Secret Weapon

Hello Hello!  It's long overdue that I post some rambly type of thoughts and updates of sorts.  Where shall I start eh, ok well quickly run through the production side as everyone I know keeps asking me what I'm doing now, apart from making my condiments.

 I'm partnering up with my radio buddy and former COO of Capital FM, Kudsia Kahar,  to do a chat show!  Ding! ding! ding!, if anything the warning bells should begin as both of us are loud and proud! We'll be shooting a short pilot this week, sometime, for clients to better understand what the content of our show is about.  I don't usually shoot pilots for any of my productions, but we feel this time it requires one.  We're targeting next year to begin production and broadcasting and that's all I'm going to say for now on that show!!!

Then when we were newbies on radio

Now after all those years!

So leaving the production work aside, we all know that Christmas is around the corner! One of my besties from school, Annie does a countdown as early as possible, the groans begin in July or August when she does her "jingle jingle " post with the countdown! (as of today it's 32 days!)

This year my good pal Riz and I will be baking and selling Christmas cookies.  Hey, not just any ol Christmas cookie but special recipes from my step dad, who just happens to be a pastry chef extraordinaire and after years of being in HK, is now training up-and-coming chefs in the Philippines.

My step dad Peter with his students 

 I must say, that when I first started baking or cooking anything, my mother and step dad were really good about trying my errr  attempts (I will not tell you about the rolling of eyes and barf faces I got from my brothers!).  The first one being a simple butter cake when I was 11.  One day when they had gone out  for dinner, I decided that I'd surprise them with dessert when they got home.  Now little did I know when the recipe calls for colouring that means perhaps a few drops NOT a cap full!!! cut a long story short when they got home and I presented my cake (which was a bit brown.. ok ok slightly burnt on top... and bottom) , they gamely cut a few slices and kept a very straight face when they saw how red the inside was and only years later told me how they waited until I went to bed and fell about laughing.   I smile now at the thought because later on as I progressed through my F&B courses in school, it was my step dad who showed me all the little tricks and ways to make food taste and look so much better.

My stepdad just started testing his first batch, hope I can do the same!!!!!

Today I've just received his recipes for the cookies we used to eat as kids in Switzerland during the festive season and I can't wait to try them out.  I'll be posting the pic once they look perfect and will be taking orders in the next week or so.  If they are anywhere as good as Peter's, you will all be in for a real treat!

New Projects!

I woke up in the morning to my cat head butting my nose, I guess it's a lot better than her breathing in my face!  Two seconds later my daughter is knocking on my door, "waaattttt !!!"  I wail, (can a person not even sleep in ?)  "Wake up muuummmmm"   my daughter calls out.   "What is the b!@@dy time for gods sake!"  I yell at her , "it's 6.45" she yells back cheerily, oh groannnn.. the school run, oh the joys of parenthood. 

Well now that the drama of the dengue fever is over , I can go back to focusing on my work. I have finally finished the presentation deck for a new show, which I usually send out to my producer and best friend who is in Australia,

My bestie and Producer Peggy, on another mad night out.

because a.) I value her opinion and b.) she has no hesitation in giving me her undiluted opinion , even if I don't like it.  I try not to argue back too much but she knows me too well !! Then I also have another bestie in a part of Europe who critiques my writing and editing skills ( my grammar and editing is a bit orf at times!)  and a couple who help me with my 'cough cough "sums", my layout and graphics.  So you see having your tribe supporting you is really important , I couldn't do it without them.

You are wondering where I get my creative concepts from ?, I guess it has to do with what is happening in my life at the moment , after all that's how I got the concept for the 'Art of Living Show', it was basically about friends and family looking for housing, this new show is also quite personal , and it came to me about a year and a half ago when I was visiting my mum in England. 

I've begun to start  looking for sponsors , and said as much on one of my social networking platforms.  I'm really pleased to know that people are reading this blog and reaching out to offer their help to me. It's absolutely wonderful to know that people are willing to pool their resources together and muck in,  we all benefit in the end right?.

Shooting the Art f Living Show on location in Port Dickson

For the first season of my first show,  I was incredibly lucky and managed to land a fantastic sponsor for the entire show, but it's never that easy especially if you're not working in the "system".  I am not affiliated to any cable or FTA networks or assigned productions, so being the little rebel that I am, I source my own sponsorship.   Having had to do this for a few years , I can say that there are also bodies out there to help you (err not those kind of bodies gals.. sorry eeppp!) 

Of course the first that comes to mind is FINAS.  I have been there, I have pitched my show for  my second season,  they usually have a panel of  8- 12 professionals from the film & media world who will review your work, so make sure you have alot of hard copies and CD's of your show ready! Don't worry,  if you are presenting to them, they will give you a list of what is required.

However the main centre to hand out information would be KPKK ,  I found the folk there to be very friendly and informative, they will also be the ones to send out circulars on Industry Grants  from the following agencies

• MDEC  that is our Multimedia Corporation and they offer great grants , especially tech driven content, their VP Michael Warren is a really decent chap if you can get ahold of him!
• CRADLE their mission is to help with start ups and and seeding content driven projects, make sure you're books are up to date!
• MTDC which is the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation, they have the most substantial grants to offer.  You can also look into SKMM because when they tender grants they are fairly substantial too.

Just be prepared to have all your documents in order, and what I mean is,  deep breath, 

your company documents (yes you have to have a company already set up) , your annual reports or audited reports, P&L reports, and company profile and a write up on your project. Yes it's a lot, but if you take it a step at a time, you'll get all the docs  and be able to send it off to them.  My suggestion, be patient, be persistent and try to make friends with them, no one ever lost out by being friendly and nice.

The  creative investment arm of our government is called MYCREATIVE .  The CEO is a chap called Johan Ishak, he's really switched on and is a tremendous help, as are the other team members.  I have nothing but good things to say about this body, however, they go through everything with a FINE tooth comb to be able to grant you any sort of loan, so make sure you are really prepared. 

I managed to rope Johan in for an interview on the radio station.

There are many grants and loans available from the government and non government sectors, the main objective  if you want one,  is to grit your teeth, and get on with it.  If this is what you want to do, then roll your sleeves up and just go for it! 

I've always said being a producer is very much like being an actress, you're bogged down with one show for several months then you have months free till the next one! Which is why I started doing  World Ventures , writing and some PR work In between otherwise I'd go potty!! But you see I love what I do, I love that my film directors can interpret what's in my head and breathe life into it, can't wait to get stuck in, elbow deep, knee high in celluloid!      ( hello I didn't say cellulite k stop giving me beauty spa recommendations!!)

Now to get back to my most favourite part.... not!, getting the budget cut down even further! Have a lovely week folks, catch you on the flip side. 

The B is Back

Let me just say it's positively SHOCKING, and yes downright disgusting that I've not blogged for almost two years.... "sorry?"  does not cut it. So lets set the apollo gies aside and start to make it better.

Firstly belated happy "all the celebrations" from August 2011 (ok ok so I can generalise like the best of em)  and lets get into what's been going on for those lost months.  Ready?  go get a chair and a cuppa, always works best.

Lets just fast forward to today, I'm in the middle of sending out a complete break down of our budget for all our shows, docos and programs to certain agencies who want to become involved, the accountant hired to do the job is having nightmares, and is doing his best to keep me at bay whilst I bombard him with questions, the predominant one being "WHEN IS IT READY???!!".  Poor guy, I have to check what his medical coverage is!

Much is afoot, we're putting together a marketing/advertising video for the Art of Living Show Season 2.  I sat down with the team and gave them my quirky ideas, (the feedback was.. "you watch waaayyy to many shows!")  I'm trying to redefine the look and feel of our opening and closing montage, and working on ways to make the show slicker and more with what's currently important when choosing a home to buy, or invest in  or renovate.  The impending elections give us more time to tweak what we'd like to do, as no one is making a move until after May 5th.

We are also looking at changing the way viewers see our web page so stay tuned for that, I can only BLURT it out once we've made the change!  We've also been to FINAS where we were received really well and had a lot of

a homestay we viewed in Pahang

positive feedback on the show.  We're still big on digital media and IPTV and hope that all this will take off as we launch our second season.

So with that, I'm going to head out and meet up with more folk in the biz to stir up the dust that has settled on this shelf and hopefully create a small, wee stir in you too regarding our show.

Cheers!
Dx

catch up Time

"what is wrong with your connection babe!" I shout into the phone
"Are you sure it's my connection? I've got full bars" answers Karl
"OK where were we, ah yes, you were saying you could not believe he asked for that amount for the drama show" I continue our conversation that was constantly being cut off (all this technology and still we have bad lines!)

So Karl fills me in on some information he had gleaned tonight at an open house party he was attending for one of the productions he had recently been working on. This specific one, which was a TV drama, had given him more publicity and fans!
We were both dying to see what the film that he recently acted in would look like once it was edited for show next year.

We share a quiet chuckle about the person in question that Karl is talking about and then Karl says "so whatcha up to? Did you get enough sleep?"
We had been out last night and ended up going home in the wee hours of the morning, luckily it's the weekend otherwise I'd be a basket case. I told him I'd had a good 5 hours sleep and that I was stuck into a book as I'd not have much time to next week.
"Anyway darling, get back to to schmoozing with your production mates and have a great time, we'll catch up next week as we've got to plan your birthday party OK" I say to Karl, who rings off with a promise to have lunch next week.

I pick up the book that I was reading,  but instead get lost in thoughts of my other outings!

On Thursday I had a girls night out at Aileen's house with my former work buddy Evil. Poor Pierce had to be kicked out of his own home so the girls could bitch and gossip with total abandon, however loving boyfriend to Aileen that he was, he made the baby mozzarella and tomato salad , plus the green salad and put a few bread rolls in the oven for us before he left, to accompany the steamed crab that was going to be delivered later on for dinner! Yum, and was it good!

4 bottles of wine later, and the girls had concocted some kind of TV program that involved wine which they wanted me to host , drowning out my vehement 'NO I WILL NOT DO IT" cries with, their incessant talk about how they'd come up with an award winning show..

Thankfully Pierce turned up at the end of the night, as the talk was escalating into a bullying match of blackmail and gentle goading. He put a stop to it by laughing his arse off and explained in a very patient *we've done this before* manner why it wouldn't work, which then led to the girls picking on him..
Well he was brave is all I can say, most men wait till the women have gone then stagger home!

Karl had taken me to the showing of a short film he was acting in that was held at the Actors Studios on  the Wednesday before the girls dinner.  Interesting stuff, not sure about the horror flick, but then again I am a complete coward when it comes to all that heavy breathing, wall a-sweating, doors slamming, heart thudding, finger nail biting ... well you know what I mean(you see I can't even write about it) I remember the very first horror flick I went to see was Exorcist, it scared me so bad, I kept crawling into my brothers room every night for almost a month to sleep with them, much to their horror and disgust ( I was always their personal horror flick). The nightly ritual of checking under my bed and sleeping with the lights on was certainly not worth it, so now if anyone wants to go see a horror, it's without me.

Anyway we ended up at a lovely Italian restaurant/bar in the heart of town for dinner and drinks and caught the Dj and live percussionist show on the roof top later on. Needless to day we bumped into some good friends of ours,and the night carried on till I had to be the responsible adult (who me?) and call it quits!

Tuesday I was at a launch of a new Food Guide Book and I had taken Aleco, not to impressed with the canapes for a Food Guide launch, however it was an eclectic bunch; and we managed to network with some very interesting people

I always think to myself how it is that in a town like this we manage to either see the same people over and over again or not see a friend for years and then bump into them consecutively for the next few days... coincidence or the laws of the universe?
Dx