16 Aug– Malaysian director Chiu with successful Chinese New Year films like "Woohoo!" and "Great Day" is now ready to make Malaysia's first home-grown Chinese New Year film. With "Great Day and "Woohoo!" which successfully broke the box office records for Malaysian-Chinese films with RM4.2 million and RM6.5 million in 2010 and 2011, Chiu has not only set a new trend for local Chinese New Year films but also ushered in more mainstream local Chinese films. Since Hong Kong films are the staple Chinese New Year fare in Malaysia, Chiu hoped that he could start a trend of making local films for the New Year, as he has made Malaysia's first homegrown Chinese New Year film, "The Journey". He wanted to work with more local people when he made a New Year music video last year.
With the success of his films before, Chiu, or Chiu Keng Guan has his latest film "The Journey" set for release in 2014's Chinese New Year, and it is his third film after a three-year break. The heartwarming road movie tells the story of when an old man is set to follow the tradition of hand-delivered wedding invitations; his future Caucasian son-in-law takes him on a cross-country motorcycle trip. The story is written by Ryon Lee, a theatre practitioner who also penned the scripts for Chiu's first two films. With a budget of RM4 million, "The Journey" is the most expensive yet for Chiu, and film was shot in a period of four months. The film is set to release in 2014's Chinese New Year.