i.e. entertainment Press Release for April 8 2021
Indra and Erlina Suharjono set up I.E. Entertainment to develop, produce, market and distribute content in Asia and around the world.
New company kicks off with exclusive rights to the iconic Cathay-Keris Films Chinese and Malay libraries
SINGAPORE, 8 APRIL 2021: Industry veterans Indra and Erlina Suharjono launch media company, I.E. Entertainment Pte Ltd, today, applying their decades of experience and unparalleled networks to developing, producing, marketing and distributing the next generation of Asian film and television.
The new company debuts with exclusive distribution and remake rights to the iconic Cathay-Keris Films’ Chinese and Malay libraries.
I.E. Entertainment will also work with Asian filmmakers and production studios to create fresh slates of content that speak to shifting tastes and audiences in Asia and around the world, and will handle licensing and merchandising for live-action and animation content.
The Cathay catalogues house 166 Chinese titles and 91 Malay titles, across a wide range of genres, including comedy, drama and musicals. All titles have been professionally restored and archived in Hong Kong and Singapore.
The first two Cathay-Keris properties being re-developed into contemporary features are “Sun, Moon and Star Part 1 & 2” (太陽月亮星星) – 1961 and “The Greatest Civil War On Earth” (南北和) – Trilogy.
“The Cathay-Keris Classic library of films are from the ’50s and ’60s, are best known in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Malaysia. In other territories, including China, Korea and Japan, the library is a rich source of fresh stories. We are excited that I. E. Entertainment has been given this opportunity at its establishment to represent this well-known library which hitherto has not been utilized at all for remakes previously. It opens up lots of opportunities to use tried and tested successful stories to be updated and tailor-made to suit local audiences in various countries,” says I.E. Entertainment co-founder Indra Suharjono.
“I look forward to this collaboration with I.E. Entertainment as the founders, Indra and Erlina, are old friends of over 40 years. They are stalwarts of the industry, and I am very pleased to be working with them again.,” said Choo Meileen, Director of Cathay Organization.
“The last five years, the real winners across the Asian continent have largely been local releases. Asian filmgoers tend to pivot to local content vs. Hollywood titles. There are more homegrown talents and stories in Asia that we could tap,” says Erlina Suharjono, co-founder of I.E. Entertainment.
“I hope by bringing Asian stories and culture to the rest of the world, it helps in whatever way to stymie the prejudices against Asians,” she adds.
For more information, please contact:
Indra Suharjono at [email protected] Erlina Suharjono at [email protected]
ABOUT INDRA SUHARJONO, CO-FOUNDER OF, I.E. ENTERTAINMENT PTE. LTD.
Indra Suharjono brings over 30 years of experience within the Asia media & entertainment industry. She has extensive experience managing franchises/brands in the media, entertainment, and licensing & merchandising industry. Indra is currently the Senior Media Advisor to JKN Global Media PLC, Thailand, since early 2019. She advises JKN Global in positioning the company to be a global media company by bringing Thai dramas outside Thailand and striking partnerships for JKN Originals. Indra also served as CEO of Next Animation Studio from 2015-2018. In her 32 years in Asia’s media and entertainment industry, she has spent a decade with Viacom International Media Networks Asia in various roles. These included EVP and MD, Asia. She spent 12 years at TimeWarner in Asia, holding senior management positions with Warner Bros. Pictures International, Warner Bros. Consumer Products, and Turner Entertainment Networks Asia. Indra joined Cathay Organisation Holdings as its board director since December 2014. Cathay Organisation is a leading company engaged in entertainment, leisure, lifestyle, and property management services headquartered in Singapore with businesses in Singapore and Malaysia.
ABOUT ERLINA SUHARJONO, CO-FOUNDER OF I.E. ENTERTAINMENT PTE. LTD.
Erlina Suharjono, a senior entertainment executive with over 30 years of experience within the Motion Picture Industry responsible for the acquisition, distribution, exhibition, and production of local films and film-to-video restoration. In the 24 years she spent with Warner Bros. Pictures International (WBPI), Erlina has helped lead the continued growth, strategic direction, and management of WBPI’s marketing and distribution operations throughout Asia during a period of intense growth and competition, specifically in China, a tough market to crack in both censorship and limited film quota.
Since 2007, Erlina has held multiple roles at Warner Bros. Pictures International (WBPI-Asia) recently as EVP Asia Distribution and Managing Director of China and Hong Kong with a remit to supervise all the Asian offices, distribute, market, and localize the Studio’s theatrical products. Erlina was honoured with the 2015 CINEMACON PASSEPARTOUT AWARD (first Asian and Woman to receive this award) for expanding the moviegoing experience in Asia. She was also awarded the 2007 DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR award by CineAsia.
Erlina oversees a number of the Studio’s operations in Asia, including the distribution and marketing of American-made films in China and Hong Kong, as well as supervising the distribution and marketing activities throughout the Studio’s network of affiliate offices and licensees in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. Among her responsibilities are formulating release strategies for all Asian territories and supervising regional marketing campaigns, including media, research, publicity, and promotional activities. She also acquires local
Asian products and assesses new markets and the realignment of Warner Bros. businesses in Asia. Additionally, Erlina oversees licensing of Warner Bros. Pictures’ theatrical rights to Cambodia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam.
Before returning to Warner Bros. Pictures International in 2000, she held multiple roles with Cathay Organisation (exhibition, distributor and production) as vice president and general manager of Singapore’s entertainment division.
ABOUT CATHAY-KERIS FILMS PTE. LTD.
Cathay nurtured a stable of actresses who were icons of their time: toothy singer Grace Chang (seen at her best in Carmen-in-a-nightclub drama “Wild, Wild Rose”), the flashing-eyed Jeanette Lin (superb as the tomboy daughter in the 1957 “Our Sister Hedy”), the bright-eyed Lucilla Yu (family drama “Her Tender Heart,” and the WWII epic two-parter, “Sun, Moon and Star,” also with Chang, as well as Betty Loh Ti, Linda Lin Dai, and Julie Yeh Feng.
In contrast, the 91 titles from Cathay-Keris’ Malay library represent a portion of Singapore’s golden age of filmmaking (the 1950s and 1960s). The titles depict stories indigenous to the Malay people of Singapore and Malaysia, display disappearing traditions and music, and reflect the time’s social attitudes. The collection is historically, culturally, and artistically important to the region’s Malay communities and embodies Singapore’s heritage.
The Cathay-Keris films were produced between 1953 and 1974 and cover the “golden age” of the
Cathay Organization’s two studios — Cathay-Keris Films in Singapore and Hong Kong-based Motion
Picture & General Investments.
CATHAY-KERIS CHINESE CLASSICS
1. 太陽月亮星星 (Sun, Moon and Star Part 1 & 2) – 1961
Considered one of the best films produced during the 1960s and often referred to as Hong Kong’s version of “Gone With the Wind,” this two-part epic film follows the story of three women who all love one man. The love of tough but radiant “Sun” (Julie Yeh Feng), the pure and gentle “Moon” (Grace Chang), and the fragile and self-sacrificing “Star” (Lucilla You Min) for the idealistic university student Xu (Chang Yang) lead them all to the battlefields of World War II. This wonderfully romantic 1961 film directed by Evan Yang withstands the test of time.
Director: Yang, Evan
Cast: Chang, Grace / You Min, Lucilla / Yeh Feng, Julie / Chang Yang
Awards
The 1st Golden Horse Awards for
– Best Drama Film
– Best Screenplay
– Best Actress, Lucilla You Min
– Best Cinematographer for Colour Film
The Greatest Civil War On Earth (南北和) – Trilogy
Much loved for its clash of cultures and its charm as a romantic comedy, The Greatest Civil War on Earth wedded Hong Kong’s Cantonese cinema with its Mandarin-language rival in a freewheeling new form. Adapted from a charity stage production penned by writer and producer Stephen Soong, Wong Tin-lam’s comedy zeroed in on an epic rivalry between two tailors — one local, one from the north — and let fly with a barrage of playful cross-cultural gags.
The fireworks begin downtown, where traditional local tailor Cheung Sam-bo (Cantonese comedy ace Leung Sing-bo) faces competition from new neighbor Li Sabao (Mandarin-speaking funnyman Liu Enjia), a tailor from up north who’s bringing a modern, hyper-competitive approach to business. Cheung is far from amused and grows even hotter under the collar when he goes home to find that Li and his family have moved in as co-tenants.
The offspring of Cheung and Li is much more progressive about the north-south divide however; Cheung’s daughter Lai-Chen (Christine Pai Lu-ming) has the hots for Mandarin-speaking manager Wenan (Kelly Lai Chen), and Liu’s stewardess daughter Cuihua (Kitty Ting Hao) has eyes for Lai-Chen’s cousin (Cheung Ching). Soon, the patriarchs are juggling a schedule of daily insults and trying to keep the budding young lovers away from each other.
The Greatest Civil War on Earth clicked with moviegoers who witnessed a great migration of Chinese from Shanghai and beyond. A true classic cross-culture comedy….the film remains relevant today, with many Hongkongers prone to pigeonholing the mainlanders streaming in as tourists, business people, and partners.
Portly lead actors Leung and Liu run riot with stereotypes about business practices, regional cuisine, and pop culture, at one point letting their feud escalate into an ear-splitting face-off between southern and northern opera styles. The pairing of awkward, weak, young men with feisty, quick-thinking young ladies — has loads of running gags.
Shanghai-born director Wong Tin-lam, no stranger to helming comedies among his 120-plus pictures, artfully balances farce and situation comedy. Scenes like a game of hide-and-seek in a coffee shop are superbly staged, and the script and delivery are so smartly handled that none of the many north-south digs play like cheap shots.
Audiences were hooked and soon Wong, with the help of scriptwriter and Lust, Caution author Eileen Chang, had a franchise on his hands. He followed the Greatest Wedding on Earth (1962) and The Greatest Love Affair on Earth(1964).
Director: Wong, Tin-lam
Producer/Screenwriter: Soong, Stephen
Cast: Leung Sing Por / Liu, En-chia / Cheung Ching / Ting Hao, Kitty
Remarks:
– Voted one of the ten most popular Cantonese and Mandarin films of 1961.
– ‘The Greatest Wedding On Earth’ and ‘The Greatest Love Affair On Earth’ are of the same series.
– ‘The Greatest Wedding On Earth,’ with its original film starring well-known actors Leung Sing Bo, Liu Enjia, and Lei Zhen, was successfully reproduced as a stage play presented by Perry Chiu Experimental Theatre.
CATHAY-KERIS MALAY CLASSICS
The 91 surviving titles represent a portion of Singapore’s golden age of filmmaking (the 1950s and 1960s). The titles depict stories indigenous to the Malay people of Singapore and Malaysia, display disappearing traditions and music, and reflect the time’s social attitudes. The collection is historically, culturally, and artistically important to the region’s Malay communities and embodies Singapore’s heritage.
Cathay-Keris was most noted for initiating the Singapore-made cult classic, the PONTIANAK film, in 1957. The film was wildly popular and screened in cinemas for two months. It was also dubbed into Cantonese and English for the Hong Kong and American markets.
Cathay-Keris quickly followed up the success of the first PONTIANAK with DENDAM PONTIANAK and SUMPAH PONTIANAK. This became known as the Pontianak trilogy that established the horror genre in Singapore and Malaya. It also launched Maria Menado and S. M. Satay’s film careers and featured the music composed by Zubir Said, best known as the composer of Singapore’s National Anthem. Malay Film Productions would emulate the horror genre formula and launch their own Pontianak film series.
Cathay-Keris made a series of black-and-white Malay-language films, including Pontianak in 1957, directed by Rao, and starred “Kebaya Queen” Maria Menado. The tale about a female vampire was a massive hit and ran for three months at the Cathay cinema. The film was dubbed in Cantonese for the Hong Kong market and even sold to an American television station. Sequels Dendam Pontianak (1957), Sumpah Pontianak (1958), Pontianak Kembali (1963) and Pontianak Gua Musang (1964) followed to cash in on Pontianak’s success.
Horror films have struck a chord because they reflect the country’s village culture and the traditional superstitions that trouble Malay hearts.
1. PONTIANAK Trilogy
PONTIANAK IS ONE AMONG THE NUMEROUS VAMPIRE-GHOSTS that thrive in Malay folklores and is commonly described as the ghost of a woman who died in childbirth, often taking on the guise of a scented, seductive girl. Sumpah Pontianak is the third in a trilogy of Pontianak-themed horror movies that capitalized on the local population’s fear for this most treacherous of vampires.
The box office smash hit PONTIANAK premiered on April 27th, 1957, and screened for almost three months at the local Cathay cinemas. Its success spawned two other sequels, Dendam Pontianak (Revenge of the Pontianak, 1957) and Sumpah Pontianak (Curse of the Pontianak, 1958). It is also said to have launched the Pontianak genre in Singapore and Malaysia.
Director: B. Narayan Rao
Writers: Hamza (dialogue), A. Razak (story)
Stars: Maria Menado, Mustapha Maarof, Salmah Ahmad |