Film Directors Workshop Gavin Lim

I had the pleasure of talking to James Lee late last year, and this long podcast episode is the result. I can't tell you how much I learned in these 1.6 hours. James Lee is such a filmmaking dynamo. He's precise, generous in sharing and loaded with filmmaking stories and anecdotes.  I don't want to swing the overused word 'masterclass" here but  I can’t tell you how much I learned in these 1.6 hours.
James Lee, an esteemed filmmaker originating from Malaysia, made his mark in the world of theater before transitioning seamlessly into the forefront of indie digital video filmmaking.
 
Proficient in directing, producing, and acting, he has garnered international acclaim with awards at prominent film festivals in Bangkok, Hong Kong, Philippines, and Singapore. James became a focal point at the 9th Deauville Asian Film Festival in France, solidifying his status as a pioneer in digital filmmaking.
 
Noteworthy accolades include the prestigious Cannes Silver Lion Award in 2016 for his compelling work on "Last Day of School."
 
James Lee's influence extends beyond the screen, evident in his role as a speaker at TEDxKL in 2015, where he shared valuable insights into the evolving narrative landscape.

FDW is back!!! Huge apologies. But FDW will be back as regular as I can keep this up. A nice slate of new activities planned and new energy an vigour. Let me clear the backlogue first. I was worried that these were recorded some time back that its not relevant coz the subjects have went on to great things BUT I found the conversation still very interesting and even more so with some hindsight. Kindly enjoy Sunny when he just came back from hobnobbing with Forest Whitaker and Tom Hardy on the set of Havoc. 
1. 00:00:00 Just back from shooting in a Gareth Edwards Hollywood movie "Havoc" in UK
2. 00:00:24 How did Sunny Pang get into the industry in 1993
3. 00:03:31 1999 Sunny felt that he wanted to act more than doing ONLY stunts but after a lot of rejection, he became a bouncer in clubs.
4. 00:04:20 Sunny gets casted in 'Perth: The Geylang Massacre"
5. 00:06:19 Working with Lim Kay Tong in 'Perth'
6.  00:10:06 How disappointments affect his career
7.  00:12:47 How Perth was not seen as a commercial success
8.  00:14:04 Working with James Lee - a prominent Malaysian Director/Producer
9. 00:14:20 Working with his Sifu ?Aleelb Said - a HK/Indonesian Martial Arts Master Action Director working in Asia.
10. 00:15:16 Working with James Lee on "Call if you need me"  (2009)
11.  00:17:16 Meeting Timo Tjahjanto the first time for "Night Come for Us"
12.  00:18:07 Meeting "The Raid" Gareth Evans too.
13. 00:18:25  Then "Night Come for us" production stalled during prepro training.
14. 00:18:38 Then he was approached by Timo for "Headshot" since "Night Come for Us" stalled
15. 00:20:37 Screening of "Headshot" in Toronto International Film Festival
16. 00:21:50  Sunny recalls the first day of shoot for "Headshot"
17. 00:24:30 Learning to hustle as an actor
18. 00:26:52 Importance of being independent in getting jobs
19. 00:32:44 On Singapore's potential in the international arena
20. 00:37:13 Shooting for TV in Singapore - everything is too sanitised 
21. 00:41:55 Shooting 'Gareth Evans international action flick "Havoc"
22. 00:43:52 What Forest Whitaker said to him after a take on 'Havoc'
23. 00:45:09 Whats next for Sunny Pang (Nov 21)
24. 00:46:52 Working with different directors
25.  00:49:47 Working on dramatic scenes requiring more focus for Sunny Pang 
26. 00:51:37 Working with Indonesian Directors like Timo and Gareth  
27. 00:52:42 An actor needs to understand the script well before shooting
28. 00:53:49 On rehearsals
29. 00:54:18 Rehearsal Process with Malaysian Director Zahir Omar
30. 00:55:35 Was there lots of rehearsals for 'Havoc'?
31. 00:56:59  Next projects (Nov 21)
32. 01:00:48 His experience working with Anri Okita a Japanese AV star
33. 01:04:47 His take on crying or emotional scenes
34.  01:01:08 On acting, no actinga nd over acting
35. 01:11:19 Sunny Pang on Inspector Han one of his memorable popular roles
36. 01:12:10 Sunny Pang's management style with Ronin Action Group
37. 01:15:23 About the 'Macho Man' in asian cinema
38. 01:22:16 About being open in the industry
39. 01:26:27 How was Craft Services on 'Havoc'?

Featuring our prolific Filmmaker Wee Li Lin. This was recorded last June when we were coming out of a CB and we may be heading towards a new CB as we speak.It's ironic that it is twelve months apart- nothing has changed much and yet everything did. She has of course done a lot more since but this series serves to a be a time-librarian of filmmakers in flux. Think its highly relevant and always cool to hang out with WLL- Our WW fllmmaker.

00:5:00 intros
00:39 "Such an effort to document and revise your showreel."
01:00 On how LiLin decided to put her showreel in order
01:32 How doing a showreel made her feel 'better about her work'
02:14 "when you put it together then you realise on you can do waht you do"
02:33 Overall Consistency in her body of work
03:46 How she conceive the short film title "Areola Borealis"
04:15 The use of Dialect Cantonese in "Areola Borealis"
05:10 LiLin on her tackling the use of Cantonese even when she is not versed in the dialect
06:31 Indirectly wanting to 'pay homage to her mom' who is Cantonese.
07:27 "Areola Borealis" had more ad-libbing than her previous works
08:49 The ad-Libbing and the delivered dialogue made the work very natural
09:00 On how English 'doesn't seem natural' in our works
09:45 Mentions on "Areola Borealis" writing being tight
10:11 LiLin on whether she directs mostly her own writing or otherwise
12:12 To be hired for one's unique 'Director's Voice'- about 'Directors having free reign over the scripts'
13:00 on Her personal successful relationship with a fellow writer- Jean Tay
15:02 "Keep chipping at the same Block" again on LiLin's on the type of stories, themes , characters and outcomes.
15:40 On being a craftsman in your work
16:00 LiLin on challenging herself to do things that are not in her usual domain
16:53 About being older and pushing herself to try new stuff, genre, characters and themes.
17:25 LiLin's love for her characters.
19:20 Same same but not necessarily different and doing something different for being different sake may not be beneficial
19:28 "Always a sense of fun" in all of LiLin's works
20:03 Always the 'nerdy underdogs' in all of her works
20:31 Where LiLin psycho-anaylsesing that this theme may be form her formative years as a teenager
21:28 Beyond the eye candy pastel visuals and 80's syths, "CP Kids" was a forgotten stigmatised counter culture in SG
21:45 On how "CP Kids" was supposed to be a docudrama but she couldn't find anyone to commission it.
23:50 On her trying to emulate the fashion and style in her school days (CP Kids) totally ‘out there’
25:50 CHIJ uniforms
26:24 Autograph vs My Autograph 2015
27:50 Time-slips and time jumps concepts
28:15 On her prolific shorts filmography-how she keeps it going
30:00 on doing personal passion projects. Thirties was occupied with two feature films and going back to school at Tisch
30:15 in her forties she decided to go back short films and how Nicholas Chee facilitated her going back to her Utter Short "That Loving Feeling"
31:04 on her time stamping her works with her own age
32:56 Talking about Box Office 'success' and the true 'merit' of the film
34:42 Looking for a local audience
35:00 End of Part One.

Apologies for the long long long delay between the last episode and this. Big disclaimer is THAT: this was done in June 2020- yes-a world ago so I hope most things are still relevant. If it's not- blame me- ask for a refund. Trust me its still full of useful tips. Yuni needs no introduction to the Singapore Film Scene and her helping me with this lil podcast has certainly elevated this chat shop. So so happy she agreed to do this. Even though I think she must be regretting agreeing haha.

Episode 11 -In this episode Don talks about working with actors and DPs. Another very Director-centric episode- here he shares his experiences with- diva actors, so called trained actors n non actors. Working with CYNTHIA KOH for the first time in a Mandarin language drama. Discussing about building that trust between the director and actors. 'Working the ‘magic’. Being impressed with a young inexperienced JABU DEEN and see how he has developed so far. He also shares his varied experience working with DP SHYAN and DP MICHAEL ZAW. I have known Don since 2015 on the set of ***Tanglin***. It was Singapore's longest English TV long form series- running at more than 800 plus (half hr) episodes and it had a number of directors on board. And we were part of that. Super ep. Enjoy.

Episode 10 -In this episode Don shares his beginnings with Vasantham ***Vettai *** and Channel 5's ***Tanglin.***
I have known Don since 2015 on the set of ***Tanglin***. It was Singapore's longest English TV long form series- running at more than 800 plus (half hr) episodes and it had a number of directors on board. And we were part of that. It is super interesting for me IMHO to have two directors talking about it because strangely we seldom do- sharing our experiences coz we mostly kept to ourselves. This is one of the most Director-centric insdier talk sessh. Most of all, I love his sharing his concept of success.