Channel NewsAsia - Friday,
November 30
MediaCorp
Raintree Pictures "The Tattooist" tops NZ box
office
SINGAPORE : Homegrown MediaCorp Raintree Pictures "The Tattooist"
has emerged the number 1 horror movie of the year at the New
Zealand box office, grossing almost US$440,000 (NZ$575,000).
"The Tattooist", a tieup with production company Eyeworks New
Zealand, made its debut in Singapore cinemas on Thursday.
It is the first New Zealand and Singapore feature film tieup after
the two countries signed a coproduction treaty in 2004.
"The Tattooist", a supernatural thriller, stars Jason Behr from the
TV series Roswell.
As American Jake Sawyer, he is an uninspired tattoo artist who
steals designs in order to scrape a living.
At a tattoo convention in Singapore, he steals a traditional Samoan
tattoo instrument, which unleashes a curse that leads to horrible
deaths.
Shot mainly in New Zealand, with some scenes in Singapore, the
horror film also features Singaporeans Caroline Cheong, Lim Yu Beng
and Gerald Chew.
"It just makes good business sense, because when youre looking to
make films for the international market, and youre looking to
collaborate with another culture, one niche in the international
market which is very good to provide films for is the horror
genre," said Robin Scholes, producer of "The Tattooist".
But the biggest obstacle for Raintree Pictures is the lack of good
scripts.
"Our biggest challenge in Singapore is a good script. If we have a
good script, theres plenty of money, directors, actors, and plenty
of collaborators," said Daniel Yun, Managing Director of MediaCorp
Raintree Pictures.
Raintree Pictures is also negotiating with Eyeworks New Zealand to
produce a second film which will be shot mainly in Singapore and
feature more local talents.
This film will likely be released in 2009. CNA /ls
