Filming in time of Covid-19 is like it was 10 years ago, says local production house

The crew handling an overhead camera rig to ensure the cast and crew adhere to physical distancing rule.

There has been a complete shift in Multimedia Entertainment’s work plan, no thanks to the pandemic.

The production house behind box office hits Wira and Paskal is now focusing on films with smaller budgets and limited crew members.

This is due to the uncertainty of the cinema industry, and also to adhere to the standard operating procedure (SOP) to keep the staff at one place and to a minimum number.

Keoh Chee Ang, chief producer with Multimedia tells StarLifestyle: “Before the pandemic hit, we were planning to shoot another big-budget flick (for 2020).

“But since the pandemic happened, we had to reshuffle and reposition ourselves. We have shelved the big-budget film and come up with new story ideas for films that we can make with smaller budgets.”

He continues: “For Wira we spent around RM6mil. For our latest projects we are spending about RM1mil. As for the film crew, we had around 80 people on the set of Wira. Presently, we have halved that number.

“Making a film now is like how we worked 10 years ago.”

Keoh gives another reason as well for the shift: “We are not sure of the revenue income of a film these days as not many people want to watch movies in cinemas.

“We are trying to keep to a smaller budget, so that the risk (of a film not doing well at the box office) is also smaller.”

Since the movement control order (MCO) put the country in lockdown in March last year due to Covid-19, the film industry has been heavily impacted with movie theatres closed and productions halted for a period of time.

Films and TV shows were allowed to resume production in Malaysia since June 10 after the easing of MCO.

However, Keoh adds that his company never considered throwing in the towel.

“Our managing director Datuk Steven Lim believes it is more important for us to keep filming so we can keep the industry going and to give the cast and crew work.

Director Razak Mohaideen (centre) discussing the setting up of a scene with his crew for 'Selamat Hari Tak Jadi'.

Multimedia embarked on its first film shoot amid the pandemic in September with the comedy Selamat Hari Tak Jadi, directed by Datuk A Razak Mohaideen.

The shoot was completed in 15 days. The production house then shot three films concurrently at separate locations in December.

“We keep to the physical distancing rules and all the other SOP with the crew members.

“But sometimes it is impossible to keep to the physical distancing rule when it comes to the cast, as the storyline would require them to be closer than one-metre, ” confesses Keoh.

When occasions like these arise, Keoh assures that his company takes every necessary precaution to keep everyone safe.

One way is for the cast and crew to live in the same area during the shoot so as to minimise the spread of virus, and create a new cluster.

But bearing the cost of the crew’s living space and taking every hygienic precautions on set naturally leads to additional expenses that companies needn’t look into previously.

Fortunately, Keoh says, as of now, the extra financial expenses is still bearable.

“But should there be a positive case then, of course, we have to stop production and that’s when we would incur cost above our budget. Thankfully, touch wood, we are still OK.”

He instead points out a problem filmmakers are facing – how their films will be released.

While cinema has reopened in July, its business took a dive with lack of content and – as Keoh has said – moviegoers not willing to visit the theatres just yet.

When cases started to skyrocket in the nation, local film exhibitors came to an unanimous decision to suspend their operations starting from November.

Cinemas at some states have reopened for business since the arrival of Wonder Woman 1984 on Dec 16, but the number of people visiting the cinemas is nothing to shout about.

Nonetheless, according to Keoh, the plan remains to release the new films at the cinemas as his company wants to support the restart of the local cinema industry.

“Our first choice for releasing a movie is still the cinema,” mentions Keoh.

“But that’s a bridge we will cross when we come to it. If the cinema screenings do not promise a decent return, and depending on the current situation, we might have to go with a video-on-demand platform like Astro First or other streaming platforms.”