A large part of the Malaysian Indian community, especially the urban poor, are burdened with social ills that leave their youths vulnerable to exploitation and the influence of gangsterism. 3 in 10 youths are lured into drug abuse while in school, and 4 in 10 will not finish school. Many of them find a second family in gangs – their gateway to a life of crime and violence.

Their hope lies in MySkills Foundation: a non-profit organisation dedicated to rehabilitating these troubled teenagers. But MySkills faced a double whammy of low public awareness and low public empathy for ex-delinquents that face hostility for being troublemakers perpetuating negative stereotypes of their own race.

Maxis is a known advocate of Internet For Good. As Deepavali, the Festival Of Lights approached, it was the perfect time to help shed light on an untold story…in a way that would truly change lives.

MALAYSIA’S FIRST INTERACTIVE FILM THAT SAVES LIVES

With mobile being the core platform, we equated the simplest form of contribution with the act of touching a screen. And by doing so, save a life from a vicious cycle of violence.

We produced two parallel films with different outcomes, the community’s real societal problems portrayed through a young protagonist that descends into an increasingly troubled life.

The user can interact with the story by touching ‘light sources’ within the scene like street lamps and bulbs to reveal a parallel story filled with light and hope.

Timing and synchronisation was key to success

For seamless interactivity, it was crucial to match each scene to deliver a coherent story. Not only was it challenging for backend development to sync video and audio for smooth transitions between the parallel stories, but also from a film production perspective to match them scene for scene.