Gendang
It’s been a mixed bag of stunning successes and continued existential questions for the industry this past decade. We rejoice at international recognition for our animation products, Indie films and people such as Yuna, but back home, we are still riddled by the same problems of low revenue, association politics and the lack of public and government support. Globally, people are consuming content more than ever on a plethora of platforms, but is our larger industry well-positioned to capitalise on these obvious opportunities? And how long more do we have to endure film and TV workers being underpaid, as well as the creative stagnancy of mainstream content?
Gendang.com.my asked some of our industry friends what their hopes and dreams were for 2020 and beyond:
Our hope for the animation industry is that it will be recognised as one of the main and important movie genres in Malaysia, and not just a category. Animation feature films contribute more than RM70 million at the box-office from a total of RM93 milliion in 2019. Local animations are also becoming almost the only marketable Malaysian content around the globe with over 60 countries penetrated worldwide. With all these numbers and statistics, we hope the industry will acknowledge animation more in the years to come.
Faiz Zainal Aabidin, Head of Brand & International Sales
Animonsta Studios Sdn Bhd
2020 was always the future to look forward to ever since I was a child, and now that we’re here, it doesn’t seem so different. But I hope that the mindset and respect of the arts do change and we treat each other better and with kindness. Hopefully we can see people who work in comedy as less of a pariah. I also hope we can stop laughing at our politicians and start taking our comedians seriously.
Kavin Jay, Standup Comedian
My hope is for Malaysian films to travel around the world and for people to realise we have a lot of stories to tell. Domestically, I hope we can improve the working environment for workers of the industry. At the same time, producing quality local products. I also hope that we can nurture the younger generation to appreciate our local films, so that they themselves can tell stories for their generation.
Megat Sharizal, Actor and Director
Our hope is for our Malaysian writers to produce quality content that can be pushed to the international stage. And to make this a reality, we also need translation grants. Lastly, content should go beyond the print format, but there should be support by the government and the literary community for digital and audio formats as well.
Hafiz Latiff & Sayidah Mu’izzah, Founders
Legasi Oakheart
We hope our industry will continue to thrive. May we inspire each other to follow our hearts, make dreams come true and be the reason our youth strive to pursue a career in the performing arts. Let’s reach for the stars and be stars together.
Nell Ng, Artistic Director
PAN Productions & The Sparkles Ensemble
My hope for 2020 is for more events and gigs to happen where there will be more coverage from mainstream media as well as unconventional forms of media. I hope more people will come out at the same time for
the artists to work harder at getting their marketing game top notch. I’d definitely want to see more mixed gigs rather then genre specified.
Darren Teh, Lead Singer
An Honest Mistake
My hope is that the support for local music grows exponentially. There are too many amazingly talented people in our own country that dont get enough credit for their art.
Elizabeth Tan, Recording Artiste
With rapid consolidation and technological growth in the media industry, I see 2020 as the year where the most versatile and adaptable players thrive, especially in areas of multi-platform creative content development and use of latest digital tools.
Desmond Ngai, Senior Vice President, Global Alliances
WebTVAsia
Simply put, I hope production companies will be paid more so our creative juices can flow unhindered. This will also help all our practitioners to invest in themselves more, resulting in increased competencies. The cameramen, people in the art department, for example, should be able to get better at their craft. And also, to see more good stuff coming out of Malaysia that makes international impact. The animation industry is proving that we have really good people here that should be unleashed to the world at large.
Wan Hasliza Zainuddin, Producer, Writer and Director
KL Motion Pictures
I’m looking at a brighter and better future. With a positive attitude & differences aside, we can accomplish plenty! Stop bickering and let’s get to work !! P.S.: less holidays please TQ!
Resh, Singer, Songwriter, Director and Entrepreneur
I hope that the arts can be taken seriously by people. It’s not just “lukis-lukis je” or “tangkap-tangkap gambar je”. The process is more than that. And I hope there will be more opportunities for all aspiring comic artists out there, and more outlets for them to really showcase their talent. I believe Malaysia is not only a gold mine for content, but for talents as well. We have so many talented people here, but they need opportunities.
Ernest Ng, Author and Comic Artist
Comments
Loading…