In gist, the article laments the lack of distribution deals for local films. Out of the 4 recently-produced films highlighted (Unarmed Combat, Singapore Dreaming, The Art of Flirting & Smell of Rain), only Singapore Dreaming garners a distribution deal with local cinema chain Golden Village.
Although most have some form of screening at local and overseas film festivals, the results are still pretty depressing - none has overseas distribution.
To sum it up, the state of local films is rather unpromising. Or is it?
It doesn't have to be this way. This is how Eng Tiong and I see it:
Think of the End in Mind
When Eng Tiong and I set out to make our movie, we constantly remind ourselves we have to see it like a product (yes, just like any other manufacturers out there). And like any other product, it is meant to be bought - by someone who WANTS it. (That is really tough because I see it as our baby (with a hell of a long pregnancy period!) and naturally, has strong emotional attachments to it.)
So from the very beginning, we've thought of distribution but have no idea what is truly means, how the system works. So we asked. We spoke to Juan Foo, Kenneth Tan, SFC and attended film producing & financing seminars. (Now we're still in post-production, so haven't gone full-scale into the distribution stage yet. Will definitely share more insights about distribution once we get our first-hand experience.)
So the moral of the story is - think with the end in mind. It's seriously no point making a film and putting it on a shelf at home. Especially for a feature-length movie, that is alot of time, money and effort gone down the drain.
(I have to point out that I'm referring to people who's trying to make a living making movies. Not as a part-time, freelance kind of thingie. And you're not someone like Royston Tan.)
Film Festivals - What is it Really For?
Some might say, "Oh, I thought about distribution. I'm going to put my film through the film festival circuit!"
Yes, that is a good start, but what exactly is a film festival for? Why don't you get paid for screening your film there?
According to Dov Siemens (I'm saving you a couple of hundreds of dollars here), film festivals are for distributors to pick up potential films for distribution. In other words, a film festival is YOUR chance to show your work to potential distributors. So even if your film gets shown at prestigious Cannes and you come home empty-handed without a distributor, you're still back at square one (maybe square 1.5 cos' afterall you can tell other potential distributors that you're selected for screening at Cannes.)
Accessibility
Another important ingredient - is your film accessible to your audience? What I mean by accessibility in terms of:
1. Storyline
Is it too difficult for your target audience to understand? Too abstract? Too cliched? You know what I mean.
2. Known Actors / Director
I think most people prefer known actors. Also easier for first-timers like us to quickly establish how serious we are about making this movie.
3. Publicity
I think this goes without saying why it's important. The only question is how to get as much of it with a limited budget.
Well, for a start, with item 1 & especially item 2 in place, item 3 seems to follow... get my drift?
All it Takes is a Miracle?
Eng Tiong and I have had many, many discussions and debates about all these issues - right from the beginning, way before we make this movie, and even till now. There is probably no 1 way and no right way to make it in this industry. Someone may just made it the "El Mariachi" way, another may make it the "Jack Neo" way.
How we see it is that we may not be as lucky, so we'd better not wait for a miracle. We have to make decisions based on our survival because our livelihood (read: money) depends on it. If we want to make another film, we'd better make sure we earn some money with this one.
Okay, I'm making it sound like I'm not enjoying making this movie. I do. It's just a question of making our movies accessible, and without having to sell our souls. We don't know how our movie will perform at the end of the day. With what we have and what we know (and without selling our souls), we're trying our best.
I guess only time will tell...
