New facilities BOOST Malaysian industry

Two new entrants herald an encouraging push for the Malaysian film industry. The National Film Corporation (Finas) launched its own digital studio called the Digital Mix Stage Studio. The studio, located at the Merdeka Studio Complex in Kuala Lumpur, was built at a cost of RM53 million (US$14.3 million).

Construction of the studio began in 2006. The four-storey studio covering 2,396 sq metres is equipped with the Dolby system and provides the first audio dubbing, foley and optical sound camera mix stage facilities in Malaysia.

The director-general of Finas, Mohd Mahyidin Mustakim said the studio was expected to help spur the development of the Malaysian film industry. Foreign moviemakers would also be courted to make use of the facility.

“We have been going to Thailand for sound editing but with this studio, the whole editing process, from dubbing to the Dolby Digital special sound effects, can be done here,” Mohd Mahyidin told media representatives at the opening.

The facility was officially opened by Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, who said the studio would be a springboard for the Malaysian film industry to leap forward by strengthening the technical aspects.

The Digital Mix Stage is equipped with a 96-channel Euphonix System 5-FP console, a Euphonix R1 Recorder, Steinberg Nuendo as well as Pro Tools HD audio workstations, Tascam DS-D98 audio recorders and Lexicon 960L reverb. Behind the Harkness projection screen there is a TAD cinema speaker system, accompanying JBL surround monitor speakers and Dolby Digital Surround EX and DTS equipment for encoding, recording and monitoring of up to 7.1 audio channels.

With better technical aspects, he said, not only would Malaysian films no longer need to be sent to neighbouring countries for post-production processes but foreign filmmakers could also be drawn to Malaysia for their films.

“This is in line with our wish to market Malaysia as a good filming destination with its many suitable locations for various types of film,” he said.

Najib said the studio would make efforts to promote Malaysia as a complete filming destination easier. “Finas will be able make full use of the sophisticated studio and at the same time propel the Malaysian film industry to a more developed and competitive level,” he said. Najib said the government saw the local film industry as important and would give it due attention.

According to Finas, the system runs on 2 x 3.0GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon 5300 series processor, 16Gb main memory and 3 TB HDD internal storage. 8TB external storage is added to ensure the capability of film editing in high resolution. The system is also equipped with Capture Card AJA CONA 3 with full digital capabilities.

The software is based on the Final Cut Pro Studio 2, which includes Final Cut Pro 6, Motion 3, Soundtrack Pro 2, Color, Compressor 3 and DVD Studio Pro 4 and value added with Adobe Creator Suite 3. The set up enables one to edit the film on HD as well as Standard Definition (SD). Color grading and special effects also can be done on this machine.

Finas provides the industry with technical services, related training workshops and professional infrastructure at its facilities in Kuala Lumpur. These include a large sound stage, as well as an extensive inventory of sound, camera and lighting equipment - among which are Steenbeck 16mm/35mm and digital Avid Symphony film editing systems, Apple Final Cut Pro video editing systems, film and video postproduction and transfer stations, DVD/VCD authoring systems, HD/SD/DV digital and analogue Betacam camcorders, analogue and digital recorders, Nagra field audio recorders, Shure portable mixers as well as other accessories for film and video production.

There is also a library resource centre, a telecine transfer room, a film recorder room for Kine transfers, several digital colour correction and grading suites, a recording studio for audio post-production, a mini preview theatre equipped with Ernemann-Multihead 16mm/35mm film and LCD projectors, and Dolby Digital Surround EX as well as DTS Digital playback facilities. In addition to all of this, Finas also provides in-house consultants, technicians, film and video editors and sound engineers.

Finas also plans to set up an animation centre, archive centre and a museum on some vacant land adjacent to the new building to provide more facilities to film makers.

In 2008, Malaysia signaled the broad appeal of its multi-ethnic heritage when of the 60 films made, 75 per cent were made in Bahasa Malaysia (the national language), with the balance were in Mandarin, Cantonese, Tamil or English.

With support from the Small and Medium Enterprise Bank, Finas administers a Local Feature Film Loan Scheme - RM50m (US$14.28m) in funds to help the local feature film production in terms of pre-production, production and post-production as well as publicity and promotions costs.

The Malaysian government will consider pumping more money to revitalise local film industry as it is considered important to the country. One of the initiatives being considered includes increasing the funding for the Film Loan Scheme from RM50 million to RM100 million. Management grants for film associations would be increased from RM20,000 annually to RM30,000.

The government would also broaden its scope internationally for the production of documentaries and animated movies. The existing Finas complex would be equipped with more facilities and special incentives for foreign film-makers who want to shoot in Malaysia.

Finas has set a target of producing 50 films of all genres every year from 2009 to 2013, compared with the 20 to 25 being produced previously. However, the country need not only more films, but to improve the quality as well.

Adding to the optimism is the recent opening of Los Angeles-based award winning visual effects studio, Rhythm and Hues Studio, which will set up a high-tech studio in Malaysia.

Rhythm and Hues is internationally recognised as one of Hollywood’s top visual effects and animation facilities, with more than 100 feature films to its credit including Babe, The Hulk, The Golden Compass, The Chronicles of Narnia and Night In The Museum.

“The Malaysian studio will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of Rhythm in the US,” said Rhythm senior advisor Shahril Ibrahim. “Rhythm is not outsourcing or doing back office work in Malaysia. The work done here will be the same sort of thing being done in LA.”

“For instance, while shooting a film, the lighting is done in Mumbai, the animation in Kuala Lumpur and the visual effects in LA. So it’s a very collaborated effort which is broken up into task groups.”

The studio in Malaysia will be Rhythm’s third outside of the US. It also has studios in Mumbai and Hyderabad. Presently, there are 300 people in the India outfit.

Rhythm has already identified the Cyberjaya precinct for the studio premises. Malaysia was chosen because of support from the Multimedia Development Corp’s (MDec) for its sort of work, he said. Cost was a huge factor, as well as the big pool of students studying multimedia in Malaysia. “We did get some incentives from MDec, but it is minor support things,” he said.

“Putting the technical elements into the studio is not difficult. The main priority is to recruit and train people. Rhythm is cautious because it wants to hire people who are culturally Rhythm. In Rhythm, we’re very open and transparent. Its not truly hierarchical, it’s more matrically in culture,” said Shahril.

Rhythm’s present primary need is talent, and it is looking to hire 200 to 225 skilled workers. The studio is expected to be running by year-end, with 40 recruits for a start.

In the process of film and animation, Shahril said the Malaysian studio would initially be more involved with background works. After the necessary training (three to six months of in-house training), it will start moving into animation works. Most of Rhythm’s technology is its own proprietary software.

“Rhythm is creating high end jobs. The next best equivalent of Rhythm is probably Lucasfilms Ltd Studio in Singapore. So it’s definitely a coup for Malaysia. The Malaysian studio will be doing Hollywood work. So Malaysians get a chance to be involved in the making of an international movie. For instance, the Indian studio did parts of The Hulk, Narnia and The Golden Compass,” said Shahril.

He added that Rhythm had no plan to enter the Malaysian movie industry. Rhythm is a privately owned company, which makes about US$100 million a year in revenue. Shahril said Rhythm was in need of a third studio and had looked at a few countries. ASIAIMAGE