BILIK NO. 13 - NEWS FROM THE SET

I'm actually blogging this from an oil palm plantation near Kuala Pilah where we are shooting the first few episodes of Bilik No. 13. We began last Sunday and we are now into our sixth day of shooting. As usual production began with some teething problems because of our delayed starts.
The weather has been kind to us except for yesterday evening when it rained for about three hours.
We are currently shooting our Harimau Jadian episode and have two more days to go before starting on Kereta Mayat.
Enough said. For our fans, I will post some pics from the set in the next few days. Hope you find them interesting and keep your interest in the series which should be on air in June this year.
Will blog more from location as have now got internet access through the magic of 3G donggles.

CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Sometimes, the worse thing about production (TV and/or film) is the waiting. Waiting for the funding to be in place, waiting for artistes, waiting for the set up to be ready, waiting for the weather to clear, waiting for the sunset, waiting for the catering, waiting for inspiration, waiting for the whole damn thing to complete, waiting for QC approval from RTM, waiting for TX dates and finally waiting for payments.
This week was one of those weeks. Waiting for our drawdown to fund Bilik No. 13 has taken a toll on me. Production has been on hold for nearly two weeks, but alhamdullillah we should be able to move to location tomorrow and start shoot on Saturday.
We were hoping for some payment from RTM for previous products, but we are still waiting (hmmm there's a rumor going round that the Government is tightening its belt and payments to suppliers (including producers) will be soon at a trickle (meaning you'll be lucky to get payments within two months of receiving invoicing - so much for ePerolehan payments made in two weeks). The spectre of global recession on everybody's mind, late payments of a year may once again be the norm. Let's us pray and hope for the best.
Mom and Dad have been in Janda Baik for nearly a week already. They said they miss the place. Don't think Janda Baik is as nice as it once used to be and with the recent rains - the place actually floods! My Dad is also not too keen on cold nights these days, so I hope he keeps himself warm.
On the family scene, my number two son is bored as he is spending his semester break now. I think he has seen most of the movies in town and is waiting for the summer blockbusters to start - and I think that begins with Iron Man in a couple of weeks time.
I caught Daniel Lee's Three Kingdoms at the Curve Cineleisure Complex yesterday to pass the time and relax. As epics come, it is up there with the rest of the Chinese biggies, and surprisingly Maggie Q played her role quite well (this means, less dialogue more action!). But it' s the two leads - Andy Lau and Sammo Hung that carried the picture to its bloody climax. It was also heartening to see old favourite Ti Lung.
Well, I hope there's internet link or access in Kuala Pilah, cause I'll be there most of the time for about a month - making something to scare you guys during the lonely nights of June and July. Cheers!

WEEK OF UPS AND DOWNS

The week started badly for me. I went down to Kuala Pilah and Sri Menanti to check out potential locations for my series Bilik No 13. There to greet me and take me to the sites were Sri Menanti residents Annuar and Tengku Lynn (who is my Production Manager).
Our first stop was to check out the oil palm estates - a location for my season opening episode "Harimau Jadian". Immediately after that I went to a kampung house situated near a hillock that was being cleared. I happen to be attracted to this unusual clump of trees (about four of them) in the middle of an already cleared area.
As I neared it, I realised that there were two pieces of rocks jutting out from the ground in the middle of these trees.

The gravestones of YAMTuan Hitam. Picture taken minutes before I fell and hurt my ankle by the roadside about 30 meters from this site.

When I came back to the waiting car, I asked Annuar what the rock formation was - it looked like an old grave. Annuar told me that it was the grave of YamTuan Hitam...an infamous character from the past. Yikes! I had gone walking to a 'tempat keras' without giving my salams! And at that precise moment, I tripped and sprained my already bad left ankle. I fell hard on the ground, smashing my SLR's protective LCD glass. The glass shards cut my left palm. But the excruciating pain of my ankle being twisted was just out of this world. I nearly passed out but the makcik who was in the house where we parked our cars, called me in to lie down whilst she massaged my rapidly swelling ankle. She told me I should have 'beri salam' as it had just turned noon.
The rest of the day saw me sitting quietly in my car as I ordered my son, Abadi, to shoot more pictures of other locations. I couldn't walk without tears coming out of my ears.
A couple of hours later we decided to call it a day as I couldn't really function well. The next day, I went to Assunta for some XRays. Luckily there were no fractures, but the soft tissues were badly traumatised...hehehe. So - no golf again for TWO months...keep the weight off my ankle as much as possible, some pain killing pills and anti-inflammation tablets and I have to once again wear my ankle splints. Bummer!
So I had to postpone the shoot of Bilik No. 13 to next week Monday. Hopefully, it would have healed enough for me to at least be able to walk around in short stints. To fans of the series, we will be shooting around Kuala Pilah town (the Rest House area) and various spots in and around Sri Menanti. Don't be a stranger. Drop by and say hi.
The good news for the week? Liverpool beat Arsenal 4-2 at Anfield yesterday!! Yes...now we meet Chelsea in the semi-finals.
Another piece of good news - Wendy's burgers are in town! My favourite burgers are back in KL!!! Yeay!! It's been months since I last had one in Jakarta (yes, I do rush to Wendy's whenever I'm in Jakarta) but now I don't have to. My favorite half-pounder is in town!!! And no they did not pay me to say all these things about their burgers k??!!
Here's my list of favourite burger joints: Joint first: Wendy's and White Castle (Jakarta and US of A).

Can some rich soul please bring back White Castle to Malaysia PLEASE!!!!!

In second place: Hotshots Burgers(Jakarta and the Philippines) In third place: Jackson's burgers in Section 14 PJ (go try the crab burgers!) In fourth place: Mike's burgers (In Thailand) In fifth place: Hard Rock Cafe Burgers (all over the world). Worst burgers I've ever tasted or burgers not worth the money you pay for it - The Daily Grind in Bangsar.

MORE OBITS AND RUMOURS

Yikes!!!! It's been like two weeks since I last blogged! So many things happened in these two weeks. During that time I quit my Exec Director's position in my Second Board company and as Director from my IT company which does E-Government stuff.
So with that out of my way, I have to (for the time being) concentrate on making Manjafilms the boutique production house it is meant to be. So last week, we started shooting Dapur Bujang's second season and by next week, Insya'llah (if funding falls into place) we start shooting the second season of Bilik No. 13 - the Prequel!
Now that will take two months out of my life - and we've got a deadline to meet - early June! I hope the fans won't be disappointed with the timing - but trust me the wait will be worth it, really!!
On a more sombre note - more sad news (a friend mentioned that my blog is getting to be more like an obit column). Al Fatihah to comedienne Yusni Jaafar, of a long ailment and liver failure. She was 63. Most fans of Malay comedy would know of her during her heyday in the 80s working alongside other top comedians. Of recent, before her health declined, she took on more serious roles as the typical Malay mom or grandmom in TV serials. Her daughter Raja Emma was once a top star acting in my mom's debut film Mawar Merah in the mid 80s.
Another acquaintance in the film industry also passed away. A one time film producer and director Dato Yuzwan Wahid, 51, (Antara Gadis (1993) dan Sama Tak Serupa (1995)), passed away after suffering from a chronic illness (not details) in Shah Alam a few days back.
I had just returned from a four day golf trip to hot (as in temperature lah) Chiengmai when Yusni passed away.
Meanwhile, I am still rushing to finish and polish the teleplays for Bilik No 13. Time is running out and my daily battles with the powers that be at SME Bank is giving me sleepless nights.

BACK TO THE KITCHEN

Today, we start the shoot for the second season of our little hit cooking show Dapur Bujang. The cooking series was created to fill a void in the local cooking show scene. Whilst most cooking shows teach viewers elaborate dishes, Dapur Bujang was specifically created for the young who just wants to know how to cook simple quick dishes. The show doesn't assume that everyone is a budding chef - instead we assume that not every even knows how to cook rice, fry eggs or even know the names of vegetables.
The first season was aired unannounced but word of mouth made it a minor hit, so much so that RTM immediately repeated the first series after it ended its run. Lucky for us, the series, even in its second run, became a bigger hit. We were then told to shoot a new 13-episode series, with the same young Chef - Iskandar (pic), who, it seems, now have quite a following amongst young female viewers.

Chef Iskandar of Dapur Bujang (Bachelor's Kitchen)

This is not the first cooking show I helmed. In fact, my first even TV series was a cooking show - Kuali - which I created for TV3 way back in 83. It was the first in-house magazine type production for TV3. Being a big fan of a cult TV cooking show called The Galloping (hosted by Graham Kerr if I remember correctly ) I decided to create a local cooking show that would travel the whole country looking for unique local cuisine created by master Chefs.
I selected a rather beautiful Nazliah Hamid to host the show and it became a hit and went on to become one of TV3's longest running shows. I left the show after one season - after I was asked to created another woman's programme. I created and produced Nona (which went on to become the longest running TV3 programme - I think it has been on air longer than Majallah TV3).
Sitting in the director's chair for Dapur Bujang 2 will be Thorpe Ali, who also directed most of the first season's episodes. I opted out of directing the second season because of my commitment to helm our other TV series Bilik No. 13 which will begin lensing next week.
It's going to be a long April month for me and my team. But I hope the fans of both Dapur Bujang and Bilik No. 13 will be patient with us as we prepare to complete the two series as fast as we possibly can.

60 - Not Out! Happy Birthday Tunku Imran

Today is YAM Tunku Tan Sri Imran's 60's birthday. Over a hundred of his family members and friends celebrated his 60th birthday party at the Palace of Golden Horses last night. I was there as a friend of the family and came with Melvin Rodrigo (Tunku Imran's brother -in-law). There were too many dignitaries to mention, but amongst them include Dato Tony Fernandez (Mr Air Asia) and Dato Ali Kadir. But it was the video tribute (created by Tunku Imran's lovely wife Che Engku Puan Sri Mahirah or Moira to friends) that took the cake. The who's who of world cricket and squash recorded their wishes to Tunku Imran. They include cricket greats Arvinda Singh, Sunil Gavaskar, Sir Gary Sobers, Malaysian world number one squash champion Nicole Davids and Malaysia's sprint legend Dr Jegathesan. AND the last celebrity to appear on the video tribute was ELTON JOHN!!!

It was a great party for a great guy who just loves sports (Tunku Imran was the national squash champion in 1973). Happy Birthday Tunku Pete - excellent knock - 60 n0t out!!

I would also like to take this opportunity to also wish two very good friends (who were also there at the party) a very Happy Birthday - Ivan Rodrigo (who is Moira's brother) who celebrated his birthday a few days back and Colin Pereira (of Olympia College) whose birthday is on Monday. Best wishes you guys!

Al-Fatihah Buat Jalil Ngah

Another friend, Jalil Ngah, elder brother to songwriter Manan Ngah, passed away at age 51 yesterday of heart failure. Fifty one is just too young for anyone to leave the world. He was one of my first art directors in TV3. We were all young TV3 pioneers trying to make a difference in TV land in the early 80s - trying to be different from RTM. He first worked with me on Nona. He was a consummate professional and a great guy.
Below it the news in Bahasa Malaysia about his passing;

KUALA LUMPUR: Pengarah Kreatif AVXS Sdn Bhd, Abd Jalil Ngah, 51, meninggal dunia kira-kira jam 7.30 pagi ini di Institut Jantung Negara (IJN). Beliau yang disahkan menghidap sakit jantung, dikebumikan di Tanah Perkuburan Islam, Masjid Siti Khadijah, Pantai Dalam, Kuala Lumpur. Jalil yang cukup sinonim dengan bidang produksi konsert, sistem pencahayaan dan rekaan pentas dikenali ramai yang terbabit secara langsung dalam produksi dan pengurusan konsert sejak 20 tahun lalu. Idea dan kreativiti beliau banyak digunakan ketika persembahan konsert mega Search dan Wings di era 80 dan 90-an. Beliau yang aktif di bidang seni sejak 1957 sehingga 2008, merupakan abang kepada komposer terkenal, Manan Ngah dan adik kepada kartunis Fatah Ngah (siri kartun Lagak A Mamud, Majalah Gila-Gila). Video klip Isabella dari Search antara hasil sentuhan Jalil Ngah ketika mula berjinak dalam bidang pengarahan.