The Anniversary Gift | a film by Paul Agusta

Kado Hari Jadi (The Anniversary Gift) Synopsis
Seorang pemuda terbangun di sebuah ruangan kecil berwarna merah muda. Ia dirantai di sebuah kursi terbuat dari besi. Di hadapannya terdapat sebuah silet yang tergantung pada tali, dan disampingnya ada sebatang besi yang mengarahkan sebuah pensil tajam ke mata kirinya. Dia tak tahu dirinya dimana ataupun kenapa dia disekap disitu. Sesekali masuk ke dalam ruangan itu seorang wanita cantik bergaun indah yang mulai menyiksanya secara kejam dan pelan. Siapakah wanita ini? Kenapa dia menyiksa si pemuda? Apakah pemuda itu akan selamat?

Biografi Paul Agusta (Director/Executive Producer/Composer/Story)
Paul Agusta lahir di Jakarta pada tahun 1980. Ia kembali ke Indonesia pada tahun 2003 setelah belajar film di Amerika. Sebagai pembuat film dan video, Paul berpegan teguh pada prinsip bahwa video telah menyamaratakan kesempatan semua orang untuk berkarya dalam bidang sinema, dan bahwa satu-satunya hal yang dibutuhkan seorang pembuat film adalah ide cerita yang dikembangkan dan dipikirkan secara penuh, sisanya hanya sekedar pelaksanaan. Tak ada alasan bagi seorang pembuat film untuk tidak memuaskan keinginannya untuk berkarya, kamera bisa selalu didapatkan dengan cara apapun; meminjam, membeli, menyewa, ataupun lewat cara-cara lain. Karya-karya video Paul (yang hampir semua dibuat menggunakan kamera pinjaman ataupun kamera bekas dan buangan) telah diputar di berbagai pemutaran film di Indonesia dan dunia. Sebelum 2007, Paul lebih telah dikenal sebagai seorang kritikus film dan musik, kurator film, dan lewat keterlibatannya dalam berbagai festival. Awal tahun 2007 ia mengundurkan diri dari semua itu untuk berkonsentrasi pada karyanya sendiri. Kado Hari Jadi adalah film panjang pertamanya.

Rumah Buku / Kineruku

Friday, July 11th 2008

7 PM

Free screening, please be on time!

Trailer:

About the Production House

houseofwaves productions is an independent film-and-video-making cooperative based in Jakarta, Indonesia. houseofwaves believes in a groundbreaking approach to getting movies made at a minimal cost and with little fuss and bother.

WHAT WE DO
We leverage our collective passion for quality filmmaking by pooling our extensive knowledge, skills, expertise, experience, equipment and other infrastructure/resources, as well as our cutting edge aesthetic and creative vision – in lieu of hard cash – to create quality, low-cost movies that serve not only to entertain the public, but to act as an anti-thesis to mainstream Indonesian cinema, with its bloated budgets and mediocre products.

Our aim is to debunk the assumption that currently reigns among both mainstream and independent film circles that money is the prime ingredient needed for making any movie. In reality, the true backbone of any film undertaking is a quality script in creative hands. Bad scripts waste time, money, talent and expertise.

We begin with the best possible story ideas our collective thinking can muster, and turn the script creation over to well-trained, seasoned authors. Once the script is ready and has been approved by the entire houseofwaves productions cooperative, we prepare a lean, bare-bones budget based only on what is absolutely necessary to create a quality film; no frills, no extras. Then we enlist all members of the cooperative – who require no payment beyond a share of the profits once the distribution and broadcasting rights to the film have been sold – in producing the film in the most efficient, streamlined manner possible. This makes for one, solid, compact, unified team that is at once highly motivated and firmly responsible and accountable for working as hard as possible to make all of our endeavors as successful as possible.

We do this because, from bitter experience, we have all come to understand the limitations and drawbacks of the existing studio/production house system in Indonesia, and that access to the film industry here is all but impossible without powerful acquaintances/the right connections in the industry, or huge amounts of cash resources, which we readily admit that we lack.

Our core capital is our intelligence, vision, education, knowledge, expertise, experience, determination and our passion for our craft – filmmaking. First and foremost, no matter how difficult, no matter how impossible making a film in Indonesia can be without the backing of the moguls and money lenders, we are determined to work in our chosen field of endeavor no matter what we must sacrifice to be able to do so. Thus, we work for free, share our equipment, barter what we have for any services or equipment we cannot find among our cooperative members and work hard to seek out supporters/investors who can share our vision and are able and willing to wait for the payday down the line, just as we are doing.

HOW WE ACCOMPLISH IT
In line with one of the most practical and noble of Indonesia’s grass-roots traditions – gotong royong or mutual assistance – the members of houseofwaves productions pool not only their talent and energy, but individually owned equipment and infrastructure of all kinds (from clothes, shoes and accessories for wardrobe; cellular phones; automobiles; and even our own homes/rental rooms/ apartments for meeting space and shooting sites to video cameras and editing, sound, lighting and other production equipment).

This means we do not need to rent or buy the majority of the equipment needed for making a film, or to pay for the use of expensive production house studio space. We have what we need in terms of basic production infrastructure and capacity among the cooperative’s membership and our collaborative partners. And perhaps most important of all, we have no staff payroll to cover because houseofwaves productions members and collaborators work on a profit sharing basis, meaning that nobody gets paid unless the film is successfully produced and marketed through their own cooperative efforts. This means low overhead going into the production process and a potentially strong profit waiting at the other end.

Of course, even with all the built in expertise and infrastructure, there will be expenses that can only be covered by cash, so there is a need for support from investors to help us cover the minimal production budget that we have carefully worked out.

Once the investor funding is in place, we make the film for direct to DVD local sales and international theatrical and DVD release, bypassing the unpredictability of the local box office that is all but closed to films made outside of the circle of production house powers, and use the extensive regional and international networks of houseofwaves productions members to secure lucrative distribution and broadcast agreements.

HOW TO SUPPORT US
houseofwaves productions cooperative is open to capital investment from individuals or organizations; cash or in-kind donations/contributions; and barter arrangements of all kinds in pertinent industrial sectors (product placement, promotional exchange, etc.), or any other kind of support, material or moral.

Interested parties are invited to reach us at houseofwaves@yahoo.com for further information.