Ten days went by so fast. I ignored some of my friends, and gave too much time for others whom I've met a lot these past few months. ( too much figures in this intro. Let's try this again).
I thought they were giving me bad news. But it was far from that.
Two friends from my theatre group knocked on my door last night. I had just arrived back to Alor Star after spending ten days away on leave. These two guys, lets call them Mike and Ian, came in such a charade. They came bearing drinks and mangosteen. They were very quiet at first. At first I thought something was wrong with the play. Then Mike said: "We auditioned for this reality TV show, Menjana Impian. The winner will get a RM50,000 scholarship to study in the field of their choice. We auditioned and we got shortlisted!"
Mike and Ian will be going to Seri Pentas in a week's time. So they met me last night to seek some help about their auditions. Mike wants to study business management because he wants to set up a food company. Ian wants to be film director so he wants to get into the National Arts Academy.
The thing about Ian is that he is such a bright, young man who has so much potential. He has so much potential and 'rezeki dia murah' (he's been very fortunate or lucky). The producers at the Kedah audition were smitten with Ian, and they gave him a chance even when he couldn't cry on cue. You see, because he chose acting and directing as his dream, the producer asked him to cry in front of the camera. They gave him four chances and he still couldn't cry. There he was in front of the camera, with Mike and all the other hopefulls watching anxiously as the producer man shouted at him "Awak kata awak berbakat. Saya suruh menangis pun tak boleh. Jadi bakat siapa yang awak bawak?"
But Ian is talented. He's 22, and only has one proper acting experience, which was in our last play, Cincang dan Rebus. I've watched him at rehearsals and I've seen him onstage. Rezeki dia murah because right after his stage debut, an established theatre wanted to take him into their group. He declined because he wanted to be with us.
Anyways, the producer at the audition gave Ian a chance. He told him: "Aku nak tengok kau di KL. Kau jangan hampakan aku."
Wah...gitu...
When people like you, you just accept it and make the best of it, you know.
OK, here is where my story comes in. Just talking with Ian and Mike about their ambitions made me excited. I told them to pull out all the stops during their audition. TV3 will only choose 16 participants for this TV show. I searched the net for information on Menjana Impian, but there was nothing.
I told them they might ask why you want to be a director/entrepreneur. What could you contribute to the field of filmaking/food & beverage industry
I basically gave them a list of questions which the producers might ask. But more importantly I told them to be themselves and just "sell" their dreams to the producers. Then I lent Ian a copy of Premier magazine, the one with the 100 Most Memorable performances in Film. I lent Mike two issues of Time magazine, one about ambition and the other about 'the next big thing'.
Ian and Mike are in their early 20s, the charmed age. I should know because I was there and boy, I wanted to rule the world. I wanted to do so many things after I graduated four years ago. (You know where this is going. I've written things like this before. I don't want to feel spiteful and bitter. Bloddy hell, I'm only 26 and I can do whatever I want. I can still dream. Never give up)
But I still felt very excited about Ian and Mike getting into Menjana Impian. We were talking about how Ian wants to "mengangkat martabat filem Melayu". Mike told me how the some person once ask him how badly does he want to act, and he answered : about 99 per cent. .... to be continued........
I thought they were giving me bad news. But it was far from that.
Two friends from my theatre group knocked on my door last night. I had just arrived back to Alor Star after spending ten days away on leave. These two guys, lets call them Mike and Ian, came in such a charade. They came bearing drinks and mangosteen. They were very quiet at first. At first I thought something was wrong with the play. Then Mike said: "We auditioned for this reality TV show, Menjana Impian. The winner will get a RM50,000 scholarship to study in the field of their choice. We auditioned and we got shortlisted!"
Mike and Ian will be going to Seri Pentas in a week's time. So they met me last night to seek some help about their auditions. Mike wants to study business management because he wants to set up a food company. Ian wants to be film director so he wants to get into the National Arts Academy.
The thing about Ian is that he is such a bright, young man who has so much potential. He has so much potential and 'rezeki dia murah' (he's been very fortunate or lucky). The producers at the Kedah audition were smitten with Ian, and they gave him a chance even when he couldn't cry on cue. You see, because he chose acting and directing as his dream, the producer asked him to cry in front of the camera. They gave him four chances and he still couldn't cry. There he was in front of the camera, with Mike and all the other hopefulls watching anxiously as the producer man shouted at him "Awak kata awak berbakat. Saya suruh menangis pun tak boleh. Jadi bakat siapa yang awak bawak?"
But Ian is talented. He's 22, and only has one proper acting experience, which was in our last play, Cincang dan Rebus. I've watched him at rehearsals and I've seen him onstage. Rezeki dia murah because right after his stage debut, an established theatre wanted to take him into their group. He declined because he wanted to be with us.
Anyways, the producer at the audition gave Ian a chance. He told him: "Aku nak tengok kau di KL. Kau jangan hampakan aku."
Wah...gitu...
When people like you, you just accept it and make the best of it, you know.
OK, here is where my story comes in. Just talking with Ian and Mike about their ambitions made me excited. I told them to pull out all the stops during their audition. TV3 will only choose 16 participants for this TV show. I searched the net for information on Menjana Impian, but there was nothing.
I told them they might ask why you want to be a director/entrepreneur. What could you contribute to the field of filmaking/food & beverage industry
I basically gave them a list of questions which the producers might ask. But more importantly I told them to be themselves and just "sell" their dreams to the producers. Then I lent Ian a copy of Premier magazine, the one with the 100 Most Memorable performances in Film. I lent Mike two issues of Time magazine, one about ambition and the other about 'the next big thing'.
Ian and Mike are in their early 20s, the charmed age. I should know because I was there and boy, I wanted to rule the world. I wanted to do so many things after I graduated four years ago. (You know where this is going. I've written things like this before. I don't want to feel spiteful and bitter. Bloddy hell, I'm only 26 and I can do whatever I want. I can still dream. Never give up)
But I still felt very excited about Ian and Mike getting into Menjana Impian. We were talking about how Ian wants to "mengangkat martabat filem Melayu". Mike told me how the some person once ask him how badly does he want to act, and he answered : about 99 per cent. .... to be continued........
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