LEON TAN'S office is full of comic books and action figures, but he insists his collection — which he started in 2006 — is nothing when compared with the collections of people he has met.
Transformers, Star Wars the first trilogy, the original Aeon Flux, a couple of Cowboy Bebops, the old Tron and even an Arnold Schwarzenegger [figurine] from Conan the Barbarian, says Tan, pointing to some of the action figures he has, before turning our conversation to the mythology of Tron and how he appreciates Disney's decision to continue with the Star Wars saga.
After showing me more Tron paraphernalia in another section of his office, he murmurs, "I'm a bit of a geek." A very successful geek, actually. Tan is the executive director of Tripod Entertainment Sdn Bhd, the producer of Malaysia's first 3D animated movie War of the Worlds: Goliath.
The company, established in 2007, is funded by Malaysia Venture Capital Management Bhd. War of the Worlds: Goliath was the company's maiden project and it happened when Tan had a serendipitous encounter with Joe Pearson.
"I met him on a bus ride in Tokyo in 2006. He has done all sorts of things for 30 years — animation director, producer, art director with Hanna-Barbera, Dreamworks Studios and all that. We became friends and I found out he had a lot of intellectual property that he wanted to develop," Tan says.
They settled on a quasi-spinoff for H G Wells' seminal War of the Worlds novel as their first collaborative project. Tan says the final product is a reimagining of the universe, with a set of new characters, in a steampunk animation style.
Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery in a setting inspired by industrialised Western civilisation in the 19th century.
The film's crew comprised people from different parts of the globe, despite many media outlets touting it as 100% Malaysian-made. In total, 200 Malaysians were contracted to bring the War of the Worlds: Goliath to life. Most of them were involved in the pre-production and post-production aspects. "More importantly, all the stereoscopic 3D [work] was done here," Tan says.
When they decided to embark on the 3D venture, they wanted to see if they could do it, and do it well. "It was really a great moment for us when we got the recognition from the 3D film festivals in Los Angeles. We were even given special screenings at the San Diego Comic Con, in Spain and at the SITGES International Fantastic Film Festival. The feedback we've received so far from the international critics has been positive," he says.
War of the Worlds: Goliath recently premiered in Malaysia but Tan could not confirm yet in which other countries the movie will be released as the international version of the film has just been completed. "[Selling the distribution rights] is only done when the film is completed," he says.
The movie's overall budget was between RM13 million and RM15 million, which is about the same as Puteri Gunung Ledang (reportedly around RM15 million) and Hanyut (RM11 million for production alone), two of the most expensive local films to be made. This prompts me to ask Tan whether it is financially viable to make local films in 3D as the market here is really small.
According to the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas), the first Malaysian film to be produced in stereoscopic 3D, 29 Februari (directed and produced by the KRU brothers), only garnered RM379,447.70 at the box office, a meagre 10% of its reported budget of RM3.5 million.
"If you're going to make an expensive film — whether it's in 3D or not — it requires a significant amount of technical sophistication. There will be risks for banking solely on the Malaysian market, as it is too small," Tan says.
"The 3D technology is a tool to tell a story. If you're going to make a film in the genres of action, adventure, science fiction, animation — sure, then it makes sense to release it in 3D. If the film is a visual feast, 3D helps to tell the story," he adds.
Tan cites James Cameron's Avatar and Martin Scorcese's Hugo as movies that have the 3D technology to perfectly complement the visuals and narratives.
However, despite the large budget required to create an epic, splendorous world in a "visual feast" of a film, employing 3D technology per se is not exactly expensive. "The problem is the expertise [as in who is well-versed with the technology]," Tan says.
But the facilities needed for quality control, to an extent, can be somewhat pricey.
"However, the future of 3D in Malaysia is bright, particularly if the technology becomes more pervasive in other devices and mediums," Tan says.
Even today, 3D technology is not exclusive to the big screen. Live sports broadcasts are already available in the format, and some PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 games support 3D.
On the local front, free-to-air station TV3 was the first Malaysian TV station to broadcast a 3D film (Jaws 3D) in 2001, and had selected scenes in an episode of its then-hit series Senario to come to life via the cruder blue-and-red 3D glasses.
As electronics manufacturers are planning to release mobile devices and TVs that can play 3D videos without requiring people to wear 3D glasses, the technology will become part and parcel of society. Thus, more production technicians from Malaysia will soon get their hands dirty with 3D technology.
"Every journey has to start somewhere. I admit that War of the Worlds: Goliath has its flaws. But Steven Spielberg didn't just become Steven Spielberg the moment he made his first film. But we, the Malaysian film industry collectively, really deserve the merit for embarking on this journey now, and we have received compliments from the global industry," Tan says.
It is a slow journey, but we will get there. In the meantime, 3D enthusiasts will have to wait until next year to watch another Malaysian offering, Bola Kampung, which is based on the popular animated series.
Tripod's sister company, Imaginex Studios, is involved in the audio mixing of the film during the post-production stage.
This story first appeared in The Edge weekly edition of Dec 17-23, 2012.