Kampuchea Bound. On 2nd February we departed Changi airport and arrived in the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh. We were there on a short 4 day trip to give our time and assistance to the deeply undervalued children of the Baray District. The Khmer Rouge’s genocide on the Cambodian people in the 70s left over 2 million people dead putting the country itself in catastrophe. Cambodia as a whole was in a state of helplessness after they were freed from the Rouge’s governance. Thus, now the majority of the population is under 25 years old and most are extremely poor. This is a nation that is truly building itself from the ground up.
Reel Loco Productions, as a team decided to see for ourselves the current condition and to help, if we could. The Baray District is home to a wonderful little Homestay which became our base. Esther, the owner of Khmer Homestay, coordinated our activities to help out with a school and an orphanage in the region and saw to it that we worked with the children most in need. In our short time there we were able to interact with over 200 kids during our stay. While there we conducted a “mobile library” session for the village children, sang songs and played sports at a government school and built a reading corner/av room at an orphanage. You can see the delight in these kids eyes when you interact with them. We know we will not be able to change their lives forever but, we hope to spark a bit of inspiration that they will carry with them. It was a trip that was just as much adventurous as meaningful.
Do let us know if you would like any contacts if you or your company is interested in doing a similar trip.
Akun (Thank You).
Reel loco celebrated its 10th anniversary with a bang! It was one hell of a crazy night. We had our very own gorilla mascot, going around greeting guests and taking pictures with them. Entertaining for some, scary for the others. The party kicked start with the premiere of Adventures of Loco, portraying the existence of the company in the industry and how we grew over the years. The loud applause from the guests brought beaming smiles to our faces. Especially the post production team that had worked so long and hard on the project.
It wasn’t just about us though, we had a good time catching up with friends and partners we’ve worked with over the past decade. There were also games in between to fill up the night. We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and were delighted that our guests seem to be haing a ball too. Evidenced by the fact we had to usher them, politely of course, out of the building when the party wrapped at 2am in the morning.
Christmas came early this year! 18th December 2011 was a night to remember. We celebrated Christmas and Thanksgiving the Reel Loco way. Food was scrumptiously cooked by Ken & Matt, our friendly American duo as they introduced us to some good old Thanksgiving fare. Everyone brought something homecooked along and it made for an awesome meal.
It is not just the food that made us all happy; we had Secret Santa too! And there were the lucky draw prizes to look forward to. From cameras to bags, watches and so much more, it as nerve wrecking to find out what we had drawn out of the hat. Highlight of the day, someone got lucky with a 13-inch MacBook Pro as the top prize!
Good food. Great company. And much merry making. We had a blast.
How was your Christmas?
The long weekend that just passed was longer than usual for the Reel Loco crew. And that was because we closed the office a day early and headed up north. We were all excited about the trip up to Cameron Highlands, with the promise of cool weather and sumptuous views. Although the journey took 9 long hours, and some of us suffered from motion sickness, it was all worth it. The retreat may be short, but we had a lot of fun. Everyone let their hair down (in Matt’s case, literally) and we got to enjoy great food, magnificent scenery and best of all, time together and away from our usual hectic schedules.
Working weekends aren’t normally things you look forward to. However, when the location is a lush island getaway in the surrounds of a 5-star resort, it’s not so bad afterall. Add to that, 5 beautiful ladies to work with on a shoot for an international lingerie brand and suddenly things are looking up. Despite all the attractions (or distractions) we still got the work done and are now eagerly working through the rushes for the edit.
