Wednesday, May 30, 2007

开工几天后 。。。

For the past few days, I’ve been receiving phone calls from media friends. Everyone is very concerned about Fann.

Her boyfriend has gone to jail, and everyone is really worried about her feelings.

I told the media, not that I’m protecting her in particular, and neither do I want to give an undesirable answer. According to common speculations, Fann’s feelings and emotions should have been badly affected.

But my reply was, Fann’s attitude towards work the past few days had been very stable and professional. Not the least bit of distraught shown.

Therefore, I told the reporters, that this was a disappointing answer for them. There was no tabloid-worthy news. Had Fann been affected by Christopher’s jail sentence, then there would have been an impact on tabloid news. And had she reacted adversely to the bad news, there would have been nothing we could do, except to console her. We were actually prepared for that, but, this pretty lady reacted unexpectedly.

Please don’t say that she is a cold-blooded animal, neither is she heartless. That is a very shallow mentality.

This lady wears the same smile on her face everyday. She is still very jovial.

Getting into her character requires a lot of concentration and focus. She has always been a perfectionist in terms of her acting skills. Do you believe it? Just before I wrote this blog, she voluntarily came to request to go to the film editing room to review the scenes shot over the past few days.

Honestly speaking, not many actors/actresses are that conscientious. Most of them would not request to review their acting after the scenes are done. Perhaps you might say that the director never said it wasn’t a good take. But I must emphasize that a serious actor/actress would always request to review his/her acting.

This lady is the Queen.

I must say that her attitude towards work is very professional. Such a serious thing had happened, but yet she could lay it aside, and still concentrate on her work. This is where she earned my respect.

Mark also shared my views.

I have some photos to share… Our equipment supply here, honestly speaking, is better than back home in Singapore. Looks like when I get back home, I need to do quite a bit of rectification.

The following picture was a dream when I started off as an actor. I never had a chance to hold a gun then. But now that I am the director, I just had to do it for fun.

In the past, people used to call me “Two Guns” (两支枪). Do you know why? Because my name is LIANG ZHI QIANG (梁智强), in Chinese, it sounds like (两支枪)! My name also sounds like something else, but I won’t say it because you will definitely laugh at me.

Alright, I’ll tell you, someone used to call me “Niang Zi Qiang”/”Sissy” (娘子腔).

I have since castrated that guy!

Haha… OK, time to log off now. Hope all of you will come back frequently to read my blog. Once I have interesting news, I will definitely share it with you guys.

I really feel good with all of your company.

===================================================================================

这几天,老是接到媒体朋友的电话,都在关心文芳。

的男人进去了,很多人都很关心她的心情。

我告诉记者朋友,我不是要特别保护她,也不是要给不想听的答案,因为根据一般的猜测,文芳应该会在情绪上受影响吧。

可是我的答案是,真的!!文芳这几天的拍戏情绪,不但很到位,而且也很专业,丝毫没有沮丧的情绪。

所以我告诉记者,这个答案你们一定很失望,因为没有了新闻角度,如果是,文芳因为名顺入狱,拍戏情绪大受影响,这个角度就和震撼了,真的她有这个情绪,我们也会很无奈,也得陪着她一阵子,这个是我们的心理准备,但是,这个美女竟然没有大家想象一样。

千万不要说她是冷血动物,也千万不要认为她没良心,这绝对是对他肤浅的看法。

这个女人,每天的笑容都是一样,和她谈话,还是一样谈笑风生。

进入角色更是精神集中,她演戏,几乎是要求一定要做到最好,你相信吗?在写这个博客之前,她还自动自发的要求到剪片室看过去几天拍摄的影片。

老实说,没有多少演员会像她这样认真,多数演员拍完戏后,都不会这样要求看看自己的演技,你也可以给一个借口,导演没有说不好就是好,但是,我要强调的是,更认真的演员,他会要求看看自己的表现。

这个女人,是阿姐。

但是工作态度的认真和专业,我由衷的佩服,这么大的事情,我认为她也可以放一边投入工作,这是我 对她另眼相看的事。

国煌也这么说,想不到。。。

今天有一些照片给大家看看 。。。我们的器材支援,老实说,比新加坡好,回去之后一定要去调整一下以后在新加坡的作业。

下面这张就是我当演员时的梦想,没机会当演员的时候拿枪,只好等到现在当导演了才来自己过瘾。
以前曾经人家称呼我是两支枪,你们知道为什么吗?因为我的名字叫梁智强,谐音就是两支枪,还有一个谐音,我不要告诉你以免你们笑我。



好啦,告诉你们啦,曾经有人叫我“娘子腔”。

那个人已经被我阉了。

哈哈。。。好了 得下线了,希望各位常来看看我,我有好料就和大家分享。。。

有你们陪着的感觉真好。我的电邮出了问题,无法电邮给之前帮我翻译的网友,不知有谁可以帮我翻译然后直接放到我的留言箱,我会从那边直接放上去英文版的。

感激你们。

Sunday, May 27, 2007

开工了!3! 2! 1! ACTION!!!!

终于开工了



怎么样?这张照片够cool ? people say dont see face is cooler..so i choose this one first...

don want Ah Long to reconize me la ...

该找的景也找到了,该找的人也找到了,剧本该修改的也修改了,所以就开工了。

先给大家一些照片。

我现在的这个酒店,里面的网络非常差劲,要上传一张照片真的要吐血。

给我一些时间一定会有更多的照片就要登场了。

我马上要去看夜戏了,今晚是通宵到明天凌晨。

这场戏是文芳和新马的阿隆老大开会,我们选择在一个和偏僻的货仓,开车过去要一个小时左右。。。

好了,我要走了。。。

Thursday, May 24, 2007

大家好!我来了

Apology, recently the preparation is making me tired.

Everyday, went out early and came back late, every where got mountain and sightseeing.

The weather is hot, but after seeing the beautiful scenery clam me.

Malaysia sight seeing really attract me...

This time round of the fliming must really give the audience a big surprise.

This film is another big challenge to me.

This is my eleven movies.

Hope other than singapore and malaysia other people can accept the storyline.

This time round chosen the topic on gangster story, as gangster story in the blockbuster is the main attraction.

Other then ghost story, gangster story is also the international audience like to watch.

But...

The flim naming still not yet decided.

That day few friend fax some opinion on the loanshark...

They think that the name of changing the loanshark is a disgrace to them

Really headache

I saying change not shit, like that also can.

Base on, sometime the government will interfere the creativity, but this time round the government never interfere but the gangster list out thier opinion.

Really headache.

These are the photo during my sighting taken, now i share with you all, hope you all still support me, Because there are more coming up that will full of surprise.



不好意思,最近的筹备真的是要我半条命。

每天就是早出晚归,到处有山玩水。

天气热真的是没有办法,但是看到美丽的风景是我唯一的安慰。

马来西亚的风景,真的是让我迷恋极了。。。

这次在拍摄上,一定得给大家一些惊喜才行。

因为这部电影对我来说,是另外一个更重要的挑战。

这是我的第11部电影。

希望除了在新马以外的其他地区可以接受这个故事。

这次选择黑道的题材,就因为黑道题材在国际电影圈是主流题材。

除了鬼片,黑道的故事也是国际观众爱看的。

不过。。。

名字搞了半天投资方和我还是没有达致共识。

那天一些朋友传来了一些阿窿的意见。。。

他们认为大变的阿窿对他们是一种侮辱。

伤脑筋咯!

我说是大变不是大便,这样 也不可以。

看来,平时我们认为政府会干涉创意,没想到,这次政府没来,黑道却来提出看法了。

伤脑筋咯!

这里有一些照片是我在看景的时候拍的,跟你们分享一下,千万不要不来看我,因为,下来还有更好玩的东西,随时会登场。

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

When I'm not around...

See what Fann, Gurmit, Suhaimi & Brandon had done behind my back!

They very playful hor...

This clip is only for my blog.... plse enjoy.


Monday, May 21, 2007

Say NO to Piracy!!!



I heard got 'Just Follow Law' pirated VCD or DVD in the market liao. Please...do not buy pirated discs!

For those who don't know, I am the IP ambassadors for anti-piracy. I cannot tolerate my products to be copied. Do not kill my creativity!

I am very angry over this, I don't understand why we cannot stop them...

I came to KL for two weeks le, shooting quite smooth.

My laptop already install anti-virus software but still got virus leh, don't know why....

I will ask my assistant to upload the 2nd video soon.....must come back to watch ok....

Have to say Bye bye now......connection very the bad.....

Friday, May 18, 2007

Just Follow Law (Extra!!!)

This clip was edited by my in-house editor. You can't even get to see it even if you have bought the DVD.

This clip is exclusively for my blog.

For fun and entertainment only..... Gurmit and Fann haven't even watch it yet...

Please enjoy!

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Hello from KL

Hello my friends!

I'm here in KL for preparation of the movie shoot almost a week. It's very siong and tired, but I'm happy to work.

I may not be able to update so often because there is no network here. My computer also kana virus, very slow like snail. I have to go search for wireless cafe if I need to go online....like now, I'm in a nice cafe having my lunch. Got to rush off in a while to continue my shoot.

I am not able to reveal so much about my new movie, I just can say it will definitely be a blockbuster of the year. You will sure like it!

I've asked my in-house editor to come up with some 'Making-of' clips from "Just Follow Law". The clips are not even shown in DVDs! It's exclusively for my blog. I will ask her to put it up in my blog once ready.

Do come back for it okay!

Monday, May 14, 2007

Hi i am still here!!

i must say thank you for all your support..

sorry for not able to blog this few days,as my work here really xiong..

also the net work quite suck..most of the time no signal...or the signal is on n off...

already got some interesting pics,will put up soon..

now is lunch time,at s resturant here got free wifi that why can let u know what am doing ...

shit ..now got to go liao...

bye...

pls don complaint my english is bad...you think i don know mei?hahahaha..try la..

Friday, May 11, 2007

Movie title comments.

Hahaha… I'm so happy…

This time, I can righteously and "yaya papaya", tell my boss that this title is backed by popular demand…

I wonder if he can get past it himself?

Also, some net-pals have reminded me that this title can be a little sensitive… What do you guys think? But then again, some others think that this is my style.

I must state that, I hope you guys don't think that my style is vulgar. I'm going in the direction where audiences can remember easily, don't have to wreck their brains and will be able to say the title with their eyes closed.

Otherwise, imagine going to watch the movie with your friends, but have to think for so long, yet can't even remember the movie title properly…

Just like the movie " 满城尽带黄金甲", good grief, what kind of movie title is that? Those audience who wanted to watch that movie, couldn't even be bothered to mention the entire title properly. Most of them just said they wanted to watch " 黄金甲 ".

Sometime back, there was a foreign movie called "Wild Hog". The audiences were so funny. The cinema ticketing manager told me that most people came and said they wanted to watch "Wild Dog". Some even said "Hot Dog"! Goodness, how hilarious it was!

Back to the topic…

Perhaps some people might say, the movie " loan shark want to shit" , when screened, will be awkward for the audiences to say. Because many people have gone to buy the Mitsubishi air-conditioner, for which I'm currently the spokesperson. And many customers have told the retailers they want the "Jack Neo air-con"! So I hope when all of you go and watch this new movie, please don't say "Jack Neo 要大变 "… please remember, it's " loan shark wants to have a big change".

But I doubt it will go wrong. For movie titles to get mixed up, it's only because the movie title is way too difficult to remember. " loan shark yao da bian"in chinese is quite clear-cut. It simply means loan shark wants to change for the better.

So please don't think too dirty lah…

=======================================================================
哈哈哈,太高兴了。。。

这次可以理直气壮,yaya papaya告诉老板,现在这个片名是询众要求。。。

不知道他过得了自己的关吗?

也有一些网友提醒我这个片名有些那个。。。你们认为呢?当然也有人说这个就是我的风格。

要声明一点,我希望你们认为我的风格不是粗俗的,我是走一个让人家容易记得,头脑不用想闭着眼睛也可以讲的片名。

否则,要叫朋友去看这部电影,还要张大嘴巴,半天说不出片名“那个那个那个什么。。。什么电影啊。。。

就好像那个满城尽是黄金甲,妈的,什么屁名嘛,那么长,要去看的人,没有一个人会吃饱那么空闲,看个电影,把戏名完整的念出来,多数人最后都讲,要看那个“黄金甲”。

不久前,有一部洋片,叫什么WHILD HOG的,来买票看戏的人才够幽默,戏院卖票的经理告诉我,多数来看这部戏的人在票务处都说要看WHILD DOG 还有一些说要看HOT GOG。哇唠。。。几够力一下咯。。。!

话在说回来。。。

很多人也许会说,阿窿要大变的电影,上映时,恐怕会有人说的很怪异,因为现在很多人去买三菱我代言的冷气都告诉店主要买梁智强的冷气,希望大家去看这部戏的时候,千万不要说,要看“梁智强的大变”,记得!是阿窿要大变。

我看应该不会啦,片名会讲错,是因为片名死人难念,阿窿要大变是一个很清楚的意思,就是阿窿求变啊。。。

不要想得太过不卫生啦!

你们觉得呢?

哦!对了,一些朋友经常问我,希望自己可以参与我们的一些演艺表演工作,最近我的公司和海碟联手主办了这次的非常演员训练班。有兴趣的朋友不妨看看。

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

阿窿要大变 SUPPORT NEEEDED FOR MOVIE TITLE

看到那么多关于电影名称的回响,很高兴。

也要谢谢给我提供不同名称的朋友。

看来,喜欢“阿窿要大变”的人还真不少,其实我也是首选这个名称,可是,老板顾虑的比较多。。。

所以,我希望用压倒性的票数来说服老板。。。

他告诉我,才十几个人不算多,妈的,老板都是这样的啦。

各位,帮忙我啦。。。这个就是创意的人和出钱的人最大不同的地方。

各位,只要简单的在你的comment中写 “阿窿要大变!这个名称就表示支持了。

其他的名称,若你真的觉得比大变好,也可以写下别的名字,以示公平。

我的这个投票为期3天,从现在开始,3天内,看看是不是有好消息给我。。。

=============================================
I'm very happy to see so many feedbacks on the title for my new movie. I would also like to thank all of you for giving me so many different suggestions.

It seems like many of you prefer the title "阿窿要大变 "(loan shark's big change). In fact, that was also what I had in mind. However, the boss had other reservations about it...

Therefore, I' m hoping I can convince the boss with a hands-down win by conducting a vote on the title.

Boss actually mentioned that my suggested title did not catch enough of your attention... I guess that's typical of all bosses.

So please help me... This is the difference between a creative mind and the financer.

Very simply, just type " 阿窿要大变" in your comments, and this will be your vote for the title of the movie. If you have a better suggestion other than " 大变 ", do feel free to also indicate in your comments. This will ensure a fair voting.

Starting from now, this voting will last for 3 days. Let's hope I'll have good news after the 3-day voting period!





今天,时间很紧,还是跑去一间电脑动画之作公司参观,通过一个老同学的安排,我去了这个公司参观,希望来临的电影制作特效可以更加接近国际水准。

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

好久不见 LONG TIME NO SEE...黑道电影片名投票

对不起,各位。。。好累哦。。。




这个地方,马来西亚已经有了,感觉不错,我们会用这个地方拍摄一些戏,据说后面那个不是永久的,是租来的,一年合约3000万零吉。



到马来西亚看景,结果电脑出了问题,上不了网,快疯了。。。

各位提出的一些问题我都看到了,我不想越描越黑去解释,明显的,我有一些想法是不正确的。

还有很多东西我还得学习,谢谢各位网友的意见,

我更明白和各位沟通的意义了。

我的这个博客,希望可以和大家一起分享我的一些生活。

也许,可以帮助我解决一些问题,例如。。。

我这次去开会后,无法和老板达成一个共识,就是我这部黑道电影名称,各位可以给我出个意见吗?这部电影说的是,大耳隆要改过自新的故事,你们觉得以下那一个名称比较过瘾?

几个条件要遵守,首先,要道出主题,又要富有娱乐性,又要具有创新的感觉,又要一说大家就觉得过瘾,观众会觉得非看可惜,具有新马风味。。。

1大变的阿窿
2阿窿的大变
3阿窿要大变

这三个,我们担心日后电影推出后,我们整组人不是家里给人家丢大便就是,我们恐怕会被新马阿窿追杀。。。喂大变吃。。。
听到我们提出这个建议后。。。老板一直在飙冷汗。。。于是我们就想了以下几个感觉也是不错的,但是难以取舍咯。

1窿卷疯
2阿窿要做好人
3阿窿漂白纪
4跑吧!阿窿
5阿窿也跑路
6阿窿跑路
7阿窿拜拜
8拜拜阿窿

这几个,我们都觉得不错,但是那个最过瘾呢?

Saturday, May 5, 2007

B4 MY FILMING START...

B4 my filming start...

what do you prefer me TO DO here?

Upload pics? Video Clips? text?

i am going to get one assistant to handle the pics and video matters ,so that i got some things to show you everyday,if those area got signal ,will make sure my assistant update pics and clips on the spot!

for ppl who work in the office, student in school or ppl who are infront of the computor,you can see what is happening at the location on the spot too .

please help me to tell your friends,relatives and colleagues or your children and parents .this is the first time a film director doing this for his supporters ...

remember!you are not just seeing me alone at the location..you are going to see those stars who r in this movie doing filming at the same time.

who are the stars ? will let you know later ...we are still talking and negotiating with some main cast...headche la! these ppl ,schedule sooooooooo tight...

Ok...got to go liao..tomorrow flying off ...

630am flight to KL another production meeting.

Friday, May 4, 2007

非常演员训练班 Unusual Artiste Training Class

今天,干了一件很有意义的事。完成了多年来的另一个梦想。

和海蝶共同召开记者会,宣布合作招考“非常演员”。

这是我训练新人迈前最大的一步。看到我们梁家班的陈雪儿在台上载歌载舞,舞姿收放自如,整齐的动作,劲道十足的跳法,预感她有朝一日,应该会更有表现。

很多年轻的朋友常常问我,这个圈子,要怎样混进来?

很多我们之前梁家班演员训练班的学员,除了会演戏爱演戏,歌唱得好的,大有其人,可惜,我不是这个专业就不是这个专业。

所以,来到我眼前都不知道的,感觉就好像,你面前出现了即将开奖的首奖号码,你看到,就算给你看到,没有这个命就是没有这个命,否则,那个郭美美和林俊杰当年已经来到参加欢乐巅峰模仿秀表现如此突出了,我竟一点儿都没有占有他们的冲动,不是我瞎眼,而是,面对歌唱精英,我的心,是小鹿乱撞,还真不知道该如何下手。

虽然原本要签下郭美美,可惜我们不擅长制造歌手,所以。。。结果呢。。。眼巴巴的,损失惨重,可是替他们开心。

这次,希望可以从众多的年轻朋友中发掘到,全方位的艺人。

什么是全方位艺人?

很多人说我就是全方位艺人的代表,说实在的,这些人,说得是一点也没错,我算是全方位。

人就是要敢敢为自己的好坏负责,敢敢为自己的骄傲而骄傲。

最讨厌看到一些人这样,人家赞你好,心里其实他妈的超爽,口里却假假说“没有啦没有啦”。。。

这种虚伪,活着不如死去。

这个训练班,课程内容也会有一些创新。

这也是新加坡有史以来,第一次两家演艺公司如此合作,结合业务,融合资源,为新来的学员鞠躬尽瘁。

一个学费,双双胜利,三方合作(海蝶,梁家班,学员)四个课程一起上(歌舞唱主持)。。。

绝无仅有。。。

不是要在这里打广告,而是,希望更多充满希望的朋友,看到了希望。

只要可以找到,一个算一个,十个算十个。。。

如果想要更多的资料,可以上去:www.obmusicforest.com了解更多。

可以告诉我,还有什么方法可以让更多的朋友知道我的博客在这里?

Thursday, May 3, 2007

MAFIA MOVIE

Production date is getting closer...

many things still not finalized....

But i trusted my team...they are very hardworking and good.

Today just met with DOP, discussed with him what kind of look and style I want for this movie…this is very important,so that can prevent one chicken and one duck situation (mis-communication problem.)

Also met with my stunt director , discussed with him on all fighting scene… what kind of style I want, must give me a real new look when design the gongfu , this is really interesting lo…i first time doing action movie , so many things need to learnd.

Now my next immediate problem is ,a male chief mafia, his character outside look very kind but inside very bad type,who do you think is the best person in media corp…

Can anyone name me one please? Must be mid age..50yo and above…

Thanks for the help.


看到很多朋友要求我不要放弃我原来的语言,我继续用华文表达以下我最近的状况,反正现在还是睡不着。

我的黑社会电影马上要开拍了,很紧张,因为还有一些重要的部分还没有完成。

这部电影是我的另一个尝试,也是新马第一部黑道电影,希望可以吸引到新马所有黑道来支持,哈哈,希望他们是买票进来,哈哈。。。

这个电影和小孩不笨这类题材是一个大反的做法。朋友笑我,搞完白道(我在政府部门的日子),现在竟然来惹黑道,是不是嫌命长?哈哈,其实,黑道里面也有一些好人,白道里面也有一些坏人,你们说是不是?这个世界就是这样才迷人。

今天也见了我的摄影指导,互相交换了一些意见,他是一位很有经验的电影摄影师,我要求这部电影的感觉是,一定要有黑道电影的色调,气氛,和感觉,灯光的打法和镜头的掌控,加上镜位的摆设都是电影语言的基础,所以,摄影师的挑战是不小的。

跟着。。。

也会见了我的动作导演,来自印尼华侨,在香港电影圈呆了十多年,经验丰富,我给他一个要求,打 要打得美,狠要狠得够劲,安全还是第一,其实武打动作的设计,很多时候也是借助镜头的表现,如何摆设机位,是可以得到很不同力度的效果的。

第一次导演动作场面,真正像动作场面的场面,说没有压力是骗你的,希望各位祝福我。。。哈哈。。。

我,就是这样慢慢的学习,我的每个步骤就是,不断的为自己设计挑战,就是因为不会才要去学习才算是一个挑战,只要这次赢了,这个经验就是我一辈子的财产。。。这句话,各位一定要记得!!

给自己挑战,确保自己独立运作上的进步,是我一路来的信念,死不认输!!

其实,不说你不知。。。

这次在确定开拍这部电影之前,发生了一些不愉快的事情,很气馁。。。

最后熬过了。。。

这个经验就变成,认识一些人,成长一些事的宝贵过程。现在我是带着感谢给我这个体验的人的心情!哈哈哈。。。

凡事,往好的一面想,心情,真的 轻松多了。。。

好了,不行了。。。快6点了。。。这么迟了,不是,是这么早了。。。得去睡觉了,明天十点还要开会,谢谢各位一直陪我。。。

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

My filming locations...

My filming starting soon…
is about Ah Long (loan shark) movie.

This are some of the location we found and may use it for filming..

This place is going to have a big fight scn.


This is the chief mafia house


Don know why this monkey is inside here….


有穿裤也敢敢来亮相。。。


This is the temple we need for some praying scn…is a very nice place。世外桃源


some bad guys are going to hide here



planed some good guys escaping here, nice scn huh?


this is another big fight scn…


All Mafia chiefs meeting place


这是从外面看进去的黑色会总部。如何?

song that i sung b4 ,making into MV

someone do this for me in youtube...this song was written some time ago...because i think why all 爱国歌曲is only in english ,that why i created one chinese version for myself also for those who prefered chinese 爱国歌曲。hope you like it ,pls let me know if you like this type of stuff ,i will upload more...



对不起,之前告诉大家的电邮,因为一些状况冬眠了,现在已经苏醒,欢迎电邮我。jiekeliang@yahoo.com.cn

sorry for the mistake that i made,my email is now re-activated...jiekeliang@yahoo.com.cn,sure can get me ,if you want to send me a lot of pics...

hello ,this is jack neo...just testing this upload..

next time may be i change to video i think is faster and easier for me...

what do you think? give me some feed back la...

SOMETHING THAT YOU DON KNOW...

Looking at Shin Min Daily's Lin Anna's media report.

Felt that, some matters "keeping silent" to us in the movie industry has no significance. Therefore, I brave the insults and tell every one of the hardship, hoping supporters of mine will understand me better, perhaps then you will know how important this is to me.

Having been given the mistreatment at the Hong Kong Academy Awards, I began to have the same feelings as that of FM100.3's listeners, forget it, I am a nobody, I am only a young inspiring director, just accept the insults quietly and forget it. Until next time when I'm famous will I seek revenge.

Today, I if such have done that, would you, as a Singaporean, seeing the way Jack Neo handled that insult at that time, with pride or disgust? If I had chosen to swallow the insult, what good would it have done for us Singaporeans? Having treated unfairly, irregardless of whether intentionally or unintentionally, such mistreatment is definitely not how an organizer for such major FILM FEST event would have failed in. Neither is this anything to do with my status of being a superstar or and upcoming film director. I'm pursuing this issue certainly not just because I'm a superstar (and I'm not sure where those listeners get the idea that I perceive myself as a superstar). I'm pursuing for a very simple reason. I am officially accepted and invited to attend as a participant & guest. As good social etiquette, the host must ensure that their guests are well looked after and receive due respect.

With regards to this incident, I chose to expose it, hoping that more people will pay more attention to our local movie industry and avoid unhappy occurrences. Whilst I may accept some people digging at other people's misfortunes, I cannot accept that those audience or listeners assume that I think I'm a big shot. For audiences who disdain my movies, I only can say I'm sorry. The movies I make, caters to mass appeal. For audiences who are not part of the mass appeal, I will continue to work harder, and hope you will appreciate my diligence.
For those of you out there who keep saying my movies cannot ever get beyond Singapore, pls allow me to comment below.

In 9 years, I have made 10 movies, both of which are the "I Not Stupid" series. And in fact, the "I Not Stupid" series has a very good box office in Hong Kong (this was evaluated by the Hong Kong film board), which grossed more than SGD 1 million SGD 700,000. The sales of VCDs were even better (as advised by the local sales agent). Perhaps unaware to many, Hong Kong audiences of "I Not Stupid 1 & 2" have left many favorable comments in online forums (those interested can visit www.baidu.com to see those feedback). These feedback had not received any reports from mainstream media, therefore the majority of the audiences have not read, and therefore misunderstands that my works only kept within the Singapore market.

I am not one who kicks up fusses, however, after such an unhappy incidents, if I had not kicked up a fuss, I would probably be on the losing end.

In Malaysia, "I Not Stupid 2" grossed over 1 million in box offices (I suppose not many are aware). In Taiwan, the "I Not Stupid" series movies are doing very well on their local TV cannels as well as cable TV. It's one of the frequent broadcast programme (as advised by their supervisors). And because of my other movie "The Best Bet" which has Hokkien speech lines as well as the gambling story-line, it has attracted a lot of audience attention and therefore has shot Mark Lee to fame in Taiwan and also invited to participate in another movie which has satellite tv Star TV's investment. (This is acts according to local television station manager's response).

Many Chinese audiences including youngsters and local school teachers, principals and even educationalists, had watched "I Not Stupid". And their response was far better than anticipated. Following as prictures of Chinese students in an open forum after watching "I Not Stupid 2".

There are also many Chinese downloading my movies from the Internet and emailing to ask me, why such a touching movie was not screened in their local cinemas. Actually ,"I Not Stupid 1" had successfully screening in the China local cinemas, However they had changed the title to 憨仔鬼精灵(hanzai gui jing ling) the entire movie was dubbed in their local language and accent, with a lot of mistranslation in between. It was quite puzzling to me when I watched it as the dubbing was very awkward and mis-matched. As there was not any proper marketing and advertising campaign to support the movie. And therefore, the movie was forced to end after few days released. That was our first venture in China market---death sentence, and affected our negotiation of "I Not Stupid 2" screening in China so badly…

The China film distributor has so many movies from all over the world; no one would bother about the success or failure of a movie after released. But I knew where is our failure. No superstar ,no influential backer nor strong financial backing for marketing. All we had was just good and touching story with children, and this is obviously not the selling point for this movie !

In China, movies with children are mainly shown to schools as educational films. Therefore, it's difficult to convince china film distributor that such films have commercial value. But for people who have watched this movie, would agree that this movie is more suited for parents and educationalists than children.so , a film Without a superstar, the only way is to depend on the audiences' “word of mouth ”, their own local movie named crazy stone 疯狂的石头 is one such movie. if we do a proper marketing plan to attract the first group of audience into the cinema, word of mouth probably is our only way to win this game.

when I attend Shanghai and the Golden Rooster Awards screening, many audiences walked out of the cinema crying (same response as that of Singapore & Malaysia)after the show. My friends in China had witnessed that scene and couldn’t believe that a show featuring children could have such a touching effect on the audiences. A few teachers also gave me their feedback on the show.

The Singapore movie is a new brand, "I Not Stupid 1 & 2" are the only two movies that had infiltrated the Hong Kong market commercially with good reviews. The movie company had not publicized such achievement on the mainstream media, and as a result not many people are aware of this achievement.

A new product that wants to break into the China market would usually require a lot of advertising. And these expenses are always very astonishing. Zhang Yimou's movies also required several million SGD on promotional campaign . Moreover, "I Not Stupid" is a new brand, and to make it in China, would require at least SGD 300,000 - SGD 500,000 in advertising &promotional expenses.

This is not the small amount of money…

So…

What is next …?

(THIS ARTICLE WAS TRANSLATED BY CAROL... PLEASE GIVE HER A BIG HAND FOR SPENDING TIME DOING THIS !!!)