THE name Tim Page may not ring a bell, but this courageous and eccentric war correspondent was the inspiration for Dennis Hopper’s character in Francis Ford Coppola’s award-winning thriller Apocalypse Now.
Page, who is 75 this year, became famous during the Vietnam War and is now based in Brisbane, Australia. In 1962, he left the United Kingdom for Laos and began work as a Press photographer for news agencies UPI and AFP. Celebrated for his work as a freelance photographer in Vietnam and Cambodia during the 1960s, Page also covered the Six-Day War in the Middle East in 1967.
Due to a near-death experience in the early 1960s, he came to view his life as “free time”. This led him to take photographs in dangerous situations where other journalists dared not venture. Page was captivated by the excitement of warfare, which helped contribute to the style of photographs he is acclaimed for.
Injured in action four times, he later became involved with the Vietnam Veterans’ Peace Movement and worked as a caregiver for amputees, including Ron Kovic who was immortalised in the movie Born On The Fourth Of July.
MNC Wireless and Monfils Pictures inked a memorandum of understanding recently to produce and market a biopic of Page.
Monfils is an award-winning production house which has received international acclaim for works that include Laya Project, a documentary on the countries hit by the 2004 Asian Tsumani and A Good Day To Die Hoka Hey which documented the life and adventures of British conflict photographer Jason P. Howe.
MNC and Monfils Pictures have jointly agreed to form an equity joint venture company to produce films. MNC executive director Christopher Tan said: “Movies make money through domestic and foreign box office revenues, coupled with product placements and content distributions. Recent movies in Malaysia have grossed strong revenues amounting to over RM250 million, such as Munafik 2 (RM38 million), Paskal (RM30 million) and BoBoiboy Movie 2 (RM28 million).”
ASEAN’S GROWTH IN BOX OFFICE
The signing ceremony held at MNC's head office in Jaya One, Petaling Jaya recently, was witnessed by Robbie Krishnan who was appointed as a director of MNC. He has over 15 years of international experience in the film industry and managing multi-million ringgit productions with global teams. He is also executive producer of Astro Measat Broadcast Network System.
Tan said: “Southeast Asia has been a region of focus and growing industry for the past couple of years, which feeds the entertainment needs of more than 640 million people. Asean has experienced remarkable growth with domestic box office records being set across Southeast Asia, showcasing the region’s strengths as a backdrop, while streaming giants such as Netflix and iFlix have their headquarters in the region to oversee production in Asia.
“They are increasingly looking east for subscribers and localised content to diversify their content libraries. We at MNC want to participate in this growth in the region and internationally, and I am confident that this will contribute positively to MNC’s bottom line.”
Monfils founder, producer and director Harold Monfils said: “The biopic of Page will take audiences on a journey through the eyes of a famous war photographer, reliving his crazy adventures and accidental yet enduring friendships.
“It paints an energetic and moving portrait of a life well-lived through a decade riddled with turmoil, from war to music, to the lies, fears and regrets of a generation, as we hold up this mirror image of history, and take stock of where we find ourselves today.
“The film will not just feature rare photographs and the stories behind them, taken from Tim’s vast photo archive, intercut with both rare and new interview footages, but will also present detailed recreations of pivotal moments Tim shared with each of the colourful and illustrious characters he met.”
Tan added: “Monfils Pictures partnering with MNC in production is a testament of our belief in the prospect of original films with the region’s backdrop and working with people and world-class facilities from Malaysia, which will also contribute to tourism in the country, coupled with the positive filmmaking landscape here. The government strongly supports international co-productions which facilitate international collaborations such as this joint venture.”
Filming is expected to begin either at year’s end or early next year.