productionindies
Indie life
Imaginur, Skop Productions
Independent producers in Asia have never had this much opportunity to tell their stories. But there’s still a lot standing between the current situation and celebration for indies in Malaysia & Singapore. The indie production environment in Ma-
Michelle Chang (left), Co-founder, Mocha Chai Laboratories; Min Lim, Group CEO, Vision New Media; Shamin Yusof (below), Managing Director/Producer, Skop Productions (Malaysia) at the ContentAsia Summit in August 2023
laysia and Singapore is pretty much developing outside the influence of global streamers. While these may be acquiring rights in volume in both
greed/power/betrayal story about an
markets, lo-focus on originals means
entertainment mogul and his three
production investment in these two
children. The series, created by Yusof
markets has not been impacted so
and directed by Kroll Azry, was the first
far as it has elsewhere.
TV drama series co-production between
As Netflix and Amazon/Prime Video
Astro Shaw and Skop Productions.
for now focus on Indonesia, Thailand and
In Singapore, Mocha Chai Laboratories (MCL) makes good use of local grants, says co-
the Philippines, domestic and regional streaming platforms have stepped up in Malaysia and Singa-
founder Michelle Chang. MCL’s film projects include
pore, albeit with lower production budgets.
the Wonderland, directed by MCL founder Chai Yee Wei, starring Singapore comedian Mark Lee as a single
Meanwhile, the film/theatrical environment is lively and on its way to post-Covid recovery, adding
father who sends his daughter to study overseas. MCL
to opportunities for local indie producers. At US$54.7
was also responsible for sound design/post-production on Vietnamese film-maker Pham Thien’s An Inside The Yellow
million as of 25 November, this year’s box office in Malaysia so far is 26% higher than 2022’s US$43.3 million for the same period and 893% higher than 2021’s US$5.5 million, even if
Cocoon Shell. Recent successes don’t mask the struggle indies face in moving out
still about 50% down on 2019’s US$112.5 million. In Singapore, this year’s
of the work-for-hire zone into creating lasting value for themselves. A
box office is US$35.8 million, about level with last year and way up on
key component here is ownership of rights. The frameworks in place
2020/2021, but still half of 2019.
elsewhere in the world are patchy across Southeast Asia. In Singapore,
“We’ve come a long way,” says Vision New Media Group CEO, Min
creators are able to retain underlying rights. In Malaysia, not yet. “We’re
Lim, who made the Malaysian version of All3Media’s Liar for local media
fighting for it,” Yusof said during the ContentAsia Summit in August 2023.
giant Astro in March 2023. “Budgets are getting better... and we’re able
“We definitely need our government’s help,” she added.
to push the boundaries on topics, especially with streaming, so that’s a good thing,” she adds.
“It’s a question of perspective,” Lim adds. “I’m not sure broadcasters see us as true partners right now. If you ask them, ‘why are you keep-
Film investment in Malaysia has made a difference to local pro-
ing all rights? What do you do with them?’ The answer is nothing. They
ducers, says Shamin Yusof, managing director and producer at Skop
don’t sell them, they don’t use the original IP. So why couldn’t there
Productions, whose movies include Polis Evo, Abang Long Fadil 2, KL
be a partnership? We could share that IP, but that option isn’t even on
Special Force and Misteri Dilaila.
the table.”
Skop is also benefiting from Astro’s commitment to original production. In April 2022, Astro premiered Kuasa, an eight-episode glamour/
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While they hunt for a win-win, being adequately compensated for development remains among the challenges facing indies.
contentasia december 2023