Behind the Scenes of the Creative World of Filming

Sharing Session in Ngobrol Aja Dulu #2: The Movie Agent.

There are still many creative ideas and talents that are left unexplored in Indonesia. Captivated by how the story, language and visuals in movies could project so much emotion, many movie enthusiasts would create their own stories and movie pictures in a diary but ended up being unpublished. What many failed to realize is that perhaps the best stories are found in diaries that remain unpublished.

To shed light on the potential of Indonesian films and increase people’s optimism for the Indonesian Film Industry, Tokopedia in collaboration with Narasi, hosted a collaborative talk show called Ngobrol Aja Dulu #2: The Movie Agent. Three movie agents: Ernest Prakasa (actor), Lala Timothy (film producer), and Triawan Munaf (Head of the Creative Economy Agency- BEKRAF), were invited to share their knowledge and experience.

What it takes to become a Film Producer

Lala Timothy is known as one of Indonesia’s most successful film producers. At the 2014 Indonesian Film Festival, her movie won four major awards, from best director, best female actor, best male supporting actor, to best original screenwriter for her film called ‘Tabula Rasa’. In 2019, Lala was yet again nominated for Indonesia Box Office Movie Awards and her film, ‘Wiro Sableng’ received 14 nominations for the Piala Maya.

Lala of course did not achieve these awards easily overnight, her career did not even start from the film industry itself. She began her career as an Account Executive at an advertising agency.

Lala mentioned that, “Working as an Account Executive for an advertising agency, I got acquainted with a lot of people who were involved in the film industry. One of them was an actor and director of Pintu Terlarang named Joko Anwar. It was through this movie that I became involved in the film industry and later established LifeLike Pictures”.

For Lala, one of her biggest challenges was when she became a producer of “Wiro Sableng” who had to oversee more than 1,000 crew members. In addition, “Wiro Sableng” was also a colossal film with many special effect scenes and it was her responsibility to ensure that every detail of the filming process goes according to plan. If not, it would ultimately affect the film budget.

From the obstacles Lala faced, she shared that the three main keys in becoming a film producer were 1.) learning to manage the time, costs, and members of the film crew, 2.) to be able to multitask and 3.) to be open-minded as one needed to handle many problems and tasks at the same time.

Never let an opportunity passes by

Ernest Prakasa is known for his comedy movies filled with moral life lessons such as Cek Toko Sebelah, Susah Sinyal and Milly & Mamet. Many do not know that before entering the world of cinema, Ernest was a stand up comedian who later tried his luck in becoming a film director.

“How I became a film director was through my book, Ngenest, it got an offer to be made into a film version by one of the production houses in Indonesia. At that time, my role model was Raditya Dika and I was inspired to write my own movie script for Ngenest. I was lucky enough to be offered a director position for the movie”, explained Ernest.

Despite Ernest’s hesitation and self-doubt, he decided to take the opportunity to direct the film adaption from his book. Although he had no prior background in filming, he strongly believed that the best way to learn was to directly experience it first-hand.

The importance of networking

As Head of the Indonesian Creative Economy Agency (BEKRAF), Triawan Munaf began his career by working at an advertising agency. During the time working for the advertising agency, Triawan became aware of the importance of networking.

“When I was offered to be the Head of BERKRAF, I collaborated with a lot of people. Because in the creative world, you cannot work alone, you need to appreciate the resources and creative ideas that each person brings to the table”, Triawan explained.

One of the policies that was successfully achieved by BEKRAF was the revocation of the negative list of investments made in the film industry. With the removal of the negative list of investments, the government is now opening 100 percent of foreign investment in the film industry. This is certainly a breath of fresh air for film activists in terms of costs and facilities.

Lift the pen, turn on the camera and start filming!

Lala Timothy, Ernest Prakasa and Triawan Munaf’ journeys and experiences within the creative industry have shown them that:

“What is needed to succeed in the film industry is the ability to learn, a daring attitude to face challenges and the establishment of good relations with many people. So whatever wacky stories and ideas you have in your mind, write it and film it first. Do not let your creative ideas and talents go to waste.”