Hi all,

I am getting pretty excited after all the encouraging words from all the nice people around here, and have been doing some thinking.

Many has said that dv is great, and we are only waiting for the right 'person' to come out with a great idea and do something great on it to let dv have a greater impact in the filmmaking industry.

So i'd like to know, is it possible, if most of us here, who's so dedicated to film making to get together and do something big?
Most of us have been getting funding etc, and do films by ourselves. What if we can pool all our resources together, ie funding , human skills etc into one single film project?

I am saying this because the people in the filmmaking business in my country is really incompetitive. Thats why you never hear or see anything from my country before. Those movies that get into local cinema release are bad, etc.
And this, can actually work to our advantage. I was thinking of perhaps , those of us who can, come and gather in a country, and do a full feature film together.

My country, Malaysia is quite suitable for that i think due to a number of factors.

1) There are lack of competition here, unlike hollywood , japan and other countries. And if we can do something better than most of the local films, (which i am sure we will) we stand a high chance of getting them release in the local cinema in my country, and can be promoted to nearby countries such as Singapore etc later.

2) Cost of living over here is pretty cheap compared to US or Japan. You only need around 350U$ to rent a house which can accomodate 6 persons, which means 1 person only need to spend 50+ USD a month for accommadation. If including meals, transportation etc, it may cost at most 150 USD per month.

3) We'll most likely get coverage from the local press, as something like this happening in my country can be considered as a very big event, therefore we can get free publicity.

I'll draw up a more detailed proposal, if you guys think that its possible. Tell me what you think. I mean there will be lots of hassle in doing this, but I believe that its possible. And with the expertise gathered around the world, I am sure we can do something big.

Just want to add this.
Even when the project does not turn out to be good enough for local release, it'll still be a very good experience. Especially when we can take this opportunity to meet independent filmmakers around the world.

Michael, if I wasn't married, could quit my day job afford to travel to Malaysia, I'd be there in a heartbeat! I'll bet you can find a number of similar souls right there in your backyard though.

;-)

erm quiting your job to come here may be a bit too much, especially when you are already in the film/video line :(

How bout asking John's advice so that we can all persuade our employers to give us a few months leave to do something like this?

I sure hope that most of you think that this is possible, as it will be really great. And i sure would like to work with you, Chris, and learn from you and the others. Perhaps you may find a way or something. *Prays hard that my proposal would work*

I would go to the US or other countries, but the cost of living is just too high for me. I could not last for more than a week from my current financial status :(
I could arrange all the accomodations, etc for all if the proposal could work ....

Michael,

Wish I could get several months leave! But that wasn't the case. I just convinced my company to let me integrate DV into my job. There wasn't any learning time...it was definitely a learn on the fly experience.

I like Robert Rodriguez' philosophy about starting out in film/video. He says you can pretty much guarantee that your first efforts are going to suck...so you might as well get those first ones under your belt as quickly as possible. So instead of belaboring one year on a first project, crank out as many small ones as possible in the beginning and work to improve each time.

I'm not recommending you do anything drastic...you gotta keep food in the fridge...but then listen to the other guys advice and start doing freebies to gain experience...and set a goal to knock out a certain number in your first year.

And who knows? Maybe you CAN convince your company to let you do something...even with accounting! Every office needs training films...if not for the accountants...then for the clerical staff, receptionists, etc. Or how about taping directions to your office and adding it to your company's web site? Or how about taping a message from the CEO to put on your company's web site? Got a convention coming up? Tape it, edit it, and send it to the big wigs. There are always opportunities...you just have to go find them.

Here's a thought Michael- Try applying your knowledge of the area to do some mock documentarys. Not only would you get the experience from doing it, but you might even be able to sell the idea to Discovery or TLC. I know that the local culture is very rich, as is the wildlife and eco system.

If nothing else, you should have fun while doing it!
Good luck

Malaysia has all kinds of interesting stuff for you to shoot. You've got Rahmadan and the guys with crazy stuff stuck in their faces, Chinese guys and the hot Japanese cars, crazy monkeys, beautiful sunsets, the list goes on.

First you should go out and shoot as much as you can an then edit it together and make your own Malaysia documentary. I'd love to see it, it will bring back so great memories of the good times I had there.

You can do it all on your days off. Before embarking on anything big, get as much experience as you can.

You guys are rite. I just wanted to know whether its possible to do that . I don't plan to do anything that big at the moment too. But if its possible, we may be able to do it after a while when everything settle downs for everybody :) And i'll try to gain as much experience as possible at the moment and will need lotsa advice.


There will be a local film festival coming soon in sept over here, so i'll just try to think for some ideas, and shoot as much as possible for experience.

Again, any more input will be appreciated. Its been very beneficial for me these few days after reading all the replies :))

Michael, I live in Singapore and would love to explore ideas with you.

I'm American and have been here for 4 years. I'm mostly an actor (Suria, MediaCorp and an upcoming 90 min Malay movie for Astro) but I'm working with a producer and we do some of our own projects from time to time.

We use a PD 100 with Avid and I'm about to buy an XM1, so we're all on DV.

I have a few scripts and a lot of ideas.

Contact me at andrew@ambitiouspleasure.com

I'm pretty much all freelance and I'd be open to go down there to shoot something. For now I'm tied up with things up until September. Let me know. If anything, it'll be a nice work "vacation" and my wife wouldn't mind at all.

Sounds awesome. I would go over there in a heartbeat. It all depends on you though. You need to get a good script and some distribution in line, then start asking for money/help. But you are in the right place!

OK, everyone who wants to come to Singapore/Malaysia send me your email addresses. I will be free in about August/September, but in the meantime we can figure out what each of our interests/strenghts are, and I can offer my script/documentary ideas. I also have a few very good contacts in Malaysian tv (Astro).

So far, it looks like there are at least four of us.

-Patro

keep me posted. I would like to see what you have in mind. dwbull@cox.net

I can't tell you how excited i am with all the interests around here.

I think it's best that we do some of the preproduction work etc b4 we get started.

Patro_sg has mentioned that he has some ideas for script, perhaps those of us who has good ideas can give us a synopsis of their script? And then we could vote for the best script and start some brain storming etc.

I'll contact the star newspaper ( the most established newspaper) in my country and see whether they are interested in covering our progress. I'd say our production shall only start after september (so that we have enough time for preproduction)or so or latest by early next year, but most importantly, we need to decide on the date where most of us are free.

And bout funding, I am not sure bout it, since its pretty hard to get funds from my country. Nevertheless, I'll start approaching companies and see whether they are interested in sponsoring or not.

I am using an XL1s at the moment..
And if we could get more people joining, i think most likely the star newspaper will be interested in having the first hand news on our progress. Not that sure though but i'll start making contacts with press once the number of people are confirmed.
Any more ideas for the project will be much appreciated.

And i can be contacted at outward_b@hotmail.com

p/s : Patro, could you get in touch with astro for sponsorings etc either in equipment or funds/publicity?

I am not to knowledgable with Malaysian law, but be sure to handle this project carefully. At least be certain of who gets paid and how and when. Instead of going to the star go see about distribution. Find out how you plan on getting your picture out, and find out about limited Liability Partnerships. It is very important to handle the business side of your production along with the creative side so everyone wins. What are most movies in Malaysia made for? How much, what do they look like, where are they seen (video, theaters, TV) will we shoot in english or the native language. These all must be answered in pre-production. If the project is looking good We can find some funding here in America. Most pictures here cost millions. If we can make one for 10,000 and make 100,000 in a forign country, you could have American Investors killing to give us money. Thanks.

Thanks for the advice..
Where are you from by the way?

I'll get more info on the law side. At the moment, I would like to see how many people are interested/confirmed so that we have an idea of what type of skills/experiences/equipment that will be available.

Movies in Malaysia are made for cinema release, mostly straight to video/tvs. There are not too many good movies produced locally here, thats why even if they got screened locally, they couldnt penetrate the foreign market. They are some minorities which do though.
We'll definitely shoot in English so that we can reach out to more audiences and most cinemagoers in my country understands english. Most of the films shown in our local cinema are from Hollywood and Hong Kong, a few from local production co.

And bout who gets paid etc, it will depend on the amount of money we are able to make from it. I think all these needs to be written in black and white if possible.
At the moment, i think we'll use the profits made (if we make any) to cover our expenses incurred, and for some of the people participating, and the rest be distributed to those who have provide us the funds.
We need to sort this out together...

Here are some things the group should think about:

- Consider only projects that can be shot with as little gear as possible.
- Think about shooting "dogma" style, as little props as possible, no special fx, what have you. Simple is good. Let the script shine.
- First things first, choose a story. Then we'll know what we have to work with.

At this point we don't need to inventory gear. Assume you have every basic need, camera, tripod, lights etc. Mostly because we should just figure out what kind of story we should tell.

Here are my thoughts:

Work in two threads, the Malaysian production, and the US (or everywhere else) production. Here's the good part. I believe the story should be about a fish out of water. A person who travels to Mayalsia for one reason (or doesn't care to go) but finds that he learns about himself and through his unexpected adventures in a foreign land.

Almost think of this as an adventure, we don't know how all this might work out, we'll probably never get to meet each other before we actually get to Malaysia. So think of how real (cinema verite) a lot of our story can be, filming the airport, the flight, the arrival, etc. Think about how two or more actors might come together and like or hate each other when they meet? What would that bring?

It all sounds like a chaotic process, but without a lot of pre-production and money, it will be chaotic, might as well shoot the chaos. It could even be about a small film production trying to film a movie and the things that happen a long the way.

What is power like in Malaysia? PAL or NTSC?

I am from California. I think that most of the people of this board have most the equipment you need to make a dv feature (be it editing, cameras, mics, EXPERIANCE, etc) So what I would look into is getting a small production budget that will cover expenses of traveling to Malaysia, and living for a couple months. That way, all the equipment is available and so is the crew. In return we get points on the backend. (i.e. movie grosses 100,000 dollars-it cost 10,000 to make-everybody who worked on the picture gets 5-10% of 90,000 dollars) I mean, you work all that out before hand and get contracts signed but that could be one way. The key, I believe, is to come up with an original entertaining script. Cause going to movies should be fun! What kind of censorship issues exist in Malaysia? What Kind of movies do really well? What kind of locations exist close by? How much would actors cost? I am just trying to get an idea of what type of film we should be looking into. Believe me, if this pans out it could be really cool.

Why don't you give us your e-mail so we can discuss this more?

We are using PAL system in Malaysia.

One good thing about shooting in Malaysia is this. Most of the local productions are very low budget type :)
The most expensive movies i've heard of perhaps cost around 300k US dollar. It was one of the best produced locally, and I think it was screened in Singapore as well.
Patro, you might heard this movie before, it's called Spinning Gasing.

And even if we can't get them to local cinema, we may still be able to get them to broadcast in tv, since those that gets into tvs is even much lower in budget.

Minimum props, equipment etc for you guys may be considered high tech for my country hehe. The censorship board will be kinda strict, especially on violence/sex/religions content which I think we won't focus too much on. I'll try to get the guideline if possible.
As to what type of movies do really well.. I can say this. Promotion plays the most important factor here. It doesnt really matter what type of movies. Some movies really sucks, and thanks to the extreme promotion, many people will go and watch not knowing that it's not good.

As to locations, there are lots of pretty good locations around. Perhaps you could check out www.malaysia.com for all the good locations etc :)

And as to how much an actor cost, if cost really matters, i'd suggest that we promote this in colleges etc and get students to volunteer. We can do an audition for this, and let them know that we can only pay them if we make a profit. There may be some students who are willing to do them for free.

Students doing Australian programmes will have a 3 months break from November till February. Perhaps we can target this group. Therefore, we can have a pretty low cost movie with free crews, and put our funds on other aspects.

The main thing now is the funds. I think it'll be better to get funds from UK or US, since our currency here is much smaller.

Perhaps we could exchange email?
Mine is outward_b@hotmail.com
I have MSN too.
I hope that more people will join us, as i think that if we could get more people from other countries to get involve, chances of the press covering our story will be bigger.

First:

We're all assuming that this proposed production should be a movie (film). Let's not rule out other options, too. Some of these are:

-TV movie
-Documentary
-Travelogue
-Eposidic programmes (which could entail any of the above, as well as anything else)

I have ideas for all, but it seems that documentaries are the easiest to do. I know there's not a lot of money available for distribution in Malaysia/Singapore, but the ideal situation would be to shoot something in SE Asia, and have it distributed in the US/Europe.

In this way we get the best of both: low-cost production and shooting of SE Asia, and high(er) acquisition costs of the West.

But I'm open to anything.

So let's agree on the type of production to be shot first. I'd opt for a series of documentaries, but of course would love to do a film.

Also, instead of emailing each other yet, let's continue our conversation here so that others may get involved.

Any thoughts?

Patro

andrew@ambitiouspleasure.com
Singapore

I just did a quick look up on Malaysia. Believe it or not, I don't have alot of knowledge of the Country. Anyways, I found references to the Orang Asli tribes. Looking a little deeper, I found them to be several distinct tribes of aboriginee located in Malaysia. http://www.xlibris.de/magickriver/oa.htm

Anybody else smell a Discovery documentary?

Other than that, I personally would look into Military history, or even cultural roots and how they evolved. Maybe a few deserted villiages or temples, as an archeological/anthropological viewpoint?

I am leaning in favour of doing a film at the moment. But I am open to anything too.

Atomic has emailed me and sounds pretty enthusiastic in doing a movie. I know documentary will be easier to do, but we don't really get to have people from the US to come over here often, and for them to come , they may want to try their hands on film and we could gain good experience from doing it too.

Lets hear from what the others has to say.
I'll try to put up with a more detailed proposal sometime this week/next week, once I receive more input from you guys.

For now, lets decide on what we are going to do so that we can start assigning roles. And Patro, if you have any interesting ideas for movie scripts , could you mail them to me , justin and atomic?

Perhaps we could do a documentary if our first film project isn't that successful :)


Capt Quirk,
It'll be great if you could join us too.

Guys:

Wow. I leave the boards for a couple weeks to finish some exams at the university, and look what everyone is cooking up. Sounds exciting about this Malaysia idea. Like MichaelC, I'm wanting to gain as much experience making feature narratives as possible. I want to stay informed about this project. I'll be through will school after this fall and I'm looking for something exciting to do next january (before I start to work for the summer). This deal looks right up my ally. Besides travelling to cool places and meeting cool people, making movies is my passion. I'm willing to brainstorn and what-not for script ideas. However, the one thing that worries me about Malaysia is the strictness level against violence. All my personal homemade movies and student projects (except 1) all have some sort of kung-fu derivative fighting style; not all have blood. I'm tellin' ya, story really cooks when you've got some well-planned fight scenes shot wide-angle to match the strength of your characters. I'm not really into bizarre artsy movies - like them though - but I prefer "fun," simple stories that are exciting and different. Stories that Hollywood would be too scared to make. Hmmmmmm. Maybe Malaysia would be a cool place to hang. Keep me posted.

Regards,

Kyle "Doc" Mitchell

Glad to see that more and more people are interested in the idea.
And yes you are rite, as I think that it'll be pretty exciting and it'll be good experience for us.
I am into action films as well, and would love to plan some fight scenes with you which can be implemented into the feature if you are able to come.

Michael, four years ago I tried to start a video game development house with the backing of one of your major companies in Malaysia (if you want to know which one, I can tell you in email). I got pretty far (we got development money and we satisfied our backer's due diligence) but then the Asian economic disaster hit and the project sunk.

At the time we were very jazzed about going to a new country (I'm Canadian but my family is from Malaysia) and setting up shop because of the climate of 'newness' in Malaysia. It was very exciting visiting and talking to both business and also young people about entertainment.

That part was very positive even though it didn't develop. However, I did feel some negative backlash from some of the community who were concerned that the product (video games) was going to be "Malaysian" enough. Most of the investors 'got it' that the product could be aimed internationally but still have local input, but I had to fight some battles because some local creators were afraid that it would all be a bunch of foreigners using Malaysian money to make something that was culturally not native.

I'll be interested to see how your project develops.

I'd say it all depends on the people you are working with. Some of them are not as open as others.

But then, lots of video games shop has been banned here. There's only a few in Malaysia which are operating now, and this may be the case why there have been lack of support.

If you are interested in venturing into films over here, feel free to let me know. Or you can mail me.
We'll keep you posted on the project. Its still at the early stages of pre-production.
I sure hope that we can get this through.

Hey add me to the email list, I would be interested in joining in on this and so sick of my job its actually funny....im hopefully taking leave in august...my equipment is all ntsc though... a xl1 and pd100a. And unforutnately i come from news so documentry might be better. At the same time pretty much willing to try anything dont want to be here on 9/11 2003. As I said my b/g is news.....btw anyone see the hbo 9/11 tonight, incredible job. A friend I work with shots were included (he shot dv a trv 900 to be exact). I just rather be doing something i like, so please put me on the email lists im interested in going.

michel

Count me in! I would love to come and help on it.... i'd just have to get out of school.. but thats no problem.

Sure.

Drop me a mail at outward_b@hotmail.com
or give me your email add..

By the way, if you could help us out by locating some of the distributors in your country, that will be great and hopefully we can get enough returns to pay all our expenses.

MichaelC:

Sorry about not promptly emailing you when I said I would a few weeks ago. I'll get to cranking it out to you. Many apologies. I'm wondering if you could let the board know how everything is coming along. I'm still interested in the project, and check this thread every once in a while when I realized that I never emailed you back that one time. Let us know, thanks!

Regards,

Kyle "Doc" Mitchell

Its ok. Glad that you are still interested.

Patro_sg is currently looking for funding, and is not available at the moment due to his busy schedule. So we are still waiting for the result.

Hope that we can do something together next year. And hopefully I'll have more experience then :)
If you've got any ideas you'd like to share or suggest please let me know too.