow filmmakers to produce their visions. However, it is because of the grants which in effect makes FINAS into a production company that land them in the list. Once release, the grants for movies of patriotic and cultural nature will allow at least 5 producers to roll out ‘quality’ movies meant for local and international markets.

Number 4

Tayangan Unggul – this Astro owned entity, managed by Gayathri, has been in the forefront of the Malaysian cinema industry for quite awhile. Many directors have been hired by TU to produce some gems over the last few years including Adflin Shauki, Kabir Bakhtiar and Mamat Khalid. Last year, their movie, Mak Limah Balik Ke Rumah, directed by Mamat Khalid, broke box office records after coining nearly RM9 million worth of tickets.

Number 3

The Cinema Owners

GSC, TGV and Cathay are the two big cinema chain owners. If I’m not mistaken, GSC and Cathay are related, and TGV is partly related to Astro’s parent company. Being the three big cinema chains in the country, how they help promote local movies is crucial to a movie’s success. They actually love it when a Malay movie makes big bucks because they rake in 50 percent of the box office takings.

Number 2

Ahmad Idham – this prolific filmmaker has been producing blockbusters for himself and his partner MIG. His horror movies Jangan Pandang Belakang, Congkak, Jangan Pandangan Belakang Congkak, Damping Malam, are all big box office movies. His success rate makes him a darling of producers, investors and cinema owners. He was also even rumored to have been in the running to take over the Finas DG hotseat. The fact that he is also on Finas’s Board of Directors, make him a powerful young filmmaker indeed.

Number 1

David Teoh/Metrowealth – David Teoh is the most powerful man in the Malaysian film industry. He has the financial clout to produce at least 12 titles a year and what’s more, his movies – more than not – make profits. His latest horror movie released late 2010, Nangkung took in more than RM8 million. This was after his comedy Adnan Sempit made more than RM6million. David has a philosophy that irks a lot of serious filmmakers, but he is hardly apologetic. He makes hit movies, he is the darling of the Malay film press, he is loved by the people who are involved in his productions as he lavished them with expensive gifts when the movie makes serious coinage and he is respected by the powers that be. He is also on the Finas Board of Directors. He has no serious competitors or challengers in the industry and if he monopolises the screen time right up til 2012 with his many movie titles (that is already completed or in production), other producers will find it hard to survive.

SPECIAL MENTION

An entity that deserves mention would be the pirates who whacks the movies as soon as they can get their hands on the masters or a copy of the films produced. For example Mamat Khalid’s Estet pirate copy hit the streets within a week of its release. Usually, Malay titles appear within a month but these days, the titles appear within two weeks. They take away revenue from producers who have to beg borrow and steal to produce their work, and they get away with it. In Sarawak, where there are hardly any theaters in towns like Sarikei, Mukah, Bintulu and Sibu, pirated Malay titles are sold indiscreetly and make a bundle for the pirates. It seems like a never ending problem for the local film industry.

Another entity that is as powerful as any of the producers or directors is the Malay entertainment press. These people, both the mainstream print and the magazines, have the power to make or break anyone. An artiste who falls out of favor with them will be 'blacklisted' and even hunted down til they fade away. Anyone who panders to these people with presents, events, open door policy to their productions and artistes, trips overseas, junkets and many other sweets, will be praised and promoted through their medium. A bad movie with the right words in the press can and will become a box office hit. A good movie without the backing of these people will hardly make a dent in the box office. That's how powerful these people are. Step on their toes and you'd be damned forever.

SHORT VIEWS

2011-01-23T01:13:00.002+08:00

Two local movies made news before the end of 2010. Ngangkung and Mak Limah Pulang Ke Rumah. Both movies passed the magical RM8million box office number making them the two most successful Malay movies of all time.
I haven't seen Mamat Khalid's Mak Limah yet, but I have just seen Ngangkung.
Help me God, I don't know why this movie made more than RM8 million. Really, truly. I really must not be someone who knows his movies, because if I had seen a preview of this movie before its run, I would have predicted such a box office taking.
I heard good things about Mak Limah, so I look forward to watching it soon. From what I heard, Mamat is already going to shoot its sequel next week. Good luck Bro. Hope you'd outdo the first one.
So, it seems, horror movies still rule on Malaysian screens.
Now, I do hope the Malaysian-Singapore effort entitled Homecoming do boffo business. It stars Jack Neo, Ah Niu, Afdlin Shauki and Mark Lee. A CNY-themed movie in multiple languages - Mandarin, Hokkien, Cantonese, English, Malanglish and Malay - is it a commendable effort and an entertaining movie. I do hope the movie breaks records because it is easily better (in pure entertainment value) than Ice Kacang Puppy Love and Woohoo.

TAKUT - FACES OF FEAR

2011-01-11T20:52:00.001+08:00

Whilst we so sibuk about making movies global lah, movies that can sell overseas lah, Indonesia has been doing it without having to depend on entities like FINAS and such. There has been one project in Indonesia that caught my eye, especially when a top Hollywood filmmaker lends his name to the project.

This movie is entitled Takut: Faces of Fear. Listed as producer is Brian Yuzna. If you are a horror movie fan, you know who Brian Yuzna is, so I’m not going to elaborate.

Getting a name like Yuzna attached to your movie, albeit an Indonesian movie, gives the movie credence in the world horror market. How the Indonesian filmmakers did it I’m not sure, but I do remember writing about the Screamfest Film Festival franchise that was taken to Jakarta and Brian Yuzna was given a retropective during the festival a few year ago.

Most probably, during his stay in Jakarta, Indonesian producers sat down with him and thrashed out a plan and actually executed it.

The easiest way to explain what Takut: Faces of Fear is, is to compare it to Thailand’s 4bia. But Takut has six short stories in antholigical format. No links, just six short horror stories directed by young Indonesian directors. I actually only recognise one name off-hand from the seven directors listed in the movie – that of Riri Riza. How come six short stories with seven directors? Well, one of the shorts had two directors who call themselves the Mo Brothers (trying to be Indonesia’s answer to the Pang Brothers of Thailand?).

Surprisingly, most of the horror in Takut is not supernatural. I think only Riri’s Incarnation of Naya can be consider a ghost story. A few are slasher shorts with the Mo Brothers’ Dara being my favourite. It is quite evident the brothers are influenced by movies like Audition and Saw.

Each story is about 15 minutes long, and the performances will exceptionally good. As a horror anthology Takut works, though I find the scare meter low but the violence meter quite high.

Like my current anthology telefeature 3 Cerita 3 Sutradara: Pontianak, Takut has its hits and misses. That’s the beauty of anthology movies. Some works. Some don’t. If every segment works, that’s a bonus. Unfortunately, Riri and gang had creative freedom. Didi and gang didn’t.

Que sera sera.

2010 - WHAT A LOUSY YEAR

2010-12-28T22:12:00.002+08:00

Personally, 2010 leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth. My trials and tribulations in the film and TV business was the worse I have ever experienced in my life.
What's also strange was that some of my peers and colleagues in the industry had a worse time than me. I know of many producers and directors who went through the whole year without any jobs at all. How they manage is beyond me.
What's stranger still, is that production in KL seems to be booming! How do I know? Well, ask any top actor or actress if they are available for shoot, and they will more than not say they are fully booked.
In my current work for example, for a friend's company, we have had to replace three of the top cast members because of scheduling problems. There was no way for us to wait or work our production around their existing schedules.
Even some of the cast that we took on, they are already shooting with other productions. Nevertheless due to various reasons, we could still take them on and shoot around their existing jobs.
Looking at the situation, maybe I should have been an actor instead of being a producer.
We producers take a lot of crap from everyone. We have to look for funds, pitch for jobs, round up a team that we hope would deliver, face annoying TV executives and when all that is over, we have to wait for the payment. As actors or technical crew they get paid up front, progressive and at the end of production. Once finish, they hop on to the next project.
A leading actor for example, may request from a producer as high as RM3k per episode and if there's 13 episodes, he gets a clean RM39,000 pay for one and half month's work.
That's not bad isn't it?
A top scriptwriter too can earn as much as that if he is in demand. RM30-39k for 13 one hour episodes and most maddening is that most of these writers, who churn out melodrama, are usually not required to do any research at all. They just sit in their offices or their homes in front of their laptops or PCs and churn out about 500 pages for the producer.
Why or why I gatal nak jadi producer?
Anyway, if things don't change, there is a likelihood that I might just give up this business once again. The Malays would say "tak berbaloi" (doesn't make monetary sense). Strangely, I disagree. I think the business can be berbaloi - emotionally, financially and creatively - if the industry is a level playing field.
Unfortunately, this business is not based on merit. It is a business dealing in flash and glamour and it is a business built on pizazz. If you can make certain people in the business think you can deliver, even with zero experience, then you've got it made.
Sad.
Let's see what the new year brings us all.
So goodbye 2010. Hello 2011.

MERAPI ERUPTS BUT OUR FILM INDUSTRY GOES KAPOOOFF!!

2010-12-09T16:14:00.003+08:00

I just returned from a week-long trip to Sarawak to produce a documentary on SCORE (Sarawak Corridor For Renewable Energy)...and so was too busy to update anything since internet during the journey between Bintulu to Sarikei and Sibu and Mukah was difficult though not impossible.
Anyway, coming home I was hit with a barrage of events that should have shook the industry. Firstly I feel sad that the targets set by a certain producer for his film was not achieved. He was so confident of getting RM40 million in box office tickets sales for his maiden feature film, but alas, his ticket sales, from what I heard did not even hit the RM400,000 mark.
My dear friend's Estet, a movie that I thought is much better than most of the crap that are being produced locally, too did not make a dent at the box office. To date, it has collected less than half a million in ticket sales. Why oh why didn't the people turn up. Why oh why didn't FINAS help a film that is worth promoting to the public?
Whilst ESTET was going South, another crappy horror movie Nangkung, was making big bucks hitting RM6million since its release. It is still going strong and might even affect Mamat's latest directorial effort Rumah Mak Limah which begins its run today. I wish both Mamat and Gayathri the best of luck.
Meanwhile I haven't checked how well TU's first foray into producing a Tamil movie fared. Appalam, their Tamil remake of Adflin's award winning Papadom began its run a couple of weeks back.
But on the 1st of December two things of note happened. One TV Al Hijrah, Malaysia's first Islamic free-to-air TV station was officially launched. On what channel? I don't know. Read the newspaper reports lah...because you need a normal TV antenna to tune in to the channel (which I don't have). Hopefully, Astro will agree to carry the channel, so that the 3 million households who don't use TV aerials can view the channel.
The second thing of note, however, took the film industry by surprise. On this date, FINAS stopped the practice of rebating the entertainment tax for all local feature films to the producers.
This is startling news for producers as it can be a huge amount. For example, Nangkung who according to some statistics has received RM6 million in ticket sales, will be paying RM1.2 million in entertainment tax from the takings. Before 1st December 2010, this tax would have been rebated to the producer. Now it will not be rebated.
Tough.
So producers are just wondering, what they hell do they need FINAS for? Right now, they line up to register with FINAS for dates because they want the rebates. Those who don't follow this procedure are not entitled to the rebates.
Since the rebates doesn't exist anymore, getting screening dates through FINAS is redundant because distribution companies can now get the best dates for their films directly from the cinema owners.
Meanwhile, the Film Producers' Association has remained silent on this issue much to the chagrin of its members.
We live in interesting but tough times.

HERE WE GO AGAIN WITH DOCUMENTARIES

2010-11-24T17:50:00.003+08:00

I have begun producing six documentaries for Astro Awani. These half hour documentaries will be screened before the year's end except for the last two on Sarawak which will be screened in January 2011.
My last documentaries for Awani were for the Merdeka period about three months ago and one documentary in particular about Mustafa Hussin was well received (not bad for a RM20,000.00 budget and done in one month unlike someone else's 12 year long documentary in the making with a budget in the mid six figure bracket). Nevermind, its what we deliver that counts.
Two of the documentaries will be touching upon the country's take on the Economic Transformation Project and its impact on Malaysians. The second one will touch on crime and personal safety - with its English working title Are We Safe?
The one on crime and safety should be interesting because I personally feel that whilst authorities say that the crime rate has gone done by 15% the rate of violent crimes may have shot up. I am also of the feeling that the crime rate has gone down because we sacrificed our freedom by wanting to stay in gated communities. Even in normal urban residential areas, residents have decided to hire private security firms to actually block and gate public gazetted roads for their own security. Is this legal? I doubt it, and by gating public gazetted roads, users are forced to find alternative routes because security guards will not let you use these now 'privatised' roads. Those staying in Taman Tun, SS1 and 2 areas will know what I mean.
The last two documentaries will be focusing on Sarawak - especially the corridor development called SCORE (Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy). Over the next 20 years, the government will pump (either themselves or through private investments) over RM400 billion in a corridor that starts from Sibu right through to Bintulu - a distance of about 600 kilometers. A small fishing town like Mukah for example is slated to become a knowledge growth center with the creation of a few institutions of higher learning there.
In Sibu, Tanjung Manis area has been designated as the future location of the Halal Hub - more billions to be spent there bringing high level development to sleepy towns like Bitangor.
Bintulu, under the stewardship of the Bintulu Development Authority will also go into high growth development. For those who don't know much about SCORE it is managed by a body called RECODA.
All these high profile projects in Sarawak will be brought to bear in this two-part documentary.
Interesting? I hope so. Just hope my objectivity would be not be compromised nor tainted.
I will be taking along my trusty laptop and my SPICE so I would be able to blog or FB from Sarawak's interior (if there is a 3G signal).
I haven't returned to Sarawak for years....it would be a nice trip back for me.

Happy Birthday Double Vision

2010-11-20T10:56:00.002+08:00

About 22 years ago, with two friends, Low Huoi Seong and Lim beng Teck, we set about on a journey that was at that time untested. We decided to become independant TV producers. We set up a company called Double Vision Sdn Bhd.
When we set the company up, I gave the name Double Vision and through time people thought that I came up with the name based on a song by Foreigner, but it wasn't. It was just my idea that the company will be producing programmes that would be different visually and internally. I wanted it to be different.
Our first production was a horror telefilm (at that time it was called cerekarama I think) entitled Ke Alam Misteri followed by Teater Seram for TV3.
It was received and opened doors for us. In time we produced dramas that no other producers would even try - with titles like Lembah Maut, Gelanggang Maut and Jejak Maut. My personal favourite series entitled Teater Novel and of course the series that made Double Vision famous - the Monty Pythonesque comedy series Gado Gado.
I left the company in 1994 for greener pastures and new challenges - trying my hand at event management, PR consultancy and multimedia. My last work with DV was writing the mini-series Kuala Selangor XI directed by Teck Tan.
Today, Double Vision is one of the oldest production houses in the country. The only other company I can think of that is older is Skop Productions. Companies like Keen Holdings, LJ VIsion, Take One, HVD, Serangkai, Nizarman have either gone defunct or have closed down or maybe just went into dormancy.
Today, my old friend Teck is running the show and Double Vision is one of the most productive Chinese drama content producers in town today having produced popular series like the award winning Homecoming. It has also embarked into movies with their latest offering being James Lee's Sini Ada Hantu and a joint venture movie in Singapore entitled Ah Long Pte Ltd.
Double Vision today was not the Double Vision I envisaged it to be but it is now someone else' vision - a vision that has gone leaps and bounds since I left the company. And for that I congratulate Double Vision.
In the words of one scientist flying through the Universe in a vessel named the Enterprise - Live Long and Prosper DV.
Thanks for inviting me to the Annual Dinner last night.

THE MALAY (PRODUCERS) DILEMMA

2010-11-05T13:15:00.003+08:00

What do you do when the station counters our creative decision as a director? It's really weird. From my colleagues around the world, once a TV commissions a production to the producer and director, they give you somewhat of a freehand to deliver what was agreed upon. You have a director that has a track record and a producer who has a budget to deal with.

Over here in Malaysia, its different. Of course there are instances when the station gives you carte blanc for your work, but it's far and few in between.

Here even after you have shot and wrapped and edited your work, a station has the right to tell you to reshoot, reedit, redub, reanything else to their hearts' content, and producers are left to lament whether in the end the product is theirs' (creatively) or the stations'.

The funny thing is, even after the interference of the stations, either through the executives or executive producers, when the programme fails, the producer takes the blame.

I believe, that in a few of these stations, most of the executives are wannabe writers and directors, and they like the idea and the misplaced glamour that they had direct input in the product. They like to say for example, “ you know the first cut was lousy, only after I had my input it turned out to be better.”

In the end, directors and writers are disillusioned.

It actually begins even at the proposal and development stage when the station even tells the producers that their proposals are good BUT....

Its the buts that hits you in the guts. But since producers are at the mercy of the stations, they listen and agree and nod. Yes, yes, that's a good idea, we will include it. No no problem...your idea is better than my writers and directors.

Once the storyline or storybeats (stations love this term) are agreed upon (which in the end is about 70% the station’s creation), the producer smiles and signs the contract.

The next stage of course is the selection of the creative team. Most TV stations seem to have this idea that only a handful of directors can deliver the goods the way they want (read between the lines – directors who allows the station to control their creativity) and artistes that they are comfortable with (read between the lines - artistes who are friends) and who they think pulls in the crowds.

Sometimes, the producer agrees. However, the are times they push the envelope and hope that their suggestions would be accepted. Most of the times, they have to compromise and agree with the suggestion (read betwen the lines - take it or leave it) of the stations to cast named artistes that they prefer. Whether or not the artiste fits in with the writer’s or director’s idea of whom the character should be.

Once that has been agreed upon, the producer than sighs with relief and hope to go on with the business of producing the programme.

At this stage, most stations don’t bother to interefere but there is one that attaches a personnel to ‘monitor and assist’ the production. Some of these personnel monitors, some actually interferes. Second guessing the directors shots and location selections, makeup and even acting.

Then come the dreaded editing stage. When everything is wrapped, and the cast and crew released. The raw footage goes into post production for an offline edit.

So imagine the horror when a producer presents his offline edit to the station for previewing and receives a whole list of unflattering comments regarding the production.

If the comments mean just tightening the shots and pacing of the programme it's quite acceptable, but when the whole direction and creative licence of the programme are queried and second guessed, you are in deep shit. Questions like do you have more shots? Why didn't you take a shot of this? How come the scene looks like this? Why are the artistes dressed like that? Why is the cars not impressive? Why was this particular location shot like this? Why did the director choose that particular angle? Don't you think it would have been better in the scene was shot in another way?

So much for creative licence right?

This means that your livelihood, your reputation as a filmmaker actually depend on the reception of a handful of people who watch the offline. If these people are professionals and objective, you can be guaranteed a fair judgement. But if there is a suspicion that the station, or persons in positions of power within the station that has a personal grudge with you, you are royally screwed.

This kind of politics that exist in the industry is totally unwarranted. It plays with careers and even a company’s survival and goodwill with the said station.

If the producer buckles and acquiesce to the numerous requests by the station, these actually means that the station in the end pruchased the work of a few individuals who are actually the personnel of the station and not the producer who was commissioned in the first place. The product is no more the creative collaboration of the producer, director, cinematography, writer and the artistes commissioned in the first place.

And to tell you the truth, the producers are in a no-win situation. The stations are the paymasters. And these executives or personnel in the station can make or break you.

Worse case scenarios are re-shoots and re-edits because you are now under the whim and fancy of a few executives who are basically jerking you around. If they are professionals and objective, they would give you a fair shake. But if they hate your guts, especially if you think that you are a better filmmaker than they are, they will fuck around with you.

Once the product has been completed to their satisfaction, it is then delivered. And hopefully the final payment from the station can be expected within three months.

In the end, maybe, we the producers, who now feel like sodomised prostitutes, don't really care what the end product is. We just want to end the whole affair and wait for the payments to be received.

Now the success of a programme on TV is mainly based on the viewership ratings. If the viewership or the ratings are low, the programme is deemed a failure. Even if technically and creatively, it is good.

Now when a product receives good ratings, the station executives grin and said that they made the right calls. If the programme sucks at ratings, the station executives will blame the producers, the directors and the writers for producing crap.

Not that they didn’t help promote the programme effectively in the first place.

Being a producer is tough business. Unless you know the people in the station, and they are pally with you, and you pander to their whims and fancies, you will not get far. In this business, filmmakers are second rate citizens compared to the executives in the stations. These station executives are more creative, they are more intelligent and they generally know better than the producers what the audience wants. So live with it.

Sometimes I really wonder why they need us. They should just let these executives write, direct and produce, because they seem to know the formula of a successful programme more than us - something even Western TV executives do claim not to know. They depend on writers like Steven Bochco and Shonda Rhymes to hoepfully come up with the next big thing.

Lastly, some of you may wonder why I chose the title The Malay (Producer's) Dilemma. This is because I believe that racism and bigotry have also raised its ugly head in the commissioning process in some of these stations, especially one in particular. I do not need to elaborate on this because it's difficult to prove. Nevertheless, in the spirit of 1Malaysia, maybe that's why the Malay producers seem to have grudgingly accept the fact that some stations prefer to work with non-Malay producers who, according to some TV executives, work better, are more professional, and deliver higher standard of products than the Malay producers. I hope I am wrong, but what do you think?

P. RAMLEE - THE DEFINITIVE DOCU?

2010-10-31T15:56:00.006+08:00

There is a documentary being hawked on TV as the definitive version on the great late Tan Sri P. Ramlee. I have seen it. However, I feel that this version, eventhough the filmmakers said it is well researched and took years in the making, is not definitive.
I have the privilege of knowing Uncle Ramlee during my younger years and had the wonderful good luck to know Mama (Saloma). So I guess I have a right to make a little bit of noise about it.
My parents were very close to the late P. Ramlee.
How close? Very close. There are stories about P. Ramlee that they have told me that I would not even share with the public. Why? Because P.Ramlee the man has become P.Ramlee the perfect icon. The man whose memory must not be tarnished.
The sad thing is that the man died in tragic and sad circumstances. And it is still incomprehensible that he died young - at 44 years of age. Compare that to Micheal Jackson who died at 50.
Looking at his last few films, you would have not believed that Ramlee was 44 years old. He looked older. That's how depressed and sad he was during his final years.
I think I have mentioned in one of my earlier postings how he struggled to make ends meet during his final years. He was unwanted, he was criticised, he was condemned and he was discarded by the public. The same public that hold him in high esteem today.
His last few films were not really good because he was a depressed person . He was unhappy with his lot in life. He wasn't rich. Heck, he was broke. He even borrowed from his closest friends when he needed money and gave them some of his personal items as collateral.
There were even people in RTM who didn't like him. Some even hated him. A few who were jealous of his talent, thought that they were better than him and did their best to make life difficult for him to get gigs on TV.
He tried to become a film producer and met a few investors who were interested in helping him out. But unfortunately he passed away before his dream to be a film producer was realised.
The foundation that he had laid for himself was conveniently taken over by someone he had not trusted in his life and someone who had gone on to become rich and powerful. I will not mention who this person is.
The funny thing is that since he died, many people are trying to make money off him.
Making re-recordings of his songs, making documentaries and books about him, and making movies about him, holding singing contests and many other events.
Imagine what he could have done with this money. He could have been happier and still be alive.
And those whom I personally know hated him are suddenly calling him guru lah, mentor lah, lover lah, friend lah and many other labels. If he was still alive, he would have told them off.
The truth it, Ramlee was a very private man. He had few friends. So too his wife Saloma. They had friends - close friends. Amongst them were my father, my mother and Dato Aziz Sattar. People that he was really close to. People that he trusted.
Even Saloma's relatives who claim to be close to him were really not. Heck, they weren't even close to her.
One person I believe has made a lot of money claiming to be an authority on P.Ramlee and Jalan Ampas when he was just a former tutor to one of his sons.
Memories and events get mutilated and changed to fit somebody's personal agenda.
Imagine the sadness I felt when I recently heard of a screenplay for a bio-pic of Saloma that was proposed to a TV station here, that created a fictional scene regarding her final hours.
If the writer had done his or her research, he would have known who was by Saloma's side when Saloma breathed her last.
In actual fact, there was only two persons there. My mother and I. No one else was there.
You want to know how I felt when I saw her during those last minutes of her life? Truly sad. She was unrecognisable in her death bed. Her body was frail and skeletal and her skin yellowish. Her hair gone. It was a sad sight, sadder still that only her best friend was by her side when she breathed her last.
I was standing in the doorway to her room allowing my mother final privacy with her best friend.
It's facts like this that get distorted that irks me.
So when I heard that Datuk Paduka Shuhaimi Baba had completed a so-called definitive movie about Ramlee I asked my parents if she had interviewed both of them. They said no.
Strange especially when my father was Ramlee's closest friend and colleague since the first day he stepped onto the Jalan Ampas studio lot. Strange especially when my mother acted with Ramlee in the movie Ibu and many more after that and became best friends with his wife Saloma.
Imagine my father, who co-wrote many of Ramlee's songs, was not interviewed for the documentary. Don't you want to know how Ramlee wrote his songs? Don't you want to know the mystery of the song Azizah? Strange isn't it?
Maybe, Shuhaimi felt her documentary was already strong enough without having to interview my parents.
Which is fine, but why then interview people who weren't really close to him?
To even read about someone who was in the documentary who claimed to have won a beauty contest and caught the eye of Ramlee and became lovers with him and then sacrificed her love to allow Saloma to love Ramlee nearly made me puke.
Beauty contest? Big deal. In the 50s and 60s, there were beauty contests galore in every nightclub on every weekend. In fact, the one I believe this person took part was one that was held in Johor Bahru and was won by another actress by the name of Salmah Ahmad. So much for being a beauty queen.
The only person who caught Ramlee's eyes and who he wanted to make his leading lady in life and on the screen was Saloma. No one else.
In fact it was Saloma that was not interested in acting. She was a singer not an actress and she knew that. But because Ramlee wanted her to act, she did. If you watch the movies Saloma was in, you can see that she was uncomfortable in her roles.
This story sounds familiar doesn't it? It was as if someone stole this story to fit hers.
How many realise that Ramlee actually only received one Federal Award - the Ahli Mangku Negara when he was alive?
This award, which is now conferred to hundreds of Malaysians over the years, was a big thing in the industry when Ramlee received it. It was as if he had been accorded a Datukship. That was how big the AMN was in those days.
When he came back, his close friends organised a big welcome home party for him. Many who claimed to be his friends today were not there to congratulate him including this fictional lover of his.
Ramlee's life was truly colorful, especially in the sense that he had many people who can't wait to see his downfall. That's why he trusted only a few.
I do hope Dato Aziz Sattar completes his biography soon and writes truthfully about who P.Ramlee was and who stabbed Ramlee in the back and who were his true friends.
In my father's autobiography, Wawasan and Warisan, he actually pulled his punches when writing about his friends, but if you read between the lines, you know what my father wanted to say about Jalan Ampas and the politics of working in Malay Film Studios.
My mother has also started writing her own biography and I hope she too would give the world a glimpse of who P. Ramlee was via her close friendship with the late Saloma.
So imagine if a documentary about P. Ramlee is not done right, what injustice would be done to the man when a movie about him be produced.
Fiction.

FFM...Anyone really care about the results?

2010-10-28T14:12:00.005+08:00

So last weekend, when I was in Yogya, playing golf with a bum leg, the country made its selection for the best of our local film industry. The decision was that Majika was the Best Film and that Shamsul Yusof is our country's best director for his subtle and elegant work on Evolusi Drift 2.
I won't delve into the results nor the decisions - but if that is what the jury think we should tell the world - that these are our best, I feel truly sad and at a loss for words.
Personally, the best movie that played on our screens last year - the best Malaysia movie on all scores - be it direction, music, cinematography, screenplay, acting lay in one movie. That movie? Ah Niu's Ice Kacang Puppy Love.
That Ah Niu was even not considered for Best Young Director was a travesty in itself.
So what if the movie is in Chinese? It's a Malaysian movie - albeit a Chinese Language Malaysian movie.
If I am not mistaken, the last time I checked, FFM stood for Film Festival Malaysia - not Festival Filem Melayu.
Come on guys, give credit where credit is due. Ice Kacang Puppy Love is Malaysia's Best Film of 2009-2010.
But screw it lah. It looks as if we are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
If you need to test the standard of a local film, send Majika, Evolusi Drift 2 and Ice Kacang Puppy Love to a known film festival - see which film the festival organisers choose as an entry from Malaysia. Try it. See which film they accept.
Feeling sad about the state of the country's film industry, I decided to go on an Indonesian film watching binge...yeah yeah...I know..they burnt our flags...they stomped pictures of our leaders...but whatheheck, they make good movies.
So, it's been awhile since I watched their best and I decided to take some time and view them.
Over the weekend, during my trip to Yogya, I managed to pick up a few DVDs including Deddy Mizwar's critically acclaimed Alangkah Lucunya (negeri ini), Joko Anwar's much talked about Pintu Terlarang, Riri Riza's Sang Pemimpi which is the sequel to his megahit Laskar Pelangi, Ratna Sarumpaet's Jamila dan Sang Presiden and Aidtya Gumay's Emak Ingin Naik Haji and Ayu Utami's Ruma Maida.

All these films, without a shadow of doubt, are miles ahead of any of our movies in FFM 23. Including Ice Kacang. Sorry Ah Niu.

These are quality cinema. With real subjects and real soul. With real intent.

I've always loved Deddy Mizwar's sense of humour through his previous films including Nagabonor 1 and 2 and Kiamat Sudah Tiba. In his latest directorial effort, Alangkah Lucunya (negeri ini), he has decided not to put on his comic-genius hat. He instead brings to the screen a Dickensian tale of an unemployed graduate trying to help a bunch of young street pickpockets to earn a 'halal' living much to the chagrin of his pious father.

Jamila dan Sang Presiden, is a surprising production from Raam Punjabi's MVP Pictures, the company more famous for producing thrashy horror flicks like the Kuntilanak series. Starring the beautiful Atiqah Hasiholan as a prostitute sentence to death for killing a VVIP client, the movie keeps a tight rein on prosidings keeping up the suspense and drama til the final fade out. The ever amazing Christine Hakim plays a support role in this movie as a female prison warden.

Riri Riza's sequel to Laskar Pelangi, Indonesian record breaking movie, isn't as good as the first instalment of the so-called Laskar Pelangi tetralogy. Nevertheless, we follow the main characters again as they go through adulthood with the main character of Ikal still chasing his dreams of being a writer.

One of my favourite Indonesian film directors, Joko Anwar, again keeps up his momentum as one of the most original of Asian auteurs, with his numbing Pintu Terlarang. Maintaining his filmnoir canvas signature to paint his psychological thriller, the movie is unlike any Indonesian film you have ever seen over the past few years.

Acclaimed writer Ayu Utami's screenplay entitled Ruma Maida, and directed by Teddy Soeriaatmadja, created a film that lays waste to corporate leaders who are eager to destroy the country's checkered past and history in their chase for the almighty bigbucks. A complex story that defines the need for the new generation to embrace education and history.

The above are just one liners of the movies. For the love of me, I can't bring myself to create one liners for our local movies that means anything.

Our films lack depth, history and soul. Our films lack cinema. Our films lack maturity.
Unfortunately, our films make money. So any criticism about the quality of these films fall on deaf ears, as the gauge of a film's quality in our country depends not on the film itself but on the box office numbers. That is the measure of a film's quality. Nothing else matters.

CRITICAL TIMES FOR LOCAL TV PRODUCERS

2010-10-10T15:39:00.003+08:00

Things are getting weird and critical in the TV production industry. It seems no one, or rather very few producers, is looking at RTM as a revenue source for the time being. This is because it seems that RTM has not enough funds to commission new programmes. The most recent call for tender was an eight-programme tender for the Chinese New Year programming. And that's it.
Furthermore, only Chinese producers or Chinese-owned production companies took part in this tender process as there is an unwritten law that Bumiputra producers are not allowed to pitch for Chinese programmes. The same goes for Indian-language programming too which are meant for Indian producers.
However, for normal programming in Bahasa Malaysia, everyone is allowed to tender. So much for affirmative action right?
Anyway, luckily for some Malay producers, the new TV station Al Hijrah has started to commission some programmes.
So far so good. In terms of quantum, Al Hijrah is offering much the same as Astro - averaging less than RM40k per commissioned hour (unless it's a special project and screened on Citra which currently offers the best budgets for any TV stations in the country). But Al Hijrah's payment terms is the best in the industry (if they keep to it).
For other producers, ASTRO who carried out a full blown pitching process in August, their fate will be made known this week. The results of the pitching process will be out. Those who sent in proposals will know if they would have any projects to role before the end of the year.
Media Prima? Well, not many producers have access to Media Prima projects. It's like a very close knit community with only a few producers given a look-see, and with producers that they are already comfortable with. My proposal for a secret agent series ala my father's Jefri Zain character made it to the Carcosa list (the final presentation). But alas, TV3 did not bite.
I know a couple of friends who got commissioned by Media Prima for some of the proposals they submitted at the same pitching session. Good for them.
So, for nearly 300 producers, the emails from Astro therefore becomes more and more important for their survival.
I have received my emails, and if all goes well, I can breathe easier next year. Thank you Astro.
I got ziltch from TV3 and RTM.
But I will be going into production immediately for Al Hijrah. Terima kasih Al Hijrah. Another life saver.
I only wish that RTM would get their act together and actually be the main source of revenue for top producers in the country like they once used to. If RTM doesn't invite and commission programmes by the end of this year, I believe many producers who depend solely on RTM will go bust.
It would be a sad state of affairs, especially when the Minister of Information recently said the industry is a multi-billion ringgit industry. Where the billions go to I don't know.
I know desperate producers are sending in proposals to FINAS to survive.
FINAS is paying good money for documentaries and has an ongoing request for proposals with the deadline closing on the 14th of October.
These documentaries have handsome budgets and most producers are already lobbying whoever they think can pull strings in the Ministry to approve their proposals. Worse thing is, most of these producers have never ever done documentaries before. Magazine programmes yes but documentaries - I doubt it.
I got no strings to pull but still I am submitting two proposals.
Having survived the past two years by producing documentaries for Awani Astro, I believe I have the ability to produce quality documentaries. So I hope my cv and resume will be attractive and impressive enough for FINAS.
What did I propose? Two documentaries - one on Wan Mat Saman, the Menteri Besar of Kedah in the 19th Century who built the longest canal in Malaya, and another documentary on the concept of Kapitan China in our history - with a focus on Yap Ah Loy. Who are the Kapitans? Who appointed them? What are their powers and responsibilities? Who is Yap Ah Loy? Who was the last Kapitan? Why did the post end?
That would be interesting isn't it? Even something that could be screened on History Channel.
Anyway, I do hope FINAS remains objective and study proposals on merit. (Okayyyy I'm trying to keep a straight face here and not fall off my chair laughing).
Anyway, after this week, many producers will either sigh with relief or break down and cry.
It is sad.
After ASTRO's decision to release titles they want to commission this week, they will be no other commissioning process in sight from any of the four channels anymore this year.
To my friends and fellow producers, directors, writers and filmmakers, I wish you all the best of luck. Be brave. Be positive. Kalau satu pun tak dapat, there's quite a lot of gerai stall space available at the food courts in Kota Damansara.
We Malay producers kalau tak dapat project, usually think about selling nasi lemak or tomyam.
Sad isn't it?

The things I hope to do in 2011

2010-09-22T11:31:00.003+08:00

It's only three months to the end of the year. Time flies. Really flies. Supersonic lightspeed kinda speed.
It has been a weird year so far. Detik 12 Malam completed and awaiting screening on RTM. My new telemovie entitled Pontianak: 3 Cerita 3 Sutradara has just been completed. My documentaries for Awani, especially the one on Mustapha Hussain, was well received.
Personally, things are still quite a mess. Financing my docus has been problematic and tricky. Used to have things financed through SME Bank, but when the process and procedure became too taxing and mindboggling, I decided to try private funding from outside. I make less profits but to tell you the truth, it was still worth it because I don't have to deal with twits. Mind you not all bankers are twits. They are actually some bankers out there who do their best to help entrepreneurs - even those in this wonky film industry of ours. But they are just but a few. Most seem to despise dealing with us producers eventhough we have a government contract in hand (0r used to).

What I am trying to do now, is actually trying to see if I can get a loan from FINAS to produce my movie under the Negarawan film programme.

I mean if any tom dick and harry seem to be getting their proposals approved, and if people out there says that it is free money (which I doubt), I do think I stand a chance of getting a loan right? I mean I know I'm not in the same league as Shuhaimi Baba or the KRU brothers or even the Maidin film group, but still, I think I have some track record to boast of. The problem is whilst I love making horror movies I think by the time I complete a horror movie, the local audience might be jaded.

What about comedy? If Prof Hatta Azad Khan can direct a senario movie and rake in more than RM2m, why not do a comedy? The problem is the kind of comedies I do is not the kind those who pay to see Malay movies go to.

What's left? Would I risk it all for an epic movie? Would I dare take a multi-million ringgit loan to make a movie about Dato' Sagor? About Pangazou the Sabahan warrior? About Datuk Bahaman? ABout Tok Naning?

Would anyone want to see these movies?

I don't know. Do we make movies that the audience want to see or to we make movies that we want the audience to see?

This is the problem producers have right now.

Do we still keep producing lame horror movies, mat rempit half baked racing movies, slapstick comedies for the same market segments or do we try something else?

Do we instead improve ourselves as filmmakers and produce things that we are proud of as filmmakers.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDILFITRI 2010

2010-09-07T23:58:00.004+08:00

The year has passed too quickly and here we are again, at the end of Ramadhan and near the beginning of Syawal. The fasting month, a month of contemplation, a month of redemption, a month full of holiness will soon come to an end.
For me Ramadhan this year was fleeting, mainly because my team was producing a digital movie for television entitled 3 Cerita 3 Sutradara which wrapped a couple of days back.
As is usual during the production process tempers flared, words spoken that shouldn't have been spoken and acts done that shouldn't have been done. So for a bit, I haven't been really a good Muslim this Ramadhan even though I missed two days due to having to take meds for kidney pains.
To all my friends, colleagues and acquaintances, to my fellow bloggers and readers, twitters and facebookers, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri and in the spirit of the season, offer my sincere apologies to all and sundry for any wrong that I have done during the last 12 months before Syawal this year. I hope that you would see me as a mere mortal with a lot of failings and weaknesses. It has been a difficult year. A really difficult one, not only for me but for many filmmakers.
And I hope that after Raya, things will pick up for them.
This year, I will be with my parents the day before Raya and the morning of Raya (if Raya falls on Friday). After the family's usual eat-in after prayers at my parent's house in Janda Baik, my family and I will take a slow drive down South to Singapore to spend three nights and to visit my cousins there. Somehow, my family has become very rapat with our relatives in Singapore bar one.
Knowing that some close friends like Ebby Saiful and Hasnul Rahmat, and not to forget Dato Aziz Sattar's three daughters will be in Singapore at the same time, might also make this Raya trip a fun one.
However, I would not forget about my friends here in Malaysia - many of them - Amer Baker, Shukor Karim, Tg Annuar, Radzi Din, Ayoub, Mr Ray, Rusli, Azman, Ruslee Ariffin, Zaidi Mohamed, Dato Nazeri, Halem Mt Som, Wan Sazrudeen, Den Wahab and many others, Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri maaf zahir batin. I hope all of you would have a great weekend.
To the ladies whom I consider dear since schooldays and college days, they include Nurjannah, Asriah, Suharti, Puspayanti, Hatijah, Roslinda, Aida and Rosnah, and my friends from the industry that include Anne Abdullah, Lufya Omar, Adrea Abdullah, Razlina, Rosie Rashid, Juliah Shamsul, Dylla Ahmad and many others in the film industry, I wish you all Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
To my friends in the media, especially former colleagues in NST and TV3, I wish you all a great Raya too.
To my staff Hafiz and Nadhirah, have a great break.
To my beloved siblings and their family - my elder brother Arjunaidi and his beautiful family, my younger brother Asnadi and his wonderful wife Aina, to my only sister Murniaty and her two young boys - I beg forgiveness and wish you all Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri.
To my parents - Abah and Mak - I wish both of you the best of health and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri wishes from a difficult offspring.
To my own family, my loving wife Puteh Jerineh Ramli and my four kids, Aidyl Abadi, Aidyl Nurhadi, Adylla Lyanna and Adi Iliya, I love all of you. Please forgive papa for his shortcomings and his failures. As always I try to do my best for all of you. Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri to all of you.
To everyone else, especially my friends in RTM, Media Prima, al Hijrah TV, ASTRO, Awani and Muzium Negara, do enjoy the holidays, be with your family, friends and colleagues and spread the spirit of oneness that only Malaysians understand. I remember 30 years ago, we were one. I really don't understand how so much hatred and divisiveness have crept into our lives and around us.
We understand that we do not approve nor condone some of the politically motivated actions that we have seen over the past years, but do not take it out on your fellow friends, neighbours and brothers for whom color nor creed nor religion matter. We have been one and friends for a long while. We knew what true harmony is. Harmony is forgiving, understanding, appreciating, respecting and acknowledging each others' space and rights. Underneath all this, we share the same spirit and blood.
To my Malay brothers and sisters, let the spirit of Raya show us the way to forgiveness and respect - to allow harmony to return to our lives.
Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri Mohon Maaf Zahir dan Batin.

GOOD NEWS FOR PRODUCERS OF NON-BM MALAYSIAN MOVIES

2010-08-31T13:42:00.003+08:00

The announcement by the Minister of Information, Communication and Culture Datuk Sri Dr Rais Yatim that local movies made in other languages (apart from Bahasa Malaysia) will now be entitled to tax rebates as enjoyed by movies that are made in Bahasa Malaysia, would be much welcomed by local film producers and investors.
Currently, under the local FINAS Act, local films are entitled to the rebates of 20% of box office (which is the entertainment tax levied on all movies by the state). This incentive however is only for movies with mostly BM dialogue.
Therefore movies that were made last year like Woohoo, Ais Kacang Puppy Love and End of Daybreak (financed by Taiwanese but made entirely in Malaysia) were not entitled to such rebates. These films are also not eligible to win the major prizes at the forthcoming Malaysian Film Awards.
Whilst the announcement is much awaited by the local non-BM film fraternity, Rais, and rightly so, clarified that the incentive is not a blanket order - the film will have to meet a few set criteria - content and box office results.
I am not sure what box-office results meant, but content requirement should be made a criteria.
This is because we do not want Indian or Chinese language local movies that do not even feel like a Malaysian movie but instead a pseudo Hongkong or Taiwanese movie or even a Singapore movie. On the other hand, feeble attempts to add in scenes with Malays in it are also not wanted. For example, the movie Kinta had really deplorable scenes of Malays which are badly shot and scripted. Rather not have that.
In Tiger Woohoo, the only scenes involving Malay dialogue and characters are when policemen are involved. Token scenes like these are really not true to the Malaysian spirit.
I hope Tayangan Unggul's Tamil remake of Papadom maintains its local flavor too.
Furthermore, I do hope that there will now be a growth of movies made in the kind of dialogue city-folks are used to - Malanglish or watever - so that the middle-upper income members of our society who look down on local cinema would support and come to view local movies.

POLITICS OF HATRED IN JAKARTA

2010-08-30T01:08:00.002+08:00

I don't know about you guys, but what's happening in Jakarta recently, with the burning and the defecating on our Jalur Gemilang by a group called Bendera is quite humiliating for us Malaysians.
I know for some of our politicians, we should try and practice the adage of turning the other cheek, but sometime enough is enough. We don't have to be bullied by our neighbours all the time.
This isn't the first time. Even the fiasco about who owns the cultural rights to batik, satay, silat and some dance forms a few months ago was a little too much to take, especially when the Indonesian media took pot shots at us.
So how do we react to this? Our leaders say that it is not the fault of the Indonesian government and is the work of a few radicals trying to destroy the relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia.
So whose fault is it?
How many times do we have to endure the photos of our beautiful flag being abused in broad daylight without the Indonesian authorities doing anything?
Is it really true the Indonesian government do not condone these humiliating acts by Bendera? I think not because from media reports, the Indonesian parliament has also voiced out their anger against us detaining fishermen (depending on which media you read) or maritime officers who had entered our territory thus giving license for the Bendera bozos to continue their attack on our proud symbols of nationhood.
After our flag what else? Pictures of our King? Effigies of our leaders?
From what I have seen in our media, we have not been very vocal about it.
Yes, of course there's some very diplomatic noise made by our leaders, but what about us as a people? Aren't you outraged by what is happening?
In Facebook or Twitter, there's hardly any outrage shown by my friends.
Do you think you are not affected by all these? Well I am.
Let me remind you that because of a few idiot Malaysian employers who abused their maids, other families who need Indonesian maids have to suffer. Do you really want to pay RM800 and RM10,000 deposit and administrative fees to get a legal Indonesian maid? Who is negotiating these terms for us? It looks as if we are always on the losing end, and the one who has to pay for it are us.
So think again...because this row between Malaysia and Indonesia, our lives are affected.
In the film and TV industry, Indonesians has caused the local industry much heartache to say the least.
Whilst our TV stations spend millions every year in buying Indonesian movies and TV series, the Indonesians do not reciprocate saying that our productions do not meet acceptable standards in terms of technical quality and content, and that our fare is tame and outdated.
Yet, our stations programme Indonesian fare like there's no tomorrow.
About twenty years ago, the reasoning behind buying Indonesian content held water because an hour of Indonesian programming is cheap. It used to be about US500-US1000 an hour. But because the Indonesians are better salesmen than us, today's Indonesians series are bought by TV stations here at nothing less than US5,000 each. In fact, I have heard of some ridiculous fee of US10,000 per hour being paid for an Indonesian series.
And this are second hand series. Furthermore the TV stations do not obtain full rights to the series. It is usually only for one or two screenings. That's all. The rights of the TV series are retained by the Indonesians.
Local producers who get around US15,000 per hour from local TV stations sell ALL rights to local TV stations.
Does that sound fair to you?
Nevermind, maybe the local TV stations do agree with Indonesian TV stations that our quality lack ooomph. How to add oomph when you only get US15,000 per hour.
In Indonesia, TV series are paid US20,000 to US30,000 per hour and the producer still maintain rights to their productions. After being screened on local Indonesian TV they dump their programmes in countries like ours for bonus revenue.
Therefore, the Indonesians are looking at a revenue of US40,000 to US50,000 from one hour of TV production. Of course they can have better sets, locations and top ranking stars in their series.
Let's just calculate how much an Indonesian producer stand to earn from us.
If they sell 52 hours (an hour a week for one year), they stand to receive a minimum of US10,000 x 52 which totals US520,000. Even if the US Dollar goes down to RM3 the amount is RM1,500,000 plus. That's just one slot.
How many slots do you think the Indonesian series fill our TV stations? (Let's not even talk about the fully Indonesian channels on Astro).
I believe, in a week, at least 7 hours (I am being very very conservative) are filled by Indonesian fare. This means more than RM10,000,000 are given to the Indonesians for their second hand products per year. Is that a small number?
You want to double the number?
So, we are enriching the Indonesian producers every year, and what do they do? They belittle us, they don't voice out that what is happening in Jakarta is something they do not condone.
If they are earning millions from us, not to mention taking away slots and hours from local TV stations from local producers, shouldn't they be grateful and thankful?
Personally, I don't like to use the term boycott.
For example, for the past couple of days, I broke my fast with the family at two Indonesian owned franchises - Bumbu Desa and Sari Ratu. I abhor boycotting these restaurants or even telling my friends to forget going to Jakarta for golf anymore.
But then again, if Bendera keeps humiliating us, and if their government don't act against them for such stupidity, maybe I should start boycotting anything and everything Indonesian.
If I do that and everyone else do that, maybe the Indonesians who make their living off Malaysia would at least raise their voices and tell their government to shut down Bendera.
Heck, I am still waiting for the local film industry Associations - PROFIMA, FDAM, Seniman and Karyawan to voice out against these acts by Bendera. What are they doing? Nothing.
They must be oblivious to the hurt other Malaysians are feeling when the Jalur Gemilang is abused during Ramadhan and in the month when we celebrate our Merdeka.
As for the stations, all I can say is that maybe they should relook at their policy of enriching the Indonesian producers for the time being.
Pump the money domestically and see what happens.
Meanwhile, be outraged. Twitter your anger. Email your frustrations. Facebook your feelings against the abuse of our flag. Don't keep quiet. Don't let our neighbours kick us in the balls again and again and again.
Enough is enough.

THE SILENCE IS DEAFENING

2010-08-28T00:46:00.002+08:00

So as most things are in our industry, it was a small storm in a tea cup.

A few people flexing their feeble muscles, a couple of individuals who think they are well versed in the Finas Act and a few others thrown in into a misplaced subplot. In the end – it was another bangsawan.

The incumbent Director-General of FINAS has since made a public statement about his extension and also his disappointment over the writings of one popular Malay newspaper columnists who goes by the pen name of Kak Pora.

The statement he made goes like this:

Pada masa sama Mahyidin juga didakwa oleh penulis Kak Pora enggan ditemui media berhubung dengan isu dana hangus.

Soal dana hangus pernah disiarkan oleh Hip pada 9 Ogos lalu iaitu mengenai produser enggan membayar semula pinjaman bank untuk menerbitkan filem yang dianggarkan berjumlah RM8 juta.

Mahyidin berkata, kebanyakan kandungan artikel yang ditulis dalam ruangan Kak Pora itu kurang tepat, malahan ia tidak sepatutnya ditimbulkan tatkala kehangatan isu semasa mengenai FINAS sudah reda menerusi penjelasan daripada pegawai kanan kementerian, termasuk daripada Timbalan Ketua Setiausaha (Kebudayaan) Kementerian Penerangan, Komunikasi dan Kebudayaan, Datuk Mohammed Mohd Daud.

Perlukah saya (Mahyudin) hendak memaklumkan kepada semua pihak bahawa Menteri sudah melanjutkan perkhidmatan KP FINAS? Saya fikir tidak perlu, nanti apa kata pihak lain pula. Ia kelihatan kurang manis. Biarlah pihak lain yang beritahu tetapi bukan daripada saya.

Saya agak kecewa dan tulisan Kak Pora itu menjatuhkan maruah saya. Lebih-lebih lagi apabila dikaitkan dengan surat sokongan daripada Perdana Menteri, jelasnya.

Berhubung dakwaan beliau mengelak dari media untuk mengulas dana hangus, Mohd Mahyidin sekali lagi menjelaskan, perkara itu sebenarnya adalah tanggungjawab antara pihak bank dengan produser sebagai peminjam.

Menurutnya, peranan FINAS sekadar memberi surat sokongan atau perakuan bahawa sesebuah karya daripada mana-mana syarikat perfileman layak diberikan pinjaman.

Katanya, walaupun FINAS mengeluarkan surat sokongan, pihak bank mempunyai prosedurnya sendiri untuk membuat keputusan akhir sama ada pemohon layak diberikan pinjaman atau sebaliknya.

Urusan pinjaman daripada kalangan produser filem ini ditadbir oleh pihak bank. Kenapa pula saya hendak mendedahkan syarikat penerbitan yang gagal membayar pinjaman ini? Lagipun saya boleh disaman oleh syarikat penerbitan kalau memberitahu pihak mana yang gagal membayar pinjaman itu kerana mendedahkan perkara sulit antara peminjam dengan bank.

There’s a few disconcerting comments made.

Is it correct that he shouldn’t inform the industry that he has been given a three-month extension by the Minister? Who would be the right person then to inform the industry? The Ministry? The Minister? The Deputy Minister? The Secretary-General of the Ministry?

Is there anything wrong in him informing the industry of the extension which was confirmed by the Minister? Why keep the industry in the dark? Isn’t he proud to have been the three month extension to lead the industry via FINAS?

I doubt a three-month official extension in his contract comes under the jurisdiction of the Official Secrets Act. In fact, by informing the industry of his extension, it would have put paid to rumors of other personalities vieing for the seat.

Now at least, the industry will have a three month rumor-mongering session of who will replace him.

In fact, with this extension, shouldn’t the industry also wonder why he was given the extension? Is there anything of significance that he can do in these extra three months that he could have accomplished within the last four years at FINAS’s helm? The only thing I can see of any significance is the organising of the oft-postponed National Film Awards.

Shouldn’t the industry also be wondering that by giving the extension to the current DG, it also means that the Ministry has not found a suitable replacement for him? This is weird because the industry is a billion dollar industry.

The Ministry has in fact recently identified that the creative industry is an important contributor to the national GDP bringing in RM6 billion annually and providing employment for more than 126,000 people annually. (This number differs remarkably from the amount of RM8 trillion quoted by the Film Producers Association in March last year).

What we would like to know is how much of this RM6 billion was actually contributed by the local film industry (Feature films and TV). It could be small because if this number includes the revenue generated by the cinema industry (which should not be considered as part and parcel of the creative industry) and also the distribution sector of the market, plus the advertising and TV commercial industry, the amount generated by local feature film and TV production industry isn’t that big.

What I am trying to say is that let’s give a better and more accurate picture of how healthy the local film industry is. Is it a really healthy RM6 billion industry? Or just a RM100 million industry. If it is RM6 billion, then the DG’s position in the industry is one helluva important post.

Now, what about him saying that FINAS only plays a small role in the approving of loans to producers.

“Peranan FINAS sekadar memberi surat sokongan atau perakuan bahawa sesebuah karya daripada mana-mana syarikat perfileman layak diberikan pinjaman.”

Is this true? Does this mean that once FINAS approves and recommends that a production can receive a loan it then plays a hands-off role? Does the bank (in this instance) BSN then take over the process of evaluating and approving the loan and can ignore the recommendation?

If this is true, than logically, if the Bank can overlook a FINAS recommendation for a feature film loan for reasons only known to them, the Bank can also offer loans to a non-FINAS recommended movie for a producer they believe is capable of ‘servicing’ a loan.

What is the criteria for the Bank to now release the loan?

I don’t understand the DG’s statement about this. As far as I know, BSN is entrusted to administrate the loan. They do not have a say as to who should or should not receive a loan once FINAS approves it. Unless of course, there is an unwritten law or policy that allows BSN independent assessment of the loan application. If there is then really what function does FINAS play in this loan process if BSN can ignore the recommendation?

Finally, I think the film industry has a right to information regarding the status of the fund.

They have a right to know who has received the loans. They have a right to know who has failed to service the loans and default on their repayments. Why? The fund belongs to the industry and they have the right to know. If such official information is made known, many producers would not believe in rumors that the loans are only given to a select few. They would also then understand what proposals or what genres are recommended by FINAS and receive the loans.

They would also then be free to question why a company can receive three consecutively loans without fully repaying the loans and then make a request for a fourth loan when FINAS only allows one company to apply for loans three times and that too if their repayments are serviced regularly. I’m not saying that this has happened. I’m saying that the industry should be able to weed out rumors and only be presented with official data.

Shouldn’t the FINAS DG should be courageous enough to inform the industry with facts and truths? But when he is quoted as saying:

” Urusan pinjaman daripada kalangan produser filem ini ditadbir oleh pihak bank. Kenapa pula saya hendak mendedahkan syarikat penerbitan yang gagal membayar pinjaman ini? Lagipun saya boleh disaman oleh syarikat penerbitan kalau memberitahu pihak mana yang gagal membayar pinjaman itu kerana mendedahkan perkara sulit antara peminjam dengan bank.”

If the industry knew who these companies are that received loans and did not pay it back, we ourselves would then know which company not to support. This is because the fund is the industry’s and we should not tolerate any producer who received loans from this fund and not pay it back. Unless of course the fund is really ‘free money’ as is referred to by many in the industry who can’t seem to get any for themselves.

If this is the case, really then, it's a complete waste of time for me to even comment about this.

HAPPY 84TH BIRTHDAY DEAREST ABAH

2010-08-07T00:48:00.006+08:00

My father, Datuk Jamil Sulong, was born 84 years ago today. Happy birthday Abah. We all love you.
Last night, at PWTC, Persatuan Seniman organised a Malam Legenda Perdana in honor of my father and also to launch his autobiography entitled Warisan and Wawasan.
The book is published by Dewan Bahasa & Pustaka and is also available on Dawama's website.
Firstly, I personally would like to thank SENIMAN, especially its President Harun Salim Bachik, for organising the event. I believe the members worked hard to ensure the evening's success. Iwould also like to thank FINAS for their contribution and support.
I would also like to thank Datuk Johan Jaafar, who officiated the launch, for his contribution in realising the publishing of the book. When the book was first compiled, Datuk Johan who was then the Chairman of DBP, ensured that the book was published. Now, eventhough he is no more DBP Chairman, and instead the Chairman for Media Prima, he still consented to officiate the launching of the book. Thank you Datuk.
I would also like to thank all the artistes that contributed to the successful presentation of the event - even by just attending the dinner meant a lot to Pak Jamil and his family.
However, such a wonderful night it would have been if not for some either misunderstanding or complete indifference.
The evening belonged to Pak Jamil. No one can argue that.
It was a night to celebrate his creative genius - as a filmmaker, writer and lyricist and to also to celebrate his friendship to many in that hall. A few would be brave enough to call him their peer, many would consider him their mentor. Some consider his their teacher and even as a father figure. Some would even go as far to say they owe their livelihood and their career in this industry to him.
No, no one can argue that that night belonged to Pak Jamil.
Now if only someone in the organisation had valued how much it would have been for Pak Jamil to have his family close to him, the night would have been perfect.
Instead, his sons' families were seated in a table on the last row of the hall. Six table rows back. Not in the middle, not by the side. Back right at the back. These it the table Pak Jamil's two daughter-in-laws and six of his grandchildren who attended were asked to sit.
Why?
Because the tables up front were sold and were meant for the sponsors?
If SENIMAN needed us to pay we would have. One - for the family to be close to Pak Jamil and see him enjoy the tributes being paid to him. Two - so that the family isn't made to feel as if they are second class citizens.
His grandchildren were there to be with him, but were completely shunted away to that last row.
My wife was particular annoyed, no more that that, she felt insulted that her family was treated in that manner. I too was annoyed by that and also by another personal slight, not by SENIMAN, but by another incident.In fact, the family actually wanted to walk out and leave the hall as their presence seem to be totally insignificant for the evening's proceedings.
Personally, I have one gripe.
I know my mother will hate me for saying this, but when Pak Jamil was taken to the stage for the launch of the book, only Pak Jamil, my mother and his children, along with the privileged dignitaries, should be on stage AND NO ONE ELSE! But someone else was!!! I wanted to walk off the stage at that moment, but I told myself I didn't want to ruin my father's day. If my day was ruined, it doesn't really matter, but it's not my day. But I just can't understand, why does that someone is so thick skinned that she thinks she is part of the family or worse, my father's child? I don't consider her my sibling. I don't think my brother considers her a sibling. And I don't think my real sister feels that that person is our sibling, too. She has never been and never will be.
What would have been a nice photo of me and my siblings with my parents, has now and forever more be a photo of lesser significance.
But what can I do, it was my mom that insisted that person come on to stage with her real children. To my mom, that person was family. Her daughter. My sister. NOT!!!
And furthermore, what I thought wasn't also right, was that in all the speeches and comments made during the evening by anyone, was that my name was mentioned, my elder brother's name Captian Arjunaidi was mentioned, my sister Murni's name was mentioned, that other person's name was mentioned many times, but my younger brother's name Asnadi, who is in New Jersey, did not deserve a single mention. I guess the scriptwriters for the event weren't told of the names of Pak Jamil's three sons.
It did not end there.
When my father was to going cut his birthday cake, his grandchildren weren't even allowed nor invited to be around him. In fact, I had to tell Ogy Ahmad Daud, who was the MC for the night, to announce over the PA system and call for the family members, especially Pak Jamil's grandchildren, to be around him for that special moment but I guess other people were more important. My son especially was so pissed that he just walked off in disgust.
Me? After I had done my official duties for the event, and kissed my father and wished him happy birthday, I decided to support my family's decision to leave the hall before a so-called family photo is organised.
But at the end of it all, what I think or feel really doesn't matter. What my wife thinks or what my children feel doesn't matter. It was Pak Jamil's night. No one else's.
I hope truly hope my father enjoyed the tribute and his birthday celebrations.
Eventhough it was without his family.
Maaan, I am in so much doodoo with this posting.

ME? KP FINAS? ERRRRRR....

2010-07-23T01:43:00.007+08:00

A couple of days ago, there was an article in the Malay papers about calon-calon (candidates) for the soon to be vacant post of FINAS Director-General currently held by Mahyuddin Mustakim.
The speculation is that filmmaker and current FINAS Board member, Ahmad Idham, will be the next DG of this hot seat which he has of course denied. He said the confusion may have stemmed from the fact that he has been re-elected onto FINAS's Board.
However, his old friend film-factory producer David Teoh of Metrowealth, who is also on FINAS's board (yeah go figure), is full of praise for the fourth generation filmmaker and has his support as the next FINAS DG.
Amidst all this speculation, three other names have been thrown into the cauldron - Adflin Shauki, Dr Mahadi Murat and yours truly.
I have to categorically deny here that I am being considered for the post. As far as I know, I am the least likely candidate to be offered the job. If I was DG material, I would already have been sitting in Mahyuddin's office and not him, as I was one of the main candidates in the previous DG search. If I was not suitable four years ago, then I am still not suitable this time around.
This doesn't mean that I wouldn't relish the chance to lead FINAS and make into something resembling a body that actually develops the local film industry.
Firstly, as DG, I would ask the Minister to agree that those who are still active in the local film industry should resign from the FINAS Board. Not because they are not helping the industry but because it doesn't make common sense for them to be on the Board in the first place.
However, FINAS would do well by instead creating an Industry Advisory Panel that they can appoint all the David Teohs, the Ahmad Idhams and the Mustafa Maarofs of the world.
As for members of the Board, I would rather request the government to appoint accountants, change managements experts, bankers, marketing professionals, corporate figures and captains of industries to sit on the Board. No film practitioner should be aboard, except maybe the DG.
This statement I just made should also not be taken as support for the Memorandum made by the Malaysian Film Producers' Association for the dismissal of David Teoh and Ahmad Idham as Board members.
This should have been done three years ago when David and Ahmad were appointed as Board members then.
So why the memorandum now? I'm not quite sure, but I heard from a little bird that certain members of the Association are not happy that certain members of the current FINAS board (duhhhhh do I have to spell out their names for you?) have advised against the forking out of more millions for certain production companies who have already taken millions of the government. I don't know how true this is, but someone is said to be orchestrating hard to ensure that David Teoh should not be on board as he is one of the most vocal board member. If David Teoh is not okay for the Board what makes Dato' Mustafa Maarof okay for the Board? Isn't he still active in the industry and has his own production company too? What about Mr Murthee? Doesn't he own one of the fastest growing cinema chain in the country? Isn't that a conflict of interest too? So why only pick on David Teoh and Ahmad Idham?
As far as I know, there is no conflict of interest specifically in regards to David Teoh's position as a FINAS board member. It is in fact a thankless post for him.
And as far as I know, unlike most of those PFM leaders who want him out of FINAS, David Teoh's Metrowealth has not taken a single loan from FINAS or MDec or MCMC or BSN or SME.
He is however the most prolific film producer in the country. Not Pesona, not KRU and not Grand Brilliance. His output have now exceeded two movies per month.
You question the quality of his films? Why don't you ask the million of viewers who pay good money to see his films?
Is he revered by the practitioners (the directors, the actors, the film workers)? Of course he is. At the rate he is going, at least 200 hundred local filmworkers can celebrate this coming Raya with a smile. He gave the director of a box office hit movie he producer a car for work well done. What has FINAS given successful directors?
What I don't agree with David Teoh is his filmmaking philosophy. To him it is the only way for local films to work. His shareholders are happy and by that fact alone, one cannot argue that he is not doing great work. To him, a film should be done with a budget of maybe RM1-1.5 million, 20 days shoot and 20 days post, and wallahhh! a new film ready to be screened.
I also disagree that, for some weird reason, he is going to produce and finance Hatta Azad Khan's next few movies. In this weird arrangement, Metrowealth will produce all of Hatta Azad Khan's directed movies as some kind of strange partnership with Uitm's Faculty of Creative Technology of which conveniently Hatta is the Dean.
Students and lecturers it seem will be involved in this agreement as part of their course work.
Of course, I believe that Hatta will be paid as the director and writer for the work.
I have already said in an earlier blog posting, filmmakers who want to teach should just teach. If they miss making movies, leave the comfort zone of a salaried position of a lecturer or Dean and be a filmmaker.
Anyway, the only winners in this scenario are Hatta and David:
Hatta gets to become a Dean and a film director at the same time and have a financier for all his movies.
David pulak because he is deemed to be helping out an institution of higher learning's creative programme.
But I digress.
Back to the question of FINAS DG.
Who would be my suggestion to take over the post?
Easy. Get the guy who took Singapore's non-existent film industry into a critically acclaimed film industry within a decade, whoever that guy is. So what if he isn't a Malay or Malaysian. We need results and someone who would push the envelope and make the world stand up and take notice of our films.
We need someone who actually knows what makes the industry tick and what it will take for us to make movies that tick too.
We need someone who would listen to the real players in the industry and not to just one or two friends and relatives.
FINAS's role is to develop and support the industry - it is not a body that tells the industry what to do without consultation. It is not a body that patronises the industry players.
FINAS should also not be a body that sieves and evaluates scripts and approves loans for these scripts. It should be a body that would instead actually put its money where its mouth is. If they think a script is worth giving a loan to, they should actually invest in that script.
Why pass the risk to the producers? If FINAS think they can evaluate a script and tell the producers who to cast, what budget to maintain and who to direct and what location to secure, then shouldn't they be the producers and take the risk themselves? How can they evaluate and approve the script and the marketing and promotion plans of the film, and approve the loan? And when the film flops, why do they blame the producer?
See? Conflicts occur when FINAS doesn't know what role it should play in the industry.
To me, loans should be minimise or even scrapped.
There should only be joint venture funding facilities and full grants.
And these grants are only given to projects that are unique and need not be necessarily a commercial undertaking. It should be for projects that would elevate the industry cinematic profile worldwide.
Loans? Just get the banks (BSN or SME)to simply evaluate the capability of the producer to pay back the loan, and not the project's artistic merit. In the end, it is just another business loan from a bank to a client. And the client MUST be able to pay it back. Simple as that.
You have a contract with a TV station? Sure here's the loan. You have some valuable land as collateral? Sure here take a million ringgit loan. You have a salary of RM30,000 a month? Sure, here, take the loan.
You have the next Avatar screenplay that everyone is raving about? Sorry, not interested. Go find investors. Banks don't deal in fantasies.
FINAS's role should be making policies, and identifying ways of educating young filmmakers. Even after so many years of existence, it is still hard to believe that FINAS has not created a scholarship fund for young up-and-coming filmmakers who need to hone their knowledge in Universities around the world.
What other things should FINAS do? Here are some suggestions:
FINAS needs to promote Malaysian movies locally and not only internationally.
FINAS should hold hands with film producers and fight for a cess fund taken from foreign films that are screened in the country. This fund would be used to finance film projects.
FINAS should not beg for funds from the government but instead get it from the private sector. In the UK, the lottery concessionaires pool funds to help the creative industry including the film industry to create non-mainstream movies.
FINAS should fight for some of the money from sin taxes - gambling, smoking and drinking.
Companies like Genting and Sports TOTO should funds movies yearly.
FINAS should get each state to produce one state-themed movie every year.
FINAS should really tell us how long it would take them to develop filmmakers or films to be accepted by the major film festivals of the world like the ones in Turin, Berlin, Cannes and Venice.
Heck, FINAS should be moving their butts and make the industry buzz instead of going phhfffttttt!
So if the people in the corridors of power think that Ahmad Idham can do all these, then give him a chance.
What ever it is, the last four years have been uneventful for FINAS and directly the film industry. Therefore, it is really in dire need of a new Kapitan who has new ideas and new directions and brings us new hope.

MUSTAPHA HUSSAIN

2010-07-08T13:22:00.008+08:00

Currently I am in the middle of completing a short documentary on the above mentioned person. If you don't know him, it's okay. Not many knew of him unless they've read or bought his memoirs entitled MALAY NATIONALISM BEFORE UMNO.Even people in his own hometown of Matang where I went yesterday to interview his 80-plus year old brother Osman, no one knew who he was. Not even the staff of the Matang Museum where another national hero was once imprisoned, hanged and buried - Ngah Ibrahim. The museum is only 100 meters away from the house of Mustapha's birth and his old house.
Mustapha Hussain, who passed away in 1986, is one person who all Malaysians, especially the Malays, should know about. Who he was, and what he did in the struggle for our country's independance. Some say his leftist views was his bane but I disagree.
Ibrahim Yaakob, who I believe was a traitor to Malaya, is somehow more revered and given more space in our history books than Mustapha Hussain.
Ibrahim, for local history buffs, is one of the founder members of the first Malay 'political' group Kesatuan Melayu Muda (which was a front for the real meaning of the group - Kesatuan Malaya Merdeka). Mustapha was the vice-president.
Ibrahim was also the proponent of Indonesiaraya or Melayuraya - a country that was supposed to include Malaya, Indonesia, Brunei and Singapore.
He left Malaya after the war, became a banker and politician in Indonesia under the pseudonym Iskander Kamel and was given a hero's burial there.
Like Mustapha, who stayed on in Malaya, never agreed to many of Ibrahim's ideas. Mustapha is deemed a threat to security, imprisoned by the British after the war, barred from teaching and lived a simple life.
Unknown to many, he was actually an UMNO member during the early days of the party. When Onn Jaafar resigned as president, his friends invited Mustapha to compete for the post. Without money and influence, Mustapha knew it would be a tough battle. Surprisingly, he lost the election to Tunku Abdul Rahman by ONE vote.
To his dying day, according to his family, his love for the country and its peoples never abated. He cared more for the poor and the disadvantaged.
For all his efforts, he only received the AMP medal from the Perak Sultan in the 80s for his heroic role in saving the lives of 400 Malays from Changi prison at the beginning of the war.
After interviewing his family, especially his brother Osman in Matang, I wrote the following in his memory.

ODE TO A HERO

They were not Kings nor Princes

Nor were they Lords nor Masters,

They were Malays,

Simple folks

Teachers, Farmers, Mechanics, Labourers.

Since time immemorial,

They look up to the people seated up high,

Caste is caste, and caste is acceptable once.

Our land, our Tanah Melayu,

Rich in minerals and tin,

And rubber.

The new Masters brought in

and invited the others, at 40 sen a day,

To work, to toil and be exploited,

for the rich to share its riches.

The teachers, the farmers, the mechanics, the labourers,

They just look on.

See their land as chess pieces,

Sacrificed to others for gold and opium

For cash and riches.

The "lazy Malays" kept on smiling,

with only rice on their plates

and some salt and some vegetables.

They were happy.

The rich play with the rich

And the whites play the rich

And the rich play out the people.

The rising sun threw the rays over the Tanah Melayu,

The Union Jack ran away

Tail between its legs.

The rising sun opened the eyes of some.

They now see the white invincibility a myth.

They realise that maybe,

Somehow maybe

The time has come

For them to rule the land of their forefathers.

The riches to returned to them.

The land theirs once again.

The land lost to others, may it be white, yellow, black or pink,

But the rising sun rose to soon,

And then began to set,

Leaving a bloody trail.

And with the setting sun,

Three stars rose,

With lead bullets and steel blades,

They rose to challenge the Union Jack.

It was a confusing time,

But for a few souls who wanted all these to end,

Who wanted Tanah Melayu to be what it should be,

Some resorted to the three stars,

Some resorted to take it to the people.

Some resorted to sleeping with the enemy.

The Kings and Princes kept quiet.

As long as their positions were respected,

As long as their dynasties were protected,

And the Union Jack kept them happy.

And they were pleased.

They also assume the masses respect them.

They know that there will be no Jebats amongst them.

Orang Melayu pantang menderhaka!

Malays, who were once prevented from gaining knowledge,

Or even to receive full education began to read.

Trotsky, Nehru, Bose, Hitler.

Tale of Two Cities, Three Musketeers and many others.

Some went left, others went right.

A few went Red.

But the ideals are one.

Merdeka Merdeka Merdeka.

And Mustapha was one of them.

A teacher. A simple man. A family man.

And a man with a plan.

He maybe left, but then again isn’t everyone’s heart is on the left?

Being anti British he was deemed a threat.

His friends were incarcerated. Somehow, he escaped.

It was then that the rising sun came.

He and friends were released.

The rising sun left, and they were incarcerated again.

This time he cannot escape.

Without a trial, he was thrown in prison in Batu Gajah.

When released, he was not allowed to teach,

He lost his job and struggled with his family.

His family that loved him

As a father, a husband and a true Malayan.

One wonders why we praise Tok Janggut, Mat Salleh,

Tok Naning, Ngah Ibrahim, Bahaman, Tok Gajah, Maharajalela,

Dato Sagor for being anti-British,

and yet

Those who took the same stance in the 40s and 50s

are considered enemies of Malaya.

Enemies of the state.

Enemies of the people.

Enemies of history.

Unless you sleep with the enemy, you are the enemy.

It really doesn’t matter that you and your friends were the first to rise,

and sowed the seeds of Merdeka.

It doesn’t matter that it was you and your friends who first shouted

Merdeka Merdeka Merdeka!

It was you who had family members

die in the war fighting for freedom.

A brother who remained missing after the war.

Another slain by the three red stars.

No one sheds tears for them any more.

No one sheds tears for you.

To the victor, a new history.

Power and riches beyond imagination.

To the vanquished, a small plot of land

A cold slab. For the lucky few, a footnote.

But for those who know the truth,

We salute you.

We shed tears for your bravery,

For your sacrifice,

for your struggle.

We know our true heroes.

We know our fellow men.

Sleep well our true Wira Merdeka.

Where there’s injustice,

there will always be another you.

We agree with those who knew you

And called you Bayu.

Today, from now on, I too call you Bayu.

Bapa Melayu.

A TRIBUTE TO MALAY FILM'S GOLDEN AGE AT THE NATIONAL MUSEUM IN SINGAPORE

2010-06-24T19:50:00.006+08:00

I might have mentioned about this in an early posting but I don't mind repeating it.I was recently in Singapore doing research for an upcoming documentary on pre-Merdeka Malay nationalists. My destination was the Singapore National Museum, always one of my favourite stops.My partner, Ken, followed and before we went to the Singapore History Gallery, I took Ken to some of the other Galleries since he has never been to the Museum before.
I especially wanted him to check out the Malay Film Gallery celebrating the Golden Age of Malay films.
Ken took some very nice shots of the Gallery. Check it out below.

A multi-screened presentation of famous Malay films produced at Jalan Ampas
and also at Cathay Keris during the late 50s and 60s.
Amongst the films in the montage are Pontianak, Sergeant Hassan,
Raja Bersiong and Hang Tuah.

A display that had positive films of Malay film celebrities during
the Golden Age of Malay movies.

A colorised photo of my mother, Rosnani, taken for one of the more popular entertainment magazines of that time, Movie News.

Another photo taken in my parent's home in Jalan Chengkek, if I'm not mistaken.

This particular bags were once used to transport film reels all over the Peninsula.

Read the caption below.

I was surprised to discover that one of the cases (bags) had this label. This case was carrying my father's "Batu Belah Batu Bertangkup" which marked his directorial debut in 1957. This case carried the 16mm reels and not the 35mm reels, which probably meant that the reels were meant for smaller towns or even for the open air screenings at villages around Singapore and Malaya at that time.

THE WAY TO GO FOR MALAYSIAN FILMMAKERS?

2010-06-20T09:43:00.005+08:00

Whilst local producers and directors go gaga over Red Cams and Vipers, and maybe Cinealtas, in their eagerness to go into digital filmmaking, most of them are unaware of the alternatives available to them today. Alternatives that produce excellent cinematography and economical solutions.
Last Thursday, most broadcasters and some local filmmakers, head down to Singapore for their annual Broadcast Asia Expo pilgrimage. Though the expo has lost most of its oomph in the last five or six years, curious technogeeks and technocineastes still try to find time to visit the show which is still reputed to be the biggest in Asia.
I went down with partner Ken Yap just to check out a few things that we were interested in - the DSLR digital revolution.
Why DSLR? DSLR stands for Digital Single Lens Reflex, and this is the digital version of 35mm SLR cameras me and my father used to use.
The current versions of these DSLR offers users HD quality video recording at 1080p. So what's the diff? Most consumer and prosumer camcorders are already offering full HD recording capabilities.

Well, most camcorders have video lenses attached to them - one's you can't change and get cinematic quality depth of field.
With DSLR cameras, one can use a plethora of film lenses to give you images true or rather near-cinematic clarity.
And while Red Cams can cost you RM150,000 and Vipers go Northward in price, DSLR solutions can begin as low as RM2500k. Even with a set of quality lenses, you may just need to burn about RM50,000.
The only concern most cinematographers have about DSLR is its bodyshape. Being a handheld camera, most users find it too light to be used for professional filmwork.
This is why, there is now a whole new industry that offers accessories turning the DSLR into mean little machines.

I am so impressed by these DSLRs that I am seriously considering shooting my documentaries and upcoming drama series 1870 with the Canon DSLRs.
Check out this video by renowned cinematographer and documentary filmmaker Philip Bloom. Gorgeous images from the mid range Canon 550D that retails here for about RM2500 plus.

The World Cup Fever - Memories

2010-06-13T10:40:00.005+08:00

My first memory of the World Cup was actually through a movie about the World Cup in Mexico of 1970. I was 12.
At that time, TV Malaysia was still in its infancy and my family was still settling down after coming to Petaling Jaya from Singapore a year before. I was in Secondary One in La Salle PJ.
Not yet a football fanatic, I heard about the magic of Brazilian football and when they won the World Cup in 1970, the news was something that was not electric nor mind boggling. It was just another piece of football news.
I was more interested in football comics, and at that time, I was reading Shoot, Score and Roy of the Rovers.

So when the movie about Mexico 1970 came to our screens (months after the tournament ended), I went more as a movie fan than a footie fan. Yes, of course I heard about Pele, but no I haven't heard about Jairzinho. It wan't really a big deal for me yet.
I did however know about the miraculous save by Gordon Banks. That I wanted to see for myself, because I was at that time toying the idea of being a goalie in school.

The movie was awesome. I still think that it was and still is the best movie ever made about football. Looking back, I also think that it was the best World Cup ever staged.
There was Brazil in full force.
There was the defending champions, England.
And then there was Gerd Muller of Germany, and of course the Italians.
The big match was between Brazil and England. And at last, I saw the miraculous save of Banks (pic above) from Pele. (However, since then, I think Peter Shilton and Dino Zoff had made some saves as good if not better than Banks on the world stage). Despite Banks' heroics, Bobby Charlton's men fell to a superior Brazil.
In this world cup, there were many interesting firsts - Muller scored consecutive hattricks and became the championship's top scorer. Jairzinho on the other hand became the only player ever to score in every game of the tournament.
And, of course, there was silky Pele, playing in his final World Cup. In the end, he scored four goals. Jairzinho scored seven. Muller scored ten. But it was still Pele's crowning victory.
The world cup in Mexico had one of the most memorable finals ever - Brazil vs Italy.

The names in both teams were legendary. Brazil fielded some of the biggest names ever to grace football - Pele, Gerson, Alberto, Rivelino, Tostao, Felix and Jairzinho (pic above). The Italians fielded Albertosi, Cera, Boninsegna and Riva.
In the end, it was a rout. Brazil 4 Italy 1.
And the Jules Rimet trophy was won for the third time by Brazil. And with that they kept the trophy forever. And that was how I remembered my first Word Cup experience. In the cinema.
Later, with the advance of TV, through magazines and through the English league, football and the world cup became somewhat of an obsession for me and my friends. Whilst I became a bonafide Liverpool FC fan since mid 70s, I never had a World Cup team that I supported blindly.
Surprisingly, I never supported the big names like Brazil, England or Germany. I did support Italy for awhile because they had Dino Zoff. I supported France for awhile because they had Platini. I supported Argentina because they had Maradona. It depends on many factors.
This year, I am an Oranjie supporter. I feel that it is time the Dutch to shine. They were unbeatable in the run up, and I hope they remain unbeatable throughout the whole tournament. Failing that, I have to go for Spain. I have to support Holland anyway because my son bought me an early Father's Day gift - an original Holland team jersey. He wears Brazilian colors and my daughter wears Torres' colors. Soon we will see whose colors triumph.
But hey, wouldn't it be really nice to see South Korea going all the way too?

THAI FILM WINS CANNES. A NEW BEACON OF HOPE FOR ASIAN CINEMA

2010-05-26T19:59:00.003+08:00

Surprises of surprises…a young independent filmmaker from neighbouring Thailand won the Palme D’or award at the recently concluded Cannes Film Festival.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a surreal flick by Apitchatpong Weerasethakul, or Joe (his nickname amongst cineastes and friends) beat a host of big names to take home the coveted prize to Thailand.

The film depicts the story of a dying man who talks with the spirits of his late wife and his son.

How surreal is surreal? Well, in this movie, the son comes back as a talking monkey and another female character has an underwater copulation scene with a catfish.

The second place was awarded to Frenchman Xavier Beauvois's film Of Gods and Men, a drama about a group of monks from France facing terrorists in Northern Africa.

It was a good night for Asia who had five film competing for honors. South Korean director Hong Sang-soo’s “Ha Ha Ha” scooped the Un Certain Regard award. His fellow countryman, Lee Chang Dong, garnered the Best Screenplay award for Poetry.

Uncle Boonmee is only the sixth Asian film to win the top prize at Cannes in seven decades of the festival, and the first for more than 10 years.

The Jury Prize went to Canadian Mahamat-Saleh Haroun’s film A Screaming Man, yet another portrait of a struggling father, this time in Chad, who puts his own welfare before that of his son as the country wrestles with civil war.

Mathieu Amalric, who directed and stars in Tournée (On Tour) as the manager of a burlesque dance troupe, took home the directing award.

What are interesting are the subject matters of the award winning movies. As you can gauge from short one liners of the movies that won awards, most were serious dramas covering the human spirit, will and triumphs.

Only one movie, Of Gods and Men, (though I haven’t seen it) sounds like a commercial venture – it’s about how a group of Catholic monks, in Algeria, fought Islamic terrorists and lost (according to the synopsis the monks were beheaded).

The others, especially Uncle Boonmee, were dramas whose directors have stamped their titles their own signature uniqueness and cinematic touch.

There’s surprisingly no films with mat rempits, hantus, slapstick comedy, bohsias, skirt chasing datuks and tansris and mamaks selling papadoms.

It took ten years for Joe to reach the pinnacle of cinema with this win. He previously tasted Cannes victory twice before with Blissfully Yours in 2004 (Jury Award) and with Tropical Malady that won him the Un Certain Regard honors in 2002.

With Malaysia’s current slate of mostly FINAS approved and backed titles and the eagerly awaited (NOT!!) Dua Alam movie financed by Dato Dr Rozaimie, when do you think we will grace the Cannes Film Festival? No, not win, just to be competing would be an achievement.

While we wait for Uwei’s magnum opus Hanyut to hit our screens in 2011/2012, we are left with a slate of comedy-monster-rempit movies to entertain outselves.

I truly don’t see much hope for Cannes success from Malay film directors to tell you the truth, but there is hope from the non-Malay filmmakers who have so far this year come out with movies like WooHoo, Ais Kacang Puppy Love and End of Daybreak (directed by a Malaysian).

I really don’t know what FINAS’s role is in promoting quality film that is good enough for Cannes success, but if the current titles are anything to judge by, they either have no role or are totally oblivious of what it takes to develop good cinema.

DECIDING ON LOCATIONS (1870)

2010-05-12T19:20:00.007+08:00

As time is slowly becoming a luxury, I went to Perak to check out some places that I have been to before some years back that I thought would be ideal for 1870.
Last Sunday, me and pal Ken, left KL and took the NKVE towards Gopeng and then head East towards Bandar Seri Iskandar.
I remembered that area has numerous disused tin mines, especially one that was turned into a water sports venue for the SUKMA held in Perak some years ago.
On the way to Seri Iskandar, Ken told me that he read something about a museum in Gopeng. As a fan of museums, we decided to check it out.
The museum is in the old part of Gopeng near the town square which was where the old town market was located. The museum, simply called Museum Gopeng, is 'created' by an NGO proud to archive and display the little town's proud history.
As you enter the small shoplot-turn-museum, you'd find a little counter in the center asking for donations. Entrance is, of course, free, but donations are more than welcomed.
On the left side of the entrance was some artifacts from the town's rich tin mine past. A signboard proudly states - No Tin No Gopeng. On the right, the town's rich rubber industry past with a sign that states - No Rubber No Jobs.
The museum is not as big nor as interesting as the private museum in Cameron Highlands, but it still is something the owners can be proud of. In the fifteen minutes that you stroll around in the building, you would get a glimpse of old Gopeng.
After that short stop, we immediately left for Seri Iskandar.
However, whilst passing Tronoh, we saw some sites that could be ideal for some scenes in 1870. We stopped to take some photos.

Alien landscapes in Tronoh

Strange formations on the disused tin mine site in Tronoh

This particular location really had some weird and arresting formations, as if you are on a strange planet.

In Seri Iskandar, the location I wanted to check out, is surprisingly now a privately owned site. It is situated right in front of the Petronas University.
There was no access road and the entrance is now guarded.
We went to see the guards and expressed our intentions to see the land for possible location shoot. Surprisingly, the guards are well mannered and even friendly. They allowed us in and in fact, one actually gave us a ride in his car as the location I described to them is deep inside.
The said site is really ideal for 1870 but I felt sad to see the buildings, built specifically for SUKMA, in total ruins.

The old Sukma Water Sports Center at Seri Iskandar - now in ruins

The location that I thought would be ideal as Port Klang circa 1870

According to the guard, the place is now owned by Putrajaya Holdings, a company under the Petronas Group. He added that the company has plans to develop the site sometime soon.

Having taken photographs, I felt hopeful that Putrajaya Holdings would have no problem allowing me to construct my sets there for the TV series.
Ken and I then left the place feeling satisfied that the location really had potential.
Before returning back to KL, we decided to stop by Kuala Selangor and check out Bukit Malawati.

The fort called Batu Hampar on Bukit Malawati.

One of the silver haired denizens on Malawati Hill.

I have never been to the historical site, and visiting it gave me some sense of how much interesting history Selangor had and that most of us either don't know about, don't care or took for granted.

VISITING JUGRA AND PAYING MY RESPECTS TO CHARACTERS IN 1870

2010-05-06T12:59:00.005+08:00

Recently, I decided to go look for possible locations for my series 1870. So far, over the last months, I have been to Kuala Linggi whilst my PM went to Temerloh to scout for locations.

That particular day, I decided to go to Jugra, Kuala Langat, in Selangor.

I felt a little strange going there because Kuala Langat was amongst one of the many locations where the actual events of the Selangor Civil War took place.

Surprisingly (especially to my wife) I have never been to that part of the world. So, since I have never been to the Selangor coast, I also decided to take the opportunity to check out Morib and Banting.

The trip took about 2 hours. A distance that is, in my books, quite far. Nevertheless, it was a pleasant trip.

Morib is an interesting little beach destination. Vastly different from Port Dickson. It even has a quaint golf course. However, there were not many areas conducive for my production needs. So I decided to check out other nearby areas, and fortunately for me, found one which was so secluded that I may consider it as a potential location.

This beach, I think it's called Pantai Kelanang (please correct me if I’m wrong), it is quite deserted and nearby was a flat open land that I could envision building old Kuala Lumpur.

Where the beach is I could build the Klang Port and maybe Kota Mahadi.

Disadvantages? Electricity. We need at least two big generators to light up the area.

But as a location for 1870, it could be ideal. However, like I said a two-hour daily drive to Morib can be strenuous for the crew and cast.

After checking out the location, I dropped by Jugra’s historical area near Permatang Pasir.

I dropped by the Royal Mausoleum where the late Almarhum Sultan Abdul Samad was buried. The Royal Mausoleum is beautiful and the atmosphere very solemn.

Around and encircling the perimeter of the Sultan’s grave, are the graves of members of his Royal household and I was surprised that many of the characters in my series 1870 were buried there including one major character – Tunku Alfah. The princess who was first engaged to Raja Mahadi and then forced to marry Tengku Kudin from Kedah at the beginning of the Civil War.

The tombstone of Al Marhumah Tunku Alfah Binti Al Marhum Sultan Abdul Samad

In my earlier research, her name has been spelled differently from Raja Arfah to Raja Atfah. However, having visited her grave in Jugra, and as written on her tombstone, I will henceforth call her Tunku Alfah.

Visiting the mausoleum gave me a strange feeling. It’s like visiting the grave of the late Sultan and paying him my respects as I am about to embark on making 1870 in which he is one of the central figures.

MAKING "PERANG KELANG" (PART TWO)

2010-04-23T14:20:00.005+08:00

We presented the storyline for 1870 based on historical research and a story arc that I thought would be interesting. This was the first presentation, so we wanted to impress Astro, because we heard that other producers who were invited to pitch for the projects went all out.

So we tried to approach the whole project like a presentation for a TV commercial, with production design research, nicely produced proposals and a little video. The presentation went without a hitch and we were told to wait for the outcome.

We waited and waited, and meanwhile, RTM announced the successful proposals for 2010 that went through a pitching process. Or proposal for a suspense-horror series entitled Detik 12 Malam was approved.

So while waiting for 1870 to be approved or rejected, we focused on producing Detik 12 Malam.

A month later, we were invited again for another presentation. This time, we had a more detailed storyline presented to Astro.

And then we waited. Meanwhile, production for Detik 12 Malam has begun in earnest.

The third presentation for Astro was an interesting one. Whilst the panel liked the project, they wanted us to focus on one character with which the story can revolve around and that figure should be Tengku Kudin.

The Video Montage Made For Presentation

Now, there are two schools of thought.

One was that Kudin was a nuisance in Selangor’s history and he was an outsider (from Kedah) who came to Selangor and caused a whole load of problems by being too pally with the British. It also seemed that he cleverly found his way into the Selangor court and wangled his way into becoming the state's Viceroy. He borrowed from many parties (including the British) to finance his unpopular war with Raja Mahadi. He also managed to Kapitan Yap Ah Loy to fight on his side. With Yap Ah Loy, the tide of the Selangor Civil War swung to his favour.
The other version was that being a Western educated person, he came to Selangor to seek his fortune and was instrumental turning Selangor into a progressive state.

He was well liked enough by the then Sultan of Selangor, Sultan Abdul Samad, that he was married to his daughter and then was offered, firstly the control of Langat, and then Klang and then the whole of Selangor as the court’s Wakil Mutlak.

I preferred the first version. However, Astro preferred the latter and after agreeing and wrote a story arc that made Tengku Kudin the protagonist in the whole incident.

The new story arc was approved by them, and as a formality, they actually asked me if somehow I could get the current Sultan of Selangor to give his stamp of approval on the story. We all feared that since the story was based on characters that involved his ancestors it would only be fair to let His Highness see the story and get his ‘royal blessing’.

That was a difficult task, but luckily I knew someone who works for Tuanku and got him to submit the proposal for His Highness’s perusal and hopefully approval.

A week later, I was surprised when I got an email that stated His Highness, the Tuanku’s wishes. In short, he didn’t like the treatment of the incident and said that Kudin shouldn’t be revered as a hero.

I quickly informed Astro and submitted a new story arc using my previous approach. However, this time, I made the political intrigue so convoluted that the characters in the incident all had their own agendas. I also created two main fictional characters whose lives are entwined with the events of the civil war, and that most of the events unfolded from their point of view.

And after all that, I got a call from Astro last week, and with a huge sigh of relief, was informed that my new story had been approved. The production has been officially 'greenlighted'.

Now, I can get my writers to start writing the story beats and the full teleplay. My production team can now finalise the locations, the production design, and begin casting the production.

It was just the beginning of a bigger adventure.

What had happened before this was the easy part. Now the difficult part begins.
Sets, costumes, casting, locations, pre-production, meals, travel, accommodation, funds, crew, creative personnel and everything need to fall in place before we begin out shoot sometime in June.

The last time I felt this way was when Astro approved my script entitled Kuala Selangor XI about ten years ago. Unfortunately, before shoot began, I left the company that was producing it. Kuala Selangor was a dream project that came true which I didn’t end up directing.

Now, I hope the disappointment of not doing Kuala Selangor will be forgotten and that 1870 will be something that I can be proud of. Something that everyone involved, from the runners, to the production supervisors, from the gaffers to the Director of Photography, from the extras to the lead actors, would be proud of.

(to be continued)

MAKING "PERANG KELANG"

2010-04-21T13:11:00.002+08:00

I will be starting a journal in this blog, of my journey in creating the 8-part historical teleseries tentatively called "1870: Setahil Timah, Segumpal Darah" (1870: A Tahil of Tin, A Clump of Blood).
I began this journey at the end of 2009, when my company, Manjafilms were invited to talk about producing some programmes for Astro. Being a small company, we entered the discussions with the usual telefilm, teleseries and serials proposals.
However, when the meeting ended we were actually offered to produce a Suatu Ketika series.
Now, to say that I was surprised and elated would be an understatement. I mean, I loved the fact that Astro was commissioning Suatu Ketika series for the industry. For once, there was a station willing to actually fund a production based on content.
That is why SK (Suatu Ketika) is currently the Jewel of Malaysian local TV.
From that slot, they have commissioned high quality dramas like Warkah Terkahir (the story of Rosly Dhoby), Tangkal Besi (fictionalised story of Botak Chin), Sybil (the story of Sybil Karthigesu) (which was something I dearly wanted to do) and Dendam Kesuma (the story of Tun Fatimah).
I was offered a few subjects, but the one that caught my eye was the Klang Civil War (also known as the Selangor Civil War) of 1864-1873. This particular incident, if you guys are still familiar with our history, involved many interesting personalities - two of which are very very important - Raja Mahadi and Tengku Kudin.
I immediately went into research mode which I love doing. Went to libraries and book stores grabbing everything and anything about that incident and era. Also scoured the net for third party research and information.
The incident or the civil war was a massive event that turned the course of history drastically, especially for Selangor. It began in 1863 and ended just seven years later.
The war began in Klang, continued to Kuala Selengor, to Kuala Lumpur and ended with the final battle in Rawang.
It also involved another colorful character - Kapitan Yap Ah Loy.
Without Yap Ah Loy's involvement in the affair, Tengku Kudin would have lost the war to Raja Mahadi, and maybe would have delayed the British interference in the Malays states by a few decades.
Thousands died in the civil war. Warlords who were rich before the war, became paupers after. The British who were, in my opinion, manipulating Kudin, gained the most mileage in the whole affair. At the end of the war, they intimidated the Selangor court so much that the Sultan had to acquiesce to British intervention, and hence the creation of the British Resident's post in the Selangor government in 1875 or so.
I also discovered many interesting items that happened in the war including the Kanching massacre, the fact that the Kapitan China was a post that holds his subjects' (the chinese) lives and death in his hands, and the debut of rocket warfare in the Malay States (that ended the war).
There was also the tragic incident of the British imposing their might on the legal system during that time. Twelve innocent men were accused of piracy and were executed after a sham trial by the British. Sadly, the Sultan had to abide by the decision and even offered the use of his kris to execute the 'guilty' men. Even Frank Swettenham in his writings confirmed the innocence of those tried.
The Selangor Civil War is a massive historical event, and a massive production if I were to undertake it but it is a challenge that I welcome as a producer, writer and director.
After the research had been done, including research on costumes, production design and stuff, I wrote a rough treatment or storyline for the series.
Completed a full proposal and submitted. Hoping for the best, and expecting the worse.
(To be continued....)