They got it backwards. “Lights. Camera. Action!” describes a take for a film. Long before that ever happens, however, there needs to be a whole lot preliminary actions first. Filmmaker Priscilla Goh shares many of the actions she took to prepare herself for a career in film. Her journey will both surprise and inspire you.
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Questions
Can
you tell us a little about your family and growing up. How did your family
instill your interest in global views and education?
My family is a relatively stereotypical
local family that Singaporeans would call ‘heartlander’ – they still live in
public housing, and my uncle carries on my grandmother’s intestine stew stall
in one of Singapore’s famous hawker centres.
Most of us feel more comfortable speaking a pidgin of Mandarin, Chinese
dialects, and Singlish (the local English-based Creole).
Despite being your typical Singaporean
middle-aged man from Singapore’s now-defunct Chinese-medium education system,
my father also had his eyes on the world, and looked for global things he could
make local. He was part of the team that brought Starbucks to Singapore in the
90s, heralding the start of (western) coffee culture in Singapore. All the
hipster cafes that are in vogue now might turn up their noses at anything
mainstream, but there is no denying that café culture in Singapore started with
Starbucks’ arrival. (Naturally, the first store was on Orchard Road, but more
that later.)
Like most middle-income Singaporean
households in examination-crazed Singapore, education was a priority.
Apparently, when I was a toddler, my mum would pretend to read so that I would
follow her example! She would fall asleep behind the book, and I would continue
flipping through the pages of my own tomes, none the wiser. Even when my dad left his well-established job
to set up his own consultant company during what many consider to be the most
crucial year of a Singaporean child’s life (the Primary 6 School Leaving
Examinations), they made sure that I was not distracted by monetary concerns.
They stoked my competitive spirit by racing to complete the same math paper and
would even play ping-pong on a coffee table with me during study breaks.
Eventually, I scored well enough to enter one of the more selective Secondary
Schools in Singapore.
Secondary school was a little harder,
where I experienced (academic) failure for the first time. There is a saying
that a big fish in a small pond is a small fish in a big pond, and coming from
my little neighbourhood primary school, entering a brand-name school with its
own traditions, history, and high standards was a little of a culture shock. My
Math, Science, and Mandarin grades took a sharp turn downwards even though they
were the only subjects I ever spent time studying.
This stress was possibly part of the
reason I jumped at the chance to apply for National Junior College’s new Integrated
Programme, where students would be allowed to skip the Secondary 4 ‘O’ levels,
which meant that I would not have to be examined so much for those subjects,
since I could specialize in the humanities for my high school ‘A’ levels.
You attended NJC in
Singapore. For those who are not familiar with NJC can you describe your experience
there? Do you think NJC prepares students in ways to look beyond borders?
National Junior College is the first 2-year high school in
Singapore, which had our current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong in its first
intake. In 2004, they embarked on an experiment with a 4-year system. I was one
of the first batch of a interesting collection of hundred and twenty-something
lab rats that were probably chosen for interesting personalities and various specializations.
I have two close ex-classmates in Geneva now – one as a violinist and the other
in CERN.
The ‘integrated’ approach saw us taking cross-subject
modules, which was instrumental in shaping the way I look at things now. I feel
that everything is connected in some way and no subject is an island. In a way,
studying different subjects can only enhance an artists’ work – you need
something to make the work about. Almost all of us also had a leadership
position in organizations by our final year, as we had more than the two years
most other students had to devote ourselves to our CCAs (CIOs).
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| Picture of High School Class |
Why did you decide to
pursue university in the US? Can you describe how you went about choosing
schools to apply to and why you ended up at Uva?
I applied to a grand total of 6 universities, 2 local and 4
in the US. I would not have applied to any overseas universities if not for my
college counselor in NJC, who recommended that we cast our nets further. He
recommended UVA due to its (relatively) lower costs, as well as three other
liberal arts colleges. For some reason, I did not get into my safety schools
(Oberlin and Lafayette), but got waitlisted at Middlebury.
Locally, I was offered a scholarship to study English and
History at the National University of Singapore, but I did feel a fear of being
pigeonholed too early. The exploratory time given to undergraduates in the US
system definitely appealed to me. As for the matter of cost, that year, my dad miraculously
got a job that would pay for a couple of years of out of state tuition. I am
grateful to my parents for investing in my education rather than putting it
towards a housing upgrade. The 8-month gap that Singaporeans have between the
end of high school and the start of college was also a great opportunity to get
jobs and save up some cash– I waited on tables, sold watches, and taught the
‘General Paper’ subject as a relief teacher.
Can you talk about
your transition to the US and to your university? Was it easier or harder than
you expected?
As a first-generation college student, I embarked on a
journey halfway across the world with no idea of what awaited me. For example,
when I read that UVA was 30% Greek, I thought it meant that 30% of the student
population was from the Greece. Luckily, I did get to have my UVA “Greek”
experience eventually, by going on a Slow Food module in Thessaloniki during my
Third Year Spring Break under the International Residential College Special
Modules.
Singaporeans are largely fluent in English and familiar with
American Pop Culture, so I was more derailed with the details of setting up a
new life, like opening a bank account and generally getting every thing
together to start school. I definitely have to thank my friends’ parents who
helped me get settled in! However, I still had a few funny instances of misunderstandings;
someone told me that I had a ‘sick’ voice after an audition, and I spent the
whole night dosing myself with herbal medicine.
Can you talk a bit
about what you decided to study? Did you find a mentor either among the faculty
or among students?
I ended up majoring in Foreign Affairs (East Asia) and was
also in the Distinguished Major Programme for my other major of Studio Art (Painting
and Cinematography). Though, in first year, I considered Pre-Comm like most
other Singaporeans/Internationals (I had told my parents that I might try
getting into McIntire when persuading them to let me come here, and that turned
out to be true because our art department is called the McIntire Department of
Art). Other majors that I considered taking were History, English (Writing),
and Music.
I chose those two as a balance between practicality and
passion. Politics, was, of course, the more practical of the two. I loved
studying it, but my mouth would probably cause a lot of sticky situations by
running off. Also, modern/contemporary art is largely influenced by political
movements, so that’s an example of an integrated view, I think.
I had great Politics professors that I could talk to
individually, like Professor Leonard Schoppa and Professor Herman Schwartz.
Professor Schwartz was really approachable – a few of us had lunch with him on
more than one occasion. He was also really knowledgeable about Singapore’s
political scene.
For art, I had Professor Megan Marlatt, who taught me my
first drawing class, hooking me into art. I eventually had her again in
Advanced Painting, and chased her around Ruffin with a face covered in lipstick
threatening to kiss her after the making of this performance piece: https://vimeo.com/37087196
I also had Professor Kevin Everson, who is still a great
friend and mentor. (And to whom I still owe many DVDs of my recent work.) Among
other instances of bringing us to watch interesting films or letting us exhibit
in different places, he also brought us to New York when he was selected to be
part of the Whitney Biennale, and it was amazing to see firsthand what the
process of being an artist is really like.
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| Professor Kevin Everson and some ‘film phucs’ at an exhibition they put up, Downtown Charlottesville |
Can you describe your
study abroad experience? Looking back on your undergraduate experience do you
have advice for students about how to get the most out of their time at university?
I think college should be a time to leave your comfort zone
and try out things you have not tried out before if you have the opportunity to
do so.
I jumped to join the Opera CIO in UVA (Opera Viva), because I
did not have the resources to be in the scene when I was growing up, and there
wasn’t much of one anyway. (Currently though, it has improved, with the establishment
of a new arts school, and 2 other opera companies.) To catch up, I signed up
for vocal lessons in year 2, and managed to get into the advanced class by year
3. In year 4, I was able to plan my own recital with two other voice students
of Dr. Lily Hsieh.
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| Priscilla at her recital, year 4, enacting a piece from Donizetti’s Daughter of the Regiment |
I also had not tried art as an examinable subject
previously, or been scouted by Singapore’s talent scouts to be placed in the
Art Elective Programme at an early age. A
senior recommended that I sign up for a drawing class, and I ended up hooked. In
second year, I showed a promotional video I did for the Singapore Students’
Association to Cinematography Professor Kevin Everson, and he let me into his
class, and I eventually got a chance to be part of the Distinguished Art Major
Programme and hold my final exhibition in Ruffin Gallery.
Still, of course, this would not have been possible without
the academic freedom of a US-style education. (The first video that Priscilla was ever involved with is here . It was made for the Singapore Students’ Association
How would you
describe how well you integrated into the university community? What sorts of
activities did you join? Who did you hang out with?
I definitely went beyond my immediate cultural group of
Singaporeans. Perhaps I took my own advice of leaving one’s comfort zone too
far, and joined a great too many activities, and overloaded credits for every
single semester since year 2. (laughs) I remember the crazy last month of
school I had – each week was devoted to the final culmination of my college
life – a final politics paper, my final Opera Viva performance as part of the
Chorus in Donizetti’s L’Elisir d’Amore, my voice recital, and then my final art
exhibition.
The main organizations that I stuck with for most of the
years were the International Residential College, Opera Viva, Chi Alpha, and of
course the Singapore Students’ Association.
I lived at the IRC for the entirety of my student life, and
had great friends among the longer-term residents there. One of them brought me
to her Thanksgiving/Christmas family gatherings for a couple of years! I was also
Minister of Interior for my third and fourth year, overseeing events for the
community, as well as running the weekly stall news in toilets in all four
buildings. (Talk about an early start to potty humour.) I also institutionalized
the Cooking Coalition, which aimed to foster community bonding through food. We
introduced food from various cultures with cultural group tie-ups,
(Singaporeans contributed kaya toast a couple of times) as well as ate local
with cookouts that saw residents barbecuing things they had picked out that
very morning at the Farmer’s Market. There were cooking classes taught by
students – I taught one about how to make Asian-style soy milk from scratch. We
even had a chocolate Valentine making session with delivery to residents’
doors. All of these were and still should be free for IRC residents. The IRC is
a great place and community to be with – it’s not entirely ‘International’ like
some people think, only about 50/50, and sometimes ‘International’ includes
Americans who lived overseas previously.
For Opera Viva, I was involved in every of their productions
for 4 years, singing in 6 of them. If I wasn’t on stage, I did backstage stuff
like lighting and designing the promotional shirts. I was also involved with
the Executive Board, first as the secretary, then as a Member-At-Large, which
is a position that takes care of the welfare of the members and relays their
concerns to the Board. The only long-term international for my stint there, I
had to learn how to enunciate better for an American audience.
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| Priscilla, rightmost, in the all-female avant-garde interpretation of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice |
I also developed a close bond with students a.k.a “film
phucs” in the film programme, a.k.a “The Gutter”, and close friendships with a
few political science students despite the size of the cohort. Overall, I would
say that I made great American and International friends – I went to visit one
in Taiwan, and a few even came to Singapore for my wedding! One film phuc also
Skyped in for the TV premiere of Man Vs Birds.
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| Priscilla’s Wedding “UVA” photo |
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| Priscilla and Sebra Yen (CLAS ’12 Foreign Affairs) in Taiwan, with their respective flags |
Forgive me if I get
some of this wrong but I will do my best. On a list you posted about your
immediate plans after graduation you describe a number of things but the vast
majority of them have to do with film. Can you talk about how you first became
interested in film and then how you got experience in this field.
Most of my Singaporean friends know me to be an ‘Opera
Nerd’, and hence they were all very surprised when I showed up in the film
industry when I came back. To clarify: part of the reason I fell in love with
opera in the first place was because I thought it was the perfect mix of art
forms: you have Literature in the libretto, Music in the score, Acting/Dancing
on stage, and Art for the backdrop/scenery/costumes. Film is like a digital
form of opera to me because it requires knowledge and skill in more than one
area – from scriptwriting, to scoring, to filming, to editing, to lighting… Maybe
I’ll do an opera film one day!
With my practical-minded Singaporean background as a guide,
I reasoned that I should look at the broadcast and film industry as something I
could possibly find a job in. There was also a day when I was so engrossed in
editing one of my films that I didn’t know it was midnight – I had started at
noon. Hence, I thought: “Hey, this is a possible job where I won’t get bored
too much while doing!”
Even with that in mind, it was still hard to break into an
industry where I knew no one locally, because I had not studied film in
Singapore. My big break came when, a few months after graduation, Professor
Kevin Everson connected me with an alumni in China, who was looking for
bilingual editors for The Amazing Race: China Rush (Season 3). Seeing that my
Mandarin proficiency was near native (at least, better than most Americans), I
was offered a post to edit the fully-Mandarin Masterchef (Season 1) as well. It
was like being dropped right into the deep end of a swimming pool with only
theoretical swimming lessons to go by, but hopefully I didn’t cause anyone else
to drown. It also turned out to be a good thing that I was there, because the
Malaysian contestants of the Amazing Race sometimes spoke too quickly in their local
creole (similar to Singlish) for anyone else outside of this area of the world
to understand.
Since that time you
have been busy. Can you talk about what you have done with Oak3 films? And what
this is.
After returning from China, I joined a local company that
mainly makes local TV programmes. I edited a variety of shows from preschool
programmes to ministry-sponsored ‘docu-drama’ reenactments for MediaCorp, the
biggest local broadcaster, which is public and free-to-air, something like PBS.
I was also given the chance to edit an in-house feature film, Ms J Contemplates
Her Choice, which premiered last year at the Singapore International Film
Festival and was shown in cinemas 2 July this year.
In June 2014, after a bout of carpel tunnel, I requested a
switch to the content development department, where I wrote concepts and
pitched them to broadcasters. Four of my concepts got shortlisted for a
face-to-face pitch, and one was even put into production – a pre-school
puppet/animated series called Super Rover and Friends that will be on TV in
September this year. The writing and pitching experience gained from those
three months turned out to be invaluable when we got news of the upcoming
Discovery open call for first-time filmmakers.
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| From concept to reality: Super Rover and Friends. Premiering September on MediaCorp’s okto channel. |
I do hope you can
take time to describe the story of Man Vs. Birds.
Man Vs. Birds starts on Orchard Road, a famous 2.2km
tree-lined boulevard of shopping malls in Singapore, where 5000 to 7000 birds
(largely Javan Mynahs, with significant populations of House Crows and Asian Glossy
Starlings) roost each night. Of course, during the day, loads of Rock Pigeons
come as well, but they roost in the air-conditioning compressor ledges of the
nearby buildings instead. This has resulted in a deafening cacophony that
drowns out all buskers and traffic, as well as a daily patter of bird droppings
that requires 3000 litres of high-pressured water to clean daily.
Or course, as Orchard Road is Singapore’s most visited
free-entry tourist attraction, this throws a spanner into the works for the
local authorities, who are ardent sticklers for cleanliness. (I’m sure
Singapore’s relationship with chewing gum sticking to our streets is widely
known.) It has to solve the problem before the biggest Christmas Light-Up yet,
where everything has to be spick and span. A previous attempt with a hawk to
scare the flocks resulted in failure, as the bird was traumatized by the sheer
number of birds and the urban environment.
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| Javan Mynahs fighting on Orchard Road, and Coming into Orchard Road |
A team of “Avengers” is gathered, and it includes an Avian
Genomics professor and his research assistant from the National University of
Singapore, an arborist, a pest-bird-control specialist, and even the designer
of the Christmas Lights.
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An arborist climbing a rain tree near the Orchard Area in our film.
|
Through the documentary, we discover the bird situation
island-wide. Non-pest birds are actually suffering, with shrinking habitats
bisected by new highways causing less geneflow. Reflective glass in modern buildings
also cause them to crash into structures, because it reflects the image of the
sky. Dead migratory and forest birds have been found in Orchard Road, as birds
on flyways see its river of green in a patch of grey and unwittingly break
their necks against windows when they fly close. We also discover that the pest
species are actually invasive – House Crows and Javan Mynahs came from India
and Java respectively in the early 1900s due to the booming entrepot trade when
Singapore was a Crown Colony, riding on ships, or sold as pets.
We also showcase another tourist attraction – Changi
Airport, which has been frequently named the best airport in the world. They
have their own bird problem too – birdstrikes, which can cost a lot of human
lives and multi-million dollar damages when huge flocks are ingested into the
engines. Through a efficient yet humane system of scare systems and the removal
of attractants, the airfields are kept safe. However, this cannot be imported
into Orchard Road because the motivations of the birds are different – the
birds come to the airfields to feed, but they go to Orchard Road to roost, as
the lush canopy of well-maintained heritage trees is extremely attractive to
them. Due to their large numbers and high motivation, scare systems will not
work, and barrier systems are unwieldy for trees.
Further genetic studies show that the Javan Mynah population
in Singapore is panmictic, which means that even if the flock on Orchard Road
is removed, Javan mynahs from other parts of the island will simply take their
place. The person who eventually ‘solves’ the problem is the Lighting Designer,
who designs a way to work around the problem with a self-cleaning system
utilizing the December monsoon rains.
At the end, we question whether it is a real conflict, and
advocate for further ways that man and wildlife can live together, with
eco-bridges for them across highways, and rehabilitated wetlands. Singapore is
actually a paradise for some wildlife, and we still have significant primary
rainforest tracts with more species than the entirety of North America.
How long have you
been working on this film, and how did it all start?
As for the process, we found out about the programme
sometime in June, filmed a teaser reel in July, submitted the application in
August, were invited for a 2-day workshop and pitch in October. The open call
had defined a “First-Time Filmmaker” as someone who had not directed an
international production, not necessarily someone who had not directed before.
My partner and I had experience in the pre- and post- aspects of a production,
but not the actual production itself, with a crew and everything. Hence, those
two days were one of the most nervous times of my life, even more so than in
the making of the actual film!
There were around 50 proposals submitted, 14 shortlisted for
a face-to-face pitch, and 5 chosen eventually. We were notified of Discovery’s
decision early in November, and began shooting the Christmas light set-up and
rehearsal on November 13 & 14. November 15 was the light-up ceremony,
attended by the President of Singapore (gulp!) so we were thrown into the thick
of things right from the start, right until we wrapped filming on April 26.
Post production started late March, and ended late June, with the urban
premiere on July 11 and the television premiere on July 16. All in all, it
really took about a year!
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Filming of profiles on Orchard Road, 5th March |
How did you decide on
the topic?
The idea struck me (literally) on the head one day outside Oak3’s
office after lunch, and I ran screaming back into the office to wash it off.
Colleagues alternatively mentioned humourously that it would make for good
television, and repeated the local superstition that one would win the lottery
if one got struck by bird droppings.
At the same time, my partner and I had been talking about
Singapore’s mall culture and history, with the country’s 50th year
of independence coming up. Orchard Road is unique because it is the longest
street of malls in the world (as opposed to specialty stores in places like
Fifth Avenue) and the streets are covered with a giant canopy of trees. Most
brands enter Singapore through Orchard Road, where there now are 5000 stores,
and there is a 30-year (and counting) tradition of Christmas lights.
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| Orchard Road from above: Note the “river of trees |
In a way, it is also a microcosm of ‘Singapore Stories’,
which is the title of the documentary series. It is emblematic of a
multicultural Singapore; you have malls with English names (e.g. Wheelock
Place), Chinese names (e.g. 義安城 translated as ‘Ngee Ann City’), Bahasa (Wisma Atria and Plaza
Singapura). Each of these malls also celebrate different cultures: Ngee Ann
City follows the traditional Buddhist-Taoist-Ancestral religion that the
majority of Chinese in Singapore adhere to, with celebrations of deities
throughout the year, and a 7th month Hungry Ghost Festival with
‘Getai’ singers. Its design also follows the rules of Fengshui. On the other
hand, there’s Tangs, which is an example of the early Singaporean Chinese
Presbytarian community – they used to close on Sundays until the 1990s. There
is also a historic mosque behind Abercrombie and Fitch!
Orchard Road’s development was also the ‘ground-up’ approach
of individual pioneers in Singapore, in contrast to the ‘top-down planting’ of the
shiny new Marina Bay. In the 1930s, C.K. Tang chose Orchard Road, then a
plantation, as the site for his departmental store, (now called Tangs) noticing
its strategic position between the homes and workplaces of the colonials. This
strategic position was also discovered by Singapore’s first supermarket (with
Singapore’s first soft-serve ice-cream machine), and other current stalwarts in
the retail and entertainment industry like Cathay and Shaw. Of course, the
birds also see it as a convenient location, and they have for as long as the
people today can remember.
I know I must sound like some sort of tourism ambassador
now…
Can you describe your
vision for the film and then describe the premiere and what kind of feedback
you have received?
We wanted it to shatter preconceptions of the ‘boring’
television documentary, and hence added plenty of dramatic elements, as well as
lots of humour.
Response has been great from both the audience and the
profiles themselves, who did not get to see the finished product before the
premiere. We were initially worried about the reaction from the scientists, but
they loved it – it’s quite a balanced scientifically-accurate view that we
presented, despite the title.
The first public screening of ‘Singapore Stories’ was the
‘Urban Screening’ – I didn’t expect there to be so many people. Hearing people
laugh at the film, even at things we didn’t find funny ourselves, was
great. In a way, it was like performing
on stage, where you engage the audience and immediately feel/hear their
feedback.
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| Panoramic shot By J.Ng. of event |
Do you have advice
for others who would love to be able to do what you have done with this film?
(Puts on a Sage Hat)
Finding a subject is often the most crucial thing in
documentaries. It’s amazing what you can find when you open your eyes to your
immediate surroundings. Stories are hidden all around you in plain sight.
Also, don’t feel constricted by what you may or may not have
studied. In fact, my film partner studied History and Business, another ‘weird
combination’, at least for Singaporeans. No knowledge is wasted knowledge!
Not everyone can be a filmmaker, but anyone can be a
filmmaker!
(Takes off Sage Hat)
What are currently
working on now?
We are currently looking for festivals to submit the documentary
to, and perhaps doing a longer Director’s Cut.
Anything else you
want to add?
Catch the encore
telecast of Man Vs. Birds in Singapore on 17 August at 6pm!
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| This means ‘Good Luck’ if it falls on your head….
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|
Priscilla’s story would, in itself,
make a great film. She embodies traits that make for a strong leading
character: intelligence, wit, grit and talent. How many of us are willing to
leave home and country, turn down a scholarship and travel half a world away to
study subjects that are not often thought of as leading to a job and career?
How many of us, in other words, are brave enough to follow our passion?
Priscilla’s decision to develop her Opera skills should be something that will
encourage students to think about finding and then developing a passion. I hope
too that her story will encourage parents to think about encouraging their sons
and daughters to pursue a passion even if it does not initially marketable. But what I have just written is not the same
as an open ended invitation to “follow your bliss”. Cal Newport, a smart guy who has written a
lot of good things about learning has a video about what it really means to develop
a passion:
American
culture is obsessed with the idea that we need to "find our passion"
in order to be happy and successful. But there's a problem: "It's
astonishingly bad piece of advice," says best-selling author Cal Newport.
We have no pre-existing passion. Instead, passion is found by first building a
rare and valuable talent and using it to take control of your career path. In
other words, be so good and work so hard that no one can ignore you.
Newport is not against passion but he
is for building a talent as a part of the passion. Priscilla did this first by
building her desire to learn in secondary school. I have visited untold
thousands of schools during my career and met untold thousands of students. Most
of these visits have disappeared in into the fog of memory. I can say, however,
I can remember meeting Priscilla at her school in Singapore even though this
was many years ago. Back then she had a
spark that came across in ways that do not get assessed on the SAT or an A
Level predicted grade. My interactions with students during visits and
interviews convince me that schools that depend too much on numeric rubrics
often miss out of personal traits that predict both the fit of the student for
a particular school and the likelihood for continued success after graduation. The interview that Priscilla and Kylie Tan
did for their film helps capture the passion for the subject but also
underscores the amount of work and effort that went into this project.
What I also found useful about
Priscilla’s interview with me is that she demonstrates that the path one takes
in life is hard to map out. What she found from learning the intricacies of
opera actually helped her with her approach to film. More and more leaders in
business and education are encouraging students to learn across disciplines in addition
to developing just one or two deep skills. So while Newport is right about building
a rare talent he leaves out how people need to learn that this talent may end
up morphing and changing direction. The cliché of the moment in business these
days is that they must learn to “pivot”. Students need to learn this too.
Priscilla is a perfect example of someone who learned a lot about one thing and
then learned to pivot. She is also an example of how liberal arts prepares
people to success in ways that some are not
aware of.
I would like to thank Priscilla for
sharing her story here. I wish that everyone could see her film. For the moment at least we can see the trailer by going here
I know we will be seeing and hearing a
lot more from Priscilla in the coming years.
Update: you can now watch the film! See below....
Update: you can now watch the film! See below....
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