MARVEL AND NETFLIX ARE AMONG MANY HEAVY HITTERS HEADING TO MALAYSIA FOR THE QUALITY LOCATIONS, STUDIOS, 35% INCENTIVE AND EXPANDING CREW BASE.
“WE HAD A BIG CREW, UP TO 500 PEOPLE, INCLUDING MANY LOCALS IN THE PRODUCTION, PROPS AND DRESSES DEPARTMENTS WHO DID A GREAT JOB MAKING THE SETS LOOK LIKE MALAYSIA IN THE 30S AND 40S.”
"MALAYSIA CAN EASILY DOUBLE FOR OTHER TROPICAL LOCATIONS LIKE THAILAND, THE PHILIPPINES AND INDONESIA WITH ITS BEAUTIFUL BEACHES AND FORESTS, ESPECIALLY ON THE EAST COAST." | Malaysia’s striking Merdeka 118 skyscraper (the second largest in the world) is hogging the Hollywood limelight. Most recently it was scaled by Florence Pugh’s character Yelena Belova for Marvel’s upcoming movie Thunderbolts, which caused quite a stir locally. Almost as much as when daredevil Russian couple Angela Nikolau and Ivan Beerkus illegally scaled the building for Netflix’ documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, directed by Jeff Zimbalist and Maria Mukhonia. The couple’s ‘anxiety inducing’ climb was filmed in guerilla style and gained a huge following on social media. “It took seven years of production, over 300 hours of archival cinema vérité footage, so many unexpected twists and turns, and a shocking climax that I still can’t believe,” Zimbalist said after the premiere at Sundance Film Festival. It’s not the only Malaysian tower to draw attention either. The former Menara HSBC South Tower in Lebuh Ampang (currently up for sale) also features in Thunderbolts. While the Petronas Towers have regularly appeared in films and television series, including Entrapment, The Amazing Race 3 and 24. Productions don’t just come for the towers though. There’s a huge variety of other locations too, including surrounding islands, such as Penang with its British Colonial architecture and traditional markets and temples or the idyllic white, sandy beaches of the Perhentian islands, which formed a backdrop for the BBC’s adaptation of Lord of the Flies. Malaysia can easily double for other tropical locations like Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia with its beautiful beaches and forests, especially on the east coast. Many projects also choose to shoot at the Iskandar Malaysia Studios – the largest in South East Asia – on the southern tip of Malaysia’s peninsula, offering three water tanks, five sound stages, two HD-equipped television studios and an expansive backlot, all on 80 acres of land in Johor Bahru, just an hour’s drive from Singapore. “On our six acre backlot, we have completed phase one and phase two of construction, which includes British Colonial settings, Chinese clan buildings, a dockyard, a ship and a hospital,” says Rashid Karim, CEO at Iskandar Malaysia Studios. “We will be starting phase three at the end of this year (2024) to build things like the interior of a police station, court houses, airplane cockpits and many more settings.” Pui Yin Chan, director, production and distribution, at Chinese company GHY, was certainly impressed. “Iskandar is high-standard. For our television series Little Nyonya, we did almost half of the shoot at the studio where we built huge colonial Asian sets, including a live street. “We had a big crew, up to 500 people, including many locals in the production, props and dresses departments who did a great job making the sets look like Malaysia in the 30s and 40s, sourcing raw materials and goods, and helping find exterior locations across Malaysia.” Malaysia’s various locations have also recently attracted a fair share of reality series, including Million Dollar Island and Tempting Fortune, both of which filmed in the Langkawi archipelago, made up of 99 islands off the north west coast (see Location Highlight). Netflix show The Mole also headed to Malaysia for season two, filming at a variety of locations, including Forest City, a USD100 billion ghost town that was once planned as a mega complex with apartments, a water park and hotels. They also shot at Tioman island, Sentul depot, Gua Kandu, a famous cave network in the Kinta Valley in Gopeng, Clan Jetty with wooden villages, and the popular Petronas Towers. The series was supported by experienced local crews and the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), the governing body for film production in Malaysia. These projects have also been drawn in by the Film in Malaysia Incentive (FIMI) worth up to 35% for international productions, which is distributed by the Film in Malaysia Office (FIMO), a division of FINAS. An impressive 28 international projects were approved for the incentive last year. “Malaysia's multicultural society provides unique cultural and aesthetic elements, enriching the storytelling experience,” enthuses Norashikin Ahmand Nor, chief assistant director of FIMO. “Malaysia provides a conducive environment for international filmmakers with its combination of financial incentives, diverse locations, and skilled workforce, while ongoing initiatives are set to further enhance the local screen sector.” Main Image: Skywalkers: A Love Story © 2024 Netflix, Inc.
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