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SUPERHEROES,

HOMEGROWN

Planet Tota’s Sep. Heralding A

New Era In Vietnamese Filmaking

ews of a Vietnamese superhero movie, intended to do just that. An almost 500-page,
and the need for it, began circulating two-volume, beautifully-designed coffee table
Nin the media late last year. Our re- book entitled “Vietnamese Cinema - A Brief
search on the topic led us to a company that Overview” was one such effort that caught
identified this need over two years ago and our eye. It took seven or eight months to com-
were addressing it while consciously choos- pile comprehensive knowledge of the Viet-
ing to work in the shadows. The response to namese movie industry along with historical
our enquiries into the project was a showcase facts unbeknown to even local industry pro-
that had us mesmerized. A pre-teen super- fessionals. While the effort may seem quite a
hero, visuals that inspire instant adulation, stretch for the purposes of introducing an in-
and the developments around the movie and dustry to the world, and could be dismissed
the other superhero projects to follow got us as unnecessary, it definitely speaks volumes
going for a cover story. While it might not be about the sincerity, passion, and dedication
the first Vietnamese superhero movie at- of the people behind the effort.
tempt, it definitely has all the markings of be- Founder and CEO Mr. Faisal Khan is no
coming a path-defining one that the stranger to us, having adorned our cover a
Vietnamese movie industry as a whole will few years ago. His advertising venture, led
benefit from and take pride in. with a similar passion and progressive notion,
The movie is called Sep and is being pro- has won prestigious accounts, awards, and
duced by Planet Tota, a company founded attention. Since Planet Tota represents his vi-
over two years ago with a vision of producing sion, we met with Mr. Khan to find out more
quality movies and other top-notch entertain- about Sep and Planet Tota’s plans going for-
ment content for Vietnam and the region. ward. While much around Sep - including the
Their ambition necessitated the need to look plot, cast, and crew - has been a closely
beyond norms and conventions and adopt a guarded secret to be disclosed in the movie’s
significantly different approach to content marketing campaign to follow, our questions
creation and production. It has been looking focused on other aspects we felt readers
into and adopting new-age filming technolo- would like to hear more about.
gies, head-hunting for resources and special-
ists locally and internationally, and leading % What prompted your decision more than
from the front and taking on the onus of set- two years ago to create a movie about a Viet-
ting the benchmark in expectations. The sheer namese superhero?
volume of work around Sep and the work on There were many reasons. The predomi-
other plans clearly suggest it has been a very nant one was the way it was dominating every
busy two years. Their ambition and resolve to social conversation, both online and offline.
be synonymous with high-quality content While such affinity in the US is understand-
stayed the course and managed to attract the able, since they have more than five decades
attention and participation of best in the movie worth of awareness about these characters
business, both locally and internationally. and it’s very much embedded in their pop- MR. FAISAL KHAN,
Grooming the Vietnamese film industry culture, seeing a similar effect in Vietnam and CEO
and bringing more global attention to it is at other countries was quite interesting. None Planet Tota Vietnam
the heart of Planet Tota’s endeavors. While it of us grew up knowing these characters. Most
goes unstated, it is evident in everything they people only knew of Spider-Man and Batman.
have been working towards. It included ef- Movies were our only introduction to these
forts beyond good project work and initiatives other characters. That said a lot.

APRIL 2021 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | 39