The Edge Financial Daily
In Conversation:
Lights, Camera, Action!
Written by Anandhi Gopinath
Monday, 24 May 2010 00:00
Our commercial and independent filmmakers are as different as
they come. Yet their quest is the same — to tell Malaysian stories.
Veteran actor/producer/director Hans Isaac and up-and-coming indie
filmmaker Deepak Menon give us a clear picture of what separates the
work they do, the art of storytelling, the many challenges they face in
telling the Malaysian story and the not-so-bright future they see for
local cinema.
Malaysia has had quite a successful commercial film industry
for many years now. The past decade, however, has seen a burgeoning
independent film industry that has been winning multiple awards in film
festivals all over the world. As different as they are, both our
commercial and indie films have a similar purpose: to tell Malaysian
stories.
Veteran actor/producer/director Hans Isaac and up-and-coming
indie filmmaker Deepak Menon come from opposite ends of the spectrum
yet share many similarities in their filmmaking quest, most importantly
to express themselves and seek acceptance of their creative
self-expression.
They share with us their thoughts on making movies for the
Malaysian audience, their experiences and hope for the future.
Anandhi Gopinath: Let’s start with this question: what exactly is a Malaysian movie or a Malaysian story?
Hans Issac: It’s movies about what we know. It’s
about not putting boundaries, saying I don’t have to make what has
always been made. If it’s a very normal script that I get, I would
accept this half but I would ask them to tweak it, but don’t do it the
way their market wants it. What’s the hook of your story? Then, you
must put the hook in a clever, compelling context.
When I put together Cuci, the goal was to show the access to
opportunity no matter where you come from. Don’t be lazy, take the
opportunity and something good will come of it. Even if you don’t
succeed, you’re still further from where you started.
Deepak Menon: I think all stories — fictional,
narrative or history — are an experience shared. The vision of the
writer’s writings, the director’s visuals and the music composer’s
rhythm pass through the audience’s mind for interpretation. The value
of that experience is perceived by the audience, which is then guided by
their belief systems, attitudes, acceptable community customs, past
experiences, perception of reality and even their sensitivity to the
subject matter.
As Malaysians, we are exposed to many sets of culture and
belief systems due to our rich demographic cultural density and vast
historical origins. So capturing tacit knowledge becomes an important
ingredient for originality.
As a storyteller, the challenge is then to identify the most
common and mundane experiences and share and deliver them in a less
forceful and intimidating manner. Subtlety, sensitivity, respect and
community responsibility play important roles in a country like ours.
Remember, Asian cultures encourage the use of less offensive written,
verbal and non-verbal communication methods.
The perception is that international content should copy
Hollywood and Bollywood content as they seem very successful. But you
have to realise that they are successful because they promote original
storytelling that focuses on the development of their national content.
A Malaysian story has to be reflective of and responsive to
the uniqueness of the integrated Malaysian culture, social cultural
environment and the business environment, support the national agenda,
represent the people’s voices, and at the same time, contribute to the
national content and talent industry and strive to promote shared
values internationally.
Deepak, your two movies, Chemman Chaalai and Chalanggai, were really
good and successful too. It’s a big deal for a filmmaker, especially an
independent one, to start off his career with not one but two
successful movies. How did you do that?
Deepak: I was in television before and to a certain
extent, I’ve tried to carry my experience into filmmaking and integrate
it. I’ve been carrying cables for a long time — since I was 10 because
my dad was in production too. That, plus my observations of the
industry … I’m also in film education, that’s my first qualification. My
second qualification is in business administration. I also write for
academic journals.
I also tried to solve a problem in the industry. The problem I saw
was that there was no Indian content! Absolutely none. I looked at this
and wondered why people weren’t making any Indian movies. So I met
filmmakers from the older generation, like Datuk L Krishnan ... they
all told me not to do it. Even those filmmakers making Chinese and
Malay movies, they said don’t do it or I will go bankrupt. I took that
as a challenge and decided to do it.
The first problem was that there was no local Tamil movie
industry to speak of. No talent, no nothing. When you think about
India’s Tamil movie industry, they have Rajinikanth and that sort of
star power. I didn’t have that here. But I used that as an advantage by
reversing the entire order of producing a commercial movie. I targeted
50 to 70-year-olds, and the cinemas told me, no way will old people
come and buy tickets. That fell on deaf ears. I also changed the
screenplay — nothing like what the Indian filmmakers do. I cast
ordinary people in the roles and the cinematography was against the norm
too. If you want to break the rules, know them well and break them
totally — no halfway business.
I pushed things to the limit with
Chemman Chaalai and we went
against Finas when they rejected the film because they said: ‘Kamu
mencemarkan budaya Malaysia.’ This was back in 2005. But the movie was
finally released.
Why did Finas reject it initially?
Hans: The guidelines were not
clear. I am on the board of the producers’ association of Malaysia.
We’ve been working on these guidelines for a while now. That’s why they
suddenly said rempits are okay and protesting is okay. We were shooting
blindly before and then suddenly we’re told we cannot show this — we
can’t go back and reshoot everything.
We’ve never had guidelines because no one was brave enough to
put these guidelines down and say, ‘Yes, I think these are good
guidelines and let’s put them down.’ You can’t expect the ministry to do
this; they will vet what’s already there. Someone has to do it, and we
have it now.
Do you think Malaysian audiences get the point of your movies?
Hans: Well I get the point because my movies are straight up and direct (laughs).
Deepak: For me, it’s not a problem … I go for a lot
of screenings and weird stuff and I find that any form of art and
expression has its audience somehow. People do like my movies and the
people I reach out to do enjoy what I make, so it’s great.
Hans: You’ll always have the problem of audiences
not quite getting it. Some people will say ‘teruklah’. Some people will
say ‘it’s okay’. And some will say, ‘man, I loved it’. Question is,
who is your market and are you happy with what you’ve said. That’s most
important.
Pick one major positive of the evolution of the commercial movie industry.
Hans: It allowed a guy like me, with no vision for
filmmaking, to make a movie. And that’s very hard. I knew nothing about
movies and I didn’t go to film school. I was acting for years and I
sat with editors and directors and I worked my way up. I was an extra, I
‘tapaued’ food and I waited for my time. It allowed me to come here
from nothing. I’m a hospitality management grad. How the hell am I
making movies?
Content-wise … well, if someone makes a movie that makes RM7
million, people will quickly do the same thing. We should do that. Make
a movie based on a passion you have, get it out of your system, then
move on. But direct it when you’re ready.
How has content developed in the indie film industry? And how do you form your own content?
Deepak: To be independent, one must not be
dependent. There is a need for constant innovation. Innovation here is
not only in content creation, but also in the business process,
operational process, regulatory system, media innovation, distribution
channels, exhibition channels, working structures and, most
importantly, financial strategies.
Technology has played a vital role in democratising the
creative industry to be able to compete globally. Unlike the
traditional filmmaking dictatorial industry, a filmmaker today is
capable of dreaming big dreams. While independent filmmakers are
limited by their environmental constraints, they have an opportunity to
explore and develop strong working models that these slow-moving media
giants can only dream of. Small is beautiful and flexibility has
become the key.
So yes lah, the content creation process in the independent
filmmaking scene is less confined by the capitalist structures but
driven towards personal actualisation and community development in
building a strong foundation and pushing back the boundaries for future
content opportunities and exploration.
In developing my content … well, I leverage opportunities
that I see. This is my talent, these are my capabilities, but there are
also four factors I always look at: the attractiveness of a story, its
durability, its timeliness and if there is a value-added factor. I am a
family filmmaker, so nothing too scandalous. I am also a subtle
filmmaker — I don’t attack anyone or anything, I’m liberal and I let
the audience consume what they want in a movie.
The perception of the public — the non-filmmaking crowd — is that
commercial filmmakers are only after the money while indie filmmakers
are after the creative aspect of filmmaking.
Hans: You have Deepak’s kind of filmmaking and you
have my kind, and they are both very different and cater for two
different markets. But if we go from this side of the fence to the other
side, the strategy changes radically. It’s about marketing, about
money and about business.
Every indie director wants to make a commercial film. They
have access to money to be able to shoot on different formats, live
sounds, really good actors, and the colour grading is better.
Deepak: Filmmaking incorporates a set of
creative processes that strategically integrate most, if not all,
entertainment industry challenges and transform them into opportunities.
Producers, writers, directors, dancers, actors, musicians, visual
artists, financiers, distributors, marketers, exhibitors, managerial
crews and technical crews come together in a shared vision to transform
their aspirations, talents and ideas into a tangible product. And most
of the time, there is a borderless crossover effort between commercial
and independent artists.
For sustainable growth and to be able to continue producing
film works, positive consumption and financial returns from works are
inevitable. The difference here is just the working model. The flexible
independent filmmaking model enables filmmakers to focus on key issues
and aspects that so-called commercial films are restrained from
exploring.
There is a desperate need for academics, industry
practitioners and government regulatory bodies to re-evaluate
current industry standards. The audiences are limited to consuming what
is available. It is the responsibility of the providers to promote the
right content to ensure the growth of the national industry.
Would you ever do an indie film?
Hans: Of course! But I won’t spend RM1.8
million on it. I would shoot differently. I would downscale everything
and shoot with what we’ve got. One van with everything in it, minimum
production team, and the story would be about four people only. No
scene with plenty of extras, then I will edit it in my office. I would
consider doing this for sure, as long as I have a strong storyline.
A commercial movie takes 35, 40 days to shoot and it’s a huge
battalion of people. This huge convoy … my, it’s mental. I’d rather
not shoot like that. I’d like to pile everyone in a van and just go and
shoot and tell my story. But then again, if everyone in Malaysia
watched this movie, it would become a commercial success because it
made money.
So you mean the difference between commercial and independent movies is really only the money?
Hans: It comes down to that, definitely.
Deepak: I’ve won awards as an alternative
filmmaker, a digital filmmaker, an indie filmmaker … they keep
putting me in boxes. For me, it’s simple — as long as you have a
business model and you want to make profits, you have to close shop if
that model doesn’t work for you. There is a saying — rich people care
about what food looks like, the middle class cares about how many
portions at the same price, and the poor want to know if it can keep
for a week. When you are working with scarce resources, you learn how
to work with what you have and how to make it stretch.
Independent only really means you’re not dependent on
anything. No one is there for you and when you fall, you fall on your
own.
Hans: I self-fund, but I have backers, so
that means I’m not independent. And I pay two actors as much as
Deepak’s entire budget. The process of making the film is pretty much
the same; it’s just the different budgets and limitations we work with.
Okay, let’s call them mainstream and underground movies then. What else separates the two?
Hans: When it comes to content, there is a
great responsibility towards the money that’s put into a movie. When
you have RM150,000 in the shape of a grant, the responsibility is less.
But for me, when the money comes from my own pocket or my investor’s
pocket, the responsibility is greater.
Studios have the best process to create a good story. They
will fund nine commercial movies a year and the 10th will be given to
an indie director. We’ll let this indie guy do what the hell he wants to
do and see if it works. Bigger studios can’t take that risk because
the board of directors will say, ‘no, we want 10 commercial movies’.
It depends on the people on top, whether they are willing to
take the risk and say, ‘guys, don’t worry, make an indie movie and do
what you will with it. Even if it flops, don’t worry, you won’t lose
your job’. That’s how Hollywood does it — they make several commercial
movies per year and then there’s one that they fund for the heck of
it. Studios here don’t think like that. They want all 10 movies to be
successful in the same way. No risk, no ‘jalan depan’ — it’s that
simple.
How do you see the future of the film industry here?
Hans: I think it’s going to be stagnant.
This is it. There might be one film that comes along, it will be
successful, and that’s it. It’s unfortunate.
Deepak: American films are the highest
grossing in the world. Next is India. Now it is Nollywood — the
Nigerian film industry. They came up because there wasn’t a structure
they had to work with, so they just happened. Thailand, Indonesia and
Singapore — they all have very structured film industries. Look at how
they have penetrated our market! But we can’t penetrate their market
because of the limitations we’ve set ourselves creatively.
Hans: Put it this way, Malaysian cinema is
predominantly Malay cinema. Malays watch Malay films. Chinese don’t
watch them, Indians don’t watch them either. Chinese films? Chinese
watch them, Indians watch them, and Malays watch them.
Deepak: We’re limited by the language, but it’s not just the language. It’s the stereotypical stories that people are bored with.
Hans: [The late] Yasmin [Ahmad] made
beautiful stories. But did they sell? Remember Sepet? You put a hero
dying at the end, people watch it once and that’s it. But if the hero
lives, it’s a great thing. But who says that is what actually happens?
We need to start telling real stories and we need to start accepting
them too.
This article appeared in Options, the lifestyle pullout of The Edge Malaysia, Issue 807, May 24-30, 2010
