Alaric Tay, Benjamin Heng, and Jacen Tan are the cast and crew of Zombiepura.

The trio appear likeable and obliging during the interview, their disposition betraying little of the grit and determination that saw them through their first feature film.

However, Tan, the 35-year-old director and dreamer behind the local horror comedy, is significantly more reserved and considered.

Of their dynamics, Heng, 42, jokes: "He's [referring to Tan] the brains lah. We're just the arms and legs, running everywhere."

"Singapore zombie movie? Cannot make it."

A much touted fact about the movie is that it took seven years to make, from conceptualisation to the wrapping up of filming.

What some may not know, however, is that it also meant having to swallow multiple rejections, year after year.

The trio had applied for various grants -- some more than once -- only to be stymied by certain requirements, or be told that it simply wouldn't work.

Heng remembers one instance -- very clearly, we might add -- where an "industry person" told them: "Singapore zombie movie? Cannot make it."

Heng's candid disclosure that money was the "main problem" is perhaps the bottom line of their struggle in film-making:

"I mean, making the movie is fun. That's the most enjoyable part, being on set. But it's the other things like you know, financing and the business side that is tough."

Before one can accuse the trio of being delicate strawberries who are unable to handle rejection, Tay says quite matter-of-factly that they were prepared for such outcomes.

After all, they might very well be considered pioneers in a genre that has yet to be pulled off in a local context.

"If we do do it, and if we actually make it, it's history ah," 39-year-old Tay adds.

For now, one can safely say that they have "made it" -- even local sexy voice JJ Lin said that he was "immensely entertained" by the movie:

View this post on Instagram

A month ago I was invited by my dear friend and army comrade @alaric_verytay to a private screening of the new movie he’s starring in: “ZOMBIEPURA”. I must say I was immensely entertained! Be sure to catch it this opening weekend and be prepared to be “zombie-fied”! Proud of you brother! #zombiepura

A post shared by JJ Lin (@jjlin) on Oct 25, 2018 at 12:14am PDT

Although this may come as no surprise to seasoned filmmakers, what audiences see on screen today is far from the first version of the script.

The original idea was to have zombies roam around the heartlands and HDB areas, but it was eventually changed to an army camp setting, mainly due to logistics and budgetary concerns.

After the movie's premiere, Tan's sister-in-law wrote an emotive Facebook post of the process.

She has seen, for the past seven years, Tan holding on to his dream, taking in rejection only to meld it with his resolve:

"[...] For the past seven years, Jacen has tirelessly and patiently attempted to find backers for this project. And every year he’d face rejection, time and again, sometimes from the same people — because he’d go back to the same organisations the year after to try another time."

Three-sided bromance

The team only managed to find a partner in Clover Films as well as secure funding two years ago.

How they got the funding, however, is another story altogether.

To cut it short, the team got their shot at pulling this movie off when Train To Busan became a commercial success in Singapore.

But that is not exactly the victory that we're celebrating here.

In a revelation that might make you question your own bromances, Tay and Heng have been in this with Tan since the beginning.

In addition to being cast members, the two are also the movie's executive producers.

As it is, Heng acknowledges that they could have shot an indie film with a budget of a few hundred thousand dollars, and that'll be that.

But they refused to be content with that.

According to Tay, the team was aiming to "accomplish a certain level of production value".

One can see why: From an amateur's perspective, a zombie production without proper effects could easily come across as cheap.

But more importantly, the pair wanted to "produce it for Jacen" -- also Tay's exact words.

Tan's sister-in-law provides another intimate glimpse of their relationship:

"At the premiere last night, as everyone celebrated and the cameras were going off everywhere, Jacen was still the same humble man of few words that he has always been. Some of the first few lines that Alaric and Benjamin Heng said when given the mic was: “Congratulations to Jacen for his first feature film!”

And maybe knowing (just a bare fraction) of their story, it was a moment of great pride. Maybe they knew that their friend was someone who would never put a feather in his own cap, ever, and they wanted to celebrate him nonetheless."

However, when asked why they held on to such tenuous prospects, responses were a little vague at first.

"Why ah? We are very free," Tay jokes.

Other reasons include having a fondness for the zombie genre, seeing it as a fun project they constantly found themselves going back to, and telling a story that they believed in.

Tan has something important to clarify, though:

"I mean, actually, we are still doing our day jobs through these seven years. It's not as if we are eating grass or something."

The three men, all of whom have not made their families eat grass, break out in baritone laughter.

A guilty audience

But in another part of the conversation, Tay said something that answered the above question, and perhaps even set the tone for this written piece.

He had mentioned, almost casually, about wanting to change "the trend of Singaporean mindsets on local content".

What Tan is referring to is something many of us -- myself included -- are guilty of.

An unfortunately pervasive phenomenon in Singapore is the comparison of local content to a large-scale Hollywood production, and subsequently deeming the former quite unpalatable.

Having watched the movie, I can say that Zombiepura is decent entertainment, full of comical metaphors for the Singaporean afflictions of work and mindless routine.

But I'll be honest: It did not blow my mind.

Speaking to the team, however, has made me realise that it's about something more than the movie itself.

This is one man's stubborn dream that has made a ripple in Singapore film's industry.

Tay tells us a little about the film's reception:

"Response has been pretty good so far. I have not heard anyone coming out of the theatre saying, 'This sucks.' In fact, most people are saying something about it where it's relatable, where, you know, it's making a difference, it's making a dent in the industry, it's entertaining."

"They actually say thank you to us," Heng chimes in, looking like he's taken aback by the gratitude.

The actor continues:

"Yesterday, we had a kid who said it to us, and he also posted on social media, and he said, 'Best Singapore movie ever. Even better than Venom.'"

Heng downplays the compliment, saying: "That's a kid's perspective, but..."

"Still a perspective," we were quick to interject.

"Maybe because we were there," Heng adds jokingly, as an afterthought.

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