Too Good to Be True?

If there's one thing that Jakarta and Manila have in common, it's the intense traffic during rush hour. In order to distract myself from excessively ripping my hair out, I always tune in 'Rush Hour' on Kiss FM 95.1.


'Rush Hour' is a comedy radio talk show hosted by the infamous Rat Pack gang. With constant bickering and witty conversations on the most random issues, what really stands this show out is their cool guest speakers (previous ones include a meta-physicist on Chinese Feng-shui and a director for ScanLife 2D Barcode).


Today, their guest speaker was Shankar RS, a famous digital filmmaker in Indonesia. He was promoting a 2-day filmmaking school taught by Dov Simens, who's considered to be 'Hollywood's #1 Film Guru'. Aspiring filmmakers in Indonesia now have the opportunity to learn what it takes to make it in the filming industry in two days (July 24-25).


In 2 8-hour sessions, Mr. Dov will cover over 100 topics on the fundamentals of good filmmaking from pre-production, budgeting, screenwriting, attracting film distributors and many more.

It seemed too good to be true. I mean, learning the same lessons in film school, which takes 2-3 years to complete, over a measly period of 2 days? I was quite skeptical about this until they talked about the testimonials of his former students who made it big in Hollywood. George Clooney, Queen Latifah and Will Smith are just a few names who expanded their careers from acting to filmmaking through Mr. Dov's 2-day filmmaking school. But there was one name mentioned that really caught my attention, Quentin Tarantino.

This was the legendary and award-winning director who wrote and directed cult classics like Kill Bill Vol. 1 & 2 (one of my favorite movies of all time), Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and the recent Inglourious Bastards.


Being a devoted fan of Quentin Tarantino's films, it's quite a wonder to finally figure out who taught him the mechanics of his now multi-million career.

That being said, the Indonesian movie industry could really use a little more substance. There are only a few handful that have managed to gain critical acclaim internationally like Laskar Pelangi (The Rainbow Troops), Ca-bau-kan and Berbagi Suami (Love for Share).


The only recent film that has managed to capture buzz is Menculik Miyabi (Kidnapping Miyabi). The only reason why this is the central character is a renowned Japanese porn star. If you take that component away, then it would be just another lackluster boy-chases-famous girl movie.