Guerilla-Style

We spoke to Juan Foo of Ground Glass Images who had made films such as Return to Pontianak and most recently, Perth. He's also our senior in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. So it was great catching up with him.

It's even better that he didn't paint a rose-tinted picture of the independent filmmaking scene in Singapore. He's been there and done that.

We definitely get the idea that it's a long and tough road which may not lead to any light at the end of the tunnel. So we must be very sure what we want to achieve out of this.

One thing for sure - we want to make at least 1 damn movie so that we can decently call ourselves filmmakers and die in peace. That is truly and sincerely our most basic wish.

4 movies, 10 movies a year? We hope so but that will probably take a very long time.

It's been a really trying period for Eng Tiong and I. There are so much frustrations. It's been a rollercoaster ride through the emotional realm and a zig-zagging decision-making process. I'm sure there will be more to come.

One thing we now know for sure... there is no hard and fast rules to go about making a movie. If we want to get it made the way we want to, just do it. We don't have to play by the system. The biggest consequence is that it may not get screened and earn the kind of money and prestige that others do.

What the hack! Stick with our basic wish of dying in peace with a movie in our name. Whatever comes after that is pure bonus.

So we may not want to seek more funding. We're going to do it guerilla-style - the way we know it. Let's get rid of all the rubbish about pre-sales, agreements, ya-da, ya-da that clog up our creative channels.

Let's just get the movie made!