Finas helping to improve local film quality through MyLAB

CANNES, France: The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) is working to improve the quality of local films to be on par with international films, said chief executive officer Prof Dr Md Nasir Ibrahim.

To this end, he said Finas has embarked on a project called Malaysian Development Laboratory for Fiction Feature (MyLAB) which brings together scriptwriters, producers and local directors in an incubator programme.

“Through this programme, instructors from various countries who are skilled and well-known in their respective fields will help local industry players improve the quality of scripts which will subsequently enable them to pitch to get funding.

“As per our plan, we will be pitching at the Busan Film Festival later. This is one of the steps for us to improve quality of our films, “he told reporters here.

To enable local films to penetrate the international market, he said industry players must be bold to explore collaborations and opportunities that could help them generate revenue and improve quality thereby expand the market.

Md Nasir opined that the country’s relatively limited film industry has made it impossible for producers in Malaysia to generate adequate income.

As such, he said Finas would help players who have the potential to penetrate the international market by holding meetings and roundtable discussions as well as provide certain incentives such as marketing funds.

In addition, he said Malaysia’s participation in the world’s largest international film exhibition, Marche Du Film, was also an opportunity for them to highlight their strengths and capabilities in expanding the local film market.

“Through our participation in Marche Du Film, we are also meeting with producers and authorities from Canada, France and several other countries for us to work together so that we can benefit through collaborations,” he said.

Marche Du Film is the film industry’s biggest gathering for producers, financiers, broadcasters, distributors, suppliers and buyers from around the world to meet, share ideas and make deals.

Some 250 companies from 110 countries are participating in the nine-day film market which began on May 17.

A total of 13 local companies will be introducing various creative content products such as feature films, animations, documentaries and others at the film exhibition, with 10 of them physically present while three others will attend online. — Bernama