“Directors need to direct”

Written by The Straits Times journalist John Lui. Appeared on 4 September 2010 in Life! Section.

An industry friend brought this article in The Straits Times Life!, September 4 2010 to my attention while I was on set filming Channel U telemovie “Love in a Cab” (directed by Han Yew Kwang, who happened to be mentioned in Lui’s article). He asked me, just a couple of days before the article was printed, what I thought the role of a director in a drama/movie was. I shared with him my thoughts and by some bizarre cosmic coincidence, this article by The Straits Times journalist John Lui appeared after.

John Lui, who is neither an actor nor a director, offered his perspective as a journalist/member of the audience. His writing does come across slightly harsh, and industry people might think he is yet another self-righteous journalist who really is in no position to criticise and doesn’t know any better. After all, “Who is he to comment?” and “What does he know since he’s never been a director himself?” It is a natural defence mechanism (an emotional reaction) when you are personally invested in the topic of discussion. But as we question the validity of his points based on his lack of expertise in this particular discipline, we should realise that because he has no vested interest nor emotional attachment to this particular topic, that he also offers greater objectivity.

I guess you can think of him as a mean journalist who has an axe to grind with local directors, or he could just be writing to meet his quota, or whatever other 101 reasons you can think of to discredit the article, but the way I see it, he is also drawing attention to an industry pattern that not many people (both inside and outside of this industry) are aware of. And even if they are, either do not have the platform, or the interest and motivation to air their views. He is trying to send a message for change to happen, even though he might have made some people feel victimised along the way.

I have my own views on the matter and do not agree whole-heartedly with what he said, but then I’ll save that for another entry.

Do share with me what you think.

Current Projects

最近在电视上的作品少了，但这是因为我还在拍摄当中。

之前接到了《仁心侠旅》的节目，所以不停出国。目前还剩两个国家的拍摄。预告片应该很快会在电视上能看到所以希望大家拭目以待。

在出发之前和回来之后的空窗期间，我正在拍一部电视电影《等一等爱情》。

在戏里，我和许立桦的缘分横跨十年。

拍摄时很开心，但因为抽不出时间发表文章，所以没办法在博客上和大家分享。

希望大家有兴趣的话，可以 follow me on Twitter (@JoannePeh).

Since “Your Hand in Mine”, many of you have not seen me on television much. That is because I am still in the midst of filming.

A couple of months back, I started filming “An Activist Journey“, where I travelled to an Asian country each time, to learn about a specific social issue and what some people are doing about them.

Currently, I am left with two more countries and I believe the trailer and official website for this programme will be out soon.

In between my trips, I am filming a telemovie, “Love in a Cab”. Julian Hee stars in this feature film with me as we crossed paths over a 10-year period.

I have a lot of fun on set with an extremely young and dynamic crew, but because I don’t have  time to upload the photos, I’m not able to share much with you on my blog. However, you can follow me on Twitter (@JoannePeh) if you’d like to be updated on what I’m up to.

Stay tuned!

Picture taken on set