Every Tech, Everywhere, All at Once - 2023

This is Christmas eve and this is my first and probably the last blog post for 2023. The year passed quickly and then I realised that I have not blogged for the whole year. I only checked the blog after someone I met at the Asia TV Forum (ATF) 2023, asked about it. 

I am surprised. I stopped writing because I thought very few people, if any, read blogs these days. Instead Tiktok videos are all a rage!

This is My TikTok.

But I am glad that somebody remembers me because of my blog. Well not quite really, as I also learned that she also happened to promote the short film "Gift", which went viral in 2014. So, a good film does  hangs around in people's minds for a very long time,

A video/film is remembered because it tells a story that makes profound emotional connections with the audience. These days with the Internet, videos can go viral worldwide instantly.

The persistence and wide reach of Youtube also means it is now difficult to estimate the loading fees for commercials. As once online, the commercial technically has a global reach and unless it is taken down, it will be online perpetually. I believe this has caused some downward pressure on an actor's loading fees.

Also these days, talent can also be discovered online via social media. Granted that not every online celebrity has the desired acting abilities or of be of commercial material, the Internet does cast the net very wide. Thus thrusting more potential talents to the front of the camera. I cannot complain about this, as I was too talent scouted online via social media 14 years ago. Though not an influencer, I was picked up out of the blue and thrown into the deep end of acting. The rest is history.

So much so that actors are now expected to have some social media presence. However, not much is done to educate them about how they should go about with this new avenue of self-promotion. Many actors formerly protected by their managers are now thrown into the wild wild world of social media. 

Social media can be a double edged sword. Wrongly applied, it can ruin the online persona and branding of the actor. It can also overexpose the actor.

Also these days, some businesses use online influencers, instead of actors, to promote their products. Usually, this results in more casual production quality and possibly risking the desired perception of the brand name.  However, such promotional videos are likely to be cheaper to produce and they usually work well with brand names that have less snobbish requirements.

In some instances, businesses have also done away with human actors/models/influencers entirely and  use Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated avatars. These avatars are sculptured to look picture perfect and will never age a single day from the first day you use them. Besides, they are also free of scandals. These avatars have been applied with some success in the US and China, even though the followers know that they are not real.

As a learning exercise, I have used AI to generate a dialogue, fictitious faces and animate a 2 minute video recently. Here it is:

AI will continue to make onslaughts into film production and acting. At the lower end of corporate videos, businesses may not need a human to illustrate their product. For instance, if it is a video to illustrate the instructions to use a microwave oven, human emotional connection is less important, but rather,  clear and explicit graphics are crucial. I have given a talk to film makers, technologists and artists about this. See here.

Over time bad actors, that is, those that are unable to deliver the necessary human emotional connections will be replaced by photo-realistic avatars in lower end spectrum of instructional videos. 

Conversely, actors that can deliver strong emotional bonds with the audience and turn them to be loyal following, will get more work despite and because of AI. So, now AI can make the actor look younger, or older, to suit the story. In the case of a story where there is a character that goes from youth to old age, the same actor can be cast.

I believe that with technology, there will be more videos/films made, because it will be cheaper to do so and also that it will be cheap enough to create content that cater to niche interests. Though, the audience will still expect quality productions. The lousy ones will still be ignored, unless it is so bad that they attract a cult following. :)

As we speak now, more and more tech is seeping into film production. Besides the well known AI-enabled deepfakes, LED backdrops, robot rigs...etc, there is now automated product placements. So, it is now even possible for product placements to be automatically inserted into the film during post-production. This saves time, effort and money, compared to placing products during production. Besides, product placements inserted during post production can be geography, culture, context and time driven.

Where will this all stop? I don't know. But I know that we can all make the best of it, if we continue to improve our craft. Yes, I believe that spontaneous human analogue delivery will still count and be here to stay.

I have now been in the media industry for 14 years, mostly as an actor, but recently also into screenwriting, producing and directing my own content. To date, I have won 2 acting awards, have 2 short films gone viral, and recently, also had a film that I produced, "WFH - Worry From Home", won a best film award. 

In the last 2 years, I have also appeared as the main antagonist character in "Titan Academy", a uber viral webseries with very young fans, probably from 4 to 16 years old. Each of these episodes garner upwards of 2 million views. So if I do get recognised in public these days, it will most likely be from a child or a teen. The fans have even set up a fan page for me. Thank you so much guys! 

This contrasts a lot with the mainstream media in Singapore, which I estimate probably gets 150k to 350k for each of their drama episodes. I believe this is the same for all free-to-air TVs around the world. This is confirmed by a few random media professionals I met during the recent ATF. 

In fact, I was once corrected by a young chap that I shouldn't use the term "mainstream media" to refer to free-to-air TV (or TV), instead, "mainstream" ought to refer to the the Internet. He then suggest that I refer to free-to-air TV as "legacy media". I find it hard to debate that, especially while still reeling from his harshness!

That said, this is Christmas and we should also give thanks to the legacies that have propelled us this far. Many artistes and talents have spent a lot of their waking hours honing their skills and craft to entertain and inspire all of us all these years. 

Thus Channel News Asia (CNA) has now made a 3-part mini-series called "Untold Legends", to remember some women who have contributed to the arts in Singapore.

I was interviewed in the episodes that featured Doris Young, who was the lead actor in the Cleopatra Wong movie series in the late 1970s and early 1980s. They interviewed me about my part working with Doris in Reel Frenz, a hobby film making group and as the lead actor in the feature film Certified Dead.

Tune in CNA at 9pm, 31st December 2023 for the episode "Untold Legends: Doris Young".

Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We are living in exciting times!

A Seat At the Table Podcast

 

This is an interview by Jane Singer, a Hong Kong based American podcaster, about how I got started in the film industry and the struggles and joys that came along.  

I have worked hard, but I think have been lucky as well. Now after 400+ gigs and 11 years later, there are no regrets having taken the plunge into a road less traveled of part fantasy and part real life.

Should you take such a plunge yourself? 

Listen in here and find out.

 

Anita, the movie - Review

 

 

"Anita" the movie is beautifully made, complete with 1980s fashion chic and scored with several of Anita Mui's hits in that era. It chronicles her singing for a living from a very tender age of 4, leading to her superstardom in adulthood. Yet, like many superstars, she dwell in loneliness much of her life, as she had never seen her father, had several failed relationships and was never married. All these probably culminating in her succumbing to cervic cancer and her eventual demise. 

Watching it in Cantonese allowed all the little nuances of her life to be felt more closely, something that would be lost in the Mandarin version. In Singapore, we managed to watch the Cantonese version only after an online petition to the government, but even with that, only a limited number of screenings were allowed and only in one theatre. Quite expectedly tickets sold-out in no time. Isn't this telling of what the people really miss deep down?

I managed to get one of the last tickets for a seat right in front. I had to tilt my head as much as I could to capture the entire screen within my peripheral vision. Luckily, I don't need the subtitles, otherwise my eyeballs would have had a hectic workout. 

There were happier and lighter moments in the movie of her performing on the small stages of community theatres and nightclubs in the 1980s. Then, she sang HK Canto pop songs, many of which were heavily influenced by their Japanese counterparts at that time. 

The later parts of the film are more emotional - of her relationship breakups,; her brush with a mob boss, that drove her to take refuge in Chaing Mai, Thailand; her losing her sister to cancer; and then her own battle with the same disease and death. 

I was living in the West and was absent from HK pop fandom in the 1980s and 1990s. We didn't have the Internet like now, so I listened and watched Anita's music and concerts from CDs and VHS cassettes; and eventually on Youtube and TV from the 2000s till 2003 before she died. 

"Anita" the movie, fills a bit of the cultural blackhole I missed as a result of living  in the West for a long time. In that sense, it feels like a  home coming for me. 

This is her last concert:

 

Influencer Cheat Sheet

 

Transcript:

That is how you can cheat your way into influencer super-stardom. Well, it still takes a lot of hardwork and time, but here is a formula:

1. Influencers must add value to their audience and build communities and then monetise.
2. The days are over when influencers are just people who look good.
3. Post your content consistently, then you will build followers.
4. Don't worry about people not following. They will, when you show your sincerity and authenticity.
5. Different influencers go along with different followers. So, there will be some that will follow you.
6. Ignore the haters or those that will discourage you. There are far more supporters than haters. Don't allow them to pull you down into the Imposter Syndrome.
7. Your content is likely to be something you have always wanted to talk about for a long time.
8. Work out a systematic way of creating your content. eg. Create 10 min youtube videos, that can be easily formatted into a podcast; bite-size video clips; transcribed blog posts...etc. Organise one day a week to do enough content for the entire week. That way, you won't have to worry about content every day.
9. There are software platforms that you can subscribe to for a fee that will do all the laborious 'sales funnel' work for you. Eg. Sending out emails at allocated times, reminders,...etc.

Dwell deep into yourself first. Its often about understanding oneself first. :)

Kid Hero

 

Kid Hero, written and directed by Andy Hui, is about a kid's fantasy about his superpowers and his mini roadtrip adventure to look for his father, who is his idol and hero in his life. I enjoyed working with the very talented actors Ricky Lo and Estovan Reizo Cheah; and Esther Leong.

Here is the film:

https://www.viddsee.com/video/kid-hero/zyv8p

And here are some behind-the-scene photos:

The Will To Wheel

The Will To Wheel is a short film based on a true story of wheelchair bound food delivery lady in Singapore and her will to be a useful member of the society.

"Sure, you could say that we should treat the disabled no different than the able-bodied. But folks are finding it inspiring that even someone with limited mobility would (be) willing  to go beyond what was expected of her and find work that involves traveling distances to pick up and distribute food orders." 

- Yahoo! News 23 November 2018

The film is directed by Florence Look and produced by a bunch of students from Ngee Ann Polytechnic's Film Sound and Video School (FSV) which I have acted for in many of their films over the last ten years.

The Will To Wheel has also been shotlisted by ciNE65  for the Favourite Actor, Favourite Actress, Best Sound Design & Best Cinematography awards!

If you like to vote for us, click here.

Note: 

1. The Favourite Film Voting Page appears

2. Vote one you deem fit from the drop-down list. 

3. The Favourite Actor and the Favourite Actress Voting Page appear.

4. Vote for Michael Chua and Agnes Goh ☺

Thank you in anticipation. ☺

 

The awards ceremony will happen on the 15th June 2021. I supposed the winners will be announced then. Will keep you posted.

ciNE65 is a an annual short film competition that explores the Singapore Identity and expresses what Singapore means from the perspective of the film makers. It is supported by Nexus, a Singapore Government initiative.

Here is the film:

.

.

Behind-The-Scenes...

With Agnes Goh.

For all the cINE65 videos that I have acted in over the years, including this one, click here.

Titan Academy

At the time of writing, this episode of Titan Academy has hit 1 million views, 71k Likes and 14.5k comments, barely 48 hours from being released online. From their recent track record, the viewership will likely grow to 3 million hits by the end of its 4th week. These numbers are music to the ears of advertisers and the Titan team.

JianHao is currently the number one Youtube channel in Singapore, with a subscriber base of 4.7 million and growing. It is likely that their subscriber base has already extended beyond Singapore, to include Malaysia, India and other English speaking countries.

Perhaps it is time to consider creating content for the Chinese market and distribute it via  iQiyi, QQ and Youku. It is a vast market waiting and the Chinese are curious about how life in Singapore is like. Singapore is to China, what Australia is to Americans. Same same, but different. The latter is evident in 1986 when the Aussie movie Crocodile Dundee took America by storm.

Currently, JianHao's channels comprise mostly listicles, but we may see more short film style episodes in future.

This is my second time working with JianHao and his company Titan Digital Media, but my first in a Youtuber style video. 

My first time working with them was in a short film called "Majid The Legend", commissioned by 15 Shorts. In that short film, I acted as Singapore's football legend and coach Uncle Choo Seng Quee, in Pulau Ubin, an offshore island of Singapore. 

In this short film episode "Welcome to Titan Academy", I played the corporate raider that buys over the school to run it ruthlessly for profits. 

Compared to my first time working with them 18 months ago, they have made impressive strides forward  in film making. There is now a lot more focus, precision and efficiency. The team's youthful enthusiasm and energy are also a breath of fresh air.

Most of the cast you see in their videos play multiple roles in front and behind the camera. So the girls and guys you see on screen, will also be running around adjusting lights, supervising scripts, setting up props,  buying lunch,...etc, when they are not in front of the camera. Even the camera guy appears in some of the videos. But most of all, it is JianHao, who writes, produces, directs and acts; and I guess, runs the company too. How does he ever find such time and energy?

TRIVIA: 

Did you know that Titan Digital Media's 

real-life accountant also plays a 

reel-life role in Titan Academy?

This is the kind of efficiency that mainstream media companies will find hard to fathom, let alone catch up with. In some jurisdictions, such flexibility in labour deployment may not even be permissible, as the unions will come down on you like a pile of bricks.

JianHao and several other celebrity-influencers in Singapore are chipping away at advertising revenues that traditionally went to mainstream media companies like Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) and Mediacorp, in the context of Singapore.

SPH's revenue has dipped so much, that their media arm is now hived off to form a non-profit charity organisation that will tolerate losses, even huge ones, as they will be propped up by government funding. See SPHMedia. In other words, they have surrendered.

Let's see what will happen to Mediacorp in a few years' time, as it is also suffering from sharp falls in revenues. Will they be restructured into an entity insulated from the harsh competition of the real world too?

Here is the episode:

If the video does not appear, click https://youtu.be/sciKJUWCrI8

This is the third video I have acted in 

that has hit or crossed 1 million views.

Find out about the other two videos below...

The morning after the episode was released, I woke up with a lot of new followers on my Instagram account MichaelChuaActor.  I didn't see that coming, as I don't get new followers at all on my social media platforms when Mediacorp TV programmes that I am in, got broadcast. 

JianHao's subscribers are young (18 to 35 years old), thus inferring that in future, this may be how content will be created and distributed.

Traditional free-to-air TV will continue to struggle to stay relevant and respond to their viewers' changing tastes, interests and demands; and also the disruption by yet more cheaply available new technologies. They will face rapidly declining viewership and advertising revenues that will eventually compel them to transform into the new media or face their own demise.

Behind-The-Scene pictures:

Follow me on Instagram at MichaelChuaActor

Note:

This is the third video I have acted in that has hit or cross 1 million views. The other two are:

Hentak Kaki (estimated 1 million hits). For more info, click here.

Gift - (estimated 30 million hits). For more info, click here.