Earlier this week, it was announced that a group of Malaysian content creators, collectively known as Dissy, will be filming their first movie, a 2025 Chinese New Year film titled Guan Ni Cha Shi.
Surprisingly, one of the movie’s investors turned out to be Singaporean comedy king Mark Lee.
In a recent interview, the 55-year-old star, who also owns local production company King Kong Media Production, told reporters why he decided to jump on the project, which also stars King Kong Media artiste, Malaysian Youtuber Jaspers Lai.
“Because I have a lot of money,” joked the actor at first.
Mark then explained that he had actually worked with Dissy before and had always admired how creative they are.
In fact, he wanted to invest in Dissy’s company but both parties did not come to an agreement in the end.
Mark then asked to be part of the upcoming project when he found out that Dissy was going to film their own movie, which revolves around the traditional teahouses in Malaysia.
“This is their first time making a movie, of course I have to support!” he chirped.
Mark, however, claims he’s only a “small investor”, and will not be acting in Guan Ni Cha Shi as it would be fully Malaysian production.
“The newbies in an industry can only succeed if they receive support from the locals. Dissy is very passionate, so I want to help them as much as possible. This entire production, cast and crew, is made up of talented Malaysians, so we have to support,” added Mark.
Mark, who is a familiar face in our local CNY films, will not be appearing in any movies for Chinese New Year 2025.
“I’m taking a break this time. I’ve had to promote for CNY movies every year and couldn’t get to spend time with my family, so I really want to rest next year,” he shared.
While Mark’s support is obviously a boost to their confidence, Dissy’s members admitted they’re stressed about the movie’s performance.
“Our production fees are estimated to be $2mil ringgit, so we’ll be very happy if we can make $5mil ringgit at the box office,” said the group’s founder Choon Hao.
That target was apparently too low for Mark.
“If your production fees cost $2mil but you only make $5mil, you’ll lose money. You must at least hit $6mil to break even,” he warned.
“Bu what’s most important is to produce a good movie first,” added Mark.