It was during a shoot in Bali that Malaysian filmmaker Justin Ong started hearing stories of a centuries old irrigation system that is still in use today. Such a mysterious system, considered to be “near perfect” by the locals was the impetus for Ong’s documentary Subak, one of the first documentaries to be commissioned for The Asian Pitch! (TAP), an initiative by NHK, KBS and MediaCorp, launched in 2006. “It was great timing,” Ong said. “Asia was becoming more aware of the environment and conservation. The Subak irrigation system uses zero technology; it’s about harmony in nature.” Ong and NHK’s Junichi Katayama the programme’s commissioning producer, took more than six months to bring the 52min documentary – shot in HD – to the screen. It was well received at MIPTV in 2008 and was also chosen to play for four months at the National Museum of Fine Art in Taiwan. And since Subak, Ong’s career has taken off. He has made programmes for Discovery, National Geographic and the BBC and last year his documentary Fight Masters: Silat, for Nat Geo won Best Direction at the Asian TV Awards. “The Asian Pitch was definitely a springboard for my work. Because it was seen at an international level, my other work got noticed more,” Ong said. He added that he learnt a lot from the process of working with an international broadcaster and the challenges of tailoring Subak for a global audience. “I’d only worked with local broadcasters before this. It was a different mindset. When you make a programme for a local audience you assume they have some prior knowledge but for TAP I had to think about those viewers who know little about Bali, where it is, and how different it is from the rest of Indonesia. A lot of time was spent giving a back story to Balinese culture and practices. It really was a great opportunity.” Ong’s success is one of the key reasons why TAP was launched said Fumio Narashima, head of program development at NHK. “As a public broadcaster in Japan, we wanted to find a way to support independent Asian directors and production companies by giving them an opportunity to produce worldclass HD programmes for the international market. “I feel Asian stories should be told by local directors. When I brought the idea to MediaCorp they immediately shared my vision and agreed to coorganise the event.” Narashima said, since its launch, TAP has uncovered some fascinating untold stories and skilled talent in Asia. The pitches, no less than 100 each year, have come from Cambodia, China, Malaysia, Taiwan and New Zealand – to name a few. The benefit to independent producers is that each winning pitch is funded 100 per cent by the broadcasters and shown at international markets. Said Kenny Kihyung Bae, senior producer at KBS, which is back for this year’s TAP. “It’s a rare opportunity even for experienced producers to be involved in such diverse and original stories from across the region. TAP creates a window for the world to experience quality productions from an Asian point of view.” Ong Hee Yah, head of MediaCorp’s Caldecott Productions International, agrees, “For new talents, it’s very difficult to make something of quality without funding or bringing a number of investors together, there’s a lot of financial risk. With TAP, there is a fund that they can tap into and be assured if the idea is good or unique it will be supported.” Since the first TAP in 2007 close to S$1million has been spent on the 14 winning programmes. Ong said human interest stories are what they are keen to see more of for this year’s Pitch, but moreover it’s about quality not quantity. An example of these rare gems is last year’s winning pitch, the soon-to-be-completed Angels in a Troubled Paradise by first-time director Raja Shabir Khan. Set in Kashmir, it tells the story of Aadil, who lives with his parents in an area referred to as the “Gaza Strip”. The boy collects tear gas shells fired by police at protesters and sells them to a scrap dealer. Because the dealer won’t accept the shells unless they are cleared of explosives, he must first remove the detonator and take out the explosives from the shells by hand. “His story is very original, fresh and raw,” said Ong. “Something we want to encourage from this part of Asia.” as well on the international stage as Faiza Ahmad Khan’s Supermen of Malegaon, one of the first winners of TAP. Since it premiered at MIPTV in 2008 it has gone on to win numerous awards, such as the City of Rome Award for Best Documentary at the Asiatica Film Mediale, Best Audience Award at the Los Angeles Indian Film Festival, and two awards at the U.S International Film and Video Festival. The documentary, about a motley crew of hobbyist filmmakers in the town of Malegaon in northwest India, was executive produced by Park Chung-Yong of KBS. Said Kahn, “From the very start, there was guidance and support, yet I had the freedom to make the film how I wanted. There were many firsts, I’d not worked with the HD format beforeand I’d never made a documentary either. “I think making documentaries has become a lot easier now. Naturally more people are making these types of programmes. But as yet, it remains a challenge getting docos to screen in some Asian markets. With the experience I’ve had with Supermen, I can say that people who are not the usual documentary watchers, have really enjoyed it. So there is hope.” Like Khan, Justin Ong hopes the telling of such stories on Asia’s doorstep will attract more local audiences to the genre, “The level of appreciation for documentaries across the region is very different. The genre requires a bit more patience and investment of time for its audience. In Japan there are prime time slots devoted to documentaries and wildlife programmes on terrestrial television. This is not the case in Malaysia at present but we’re making progress.” Hee Yah also agrees, “Some Asian markets still don’t feature any documentaries and these are the countries where there is so many amazing stories to be told… Initiatives like TAP bring these stories and filmmakers closer to viewers here and help launch their talent into new regions and markets. A great benefit to them and the genre.” The Asian Pitch! 2011 will be officially launched this month at Asian Side of the Doc in Seoul. See onscreenasia.com for a preview of Angels in a Trouble Paradise