Currently in post-production, Wonderland stars two of Singapore’s most prominent actors, Mark Lee and Peter Yu. While both actors have graced national television and the silver screens for decades, Wonderland marks the very first time that Lee and Yu are together in the same project. Production for the film spanned across New York City, Singapore and Johor Bahru (Malaysia).
The story for Wonderland has lived in director Chai Yee Wei’s head for nearly ten years. However, for most of those years, Chai was focused on refining the post-production services offered by his outfit, Mocha Chai Laboratories, which was the first facility to install a Dolby Atmos mixing theater in Singapore. Recently, Mocha Chai Laboratories worked on the post-production of Vietnamese film, Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell, which won the prestigious Camera d’Or prize at the Cannes Film Festival 2023.
A dream collaboration
In 2019, Chai was looking to develop original content under Mocha Chai Laboratories, in addition to its post-production portfolio. He shared his idea for Wonderland with co-founder Michelle Chang, who also came onboard as producer and encouraged him to start writing the screenplay. With the initial working title of The Last Letters, they later received funding for the film from Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA).
“I told him that he’s got to make this film. It’s not just a story about a father and daughter, it’s also a story of elderly gentlemen. There aren’t many stories of two men and their friendship, set in their golden years, especially in the Asian context,” Chang said. “Men are more reserved about their feelings, so I thought that this movie is really special because it touches on their friendship and how it blossoms.”
Targeting an end-2023 or early-2024 release date, Chang shared that they intend to launch Wonderland on the film festival circuit, with a keen eye to win a prize at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan. They also want to bring the film to local theaters. “When the film comes out in theaters, it’s important to give this film a shot,” Chang said. “It’s really hard now in the film industry and I know the box office is also very hard for films, but we hope that the meaningful story will appeal to the audience.”
First show together for veteran actors Mark Lee and Peter Yu
Even for a veteran actor like Lee, who has acted in more than 45 films and 15 television shows, Wonderland marked an unchartered territory for him. Having played mostly comedic and light-hearted roles in the past, this film nudged him into a new adventure playing a broody, serious father who does not speak much. “When we’re doing comedy, we get to be very happy and fun on set. This movie is very different because I’m always trying to adjust and find my emotions on set,” Lee said.
“Passion, the main thing is passion. I love acting, that’s why I came back to media again,” shared Yu, referring to his nearly decade-long hiatus. Yu played the lead role in A Land Imagined, which became the first Singaporean film to win the top prize at the Locarno Film Festival in 2018.
“Acting is a kind of professional skill, not everyone can do it. What Peter and I have seen is that what we learn and earn is experience,” shared Lee, on what has kept him in the business for so long. “Acting in different dramas, movies and platform, we have absorbed a lot, and experience later turns into money.”
While developing the screenplay, Chang shared that she initially had opposite roles in mind for Lee and Yu. However, she later decided to switch their roles instead. “When I was writing, I had Mark Lee in mind to play the more sociable, friendly and loud character,” Chang said. “But I knew that it will be very predictable, so we made a conscious effort not to typecast. Like, let’s be adventurous with our casting.”
Expanding from post-production to original content
Earlier this year at Hong Kong’s FILMART, Mocha Chai Laboratories announced a strategic partnership with Emissary Pictures to develop and produce cross-cultural films and series. Emissary Pictures carries out activities across New Zealand, Australia and Indonesia. This is just another step in Mocha Chai Laboratories’ efforts to expand beyond offering post-production services, towards making original content as well.
“We started this as a post-production house. When I joined Yee Wei, he spoke to me about wanting to tell stories,” Chang said. Chai has made three feature films, while Chang previously worked as the commissioner of English content for Singaporean broadcaster Mediacorp. “We decided that instead of just waiting for people to bring stories to us to do the post-production, we can create our own stories and then do the post-production ourselves too.”
Chang pointed out the countless benefits of having both content development and post-production under the same roof. “We make sure that everything is planned at the script level and also have a post-production meeting with the crew, so that we are all aligned and we don’t have to fix things in post.” Chang shared that for example, the data wrangler for Wonderland is also the film’s editor, and they have the experience to rectify issues during production, instead of waiting until post-production.
“I was a radio DJ before, a stand up comedian and also an actress,” shared Chang, about her journey. “I tried all these things and then I realized that my calling is in producing and writing. That’s what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
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