'Lost In The Spotlight'

Source: Netflix

‘Lost In The Spotlight’

Ernest Prakasa was a successful Indonesian stand-up comedian and both a director and star of comedy films before setting up Imajinari in 2022. Last year, the Jakarta-based player was propelled to the forefront of Indonesian cinema when Agak Laen became the first local comedy to top the annual box-office chart since 2016.

The story of four bumbling friends struggling to run a haunted house attraction in a night market sold 9.1 million tickets at the Indonesian box office. It ranks as the country’s biggest local comedy of all time and the third-biggest local film ever to date.

While the chance of success for local comedy films is not as strong as the country’s well-established horror hits, Ernest and his Imajinari co-founder Dipa Andika remain true to their comedy roots. The partners have also run talent management company Hahaha Corp since 2012. “Comedy is an intricate and technical art and isn’t as simple as most people perceive,” says Ernest. “It’s easier to scare people than to make them laugh. The idea behind Agak Laen was to prove what comedians are capable of.”

The film’s creative team are all comedians, from director Muhadkly Acho to his main cast: Bene Dion Rajagukguk, Boris Bokir Manullang, Indra Jegel and Oki Rengga. Muhadkly and Bene are represented by Hahaha, while Bene and the other three actors host a popular talk-show podcast also named Agak Laen.

International appeal

Ernest concedes that humour does not translate easily across cultures. However, Agak Laen has caught the eye of South Korea’s Barunson E&A, which took international remake rights along with upcoming sequel Agak Laen: Menyala Pantiku!, which is aiming for a November release. It has also picked up international remake rights to dark comedy Better Off Dead, the feature directorial debut of Hahaha comedian Kristo Immanuel in which an awkward young man gains his colleagues’ attention on his father’s death. The film opened locally in Indonesia on August 14.

Ernest met representatives of Barunson E&A, the producer of Oscar winner Parasite, at the inaugural JAFF Market in Yogyakarta last year — his first film market. “Attending a global market broadened our view towards the industry on a larger scale,” he recalls. “We are still learning the ropes.”

Ernest describes Imajinari as “a small indie studio”, which maintains a modest slate of two films annually, compared to the established studios that can produce as many as 10 features a year.

Prior to Agak Laen, Imajinari had only produced two titles. Bene’s Missing Home, a comedy drama about an elderly couple who fake their divorce, reached 2.8 million admissions in 2022 and was Indonesia’s Oscar submission, while Yandy Laurens’ romantic drama Falling In Love Like In Movies, which mostly shot in black and white, won seven prizes at Indonesia’s Citra Awards this year, including best film.

“The commercial acceptance towards non-mainstream films has been growing in the last five years,” says Ernest. “We pursue creator-­driven ideas and focus on developing original ideas. It’s important for us to cultivate that as a resistance towards the ongoing IP-­mania.”

New this year was Imajinari’s expansion into film investment as a way to support fellow industry practitioners. It has co-invested in Yandy’s time-travel romance Sore: Wife From The Future and Riri Riza’s upcoming romantic musical Rangga & Cinta.

Building a career

Born and raised in Jakarta, Ernest is also an author and had three bestselling semi-autobiographical books published between 2013 and 2015. Stories about being bullied in school and struggling to fit in as a Chinese-­Indonesian student became the basis of 2015 comedy Ngenest, which Starvision’s veteran producer Chand Parwez Servia challenged Ernest to direct.

Together they made seven films over eight years, including 2019’s Imperfect, which drew 2.8 million admissions, and 2022’s Check The Store Next Door (2.6 million). Both comedies won best script prizes at the Citra awards for Ernest.

After taking a backseat as a producer at Imajinari, Ernest returns to the director’s chair for Netflix original film Lost In The Spotlight, which has a tentative Q4 release. Vino G Bastian stars as a celebrated actor who finds himself losing his acting skills when he is about to play the Indonesian president. Ernest is also developing a large-scale feature that he will direct for theatrical release, with details under wraps.

Through Imajinari, Ernest is hoping to create a more sustainable environment for film crew, including more reasonable working hours and a safer space. “The invisible investment in the well­being of the crew will, after all, translate into better films,” he asserts.

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