Singapore-based film company Xeitgeist’s Hollywood connections and business acumen are fuelling ambitions to make cross-cultural films for a global audience, right out of Singapore.
Singapore-based film company Xeitgeist’s Hollywood connections and business acumen are fuelling ambitions to make cross-cultural films for a global audience, right out of Singapore.
After scouring the globe to find a place to house what they envisioned as a contemporary film company, Mark Montgomery and Jomon Thomas decided on what might seem an unlikely location to make movies for an international market: Singapore. They’re also bringing their Hollywood connections to town.
Enter Xeitgeist Entertainment Group: The company’s early body of films already features a score of Hollywood names, including Jonathan Rhys-Myers, John Hurt and Dev Patel. It’s a preview of things to come. Late last year, Xeitgeist debuted The Man Who Knew Infinity, starring Slumdog Millionaire’s Patel, to generally positive reviews in film festivals in Toronto, Zurich and Singapore.
Xeitgeist is setting its sights on making cross-cultural films for an international audience from Singapore, and it might just have the combination of skills and international connections to make it happen. Co-founder Thomas is a former executive with the Emirates Group and Onion Media Group, and Montgomery is a former screenwriter turned marketing-communications specialist with over 25 years of experience in the film industry.
Making films and touring festivals enabled Montgomery to cultivate diverse connections. “In the film industry, it’s (about) who you know. It’s a tight inner circle,” says Singapore-based Montgomery, who has collaborated with senior executives from major film companies, independent Hollywood producers, and film financiers in the United States.
Unlike Hollywood blockbusters, Xeitgeist only produces films within a “reasonable” budget of less than US$20 million (S$29 million). This is part of its strategy to attract investment within Singapore and Asia, where film investment is still considered a risky business. Says Tan Min-Li, Xeitgeist’s Singaporean partner and a leading corporate lawyer: “One of our priorities is to (show) investors how a properly structured film production can actually be a good investment.”
But why Singapore, where the film industry is still in a nascent stage? Montgomery admits the absence of the equivalent of the United States Screen Actors Guild in Singapore, a union that represents performers in the film and entertainment industry, is a key issue for Xeitgeist which affects the amount of royalties paid to actors.
Gaps also exist in production facilities here, which may be geared more towards television than for feature films. Other companies with grand ambitions in Singapore’s film industry, like RGM Entertainment, have come crashing down in the past despite hefty government investment. Montgomery acknowledges the teething problems.
He says: “The good news is that we’re at a beginning of an industry, not the end of an industry. When we sit down and (talk about how) we’re going to add to (Singapore’s) industry plan, everybody brings a brick. We may bring bricks from overseas, but once you’ve explained something to people here, it’s very simple to apply those processes to Singapore.”
Early this year, Xeitgeist will film mystical drama Shambhala, which stars Irish actor Rhys-Myers. As the company’s first proprietary film to be financed, directed and produced in Singapore, it will be an early testing ground for many of the company’s plans. For Singaporean audiences, Xeitgeist’s appearance on the local scene might mean audiences may get to see a lot more of Singapore settings in feature films.
And certainly, Hollywood will be on the cards. Xeitgeist is in talks to potentially cast a “highly recognisable male Hollywood star in his 40s” for one of its upcoming films, and possibly include a cameo appearance by Tan herself. “I might hand a cup of coffee to the star,” says Tan with a laugh. “Or I’ll be the executive who presses the button and says, ‘He’ll see you now. You’re through.’”
“THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT WE’RE AT A BEGINNING OF AN INDUSTRY, NOT THE END OF AN INDUSTRY.”
MARK MONTGOMERY, BELOW LEFT, WITH BUSINESS PARTNER TAN MIN-LI.
