Its not that you don't want to be original - of course you do! Its just that most of the work on offer these days dictates that you follow a tried and tested formula - television stations are not risk-takers, they are safe-betters, and what works well once is bound to work well a second or even a third time... Of course thats good news for the production companies and it certainly brings home the bacon, but it leaves very little room for us creative creatures to stretch our legs and experiment.
Well fortunately for me, that's about to change. I was recently invited on board a project called Culture X, commissioned by Mediacorp TV12 here in Singapore. Its an ambitious series in more ways than one. Shot in remote locations across the region and tackling some very difficult subjects, Culture X explores areas of society both rural and urban, that many of us would rather never knew existed...
Its been a challenge to craft these stories out; as a writer, my job is to remain as unbiased and un-judgmental as possible, even though I've often had to force myself to watch scenes that would normally scare the pants off me.
But such conditions have forced me to flex my literary skills once more, and its been refreshing to feel the old creative engine spring back into life again. It helps that I am working with a production team with a shared vision, and I am genuinely existed about the end result, and the subsequent reaction from the audience...
Those of you in Singapore will not have to wait long for the show. It'll be on air in a couple of weeks and the trailers are already running on Arts Central.
Watch out for Culture X - if anything at all, it'll certainly leave an impression on you!
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