Indonesian businessman and movie producer Mike Wiluan has built what are believed to be the biggest film studios in Southeast Asia.

Syamsul Lussa, from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, said Infinite Studio, constructed on 10 hectares of land in Nogsa, Batam, would have a positive impact on the economy. 
“Infinite seems to be the biggest film studio in Southeast Asia and it employs many people, therefore this is very good for the economy,” Syamsul was quoted by Detik.com as saying on Monday.

He said the studio employed between 200 to 300 people.

Syamsul said he hoped foreign film companies would be interested in producing their movies in Indonesia.

“If foreign film makers make their movies here, we will benefit from the transfer of knowledge and technology,” he said.

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via Jakarta Globe

Always looking to foster the development of ideas from Singapore, the Media Development Authority is currently revising its grant schemes. Its CEO tells ttv all about this and more. 

Like a mother who guides her children toward their first steps, the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore was formed with the main aim of building a foundation of companies, people and projects in Singapore’s local media industry.

That meant participating in the entire process of a project: idea pitching, funding, production and the project’s internationalization. However, after a couple of years of work, the children started walking by themselves and something had to change in the cycle. 
“We wanted to make it easier for companies to understand how we could help them. Reducing our existing 46 schemes to just five schemes across all the media sectors we are supporting -namely Animation, Broadcast, Film, Games, Interactive Digital Media, Music and Publishing- was a good way to do so. So rather than say a particular scheme is only for TV or film, our schemes will be able to support content production on more than one platform. This makes sense as technology is multiplying the platforms for media content to be delivered,” Aubeck Kam, MDA’s CEO, explains.

That’s why last September 2011 MDA launched its new “revised grant schemes” which seek to “position the media industry for the future” and take it “to the next level”. The production-centric nature of MDA’s old funding schemes gave place to co-investments as the main mode of funding, which encouraged companies “to think about IP ownership and go beyond service for hire”. “Now that our companies have matured, we want to help them move on to the next stage, to acquire their own IP and even share their IP across various platforms, so as to empower them to maximize the commercialization of their IP and to increase their revenue,” Kam says. Therefore, MDA’s continues to assist projects and initiatives, but from a different, more intelligent perspective.

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via ttv mediaNews

If cinema had its child prodigies, she would be one – after all considering the maturity that direction requires, mid 20s could be seen as the teenage of a director’s life. Meet 26-year-old Indonesian Kamila Andini who debuts with “Mirror Never Lies”, probably one of the most accomplished Asian debuts in recent years.

“Mirror Never Lies” was showcased at the Mumbai Film Festival, organised by the Mumbai Academy of Moving Image (MAMI). 

This might seem like a huge load on young shoulders; yet see “Mirror Never Lies” and you’ll shake your head with incredulity at both the control and intuition of the film.

Knowing that this is her first film, you’d expect it to have come from a tight script but she controls the time and space with experience and wisdom.

“I wrote only 80 percent of the script, intending to explore the rest 20 percent. The exploration has gone way beyond that,” Kamila told IANS, an impish smile lighting up her petite face.

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via Daijiworld

Musician Wee Meng Chee (or better known as Namewee) is one controversial figure. The 29-year-old is “infamous” for his many contentious YouTube videos expressing his dissatisfaction over what he feels is wrong in Malaysia ranging from issues such as racism to corruption.

So, it is rather surprising, or maybe not so surprising, when his first feature film, Nasi Lemak 2.0 in which he directs as well as plays the lead role, turns out to be a hit on the local cinema scene. 

This RM1 million budgeted film, about a young chef trying to make his restaurant business a success and in the process learns something about his roots and national identity, also stars a slew of well-known local artistes such as Adibah Noor, Reshmonu, Afdlin Shauki and David Arumugam.

Since its release, the movie has collected over RM4 million.

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via The Sun Daily

For years, Michelle Yeoh has lived and breathed the iconic Burmese freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi. In this exclusive interview, the actress speaks candidly to Mark Tjhung about how her controversial new movie The Lady changed her life forever.

As she swivels on her make-up stool while elegantly attired in a leggy champagne one-piece, Michelle Yeoh hardly resembles a kung fu movie star.  She bubbles with an exuberant air, laughs in a way that shakes her tiny frame and, perhaps most strikingly of all, even at the age of 49, radiates a youthful grace – all characteristics that suggest ‘beauty queen’ far more than ‘stunt starlet’.  It was decades ago that the Malaysian-born actress was first branded with the ‘action girl’ tag. She’s since been labelled as ‘Hong Kong’s Martial Arts Mistress’ and even ‘Asia’s Queen of Action’. Indeed, her breakout movies, from 1992′s Police Story 3 to The Heroic Trio and Yuen Woo-ping’s Tai Chi Master, all possessed a combative twist; and the films which propelled her to global fame, her motorcycling Bond Girl role in Tomorrow Never Dies and Ang Lee’s elegant, wildly-acclaimed Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon – followed a distinctly ‘physical’ path. Yet in recent years, Yeoh has taken on more expansive, diverse roles outside the butt-kicking genre and somewhat, ironically, her latest role – easily the most important of her career, is about as non-violent as it gets.

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via TimeOut Hong Kong