Making a movie that cannot make money in Malaysia

How many people can say, in their lifetime, that they've produced, directed or acted in their own movie?

Making a movie is big business and I have the utmost respect towards our local producers. It's also a bloody nightmare and I don't envy them.

There are some of us who make movies to make money. It's normal because it's a business. And there are some of us who make movies because we have stories to tell and want to make a difference.

And yes, if tickets are bought, that would help us. A LOT!

TAKE ME TO DINNER is an independent movie (low budget) that was pieced together by a group of passionate, creative & wonderful souls. Take Me To Dinner (TMTD) explores the highs and lows of love, friendship, food and murder.

Edward is an over the hill burnt out assassin. After falling for Jennifer, Edward decides he's had enough of killing and requests for his retirement dinner. It’s up to his equally messed up colleagues - Hamm, Teddy, Elijah and Manny, to give it to him.

There's just one problem, this dinner will set in motion a series of events that will change their lives forever. Written & directed by Gavin Yap, he sought us out to get involved in his project and a dream became reality.

Each of us had a role to play. Mine was as Exec Producer & as Jennifer, one of the casts. It wasn't easy to find sponsors who would give out money. We had loads of sponsors who helped us out with locations, props, clothing, food etc. but none could financially.

This is where the magic happens. I’ve always believed that if you do things with the right intentions, help is nearby. I made a call to Ngai Yuen of Garang Pictures & Kakiseni, explained the situation and very soon, Garang Pictures became our presenter for the movie for a nominal fee. This meant we could give the cast & crew ang-pows for their hard work. Such a relief!

Back to the title of this blurb "Making a movie that cannot make money in Malaysia". Why? For the love of it. For fun. And heck, why not? TMTD may not be everyone's cup of tea, but you never know.

As I am allowed to shamelessly plug our movie, I shall. When I asked Gavin what his plans were for TMTD, he said, "I just want to direct this movie. If it can make us money, that's a bonus. But that's not my priority".

The amazing thing was everyone said yes! Not having money to pay them, but promising to find a sufficient amount at some point to give them something was good enough.

From the cast consisting of Patrick Teoh, Thor Kah Hoong, Ben Tan, U-En Ng, Michael Chen, Jia Wei Loo, Na’a Murad & Chew Kin Wah to the crew headed by DOP: Khai Bahar, AD:Amelia Chen, PM :Sandie Lee, Audio: Henry Tan, Art Director:

Paul Hasham, 2nd Cameraman: Gary Liew, Intern: David Chia, Soundtrack: David Knight & OJ Law. These are the wonderful souls that made TMTD. So we got our motley cast & crew together and filmed the movie in 10-12 days. Everyone knew what they had to do and got on with it.

Editing and fixing the audio took a long time though - remember, low budget = favours + small fees, so we had to be patient. Very patient… ok, not so patient at times, but we found outlets to relieve the stress. I’m thinking of kickboxing in the future!

I suppose this tidak kisah sangat attitude is also due to my background in theatre. This is usually a break even scenario for most productions and all of us involved take part because we want to, because we need to and because we have to.

Taking part in a theatrical production is almost like a refresher course for those thespians and a learning ground for the newbies for little to no payment. And it does feed our souls. In the meantime, we find odd jobs to feed our bellies. I find myself feeling the same towards being in front of or behind of the camera.

We want to because we all need to practice our craft and we all love performing.

We need to because of our passion for the Arts and what makes us who we are. We have to because we’re all part of the Malaysian Entertainment Industry and we cannot give up on the creative skills that we all possess so we must find ways to express ourselves.

Is making money important? Most definitely, because you can roll it for another crazy project and not fear for lack of support. But we chose to make this project happen first and worry about funds later.

So fortunately, we had a lot of support from friends, family, colleagues and some were total strangers who decided to trust us and take a chance. And I believe that this is what makes our work so special.

Take Me To Dinner is presented by Garang Pictures and distributed by GSC Cinemas. It will be screened exclusively at GSC Mid Valley, GSC Pavillion KL, GSC 1Utama and GSC Gurney Plaza, Penang from the 13th March 2014 running for approximately 2 weeks.

Is making money important? Most definitely, because you can roll it for another crazy project and not fear for lack of support. But we chose to make this project happen first and worry about funds later.

So fortunately, we had a lot of support from friends, family, colleagues and some were total strangers who decided to trust us and take a chance. And I believe that this is what makes our work so special.