Have been busy writing a drama episodic for ASTRO PRIMA. It's a 13, half an hour episodic drama. Just finished episode number 8, 5 more episodes to go. Have to finish fast as i have a lot more things to attend to in this coming months.
Will tell you the title of the drama once is coming to air. Personally, i think it's going to be an interesting drama to watch. Hope i'm right.
Smile everybody!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Masalah hakcipta skrip
Saya sedang menulis skrip baru untuk tayangan di Astro. Baru siap 13 mukasurat untuk episod 1 . Ho..ho..ho..panjang lagi perjalanan skrip ini. Tapi saya rasa bersemangat menulis skrip ini oleh itu insyaAllah boleh selesai dengan cepat. Lagi pun pihak produser sudah berkali menalipon bertanyakan perkembangan skrip saya yang masih menguncup ini.
Dalam pada saya menulis ini saya juga sedang mengkaji hal-ehwal tentang hakcipta hasil penulisan skrip saya. Agak rumit perkara ini. Saya perlu pastikan apabila saya menjual skrip saya kepada pihak penerbit apakah yang saya jual sebenarnya. Hanya hak milik skrip atau hak milik keseluruhannya seperti watak-watak di dalam skrip itu dan sebagainya. Di Malaysia perkara ni masih kabur.
Di Hollywood sampai ada mogok oleh para penulis skrip kerana tidak puas hati tentang perkara ini. Apabila skrip mereka menjana keuntungan beratus juta hasil daripada tayangan, jualan DVD, 'merchandise' dan sebagainya tentulah perkara ini menjadi kepentingan utama kepada mereka. Mereka mahu penerbit memberikan mereka bayaran yang berpatutan untuk keuntungan yang dibuat oleh penerbit hasil dari penciptaan mereka. Di Malaysia kurang kerana keuntungan tidak seberapa. Namun hal ini perlu dikaji dengan teliti untuk masa depan para penulis sendiri.
Senyum semua..saya perlu bekerja sekarang.
Dalam pada saya menulis ini saya juga sedang mengkaji hal-ehwal tentang hakcipta hasil penulisan skrip saya. Agak rumit perkara ini. Saya perlu pastikan apabila saya menjual skrip saya kepada pihak penerbit apakah yang saya jual sebenarnya. Hanya hak milik skrip atau hak milik keseluruhannya seperti watak-watak di dalam skrip itu dan sebagainya. Di Malaysia perkara ni masih kabur.
Di Hollywood sampai ada mogok oleh para penulis skrip kerana tidak puas hati tentang perkara ini. Apabila skrip mereka menjana keuntungan beratus juta hasil daripada tayangan, jualan DVD, 'merchandise' dan sebagainya tentulah perkara ini menjadi kepentingan utama kepada mereka. Mereka mahu penerbit memberikan mereka bayaran yang berpatutan untuk keuntungan yang dibuat oleh penerbit hasil dari penciptaan mereka. Di Malaysia kurang kerana keuntungan tidak seberapa. Namun hal ini perlu dikaji dengan teliti untuk masa depan para penulis sendiri.
Senyum semua..saya perlu bekerja sekarang.
Diari Ramadhan Rafique
Diari Ramadhan Rafique (DRR) adalah salah satu drama episodic saya yang paling berjaya setakat ini. Dengan berjaya saya maksudkan dari segi popularitinya dan kandungannya yang positif dan diterima baik oleh para penonton.Saya memang berkira-kira untuk menulis sebuah drama khas untuk tayangan di bulan Ramadhan. Malah pada awal-awal saya menceburkan diri dalam penulisan skrip saya telah membuat satu kertas cadangan kepada TV3 supaya mengadakan slot-slot khas tayangan drama bersempena dengan hari-hari kebesaran Islam seperti Hari Raya Aidilfitri, Aidiladha, Maulidur Rasul, Nuzul Al-Quran, Israk Mikraj, Asyura dan sebagainya.
Juga saya mencadangkan agar slot tayangan khas di buat untuk hari-hari penting dalam kalendar gregoric seperti Hari Ibu, Hari Wanita, Hari Kanak-Kanak Sedunia, Hari Buruh dan sebagainya.
Dalam kertas cadangan tersebut tentunya saya mencadangkan agar TV3 memberi saya projek penulisan skrip khas untuk hari-hari tersebut.Cadangan itu diterima baik oleh TV3 namun kata mereka skrip saya itu mestilah melalui syarikat-syarikat pernerbitan yang sedia ada. TV3 tidak akan membeli terus skrip dari saya.
Alhamdullilah kini bukan sahaja TV3 malahan stesyen-stesyen televisyen lain turut menayangkan drama-drama khas bersempena dengan hari-hari kebesaran Islam dan hari-hari penting dalam kelendar gregoric.Alhamdullilah sekali lagi tidak berapa lama sebelum Ramadhan 2006 menjelma saya mendapat panggilan daripada Jalena Rejab, Esekutif Produser,Grand Brilliance yang menawarkan saya untuk menulis satu drama episodic khas untuk tayangan Ramadhan tahun tersebut.
Ketika itu saya sedang memandu pulang ke Shah Alam dari rumah ibubapa saya di Seremban. Saya terus terlalu gembira! Impian saya bakal tercapai untuk menulis sesuatu yang bermakna bagi tayangan du bulan yang sungguh mulia, Ramadhan al-Mubarak!Saya pun terus mengadap komputer. Cerita apa ya saya nak tulis??? Jalena cuma mencadangkan agar drama episodic tersebut menyentuh tentang kanak-kanak (kerana TV3 suka akan telemovie Anak-Anak Ramadhan yang ditulis oleh saya sebelum itu) dan juga menyentuh tentang mualaf (kerana kejayaan drama Kelahiran Yang Teristimewa yang juga ditulis oleh saya).
Beberapa hari berlalu langsung tidak ada idea yang sesuai. Apabila saya menulis sesebuah skrip selalunya saya akan memikirkan terlebih dahulu apa kandungan yang saya ingin utarakan di dalam skrip saya. Apa isu? Apa permasalahan? Apa harapan dan tujuan yang ingin saya capai dari penulisan saya tersebut. Saya akan membuat kajian dan analisa akan topik-topik yang bakal saya sentuh dalam penulisan saya dari pelbagai bahan. Setelah saya dapat mengumpul sekurang-kurangnya separuh dari bahan yang bakal saya utarakan barulah saya akan memikirkan dengan lebih mendalam akan jalan cerita skrip tersebut. Pada ketika ini juga perwatakan watak-watak di dalam skrip tersebut juga akan dikaji dengan teliti dan mendalam.
Saya sudah mengumpul bahan-bahan yang sesuai untuk saya ulas dan kupas dalam skrip saya untuk tayangan Ramadhan tersebut namun jalan cerita malah tajuknya cerita belum saya mendapat ilhamnya. Saya pun berfikir keras, sambil terus mencari-cari di internet untuk idea-idea cerita yang sesuai. Akhirnya saya terjumpa satu website kisah seorang wanita arab yang berpuasa di Arab Saudi setelah sekian lama dia menetap di Amerika Syarikat. Dari pengalaman wanita arab tersebut terus saya mendapat idea untuk membuat kisah seorang kanak-kanak yang menjalani ibadah puasa di Malaysia setelah sekian lama menetap di luar negara.
Saya fikir perkataan diari sesuai untuk menjelaskan tentang pengalaman kanak-kanak tersebut setiap hari di Malaysia pada bulan Ramadhan. Lantas saya mencantumkan dua perkataan Diari dan Ramadhan dan saya ambil nama Rafique kerana nama tersebut bermula dengan huruf R jadi bunyinya selari dengan bunyi Ramadhan. Tambahan pula nama Rafique ada huruf Q. Huruf ini sesuai dengan nama-nama dari budaya Eropah. Maka lahirlah tajuk Diari Ramadhan Rafique! Apabila saya mendapat cetusan idea untuk sesebuah cerita selalunya untuk mengolah keseluruhan ceritanya agak mudah.
Terus saja ilham akan datang mencurah-curah. Kalau tersekat pun masih dapat ilham pada jam-jam kemudiannya. Hanya perlu berfikir dengan lebih keras lagi. Saya pun mula mengolah sinopsis drama episodic DRR ini. Di cantumkan dengan cadangan Jalena supaya ada kisah mualaf maka wujudnya watak Pak Su yang dilakonkan oleh Zed Zaidi yang merupakan seorang mualaf yang keperibadiannya lebih baik daripada ramai orang-orang Islam yang sudah sedia Islam semenjak lahir lagi.
Saya reka watak Pak Ngah yang dilakonkan oleh Roy Azman agar gila-gila sedikit dan cenekel untuk menjadi lawanan watak Pak Su yang mulia itu. Watak Pak Ngah juga diolah agar menjadi satu watak comedic relief bagi drama ini. Saya mencipta watak nenek kerana saya memang suka ada watak orang-orang tua dalam drama saya. Contohnya drama Salina. Watak nenek dalam drama Salina adalah satu watak yang kuat dan penting bukan sekadar tempelan sahaja. Saya mahu kebanyakan drama saya sesuai ditonton oleh semua golongan masyarakat. Lagipun saya mahu nenek-nenek dan datuk-datuk di kasihi oleh cucu-cucu dan ahli keluarga mereka.
Saya mahu DRR ini dipenuhi dengan ramai watak terutamanya kanak-kanak kerana saya mahu menonjolkan kemeriahan Ramadhan tersebut terutamanya pada waktu berbuka puasa. Namun hasrat saya ini terpaksa dibataskan kerana pihak penerbit tidak mahu terlalu ramai watak untuk menjaga kos. Lantas tinggal lah Maisarah, Hadzreen, Hafiezy, Hazwan dan Rafique! Serta beberapa anak-anak jiran yang turut memeriahkan DRR.
DRR 1 mendapat sambutan yang baik, Alhamdullilah. Seterusnya pada tahun 2007 saya ditawarkan lagi oleh Grand Brilliance untuk menulis DRR 2. Saya terima tawaran tersebut. Membaca komen-komen dari para penonton tentang DRR 1&2 membuatkan saya semakin bersemangat untuk menulis skrip-skrip yang lebih baik lagi. DRR 1 & 2 merupakan kenangan manis untuk saya. Dan yang paling manis sekali kerana di dalam DRR 1 & 2 saya dapat menulis pelbagai perkara- yang saya rasa penting untuk ditulis dan di utarakan kepada para penonton.
Kepada para penonton yang telah menonton DRR 1 & 2 terimakasih daun keladi saya ucapkan. Semoga anda telah terhibur dan mendapat sesuatu yang positif dari drama tersebut sebagaimana saya mendapat berbagai perkara yang baik-baik apabila saya menulis drama tersebut. Sudikanlan menonton drama-drama tulisan saya lagi.
Pitching session with Media Prima
Friday, June 6, 2008
Media Prima a broadcasting giant of Malaysia has invited me for a pitching session with them. They want to select the best suited drama & telemovies for their airing in 2008 & 2009. I went for the session last week actually. Quite fun! 2 of my drama episodic and 5 telemovies were selected for the pitching. But i got to present only one of my drama episodic and one telemovie due to time constraint.
I hope to get positive results for all my dramas. Can't wait to start writing these dramas since they are all my original idea and story. I got all pump-up when writing my own original stories. Like Diari Ramadhan Rafique, Salina and many others that were all original mine, it's more fun to write on. It's like a love story.
As i start writing and progressing i will become very close to the characters and will slowly fall for them. I love Rafique, Salina, Kamal, Muhaimim in Kelahiran Yang Teristimewa etc. etc. They are personal to me. As i reach to the end of the story i will feel this beutiful connection between me and my piece. The piece is soon ready for birth and for further treatment by the production members and artist.
When the piece is complete and as i type the word 'tamat' at the end of the last page of my script almost everytime my eyes becomes watery. How hard it is for me to come to this stage to finally complete the story. Finally the baby is born. Now all i can do is pray that the production members and the artist will handle it with care and produce an outstanding story for the viewing of all my beloved viewers. My baby will be walking soon but i won't be there to help him as my job as the mother writer normally stops when he is born to the world.
Good luck baby, good luck to all my characters. Hope the viewers will love you when they watch you on the big screen. I will watch you too and i hope i will be smiling away in proudness as i watch you come alive on screen. Smile everybody!
Media Prima a broadcasting giant of Malaysia has invited me for a pitching session with them. They want to select the best suited drama & telemovies for their airing in 2008 & 2009. I went for the session last week actually. Quite fun! 2 of my drama episodic and 5 telemovies were selected for the pitching. But i got to present only one of my drama episodic and one telemovie due to time constraint.
I hope to get positive results for all my dramas. Can't wait to start writing these dramas since they are all my original idea and story. I got all pump-up when writing my own original stories. Like Diari Ramadhan Rafique, Salina and many others that were all original mine, it's more fun to write on. It's like a love story.
As i start writing and progressing i will become very close to the characters and will slowly fall for them. I love Rafique, Salina, Kamal, Muhaimim in Kelahiran Yang Teristimewa etc. etc. They are personal to me. As i reach to the end of the story i will feel this beutiful connection between me and my piece. The piece is soon ready for birth and for further treatment by the production members and artist.
When the piece is complete and as i type the word 'tamat' at the end of the last page of my script almost everytime my eyes becomes watery. How hard it is for me to come to this stage to finally complete the story. Finally the baby is born. Now all i can do is pray that the production members and the artist will handle it with care and produce an outstanding story for the viewing of all my beloved viewers. My baby will be walking soon but i won't be there to help him as my job as the mother writer normally stops when he is born to the world.
Good luck baby, good luck to all my characters. Hope the viewers will love you when they watch you on the big screen. I will watch you too and i hope i will be smiling away in proudness as i watch you come alive on screen. Smile everybody!
Greenlight to proceed with script
Friday, June 6, 2008
After 2 discussion with the Ep's of Astro i got the greenlight to start writing my latest drama episodic with Astro. So write i shall...Again the time frame is considerably tight so have to squeeze all my brain cells for fastest result. I also want to finish the script fast as i have other projects to attend to. I'll tell the title of the drama episodic once it's nearing to air ok.Till then allow me to write...Smile everybody!
After 2 discussion with the Ep's of Astro i got the greenlight to start writing my latest drama episodic with Astro. So write i shall...Again the time frame is considerably tight so have to squeeze all my brain cells for fastest result. I also want to finish the script fast as i have other projects to attend to. I'll tell the title of the drama episodic once it's nearing to air ok.Till then allow me to write...Smile everybody!
Salina was the first and life changes after that..
Friday, May 30, 2008
Salina was my first ever script. Salina was my first ever everything in the creative writing business. Yes off course i've written before i.e. letters to friends and families, composition for English and Bahasa Malaysia subject in school, business letters, proposals, reports etc. but never in creative or artistic writing. But strangely enough when it was suggested to me to write a drama script i was confidence that i can write a good one. I was being naive i guess but i just have the conviction inside.
At that time when the suggestion came i was a senior consultant at KPMG Business Advisory Consulting. I was doing Human Resource consulting. I took the suggestion gladly. I was busy with work but what thought what the heck, i want to write! I want to write drama script . I've watched million hours of dramas, films, sitcoms etc. and now the time has come for me to write one! Why do i want to this really? Well just like you, i've watched many dramas on tv since small, my favorite being 'Eight is enough', 'Little house on the prairie', 'The high chaparral' etc.
I've enjoyed my self so much watching all these shows and i actually learn few things from them too. Dramas like ER, Ally Mcbeal, Sex in the City for instance carries many pointers about life and relationship. Some are good some are bad, nevertheless it makes you think. The writing of the shows was so powerful that it actually forces you to ponder on the various issues that is being highlighted in those shows.
I want to be able to do the same. I want to share my point of view about many things with many people and if possible trigger some thinking process along the way. There are many things that need highlighting and reinforcing to the masses and i don't mind taking the pain to get down to the bottom of things and highlighting the core of the issues to people through my writings. One of the best platform for me to do this is via a drama or film script. Yeah i may sound boastful, who am i to highlight and reinforce things to people? I'm no leader, i'm just an ordinary person working hard to make a living. But i'm an ordinary person with an opinion of my own, i read, i observe, i have my viewpoints on many things and i want to share. Thus i write.
So off i go, writing my first script. I've never written a script before, never attended any scriptwriting class/courses never even seen a script! Not in hardcopy not in softcopy. Thanks to the internet, i gathered many well written scripts as samples.
So with my co-writer i began to develop my first storylines. We decided that the storylines will be about a yuppie woman meeting a 'kampung' man, quickly agreeing to marriage on contract basis for selfish reasons. The woman is in dire need to find a replacement husband as her dashing, elegant, affluent husband to be left her three days before the wedding for other woman. The man is in dire need to find for money to sustain his business and to embark on a new long awaited project. The woman offered the man a steady amount of cash, the man jumped into the bandwagon quickly agreeing to marry her for the money. The deal is he's to divorce her after 6 months of marriage. The man is already engaged to other woman by the way.
So they marry, east meet west, both are Malays yet both are very different. The woman very successful, very westernized. The man struggling to make it big in the business world, very proud to be Malay. One hardly speaks in Malay, one seldom speaks in English. Many squabbles in the beginning due to different way of thinking, different way of lifestyles.
As time past living under one roof the woman began to understand the man, even beginning admiring him. This kampung man have high aspirations in life and actually work hard for it. This kampung man is very gentlemen like too. He cracked open a crab for her while they are having seafood dinner together. He loves his mum and family wholeheartedly. His approach with his family may be a bit harsh - one night he scolded his nephew hard for failing to attend school (ponteng sekolah) and the woman thinks this is wrong, he should have counselled the boy instead. Yelling at children is uncivilized the woman said, but he said sometime you have to be strict with children to educate them. Children he said needed to be discipline and the although the woman did not totally agree with the approach but she appreciates the justification behind it.
She slowly falls for this strong genuine Malay man (lelaki melayu jati yang kuat). The man admires the woman strong persona. She is very intelligent, very communicative and they can talk about everything and anything for hours. He can criticised her to the max and she's ok with it. She is open minded enough. She listened to what he has to say about their race trying to understand the issue more. She is very far from her race being brought up in the foreign land. She only mixes with the elitist Malays not really knowing her own people. She thinks her people is lazy, very dependent to the government to progress, not dynamic enough to stand on their own etc. etc.
He also slowly falls for her too. This is the kind of woman that he wants to mother his children someday, a dynamic and futuristic woman. But he is already engaged to a lovely, kind hearted teacher his long time love. And she's now being chased again by her runaway groom. He thinks she wants to get back to her ex-fiancee, she thinks he wants to marry his fiancee. So they decided to proceed with the divorce.
What happen next?? Well you have to watch the show to know the rest of the story o? Ho..ho...ho.. Me and my co-writer decided to named the story Sal & Kam. Sal short for Salina the name of the woman and Kam short for Kamal the man character. We complete the scripts after 4-5 months working on it juggling work and personal life.
To ensure that we get it right we went and see Pak Hamzah (Bak) at Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) for his comments on the script. Bak at that time was the script editor of Finas. Aspiring scriptwriters or even seasoned ones can get his inputs on script they written. He has vast experience about scriptwriting being a renowned scriptwriter himself. He has written many drama and films script including the script for film Mahsuri a project supported by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman the father of Malaysia independence. Bak took sometime to read our script and when we get back to him we were overjoyed to hear his comments. He said we did very well! Wow! The scripts he said is very promising so he wrote a recommendation letter for us. This letter is to accompany our script for submission to productions houses for their reading and purchased if liked.
We immediately went all over to sell the scripts. We approached various producers. We brought hard copy of the script and leave it with the producers to read hoping they will buy it. Not long after that came a telephone call from a producer name Lazizah Ahmad (Kak Lazizah). Kak Lazizah at that time was a producer at Grand Briliance Sdn Bhd. She said she is interested to buy the script. We were ecstatic! This is to good to be true. A reputable production company is keen to buy our script! Our first and foremost script! So we went to meet Kak Lazizah.
We met Kak Lazizah at a restaurant in One Utama. She brought her teenager daughter along with her. She claims that her daughter enjoyed the script so much and this help her decide to buy the script. We had a long discussion. She wanted some changes to be made to the script including for us to suggest a more catchy title for the show. She said to made it into 16 episodic. We went running back and prepared everything that she wanted. We suggested few titles for the show none of them to Kak Lazizah liking. Hence, she suggested Salina and we agreed. Soon enough we went to her office this time to sign the purchased of script agreement. Hurray! We sell our first script!
Grand Brilliance took on a renowned drama and film director of Malaysia to direct Salina. The main cast was Sharifah Hasleenda as Salina. We went for a session of shooting of the show just to get some exposure on drama shooting.
Not long after that Salina was aired on tv 3, Identiti slot. I like many of you watch the show first time on tv. Since it was aired at 6:30 pm to 7 pm during weekdays i have difficulties to watch it. I have to rush back to home from office. Driving home to Shah Alam from my office at that time in Damansara wasn't a journey to look forward to. The traffic was very heavy. There are times i couldn't watch the show as i was stuck in the office doing work. I didn't get anybody to tape it also so sadly i missed few episode.
It is very electrifying to watch your script turn into shows. I get sweaty all over. My face cringes and flinches. Many times i meant to tell different things but the director and actors portrays differently. Ahh! Its a strenuous ordeal watching your own show. Salina is no different. I meant for the character Salina to be spoiled yet cute. On the outlook people may take her as an arrogant westernized chick but she's actually very kind hearted, very friendly and loving. Salina in Salina wasn't portrayed as such. She is is portrayed as a big headed KL english wannabe chick with this i'm always right attitude. I don't really like Salina in Salina. I'm actually quite frustrated with the portrayal.
One of the main recipe for a good show is for the main character to be likeable by the audience. The main character may be a robber, a mafia head, a cheater, a whatever, but some how or rather the character must be build in such a way that the personalities and qualities of the character captures the heart of the audience and is loved by them.
So i watch Salina with slight disappointment. But there a many great scenes and moments in Salina too and to my delight Salina was very well accepted by the audience. Salina received many positive comments from all over. I read the comments from the audience at the tv forum blogs, individual blogs, from newspaper, even heard people commenting about in on radio.
I share some of the comments i gathered from http://mforum.cari.com.my/archiver/?tid-141754-page-3.html
fistik - bergegas pulang dari putrajaya ke kelana jaya demi salina .. he he..terlepas beberapa minit semasa wedding kat kampung kamal..daring betul salina pakai singlet ngan pareo batik ..pastu shawl batik utk cover badan .. yg heran mak kamal boleh encourage salina pakai camtu masa nak bertandang rumah sedara mara ..last2 .. salina kena sound ngan tok sedara kamal .. sian plak tengok kamal .. bengang dia ngan salina sebab jatuhkan air muka dia depan tok cik ...
JerryJemima - menarik jugak cerita ni, kami sekeluarga pun dah 'melekat'jln cerita tak meleret2 dan dialognya pun best, mungkinkah salina berubah? lepas tu jatuh cinta dgn laki dia?:)tapi yg tak syoknya cerita ni tayang 3 kali ke seminggunapa tak siar 5 hari terus :agr: 12-1-2005 10:39 AM hanieliza - best laa citer ni...wahai manusia2 yg kerja kat tv3 yg join forum, boleh tak kurangkan iklan atau tiadakan langsung iklan2 semasa citer salina ditayangkan?
Herlina - Untuk semua yang benci pada watak Salina.Saya suka Lynn bawak watak tu. Menjadi sesangat sampai korang boleh nyampah kat dia. Tapi korang perlu ingat dia mewakili sebilangan wanita/anak gadis yang terikut dengan budaya barat walaupun baru gi oversea dua tiga tahun. Golongan ni memang wujud dan saya dah mengenali seorang daripadanya.Saya bukan nak memburukkan minah ni tapi elok juga kita ambil iktibar dan jangan jadi macam dia.Ada sorang pompuan melayu ni. Konon belajar kat Australia, kerja as executive tapi lagaknya phuhh!. Memang dah hilang kemelayuannya walaupun nama melayunya tetap ada. Bila bulan puasa ‘uzur’nya sebulan. Bila colleague nak makan kat kedai cina dia join sampaikan bila si cina ni cakap kat kedai tu tak halal dia boleh jawab dia dah biasa dengan makanan tu semua. Even babi pun dia dah biasa makan kat Australia dulu.Lagi satu kalau kita orang kampung janganla dok nak berkawan atau nak dekat sekalipun dengan dia. Dia dah sound awal-awal yang dia tak suka orang kampung. Alasan… miskin, ketinggalan, kotor, tak ada kelas dan kata-kata yang paling tak dapat dilupakan ialah.. “I jijik dengan orang kampung’. Mungkin bagi dia babi lagi suci berbanding dengan orang kampung.Nak nasihatkan… hmm dia dengan kawan cina yang yang rapat pun dah tak bertegur sebab si cina ni bagi nasihat kat dia. Mak bapak dia pun tak pernah cakap, tegur, nasihat atau marah, tiba-tiba pulak ada orang nak tegur dia. Kena baliklak si cina ni. Dia lagi proud sebab kononnya parents sekepala malah bar pun ada kat rumah. Salina dan family dia mewakili golongan di atas ni tapi kalau kita tengok betul betul sebenarnya masih ada ‘kemelayuan’ dalam diri Salina cuma egonya masih tinggi. Dalam citer ni memang saya rasa sedih dan simpati pada Intan tapi kalau Kamal dapat mengembalikan Salina ke acuan asalnya dan membawa Salina ke landasan islam yang sebenar maka dia dah menang dalam satu perang jihadONT>M>
It turns out Bak was right, people will like watching the show. Comments from the audience are very precious to me. It's an important source of feedback to my writings. I thanked every person who has commented on the shows that i wrote be it a positive or negative comments. That you took the time to comment i'm very honoured.
Salina is a succes and Grand Brilliance requested for us to write the sequel. We obliged accordingly. Actually before even Salina was aired on tv3 me and my co-writer had already received an offer to write another drama series for RTM airing. The offer came from the producers of Eurofine Sdn Bhd. We submitted the Sal & Kam script to them too, they like it but for some reason wasn't able to produce it. Instead the want us to write Sumayyah for them. We gladly tool the offer. Sumayyah actually went on air before Salina did. So it was my second script that made it first on tv.
I received many offers to write scripts after Salina. I found out that the prospect in the scriptwriting business is very good. This become a major confidence booster for me to leave employment once and for all. I had wanted to be my own boss for so long but i wasn't very sure i am able to sustain my life without the fixed income that i received from my employment. A great thing happen.
I received an offer from my client to provide some human resource consulting services for her company. It was a good offer. Couple with the income that i can acquire from scriptwriting i was confidence that i will be able to sustain my life being my own boss. So i tendered my resignation from KPMG in Dec 2004 and founded EASE HR Management Services. I took on many human resource consulting jobs and have been writing since. It has been great thus far.
Writing Sal & Kam is one of the life changing action that i undertook. Now i'm a m
other and i couldn't be more happier to be working from home most of the time and watching my daughter grow in front of me. I am so blessed. Hessa my daughter is blessed too as she has her mother with her most of the time, aren't you Hessa?? I love you!P>
I know i can write but i wouldn't have thought that i will be taking up scripwriting seriously and actually make a living out of it. I'm very happy that i took up writing. Many of my personal aspirations and my desires have been fulfilled by it. I'm someone that is very concern about my religion, my country, about humanity and many things. Now i'm able to unleash my concerns through my writings and this made me a more contented person.
I would like to thanked everyone that has helped me to take this leap jump into this wonderful world of writing and making one of my dreams come through. Thank you Bak for assisting me in my early days as an aspiring scripwriter. Thank you Kak Lazizah for purchasing and producing Salina, my first script. Thank you all the producers that had given me the oppurtunity to write for them. I hope to continue writing stories that is worth writing for.
Ya Allah ya tuhan ku, aku bersyukur ke atas kebolehan yang kau anugerahkan kepada ku, atas peluang yang Kau berikan kepada ku, atas segala nikmat yang kau berikan kepada ku. Aku tunduk berserah kepada Mu, ya Allah. Berilah aku petunjuk dan hidayah Mu, ya Allah tuhan yang maha agung. Semoga hasil-hasil penulisan ku memberi kebaikan kepada agama ku, kepada diri ku dunia dan akhirat. Jadikanlah aku hamba yang berkhidmat ke jalan Mu Ya Allah.
Ampunkan lah aku ya Allah. Amin
Salina was my first ever script. Salina was my first ever everything in the creative writing business. Yes off course i've written before i.e. letters to friends and families, composition for English and Bahasa Malaysia subject in school, business letters, proposals, reports etc. but never in creative or artistic writing. But strangely enough when it was suggested to me to write a drama script i was confidence that i can write a good one. I was being naive i guess but i just have the conviction inside.
At that time when the suggestion came i was a senior consultant at KPMG Business Advisory Consulting. I was doing Human Resource consulting. I took the suggestion gladly. I was busy with work but what thought what the heck, i want to write! I want to write drama script . I've watched million hours of dramas, films, sitcoms etc. and now the time has come for me to write one! Why do i want to this really? Well just like you, i've watched many dramas on tv since small, my favorite being 'Eight is enough', 'Little house on the prairie', 'The high chaparral' etc.
I've enjoyed my self so much watching all these shows and i actually learn few things from them too. Dramas like ER, Ally Mcbeal, Sex in the City for instance carries many pointers about life and relationship. Some are good some are bad, nevertheless it makes you think. The writing of the shows was so powerful that it actually forces you to ponder on the various issues that is being highlighted in those shows.
I want to be able to do the same. I want to share my point of view about many things with many people and if possible trigger some thinking process along the way. There are many things that need highlighting and reinforcing to the masses and i don't mind taking the pain to get down to the bottom of things and highlighting the core of the issues to people through my writings. One of the best platform for me to do this is via a drama or film script. Yeah i may sound boastful, who am i to highlight and reinforce things to people? I'm no leader, i'm just an ordinary person working hard to make a living. But i'm an ordinary person with an opinion of my own, i read, i observe, i have my viewpoints on many things and i want to share. Thus i write.
So off i go, writing my first script. I've never written a script before, never attended any scriptwriting class/courses never even seen a script! Not in hardcopy not in softcopy. Thanks to the internet, i gathered many well written scripts as samples.
So with my co-writer i began to develop my first storylines. We decided that the storylines will be about a yuppie woman meeting a 'kampung' man, quickly agreeing to marriage on contract basis for selfish reasons. The woman is in dire need to find a replacement husband as her dashing, elegant, affluent husband to be left her three days before the wedding for other woman. The man is in dire need to find for money to sustain his business and to embark on a new long awaited project. The woman offered the man a steady amount of cash, the man jumped into the bandwagon quickly agreeing to marry her for the money. The deal is he's to divorce her after 6 months of marriage. The man is already engaged to other woman by the way.
So they marry, east meet west, both are Malays yet both are very different. The woman very successful, very westernized. The man struggling to make it big in the business world, very proud to be Malay. One hardly speaks in Malay, one seldom speaks in English. Many squabbles in the beginning due to different way of thinking, different way of lifestyles.
As time past living under one roof the woman began to understand the man, even beginning admiring him. This kampung man have high aspirations in life and actually work hard for it. This kampung man is very gentlemen like too. He cracked open a crab for her while they are having seafood dinner together. He loves his mum and family wholeheartedly. His approach with his family may be a bit harsh - one night he scolded his nephew hard for failing to attend school (ponteng sekolah) and the woman thinks this is wrong, he should have counselled the boy instead. Yelling at children is uncivilized the woman said, but he said sometime you have to be strict with children to educate them. Children he said needed to be discipline and the although the woman did not totally agree with the approach but she appreciates the justification behind it.
She slowly falls for this strong genuine Malay man (lelaki melayu jati yang kuat). The man admires the woman strong persona. She is very intelligent, very communicative and they can talk about everything and anything for hours. He can criticised her to the max and she's ok with it. She is open minded enough. She listened to what he has to say about their race trying to understand the issue more. She is very far from her race being brought up in the foreign land. She only mixes with the elitist Malays not really knowing her own people. She thinks her people is lazy, very dependent to the government to progress, not dynamic enough to stand on their own etc. etc.
He also slowly falls for her too. This is the kind of woman that he wants to mother his children someday, a dynamic and futuristic woman. But he is already engaged to a lovely, kind hearted teacher his long time love. And she's now being chased again by her runaway groom. He thinks she wants to get back to her ex-fiancee, she thinks he wants to marry his fiancee. So they decided to proceed with the divorce.
What happen next?? Well you have to watch the show to know the rest of the story o? Ho..ho...ho.. Me and my co-writer decided to named the story Sal & Kam. Sal short for Salina the name of the woman and Kam short for Kamal the man character. We complete the scripts after 4-5 months working on it juggling work and personal life.
To ensure that we get it right we went and see Pak Hamzah (Bak) at Malaysian National Film Development Corporation (FINAS) for his comments on the script. Bak at that time was the script editor of Finas. Aspiring scriptwriters or even seasoned ones can get his inputs on script they written. He has vast experience about scriptwriting being a renowned scriptwriter himself. He has written many drama and films script including the script for film Mahsuri a project supported by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman the father of Malaysia independence. Bak took sometime to read our script and when we get back to him we were overjoyed to hear his comments. He said we did very well! Wow! The scripts he said is very promising so he wrote a recommendation letter for us. This letter is to accompany our script for submission to productions houses for their reading and purchased if liked.
We immediately went all over to sell the scripts. We approached various producers. We brought hard copy of the script and leave it with the producers to read hoping they will buy it. Not long after that came a telephone call from a producer name Lazizah Ahmad (Kak Lazizah). Kak Lazizah at that time was a producer at Grand Briliance Sdn Bhd. She said she is interested to buy the script. We were ecstatic! This is to good to be true. A reputable production company is keen to buy our script! Our first and foremost script! So we went to meet Kak Lazizah.
We met Kak Lazizah at a restaurant in One Utama. She brought her teenager daughter along with her. She claims that her daughter enjoyed the script so much and this help her decide to buy the script. We had a long discussion. She wanted some changes to be made to the script including for us to suggest a more catchy title for the show. She said to made it into 16 episodic. We went running back and prepared everything that she wanted. We suggested few titles for the show none of them to Kak Lazizah liking. Hence, she suggested Salina and we agreed. Soon enough we went to her office this time to sign the purchased of script agreement. Hurray! We sell our first script!
Grand Brilliance took on a renowned drama and film director of Malaysia to direct Salina. The main cast was Sharifah Hasleenda as Salina. We went for a session of shooting of the show just to get some exposure on drama shooting.
Not long after that Salina was aired on tv 3, Identiti slot. I like many of you watch the show first time on tv. Since it was aired at 6:30 pm to 7 pm during weekdays i have difficulties to watch it. I have to rush back to home from office. Driving home to Shah Alam from my office at that time in Damansara wasn't a journey to look forward to. The traffic was very heavy. There are times i couldn't watch the show as i was stuck in the office doing work. I didn't get anybody to tape it also so sadly i missed few episode.
It is very electrifying to watch your script turn into shows. I get sweaty all over. My face cringes and flinches. Many times i meant to tell different things but the director and actors portrays differently. Ahh! Its a strenuous ordeal watching your own show. Salina is no different. I meant for the character Salina to be spoiled yet cute. On the outlook people may take her as an arrogant westernized chick but she's actually very kind hearted, very friendly and loving. Salina in Salina wasn't portrayed as such. She is is portrayed as a big headed KL english wannabe chick with this i'm always right attitude. I don't really like Salina in Salina. I'm actually quite frustrated with the portrayal.
One of the main recipe for a good show is for the main character to be likeable by the audience. The main character may be a robber, a mafia head, a cheater, a whatever, but some how or rather the character must be build in such a way that the personalities and qualities of the character captures the heart of the audience and is loved by them.
So i watch Salina with slight disappointment. But there a many great scenes and moments in Salina too and to my delight Salina was very well accepted by the audience. Salina received many positive comments from all over. I read the comments from the audience at the tv forum blogs, individual blogs, from newspaper, even heard people commenting about in on radio.
I share some of the comments i gathered from http://mforum.cari.com.my/archiver/?tid-141754-page-3.html
fistik - bergegas pulang dari putrajaya ke kelana jaya demi salina .. he he..terlepas beberapa minit semasa wedding kat kampung kamal..daring betul salina pakai singlet ngan pareo batik ..pastu shawl batik utk cover badan .. yg heran mak kamal boleh encourage salina pakai camtu masa nak bertandang rumah sedara mara ..last2 .. salina kena sound ngan tok sedara kamal .. sian plak tengok kamal .. bengang dia ngan salina sebab jatuhkan air muka dia depan tok cik ...
JerryJemima - menarik jugak cerita ni, kami sekeluarga pun dah 'melekat'jln cerita tak meleret2 dan dialognya pun best, mungkinkah salina berubah? lepas tu jatuh cinta dgn laki dia?:)tapi yg tak syoknya cerita ni tayang 3 kali ke seminggunapa tak siar 5 hari terus :agr: 12-1-2005 10:39 AM hanieliza - best laa citer ni...wahai manusia2 yg kerja kat tv3 yg join forum, boleh tak kurangkan iklan atau tiadakan langsung iklan2 semasa citer salina ditayangkan?
Herlina - Untuk semua yang benci pada watak Salina.Saya suka Lynn bawak watak tu. Menjadi sesangat sampai korang boleh nyampah kat dia. Tapi korang perlu ingat dia mewakili sebilangan wanita/anak gadis yang terikut dengan budaya barat walaupun baru gi oversea dua tiga tahun. Golongan ni memang wujud dan saya dah mengenali seorang daripadanya.Saya bukan nak memburukkan minah ni tapi elok juga kita ambil iktibar dan jangan jadi macam dia.Ada sorang pompuan melayu ni. Konon belajar kat Australia, kerja as executive tapi lagaknya phuhh!. Memang dah hilang kemelayuannya walaupun nama melayunya tetap ada. Bila bulan puasa ‘uzur’nya sebulan. Bila colleague nak makan kat kedai cina dia join sampaikan bila si cina ni cakap kat kedai tu tak halal dia boleh jawab dia dah biasa dengan makanan tu semua. Even babi pun dia dah biasa makan kat Australia dulu.Lagi satu kalau kita orang kampung janganla dok nak berkawan atau nak dekat sekalipun dengan dia. Dia dah sound awal-awal yang dia tak suka orang kampung. Alasan… miskin, ketinggalan, kotor, tak ada kelas dan kata-kata yang paling tak dapat dilupakan ialah.. “I jijik dengan orang kampung’. Mungkin bagi dia babi lagi suci berbanding dengan orang kampung.Nak nasihatkan… hmm dia dengan kawan cina yang yang rapat pun dah tak bertegur sebab si cina ni bagi nasihat kat dia. Mak bapak dia pun tak pernah cakap, tegur, nasihat atau marah, tiba-tiba pulak ada orang nak tegur dia. Kena baliklak si cina ni. Dia lagi proud sebab kononnya parents sekepala malah bar pun ada kat rumah. Salina dan family dia mewakili golongan di atas ni tapi kalau kita tengok betul betul sebenarnya masih ada ‘kemelayuan’ dalam diri Salina cuma egonya masih tinggi. Dalam citer ni memang saya rasa sedih dan simpati pada Intan tapi kalau Kamal dapat mengembalikan Salina ke acuan asalnya dan membawa Salina ke landasan islam yang sebenar maka dia dah menang dalam satu perang jihadONT>M>
It turns out Bak was right, people will like watching the show. Comments from the audience are very precious to me. It's an important source of feedback to my writings. I thanked every person who has commented on the shows that i wrote be it a positive or negative comments. That you took the time to comment i'm very honoured.
Salina is a succes and Grand Brilliance requested for us to write the sequel. We obliged accordingly. Actually before even Salina was aired on tv3 me and my co-writer had already received an offer to write another drama series for RTM airing. The offer came from the producers of Eurofine Sdn Bhd. We submitted the Sal & Kam script to them too, they like it but for some reason wasn't able to produce it. Instead the want us to write Sumayyah for them. We gladly tool the offer. Sumayyah actually went on air before Salina did. So it was my second script that made it first on tv.
I received many offers to write scripts after Salina. I found out that the prospect in the scriptwriting business is very good. This become a major confidence booster for me to leave employment once and for all. I had wanted to be my own boss for so long but i wasn't very sure i am able to sustain my life without the fixed income that i received from my employment. A great thing happen.
I received an offer from my client to provide some human resource consulting services for her company. It was a good offer. Couple with the income that i can acquire from scriptwriting i was confidence that i will be able to sustain my life being my own boss. So i tendered my resignation from KPMG in Dec 2004 and founded EASE HR Management Services. I took on many human resource consulting jobs and have been writing since. It has been great thus far.
Writing Sal & Kam is one of the life changing action that i undertook. Now i'm a m
other and i couldn't be more happier to be working from home most of the time and watching my daughter grow in front of me. I am so blessed. Hessa my daughter is blessed too as she has her mother with her most of the time, aren't you Hessa?? I love you!P>
I know i can write but i wouldn't have thought that i will be taking up scripwriting seriously and actually make a living out of it. I'm very happy that i took up writing. Many of my personal aspirations and my desires have been fulfilled by it. I'm someone that is very concern about my religion, my country, about humanity and many things. Now i'm able to unleash my concerns through my writings and this made me a more contented person.
I would like to thanked everyone that has helped me to take this leap jump into this wonderful world of writing and making one of my dreams come through. Thank you Bak for assisting me in my early days as an aspiring scripwriter. Thank you Kak Lazizah for purchasing and producing Salina, my first script. Thank you all the producers that had given me the oppurtunity to write for them. I hope to continue writing stories that is worth writing for.
Ya Allah ya tuhan ku, aku bersyukur ke atas kebolehan yang kau anugerahkan kepada ku, atas peluang yang Kau berikan kepada ku, atas segala nikmat yang kau berikan kepada ku. Aku tunduk berserah kepada Mu, ya Allah. Berilah aku petunjuk dan hidayah Mu, ya Allah tuhan yang maha agung. Semoga hasil-hasil penulisan ku memberi kebaikan kepada agama ku, kepada diri ku dunia dan akhirat. Jadikanlah aku hamba yang berkhidmat ke jalan Mu Ya Allah.
Ampunkan lah aku ya Allah. Amin
Meeting with Executive Producers of ASTRO
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Going off for meeting with the EPs of Astro today. They wanted to discuss on the latest script that i'll be writing for them. This is the first time Astro scheduled this sort of meeting. Prior to this the discussion on the storylines and script are only held between me and the personnel from the production houses.Hope i'll have a good meeeting. Smile everybody.
Going off for meeting with the EPs of Astro today. They wanted to discuss on the latest script that i'll be writing for them. This is the first time Astro scheduled this sort of meeting. Prior to this the discussion on the storylines and script are only held between me and the personnel from the production houses.Hope i'll have a good meeeting. Smile everybody.
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