Healing.

Sometime in mid-2012, I attended a support group session for mentally-ill patients persons with mental health issues at Masjid Al-Khair. It was a rather moving experience for myself. I met with patients of different conditions.

Being with them reminded me of a deceased member in my family who was "incoherent" - which I learnt afterwards had extreme schizophrenia. I could only remember vaguely of that relative as it has been a long time ago when I was still a child. I recall my late father used to snap at any of us siblings every time gila ('mad' in Malay) was randomly used in a condescending manner in the house. I guess that early experience trained my siblings and I to be more mindful before we hurled insults (jokingly or otherwise) to one another. That mindfulness and tact got extended when we meet other similar persons outside the house or family circle.

There are other types of mental illness besides schizophrenia, ie extreme depression and bipolar disorder. Untreated, these conditions become detrimental to the sufferers and undue - in many cases, unnecessary - stress to the caregivers and loved ones. Professional help is available if one seeks it.

Thus when I was invited my conscience triggered my social responsibility to do something to highlight such health conditions. Also, I reckon this is a perfect outlet to give back to the community who has been supportive of my work. The visual medium can be effective to affect social awareness and commentary.

Stigma is the worse form of prejudice. It hinders rehabilitation.

Another hindrance to recovery is superstition. In the Malay community, open engagement to such condition is still considered tidak sopan or disrespectful. Asians are generally too steeped in "saving face" that conditions such as these are left locked at the back rooms of households. In this day and age, I'm disturbed that there are still factions in the community who are ignorant/do not have access to proper treatment in mental health issues.

Healing begins when we empower ourselves against the stigma at these mental patients. There is one person with mental health issues in every family and among our friends whether we like it or not. Healing begins when we accept our fractures and reach out to one another.

I took it upon myself to invite established actor friends (that were available during the filming) to be in the films - reason being that the cause would have better visibility by having established cast ensemble (ie Seriwahyuni Jaes, J Rosmini, Adrian Pang, Izzat Mohd Yusoff, Keatar HM, Era Farida, Nadiah Mohd Din, Zaleha Hamid, Siti Aishah Ahmad, Sani Hussin).

Alhamdulillah, I am very thankful that all the ensembled cast agreed to my call without hesitation. All the cast and crew came together with pure intention to propel our community forward. I'm truly humbled to be in the company of people to do Good, Ikhlas.

All four films were filmed in 2 days during the month of Ramadan 2012. These films were launched on 30 January 2013. They are 5 mins each.

           
           
           
           

The event was covered by the media channel ChannelnewsAsia.

The Hijab, Muslimah styling and Television

I have recently come across the blog OMGSIANZ and I'm particularly drawn to the pseudo television/film reviews that the writer posts. Although many of the posts tend to border on self-absorbed musings and irrelevance, I have to admit that the tongue-in-cheek posts are somewhat spot-on. Coming from the industry myself, I believe Singapore television needs such independent commentaries to keep our television in check. They keep us creatives on our toes.

(I can't speak for other directors' work process, but I listen to constructive inputs from my key creatives during production. After all, the creative process is a collaborative one. I need input from my scriptwriters, director of photography and casts, et al, to produce great, grounded works.)

In the spirit of the fasting month of Ramadan, Singapore's only Malay-language television station telecasts a number of Ramadan-themed programmes to get it's audience into the festive/religious spirit. One of the programmes is a family drama series, Pinggiran Ramadan "On the fringes of Ramadan" season 2. A review of one of the episodes was posted by OMGSIANZ.

It was typically hilarious. Yet some points were relevant, especially the commentaries on the hijab worn by the women cast in the programme. Here are some screenshots of the offending commentaries off the original blog. Click on the pictures to view the text.

I'm not going to elaborate the backlash the writer received for this particular post. I believe you can speculate easily the sort of reactions when such posts were perceived as attacks on personal fashion tastes, style and... blasphemy (!!), on the religion itself.

I want to categorically state that I emphatise with the respective female cast members that the posts oh-so "ridiculed". I've watched cast members on-set and I know how it feels like to be under the mercy of the fashion/wardrobe stylist. However I would have pointed to the respective stylist my concerns - upfront. Nevertheless, the blog's writer has highlighted a couple of things. Also how I feel about hijab-wearing television characters.

I'm no fashionista but when it comes to television, I think all the good stylist/wardrobe person on set should be aware that unless it's Cinderella at the ball, Willy Wonka or the motley Pirates of the Caribbean, the character's wardrobe should not distract from the actor him/herself. As a rule of thumb, I would have personally informed the stylist of my dramas that primary colours should not overwhelm the overall look of the respective characters. Any form of jewellery or glitters should not cloud the face. As an extension to this, the hijab should be understated in form and colour. I have experienced many situations where an actress, who originally wears the hijab off-camera, gets carried away by accessorising her hijab. (On many occasions the cast would have brought their own wardrobe to the set and it gets tricky. Regardless, the stylist/set wardrobe person/director/producer should have the final call to the "look".)

I also notice how some stylists would never make a distinction between "home clothes" and clothes worn outside the house. For example, a character who's about to go to bed - would an elaborate headgear be necessary? In fact for the woman at home, wouldn't the hijab be unnecessary when she is with her muhrim/mahram (immediate/close family members)?

Television has the ability to magnify. Thus, what might have looked good on-set overwhelms the respective cast on-screen. Thus, diminishing the actor's performance.

Perhaps, the very fact that the writer of OMGSIANZ blatantly pointed out many times on the hijabs was because the hijabs had indeed been too overwhelming onscreen that the performance of the cast took a backseat. 

I've read that the main purpose of the hijab is to protect the modesty of the woman, to draw unnecessary attention away from the wearer. I have nothing against the hijab, the veil or women with one of these. The women in my family wear one too. However let this occasion be food for thought to stylists/wardrobe persons, with all due respect. 

I would like to reiterate that Singapore (Malay) television needs independent commentaries like OMGSIANZ's to awaken the slumber - to keep us producers, writers, cast members, directors and stylists in check. The industry is too small that everyone tries to be nice to one another but being nice at times aggravates matter. I understand that the writer of the blog has since apologised and subsequently amended the original post.

We need to focus on the Good than trying to keep one another smug with false contentment. 

Actors enrich the screen, writers write. Producers ensure programmes get telecast. Directors execute concepts into artistically-compelling, yet enriching entertainment.

That's what we basically do. And there are the critics - their critiques sometimes entertain.

We need sharp-witted critiques to shake us from complacency. Let's pretend we are all comics and let's entertain one another.

After all, television is not about you and I. Television is about the audience. We need successful television.

The Year Of Firsts

It has been more than 15 years. I am proud that I have kept a reasonably flawless ‘track record’ in my collaborations. I have kept consistent to my principle of working effectively and productively with what the circumstances have presented, creatively and technically.

However, during the first half of 2012, the unimaginable happened.

I had to do re-shoots!

Yes, the much-dreaded process among television production teams. The last thing that is needed after a much worn-out and exhausting daily 10hr plus filming schedules.

And it’s not just a re-shoot for one production, but two!

The thing that I had consistently avoided professionally, since I left film school in 1996 slapped my face like a violent surf break! Some may argue that re-shoots are part-and-parcel of production. But it's not part-and-parcel of my production. I strongly feel that reshoots can be avoided if more thought and diligence have been put into the production management.

I’m highlighting these issues not to shame those involved. I brought this up to highlight what not to do to avoid reshoots, regardless of the circumstances.

I can point to a handful of reasons why I have consistently avoided re-shoots since I’m being paid to do what I love.

1. Confirming the script. In television world, a simple script needs and would have gone through various levels before one can call it the ‘shooting script’, ie the approved script before one begins the shoot. This means that the storyline has been confirmed as consistent with the original conceptual narrative and beats. In the case of info-eds or magazine shows, the content would have been representative of the ground research. This would mean involving an exceptionally effective scriptwriters and inspired researchers.

2. Production management. This is one of the most important aspect during production that many tend to overlook. A professional filming process needs a professional, core production team – professionals who presumably, would have had credible production portfolios before they embark on their current gig. This is very important as it covers production areas that tie the location-cast-crew-schedule. When the management in this area breaks down, the whole production crumbles.

3. Finalised casting. I'd rather have professional actors carry lead and first supporting leads. Subsequently, their commitment to the filming schedule needs to be checked. Good, effective actors makes a difference between emotive and wooden characters. Good effective actors save time, seriously.

To talents who are non-actors/who want to act, the set is not a classroom or rehearsal grounds for non-actors. Training should be done before coming on set. Each time non-actors do a retake (and further retakes), they're eating into the production time. This is relevant to the bosses too. You may have your little favourites, but have a thought for the production team. And the directors who have to be the one to deal with these non-actors on set! Think about it.

4. I admit that I’m possibly one of those directors that wants perfection, one that sees quality control as a necessity that comes with the job – mainly because the thought of re-shoots is enough to make me squirm with dread. This makes me work extra hard for any television series that has my name on it. My instincts in regards to the programme content and filming process needs to be respected. Kindly check the accolades I have received in the last 15 years (nationally and internationally). Yeah I think I’m allowed to brag here, and I feel good about it.

Everyone wants to work with a winner. Everyone wants to be in a work that’s going to win awards. But no one wants to make an effort to work for a winning production management.

Thus, what possibly went wrong?

THAT football show
This is the perfect example of what happens when you allow interns/post-internship newbies to run 85% of the show. And it’s not just runners or PA (production assistants) I’m talking about.

Let me state an obvious fact – never allow interns/post-internship newbies to hold key positions in a major television production (or any industry for that matter) - regardless of your production budget and bottomlines.

You pay peanuts, you get monkeys!

Imagine this in a typical day’s call sheet as prepared by an intern/post-internship newbie,
– 30mins for a 2-page scene
– 30 to 45mins for several big scenes involving 10 pre-teen boys playing soccer, outdoors. 90% of the child 'talents' are non-actors.
– with an incredible time duration (aka 30mins) allocated for each scenes, especially the soccer action scenes, how would one be able to realistically execute fancy camerawork/angles with the soccer scenes?
– zero contingencies for the outdoor soccer scenes. It rained 3/4 of the day in 80% the days allocated for outdoor field scenes.

– no budget *gasps* allocated for the regular soccer-player extras. The EP was barking orders to wrap scenes quickly, for one can never be sure if these kids are able to be present at subsequent shoot days. 

– no dinner when the shoot extended/overrun past dinner time, not even kiddy snacks for the child talents. 

– 95% of the scenes were shot without scene slates (not even the back-to-basics, primitive write-on-paper ‘slates’). These slates were there only when I yelled for one (...come on, I can’t be yelling for slates the whole day when no one else is yelling at the short-on-attention-span pre-teen actors and extras) 

– no one looks after the continuity 

– 35 scenes (yeah, the big-action soccer scenes) all to be shot on my final day of shoot. Reason being the production needs to catch up on those days lost previously for "whatever" reasons. 

– Bad meals. I would like to point out that the cast and crew deserve good food, ie good for human consumption after working their asses-off to make the production work. Hey bosses, providing good healthy meals is a requirement and an entitlement!

                            A typical day’s lunch. A hungry production is an unproductive one.

Furthermore on many days, I saw missing production team members. Apparently they had been tasked to swap/cover their tasks in other concurrent productions. It seemed that accountability was never taken seriously. 

The reshoot number 1. It happened at a primary school at Singapore’s eastern tip. I don’t wish to speculate the communication that took place between those in-charge of production and the school’s authority (aka vice/principal), but I sure saw a highly displeased vice principal that afternoon. 

As a result, the school decided to invalidate the scenes that have been shot. Thus, 10 big scenes had to be re-shot at another school location.

The situation spiralled downwards from here onwards that on the last day of shoot, Nature would have me walk off the set. It seemed an easier thing to do when the EP rudely barked unnecessary orders at me - perhaps mistaking me for an intern. But Grace worn over - I could not break another of my professional record that day.

I am disappointed to say that this is a production run by a company of pioneering, senior film school graduates. 

THAT family show
With all due respect, this production is a perfect example of script work that suffers from communication breakdown between the EP heads and the script panel, especially halfway through the series. This production highlights another crucial aspect of shooting scripts – not to leave the script approval at the last minute, regardless of the overwhelming concurrent projects being handled.

The point I'm trying to make here is, one cannot discount storytelling in a visual narrative medium. Storytelling existed before technology. And storytelling will live past technology. Storytelling is not an afterthought. Story is king.

The reshoot number 2. And I was in the unfortunate position to be directing the last couple of episodes. Now, if you don’t wish to get me involved in the scriptwriting process (… and to sit-in during the final edit) I respect that. However, jolly well get your act together (heads and script panel) BEFORE you hand me the ‘final’ shooting script.

Alternate endings are fun to do, but do not leave the narratives leading to these alternate arcs at the last minute. However you might want to call it, ie additional scenes, new scenes, improvement scenes – they are all unnecessary reshoots in my dictionary. 

PS: I have to mention that coming straight to the family show after the football shoot, was like a breath of fresh air. Lunch and dinner were being well-taken care of. And of course, I need not yell at the adults.

I stress again that the purpose of this blog is to share critical and valid production concerns with fellow producers, assistants, runners and interns. I understand many would not be able to voice these as many are too concerned of their ‘rice bowls’ to raise such matters. I empathise the enthusiastic yet gullible newbies who are preyed upon by these gleeful production houses.

In the last 15 years or more as a freelancer (and with relatively many film school graduates themselves these days in television productions) the abovementioned issues are getting too critical to ignore.

I heard that Big Things Have Small Beginnings. When the bottomline rule all aspects of the production, small yet very important details are often over-ruled rendering the production ineffective. Art becomes numbers. Reshoots can not be part-and-parcel of productions. They are avoidable.

Small things tend to be overlooked. Small beginnings are interesting study subjects.

Food Series, number 6

It was inevitable. Yeah, another cooking show.

4 years after I did Vanila, the delectable food show hosted by baking chef, Siti Mastura, the opportunity to do Delicatessen II came a knocking.

It seems that I can never get away from food programmes, or could it be, food programmes always find me! I've always enjoyed doing food/culinary programmes. How does one present the flavours to the audience within a 2 dimensional format, out of the goggle box? How does one bring out the taste of the food?

Now that's a challenge!

Delicatessen II follows Yan, a new chef, as he ventures to set-up his own restaurant business. Delicatessen I saw him overcoming the odds in his decision to leave business school to become a chef. The show stars real-life Chef Sufiyan Safee who runs his own restaurant Jimmy Monkey at Ayer Rajah.

                           
To elevate this series from becoming just another generic adventurous-young-chef cooking show, I've added the element of mock interviews by Yan, which of course were all scripted. I enjoyed working with Sufiyan. However being untrained in acting, he struggled with the dramatic aspect of the show as required by the show's concept. Understandably he received a lot of flak for being wooden. His lack of acting training was heightened when he was paired with prolific actor Hasnul Rahmat, who plays Yan's camp nemesis in the kitchen. Besides Hasnul, there were also established ensemble of regulars like Era Farida, Jasmani Basri, Fadly Awaludin, Nurul Akmar Elias and Fadhilah Samsudin.

I've always wanted to do a mockumentary series. The successful BBC series The Office has always inspired me to do an adaptation. The challenge for me in Delicatessen II, which incorporates real cooking segments with a scripted dramatic narrative, is to blend these elements successfully without making it tacky. Good, sharp editing helped the pacing and narrative. I recall the network cautioned against being too ambitious about such narrative structure (when I suggested the mock interviews element at the last minute) because previously producers had attempted similar structure on other programmes but it had not worked. I have to admit that such note stressed me a bit!

Delicatessen II without the mock interviews would be similar in execution to another 'dramedy' food show SOO LAZAT that I directed/produced previously for two seasons. SOO LAZAT stars the effervescent Rahimah Rahim as the matriarch who was desperate to marry off her daughters played by beauties Norfasarie, Fizah Nizam and Hetty Sarlene (who left after season one).

I think the mock interviews worked. These interviews highlight Yan's naivety and Sufiyan's natural awkwardness to the character's advantage.

The way to make such complex, multi-narrative structure work is to keep the edit in focus, be succinct with the pacing and constantly keeping the narrative arc in check.

                       

Delicatessen II was telecast from 23 February 2012 through April for 8 weeks.

Being a Mentor

The television production house, DV Studio (and supported by MediaCorp Suria, the Work Development Agency & Media Development Authority), had conceptualised a new show called Projek Showcase (telecast 16 April - 4 June 2012). The series gathered 8 prolific local Malay actors with more than 10 years experience. These actors were each tasked to direct a 35-minute drama in 4 days.

It would be like the reality show, The Apprentice, for newbie television directors - but without the elimination. To prepare themselves for this task, each director-in-training had to undergo a 4-day crash course into many aspects of television production, ie script writing, producing, taking turns as production crew, casting and of course on-set directing.

I was invited to be one of the mentors. I was to mentor actors Siti Hajar Gani and Zaidi Ibrahim. I must admit that I was a little hesitant about accepting the invitation. The elitist director in me said that these directors wannabe were way out of league from my film-school background to be moulded into directors. I asked myself if these actors would rise to the challenge effectively. After all, directing is not a 4-day course. I’m still learning my craft and the 3-year film school training (plus the film-related BA I pursued afterwards) was my solid foundation. I even tweeted addressing fellow film-school students not to take talents from reality-television seriously.

The directing language is not something to be taken lightly. Perhaps Gary Oldman frames it succinctly here.

But certain things changed my mind.
I’ve observed that the local Malay television industry is facing a drought in creative talent to drive the visual narrative forward. There are many folks without the ‘proper’ training who have taken task in directing and trailed – producing works that are, for lack of a better description, lackluster and bland. Yet, the industry needs fresh talent with creative ideas to beef up local Malay television. Thus, I have decided to put my experience to good use by mentoring these upcoming television drama directors.

Knowledge should be shared. In the current television climate, it is wise for me to impart my film-school training to these upcoming directors.

My thoughts observing Siti Hajar and Zaidi on-set.

1. Coming from proper acting background, they would have the advantage (and they do) for being able to communicate with their cast the acting ‘language’. Ideas get communicated well among similar-minded individuals.

2. On many occasions, they made the mistake of totally handing frame composition and general camerawork to the cameraman/DOP. From my experience, to hand these tasks totally to the cameraman/DOP send signals that the director does not have that mise-en-scène. Mise-en-scène gives the director that extra je ne sais quoi when in comes to visual aesthetics.

3. The director has his own vision at how the filmed footage would eventually be assembled. Different directors have their own way of interpreting the narrative visually. The mise-en-scène determines the frame and composition. The shot arrangement highlights the subtexts. Siti Hajar and Zaidi still have a long way in their mise-en-scène. It determines why some films look bad while some are visually pleasing.

4. Perhaps, Siti Hajar and Zaidi were too familiar with the crew and vice-versa, from previous drama productions. Any sense of command and control was absent. Negotiation has to cease at some point. Different individuals have a unique way of commanding, but eventually the director need to take control of the set. Sometimes being ‘nice’ may not be effective, especially when one is faced with a jaded filming crew.

5. Personally, I would like my finished product to look sleek. I am not fazed by plug-ins in editing software. Unless the concept requires it, I would try to avoid as much as possible cheesy visual effects in my drama. I stress that my actors emote their respective characters vis-a-vis the situation. These are the only way to communicate and connect to their audience, ie real acting work. Visual effects tend to get gimmicky and cheap when not handled properly. With this in mind, both Siti Hajar and Zaidi tend to adopt such editing gimmicks.

Overall, I’m quite pleased that their drama segments remain watchable, albeit ‘unpolished’. Furthermore, execution seemed predictable in many areas. I am glad that Siti Hajar and Zaidi went through the directing process. I believe this experience gives them an advantage when communicating with their directors, crew and cast in the future.

On-set, the director is the conductor between the cast, the crew and the bosses. There is so much negotiation one can handle. Eventually the director needs to take a stand regardless the situation. However, the set is a highly collaborative process. Patience and guts go hand-in-hand but not many folks can balance the two effectively. I’m still learning the craft.

Arts residency

I am happy to announce that I have been selected to do an arts residency at the Jurong Town Community Club. Jurong estate has been selected in this inaugural community project. This residency sits within a community arts outreach project by the National Heritage Board and the Singapore Art Museum. Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) and Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, is the patron of the project.

The residency is significant because I will facilitate fellow Jurong residents to convey their memories and stories about their heartland environment. Non-Jurong residents are welcomed, but the stories/themes in their video work shall revolve about Jurong. There will be two phases to this programme – film narrative workshops prior to the launch and a more elaborate filmmaking workshop after the launch.

I will continue with a film narrative workshop on 21-22 June, 2-5 pm at the Jurong Town Community Club. The workshop began as a series of short programmes beginning in February 2012.

This two day workshop is accumulative, ie, the instructions and practical exercises on the first day leads to the exercises on the second day.

This workshop shall be activity-intensive and focus on the STORYTELLING and MISE-EN-SCÈNE in filmmaking, not technical filmmaking. No fees are charged for the workshop. You will just need to take along your enthusiasm and (of utmost importance), kindly have a portable video recording gadget. I recommend a compact camera with video-recording capability. Preferred. You may also take along your video vDSLR camera if you have. Otherwise a good smartphone with video recording capability.

Yeah, it’ll be bare bones basic workshop to inspire storytelling in filmmaking and why some films look bad while some are visually pleasing. 

A launch is planned for this community arts outreach project in September 2012. Your works executed during this pre-launch workshop might just be exhibited during the launch for your friends, family and community to enjoy.

Know the rules, and then break them!

Internship

This would be my first post for 2012 since November 2011. And I've decided that it shall be about interns and internship, which have been an ongoing topic of discussion between peers in my line of work due to their regular presence in many productions these days. I've noticed a disturbing trend among interns and the production houses employing them.

Internship would be the best time to learn for one (ie., an apprentice) who wants a step into the professional world. It is an opportunity for the intern to network with folks in the industry and possibly meet their prospective employer, or rather collaborator - a term I'd rather use on this field regardless if one is the paymaster or otherwise.

With crappy budgets for local television, many production companies are struggling to sustain a healthy bottomline. It's quite puzzling that these television budgets have been going inversely against the economy. In the last 10 years, Singapore has faced countless recessions like the rest of the world which affected the production budgets. The economy has picked up in the last 4 years, but television budgets have been stagnant.

When I entered this industry in 1996, the budget for a 30min info-ed/magazine programme would be up S$25K per episode while a 1 hour drama series would be about S$50K or more per episode. In the last 6 years, the budget for a 30min info-ed/magazine would be S$18K-$20K and S$30K per episode for a 1 hour drama series. (The budget for a sponsored programme would be fractionally more, but these are too few and far between!).

[The other factor for such budget circumstance could be due to production houses quoting lower than impossible costings in their quotations during programme tenders. There used to be only 3 production houses when I entered the Malay television industry. In 2012, there are more than 20 production houses going after contracts to produce programmes for MediaCorp Suria - the only Malay channel in Singapore.]

Production houses often find their budgets spread thin. And many are finding interns and internship a viable source for a leaner production budget and perhaps, increase their bottomlines. Thus, where traditionally it used to be professionals handling key positions in television productions, many producers are resorting to interns to handle these key roles, ie production managers, assistant producers, location/props/set managers, et al.

I suspect someone, somewhere is misappropriating the internship programme set up by THE media regulator.

With all due respect, one can only imagine the ruckus on set when interns take over, ie troubleshooting missing props on location, call sheets issued the night before, woeful packed (and late) lunches and casts missing their respective call times, to name a few. I've also seen a situation where the production stalled completely, apparently because interns took over 90% of the prep. It resulted in the crew and stylist walking off the set, the cast absent.

The guilty production houses should be penalised!

A good solution to avoid this situation would be mentoring, where interns are assigned to work closely with industry professionals in the set. Until these interns are ready (and ONLY when they are ready - where 3-6 months cannot validate the intern's readiness to work unguided), then only perhaps they could be given real responsibilities.

But I digress.

The following is a good article on the internship experience.

On the topic of interns, I'm also appalled at the attitudes of many interns that I've seen (and who has worked in my production). Many seemed to forget that the main reason for internship is LEARNING. Many intern lamented at the prospect that making coffee is all they are suitable for during internship. But I think they missed the point.

I would offer the following points for the intern to take note before they offer themselves for an internship,

1. listen 
2. take responsibility and be accountable 
3. quit whining 
4. learn that production doesn't require high heels and polished nails 
5. it is not a 9-5 job
6. learn to accept any job that's below them because that's what interns do. Really. 
7. production is not for them if interns cannot accept points 1-6


oh, one more thing
8. constant texting to your friends while on set/at production meetings in full view of your producers and directors doesn't really make you, the wet-behind-the-ear newbie (yes that's what you are!), look professional.


and here's a last note
9. playing politics is not a good trait to exhibit when you are just an intern. Unless Quentin Tarantino head-hunts you, your co-workers during internship will be your bosses/colleagues/collaborators/clients when you eventually become a professional in your respective field of interest.

"Coffee is liquid gold sey (sic) especially in production. Offering to go buy already scores brownie points" - An industry peer recalls.

Many interns whine about it but they fail to see that it is not about the physical act of making coffee, but what they make from that coffee-making experience. Points 1-6 encompass that.

Thus, good coffee-making skills bring good nicotine and bring positive vibes to the set. :P

PS: For the record, I've been an intern before too. So making coffee during internship is a vicious cycle and it sucks - it's what they called on-site learning - not written in textbook modules. I'm grateful for the experience.