Oversteer director talks about run-in with Malaysia cops, funding problems with Singapore's first race car movie

He simply wanted to make a movie about something he was passionate about - race cars.

However, Oversteer, Singapore’s first race car movie, turned out to be a tumultuous 10-year journey during which everything that could go wrong did go wrong.

During the press conference on 26 Jan, 47-year-old Singapore director Derrick Lui shared that he had a run-in with the cops while filming in Malaysia.

It happened in 2018, during their rest day on New Year’s Eve, and the cast were supposed to get a good meal. When Lui went to his car, he spotted police officers around it and they said they had to “take my car away”.

Lui was puzzled as he had “done nothing wrong” and asked if it was related to the movie.

He recounted, “[The police said], ‘We think that it’s (the car) is stolen.’ I said, ‘Please don’t do this to me. We’re so stressed. This is our only rest day. We’re going out for a good meal for once.’”

His plea was brushed aside as the police insisted that either they either take his car away, or Lui accompanied them to the station.

The director went with them to the station where he was questioned “from 6pm to 12am”. The police asked what he was doing in Malaysia, and asked for proof to back up his word that he was filming a movie.

Despite showing the required documents, Lui said the police “still refused to let me go”. Eventually, the police officers believed him, but their boss needed to speak with him first.

Lui had to repeat the entire story and was released in the end.

Funded the film from his own savings

Inspired by a true story, Oversteer follows the journey of Wind, a young man who falls out with his family over his passion for cars, subsequently leading him to a world for which he is unprepared.

Oversteer is a collaboration between Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Myanmar. It stars Singapore actors Aden Tan, Zhang Yaodong, Grace Teo, Hanrey Low, and Jannassa Neo.

There will also be appearances by professional Malaysian racers and drift masters such as Drift Princess Ashley Wong, and former Team Petronas racer Fariqe Hairuman.

In an interview with Yahoo Southeast Asia after the press conference, Lui shared that the film encountered problems from the beginning.

The film started development after he approached a friend, who is a producer, and they secured a funding of $500,000 from the Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA). Lui started work on the script, but it went through multiple iterations as it wasn’t satisfactory.

In 2016, his friend departed the project to pursue an opportunity she couldn’t pass up, and the film stalled due to the lack of a producer.

After some time, Lui found a local production company to support Oversteer, with plans to turn it into a Hong Kong film with Hong Kong actors. The film, once again, underwent several rewrites.

Then, in 2017, the IMDA requested an update and asked for the DCP (Digital Camera Package) in three months. The DCP is basically the digital version of the film, and according to the Lui, it had to be the completed version that was going to be screened in cinemas.

Lui also said this was an essential requirement to continue securing the IMDA grant. It was an impossible deadline, as the production company had other films it was working on.

As an extension was unable to be granted, the funding was withdrawn, and the local production company subsequently pulled out. Left with no choice, Lui wiped out most of his savings to fund the project.

When asked how much it cost, Lui said it was a “six-figure sum” and “at least $100,000”. Despite coughing up the money for the project, Lui repeatedly insisted that the movie was “mainly funded”, and not fully funded by him.

He pointed out other intangible costs, such as the cars provided by friends and the time donated to the project by the cast and crew due to the shoestring budget.

“It was 0.01 per cent of Fast and Furious,” he shared during the press conference. He added, “I basically told them (the cast) upfront, this is it; we have very, very little money.”

But now, the movie has finally zoomed past the finish line and is out in cinemas. Does that make him feel relieved in any way?

Lui said, “I feel tired, after all these years, but happy as I owe it to the cast and crew, to release the movie. They have worked so hard in tandem for the movie; they deserve their work to be seen out there in cinemas.”

Oversteer is screening at selected Golden Village cinemas.

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