Astro presents “Shortcuts”, A New Short Film Competition

3 winners will win RM40k to produce their short films

Kuala Lumpur, 5 November 2015 – Astro has launched ‘Shortcuts’, a new short film competition, in line with its aspiration to develop and raise the standard of excellence among Malaysian creative talents. Via Astro Shaw, the film production arm of Astro, the media group invites Malaysians who are interested in cultivating their directional and creative talent to submit their entries via info@shortcuts.my before November 15. The best three scripts will stand a chance to win RM40,000 each to produce their short films with the potential of these films being showcased at local and regional film festivals as well as on Astro A-List Channel (Channel 456).

(From L to R) Remton Zuasola & Liew Seng Tat)

Astro Shaw, the producer for several award winning Malaysian movies such as Polis Evo, The Journey, Terbaik Dari Langit, Apichatpong Weeraseethakul’s Cemetery of Splendour, and many more has already confirmed the participation of 9 leading Southeast Asian directors in ‘Shortcuts’ to provide guidance and to mentor the aspiring young creative talents. The 9 film directors are Mouly Surya (Indonesia), Remton Siega Zuasola (Philippines), Bianca Balbuena (Philippines), Liew Seng Tat (Malaysia), Yosep Anggi Noen (Indonesia), Sherad Anthony Sanchez (Philippines), Minh Nguyen-Vo (Vietnam), Kongdej Jaturanrasmee (Thailand) and Joko Anwar (Indonesia).

(From L to R) Bianca Balbuena, Kongdej Jaturanrasmee & Yosep Anggi

Najwa Abu Bakar, Head of Astro Shaw said, “As a group, we aspire to nurture and develop Malaysian creative talents in the art of film making in Malaysia, and to raise the standards for Malaysian film producers and directors to best in class so that they can compete on an Asian and global platform. Over the course of four intensive workshops, ‘Shortcuts’ is a platform for participants to acquire knowledge and techniques from award winning directors and mentors in the Southeast Asia region.”

Najwa adds, “We are excited to connect with new directorial talent and ideally, we look forward to the opportunity to unearth films for submissions to prestigious film festivals. ‘Shortcuts’ seeks to champion the country’s short films development and ultimately become the hub for short films in Southeast Asia.”

(From L to R) Minh Nguyen Vo, Mouly Surya & Sherad Anthony Sanchez

Interested individuals should submit a completed entry form with a YouTube or Vimeo link of their previous works and resume to info@shortcuts.my where only 18 entries will be selected for the first workshop in Dec. This will be followed by a series of three workshops focusing on script writing, presentation and production skills. At the end of these workshops, the finalists are given the opportunity to pitch their work to a panel of judges, for a chance to be one of the three winners to receive funding for their short film.