A great note on local TV, not so sure about film

Here is a very angry but insightful article about the TV/Film industry. It is a depressing read, especially if you are already in the industry or even worse, about to enter the industry. I do not agree with everything that's being said. Especially on local films. Mentorship is a privilege, not every filmmaker is obligated to mentor, especially if they themselves are already struggling financially (oops , this makes it more depressing ain't it?) My personal take is not that there is no money but the 'cheaper, better, faster' motto among production houses and the 2 big media conglomerates needs to change. Here are some excerpts form the article.


On cameramen and crew
...So you have a producer (who is already busy enough) wasting their time shooting an e-mail to a DOP with scripts and storyboards attached and then having them show up on set, asking the producer or director, “Eh, what is this scene about?”....

On local production houses
...Lately, the ugly picture is that many of the owners of such places play a dirty game of squeezing everyone they hire to get a show out on-air and keep the rest of the money in a fixed security deposit or invested in a new condo and/or luxurious car....

On censorhsip (I like this one)
...Our fear of showing what’s real about Singapore or dealing with sensitive issues in documentaries or films is costing us a lot. It’s costing us talent that decide to quit the industry early because there is no long-term development or support in terms of subjects filmakers/TV producers are allowed to portray....

On having to pay foreign experts to say the same things that we could say
...They are also bogged down by the Asian mentality that one must not challenge the ideas or visions of someone sitting at the top. There is no one with ground level experience to fight the powers or expand on their thinking unless it’s some unbelievably highly paid consultant from the US or the UK who has been specially flown down to our shores to suddenly miraculously open the minds of these high-ranking incumbents, at the taxpayer’s expense....

And no amount of money or seminars can help us unless we cleanse the industry of incumbents who really do not know what media is about. It is also useless to call upon the expertise of consultants from developed countries whose intrinsic cultures are based on democracy, freedom of speech and thought that allows for such highly sophisticated modes of creativity...