More Than Words That Touches

Pulau Ubin is Singapore's last offshore island that is still left alone in its natural state. There are no large scale commercial development plans for the island. I hope they leave this idyllic island the way it is, with the local inhabitants continuing life the way it has been for a long time.

There used to be more people living in Ubin, when the granite quarry was still operating and hiring people. Now those quarries are dormant and clear torquois waters have filled up the open cast sites. Thereafter, the inhabitants started leaving for the mainland to get jobs. Then there were not enough kids to fill the local primary school, so it closed, then some years later, the community centre closed. They were even contemplating closing the police post, but this idea was dropped after two foreigners were caught sneaking in across the Johore Straits, purportedly carrying explosives destined for terrorist acts on the mainland.

But other than that incident, the island is virtually crime free. Not much happens here. Some are fishermen, some run businesses that are supported by tourists, like bicycle shops and restaurants. Life is unhurried. The locals are friendly, mostly only the older ones remain behind. Even the dogs and cats are laid back, and they seem to be indifferent to human presence, as if taking us as 'stupid tourists' disturbing their peace. :)

This short film is about how a daughter's return to Pulau Ubin to tell her father that she is getting married. This after leaving him to continue her education and life in the mainland.



I am proud to be part of this film, as many similar stories must have happened to quite a lot of the islanders over the years as they moved to the mainland. It can be considered a documentary re-enactment.

This is the village square, with a permanent stage used during a time when Teochew operas and religious festivals reigned. Operas were major events and entertainment in their village calenders those days.

Now, the islanders rely mostly on the tourist industry. So come and visit and support the legacy of Pulau Ubin, the last kampong island of Singapore.

There are taxis in the village to get around, but the best way to see the island is to rent one of these bicycles.

This gentleman chooses to remain. He is in his 80s and still healthy and strong. He goes about his life growing herbs on his land and selling soft drinks and coconut water. I met him 8 years ago. For more about Ubin, click here.


For other similar stories about father and son/daughter, click here.

Film Making Collaboratives (Singapore)

With the advent of digital cameras, smart phones, social networks and the Internet, film making collaboratives are flourishing.

I know of six of them in Singapore. I may have missed out some, but these are the ones I have attended their events of, or read about. The description of them below are mostly summarised from their online pages.

Running a collaborative needs leadership, funds and tenacity, This is especially hard considering that most of the people in the collaboratives are hobbyists with full-time paying job during the weekdays. That is why only two of the six are still active.

UPDATE 27 APR 2018: ALL THE GROUPS MENTIONED HERE HAVE SINCE EITHER BEEN SHUTDOWN OR ARE INACTIVE.

They are all slightly different from one another, so take your pick.

1. Lens Rebel, Founded in 2012

We believe that there is still an audience for intelligent and alternative cinematography that veers of the beaten track championed by mainstream media.

Lens Rebels were originally founded by Dagomir Kaszlikowski and Karol Jalochowski under the name Gutter Twins. After a short stint with Suhas Bhat, a screen writer and producer, Lens Rebels are now an alliance between Jerry Koedding and Dagomir Kaszlikowski.

Lens Rebels has produced several short films and a feature-length film, called "Kopi-O".

UPDATE 27 APR 2018:  THIS GROUP IS NOW INACTIVE.

Kopi-O Mood Trailer III from dag the dogg on Vimeo.

2. Reel Frenz, founded 19 Nov 2012, 546 members, 139 past meetups

https://www.meetup.com/ReelFrenz/
http://www.reelfrenz.com

"A group with a passion”. It is the place where actors, directors, scriptwriters, lights, camera, sound, music writers / directors and arts students can call home. A place to discuss, pitch ideas and come together for film and video projects. See your ideas turn into reality. You can be a pro, an amateur, someone with creative passion or a movie goer with ideas. If you have an actor, singer, scriptwriter, producer, director, cinematographer, musician, animator, editor, makeup artist, special effects creator, special skills, critic or film industry specialist hidden somewhere in you, do come and join us.

Reel Frenz has produced 15 short films and a feature film, called "Certified Dead".

UPDATE 27 APR 2018:  THIS GROUP IS NOW INACTIVE.

3. Red Dot Film Makers, 28 May 2015, 343 members, 16 past meetups

https://www.meetup.com/RedDotFilm/

This is a group for anybody seriously interested in producing quality films. It's all about creating a team of filmmakers who want to develop, work, experiment and to find new ways to tell stories / move the audience. 

Task is simple and clear: Create emotional high end footage / scenes and impressive results that both crew and cast will want to include in their showreels.

UPDATE 27 APR 2018:  THIS GROUP IS NOW INACTIVE.

4. Cast and Crew 4SG, founded 3 Feb 2015, 318 members, 23 past meetups

https://www.meetup.com/Cast-Crew-4SG-Films/

All Singapore residents are welcome - with or without film experience.

If you are crew - lights, sound, camera, editing - and have equipment, that will be cool. If you don't have any equipment - that's okay too.

We also welcome actors, make up artists, costumers, scriptwriters, designers - anyone who has the passion to contribute behind and in front of the camera.

After three short films, this group seems to have stopped meeting since early 2016.

UPDATE 15 FEB 2017: THIS GROUP HAS SHUTDOWN ON JAN 2017.

5. Singapore Film Makers Group 25 Feb 2012, 340 members, 22 past meetups

https://www.meetup.com/Singapore-Filmmakers-Group/

This group is for people who have some knowledge/training in filmmaking and would love to make short films regularly with like minded people!

This group seems to have stopped producing films.

6. Singapore Film Making Lovers, found 18 June 2016, 74 members, 1 past meetup

Meetup and network with filmmaker lovers,who are local in singapore or expats travel/locate in singapore. Brainstorm, pitch ideas to make videos/film on youtube/others social media platform.

This group is very new. As indicated in their meetup page, they have only two meetups so far.

https://www.meetup.com/Singapore-Film-Lovers-Meetup/


UPDATE 15 FEB 2017: THIS GROUP HAS SHUTDOWN.

For more articles about how technology is influencing the future of the arts, click here.

Disruption, Culture, People & Leadership, Reed Hastings, CEO Netflix

Organised by National Trade Union Congress (NTUC) U-Creative.

Reed relates how travel and living outside the US has changed him. He said that our school system is structured and success within a very structured system may not translate to success outside.

In the world of business, most entrepreneurs fail, but when  a few among the many succeed, they get to be invited to speak in panels like this.

He related that when he was in Pure, a software company he founded, he was promoted beyond as a programmer into a manager responsible for more and more people and also doing sales. Both of which he didn't particularly enjoy as the company was growing bigger and people were following rules more than they were being creative. He felt that he wasn't doing well and wanted to quit as he couldn't forgive himself for doing badly. Eventually he did quit, though the management was reluctant to let him go.

The sales in Pure doubled every year, but was bought over by their largest competitor. It was not fun any more. The creative people got less interested. Business became rigid. This is quite common among many companies. And then they have little ability to adapt and were just following the rules. Design companies should be  more flexible to changes.

In Netflix, there are no policies for somethings, but at the same time they are careful not to let things go crazy. So we need high performance individuals. The company should Inspire people instead of merely managing them.

In the industrial manufacturing economy, it thrives by reducing the variables. Too many businesses are influenced by this aspect of the industrial economy.

Employees want to help companies by not making mistakes. This stifles. Instead, we think of the team more like a sports team. We endeavour to hire the best person in every role. It is about performance and effectiveness, not just longevity or just adequate performance

Netflix does not use the bell curve on staff, nor has a policy to cut x number of people every year. It all depends on the market. If there are high performance individuals to be won over, you either pay and have the player in the team, or lose the player.

However, this practice does not cut across the whole company. For instance, customer support workers are structured and are based on different considerations from creative professionals. The former are measured by their reliability.

Question: It appears that the OTT space is now dominated by the giants. If you were to invest in a startup in this space, which one would they be?

At anyone time it would appear that the giants dominate. Look at the IT industry. At one time Microsoft dominated everything.

What are the biggest challengers?

88 million subscribers may seem very big in Netflix, but it is very small compared to the other players like Youtube or Facebook, that have subscribers running into billions.

We advertised on Youtube (a competitor).

Data analytics was something affordable only to the big companies previously, but now, it is accessible to small companies as well. How will Netflix adjust to this levelling of the playing field?

Data Analytics enables mass customisation, such that shows that are not interesting to you don't get promoted to you.  So virtually, we look consistently good to the customer.  Netflix is working towards making all content available to everybody.

How do you decide what gets made?

We use data analytics where we should. Picking content, however, is a creative leap.

Consumption data. How different globally?

A broad mix of taste in every culture. They are not culture dependent.

For more articles about how technology is influencing the future of the arts, click here.