The issue of local TV stations and producers requiring actors to have more than a million followers on their social media accounts is no stranger among Malaysians, especially those in the showbiz industry.
For context, versatile actor Iedil Putra took to his Twitter account yesterday (Thursday, 25th November) to express his resentment after coming across the aforementioned criteria set by a broadcasting company.
Dari sebuah syarikat penyiaran ternama; Followers IG over 1 juta? Lambat lagilah aku nak dapat job di Malaysia ni. Walaupun sudah lebih 20 tahun aku mengabdikan diri, tapi kriteria yang macam ini yang mereka cari. Bye👋🏻 pic.twitter.com/ihV0dv8UP0
— Iedil Dzuhrie Alaudin (@iedildzuhrie) November 25, 2021
In response to the recent discovery, Iedil (full name Tengku Iedilzuhrie Putra Tengku Alaudin remarked, “Looks like I’ll have to wait a little longer to land a job in Malaysia. I have devoted myself for over 20 years, and this is the kind of criteria they are looking for. Bye.” For those wondering, the “Ngorat” star currently has 55k followers on his IG.
Apart from the 37-year-old, filmmaker Nam Ron also came forward to address the current situation in Malaysian showbiz on his IG, Murai reported. The “Pasal Kau” actor stated, “It’s real guys. Not a joke. Neither a myth nor even an urban legend.”
He added by writing, “So what else? The decision is in your hands. (You) want your fave actors to appear on TV, follow them on social media. Bullsh*t!” Said the senior actor who has just gained up to 100k followers on Instagram.”
The comments section has been flooded with many of Nam Ron’s followers, which mostly consist of well-known celebs and directors, sharing their opinions on the requirement set by the broadcasting company. Among those who came forth to air their thoughts include Nabila Huda, Beto Kushairy, Sharifah Amani and also Adrian Teh, just to name a few.
So criteria sejuta lebih nie benefit siapa sebenarnya?? 😫😫 pic.twitter.com/sE9gBnsrDp
— Sharifah Amani 🇲🇾 (@sharifahamani) November 25, 2021
Apart from the aforementioned names, singer-actor Yusry Abdul Halim also appeared to express his dissatisfaction over the longstanding issue. The KRU member wrote on his Twitter, there were some cases where the insta-famous talent was struggling to act out their role even after three days of filming.
“I suggested to reshoot everything. But the broadcaster still wanted the ‘actor’ in question. Instead of switching to another talent, I was the one who was dropped from the project. The situation of local TV dramas is the fault of the broadcaster,” the “Hikayat Merong Mahawangsa” director commented.
Apa kriteria utk pelakon drama TV?Followers?Influencer?2021, saya cadang ke produser utk tukar pelakon utama sbb tk boleh bawa watak after 3 days of shoot.Lets reshoot!Tp penyiar ttp mahu ‘pelakon’ itu. Saya yg ditukar. Situasi drama tv tempatan adalah angkara penyiar itu sendiri
— Yusry Abdul Halim (@YusryHalim) November 26, 2021
Is it absurd that certain people are prioritising famous online personalities over actual talent?
Sources: Twitter (1)(2), Instagram, Murai.
