Troubled by the conflicts in his family, a young boy embarks on a mission with his imaginary friend to save his parents’ marriage.

While it does not quite sound like your typical Christmas plot, this local movie features heartwarming messages that one can relate to, especially in this holiday season.

Friendship and family. Love and reconciliation. 

In Hi Noel, Christian filmmaker Eric Wong, 46, spotlights the struggles faced by married couples and children, but also manages to keep the story bright and hopeful.

“The overall tone is a very celebrative and fun one because it’s Christmas after all,” he said.

Billed as Singapore’s first Christmas movie, Hi Noel invites the audience on an adventure as two friends use their creativity to bring a couple back together.

No stranger to the local film industry, Eric was involved in the production of Ah Boys to Men 4 and Wonderful! Liang Xi Mei, and the music composer for Lucky Boy and Two Boys and a Mermaid.

However, this is the first time he is striking out on his own – writing, directing, shooting and composing music for a full-length feature. 

Speaking to Living Room by Salt&Light, Eric and his wife-turned-business-partner Careen opened up about the making of Hi Noel.

When a marriage fails, children bear the brunt

In the show, main character Leon, played by eight-year-old Zane Asher Quek, delivers this important line to his invisible friend Noel, who is portrayed by eight-year-old, Oscar Ow.

“I just want to be happy like you.”

“That is what I want to capture – the whole essence of children just wanting to be happy wherever they are, and families being a really, really important environment,” expressed Eric.

“What if Mummy and Daddy has to live in different homes? Who will you choose to live with?” asks Leon’s mum.

In Hi Noel, actress Jaime Teo plays a career-driven mother whose marriage is on the brink of a divorce. She stars opposite Dylan Quek, whose gambling addiction has caused tremendous strain on the family.

The film also has special guest appearances from familiar faces such as Gurmit Singh, Glenn Yong and Tommy Wong. 

In writing the script, Eric acknowledged that he drew inspiration from his own life and from hearing the struggles that other families go through.

For example, the concept of having an make-believe friend was inspired by his own daughter, who had a similar experience while growing up. 

In one of the light-hearted scenes, Leon and his imaginary friend play with other imaginary friends at school. All is good, until something happens.

While the storyline is fictional, Eric feels that “a lot of parents or couples would be able to relate to and identify with the film”.

“To be honest, (since my wife and I) work in the same company, sometimes there are a lot of challenges. And sometimes when we do quarrel in front of our kids, I feel quite guilty about it.”

“It’s okay, I forgive you,” jumped in Careen cheekily. 

“I know, and I forgive you too,” replied Eric with a laugh.

Despite the playful banter, both confess that they face their fair share of difficulties, just like the husband and wife in the show.

Eric and Careen, who is the film’s executive producer and editor. Both of them are self-taught and have been honing their skills over the last 10 years.

“It’s the same things that we all go through, whether it’s financial struggles, emotional shutdowns,” disclosed Eric.

“The emotions are also something that we have been through, like me being a workaholic,” admitted Careen. 

That is why they urge couples to be more mindful of how their actions affect their children.

In one of the heartbreaking scenes, young Leon asks his friend: “Noel, am I naughty? Why are they always quarrelling because of me?”

The film makes a mention of how children might create imaginary friends as a coping mechanism to regulate emotions.

At the end of the day, Eric and Careen desire that viewers will walk away from the film realising that the problems in a marriage are not the fault nor the responsibility of children to fix.

The idea of having to fight for a relationship’s survival is also something that comes up several times.

“I hope that parents can maybe do a bit of self-reflection,” suggested Eric.

How can we raise happy children? We can start by having healthy marriages and families, they emphasised.

Christmas, a season when hearts are open

We ask the Wongs: Why release this at Christmas though?

The couple said they considered practical reasons (many local filmmakers already release films during Chinese New Year) and their faith.

“As Christians, Christmas is an important season for us. It’s a time of family gatherings, a time of forgiveness, a time of love, a time of gift-giving,” explained Eric.

“The story deals with forgiveness, restoration and a bit of reconciliation as well. So these themes are very, very close to our faith and our values as well,” said Careen.

Encouraging Christians to invite those they want to reach out to for a movie date, the couple hopes that the film can be a conversation starter.

At a preview screening held at Bethesda Bedok Tampines Church, Eric shared more about his heart behind the film with pastoral and para-church staff.

Although Hi Noel is not an evangelistic movie, Christians might be able to observe some parallels between what they see in the film and their faith. 

For instance, Leon’s imaginary friend, Noel, who plays a comforting and supportive role throughout the show, brings to mind the Holy Spirit.

Highlighting that another one of the themes in the movie is about being brave, Eric and Careen said that this is repeated by different characters.

“Being brave is the secular word for having faith,” mused Eric.

Pointing out that this was a message that they, too, had to remind themselves of while making the film, Careen shared that there were many moments when they were faced with doubt and discouragement.

“You’ve got to be brave. It’s okay – everything will work out if God has given you this vision. He will see you through,” she recalled telling themselves.

His vision, His provision

Remembering how they were running on such a tight timeline and scarce resources, both noted that the entire process was only possible because of God.

Juggling their day jobs on top of working on this self-funded movie, Careen said that they also had ongoing projects for the music and video production house that they run. 

“We still had to take care of our children,” she added. “This year when we were doing post-production, they were having their PSLE and ‘N’ Levels.”

The couple with their 12-year-old daughter, 16-year-old son and domestic helper. Their children were also involved in the making of the movie, with their daughter appearing in one scene and their son helping out with production work.

Right from when they began to film, the couple saw God’s hand at work.

“Every moment was a God moment. Every day that we went on shoot was a God moment. Every shot that we framed and got was a God moment,” he said.

For instance, two days before filming began, one of their supporting roles pulled out due to a clash in schedules.

“So we were left scrambling to look for a replacement,” said Eric. 

As the story was set during Christmas, they also had to shoot last December, with the incessant rain disrupting a few outdoor shoots.

It was almost impossible to secure a mall location for their scenes because of the festive crowds too.

“Somehow God opened the doors,” marvelled Eric. 

Leon and Noel at one of the two major shopping malls they managed to shoot at.

As first-time filmmakers, there were many things that they only learnt along the way as well.

“We were just focused on the creation of the product,” said Eric. “But making a movie without first securing distribution is a crazy thing to do.” 

As it turned out, their show’s release date (November 28) put them in competition for cinema time slots with other Hollywood titles such as Moana 2 and Wicked.

Agreeing, Careen said that they were naive to think that securing distribution would come naturally after the movie was done.

“We realised there were so many movies that had been made but never seen the light of the cinema.”

Eric with the cast at the gala premiere, which was also attended by Mr Eric Chua (centre), Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Ministry of Social and Family Development and Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth.

Giving credit to God and industry friends, Eric and Careen were thankful that mm2 Entertainment, which belongs to the same company that owns Cathay Cineplexes, agreed to be their distributor.

The Ministry of Social and Family Development also came in to support their gala premiere, helping to defray some costs.

“When he gives us a vision, He will always give us provision. We always say that in church, right? But this movie is really like that,” said Eric.

“Every moment that we needed to make payments, whether it’s to the crew, to the cast… the funds just came in.”

From music production to movie-making

Reflecting on their filmmaking journey, Eric shared that this could be traced back to their involvement in church. 

Having learnt how to make music videos because their company (United Records Productions) was signing on artistes and producing albums, the couple had been using these skills for ministry.

“It was a Father’s Day music video, and Jack Neo happened to be in church that day,” he recollected. 

“He saw that music video and got really excited because he wanted to start a Christian ministry producing testimonial videos for the Chinese ministry.”

As part of the training, Eric was invited onto the set of Ah Boys to Men 4, which the local director was shooting at that time.

“That was my first opportunity to be involved with filmmaking at the movie level,” said Eric.

“I learnt how films could be used to tell stories as well, so we got hooked on that.”

While their production house has made at least six short films, Hi Noel is their first full-length movie.

Eric on the set of Hi Noel. He has also directed films that explore other social issues such as bullying.

Due to how things have progressed, the couple felt it was timely to launch their own film studio earlier this year.

“Our vision is to create films with meaning that can stir people to face life positively,” declared Eric.

Although the couple aims to draw people’s attention to the human suffering that is all around them, they also want to highlight the hope that can be found.

Giving more insight into how they chose the name of their studio, Cande Pictures, Eric said that “Cande” is not only a combination of “Careen and Eric”, but also a reference to candy.

“We want to produce films that have the sweetness of life,” he elaborated.

“Colloquially, it also means can 的 (de),” chimed in Careen. “什么都 can 的 by faith (everything is possible by faith).”

Eric and Careen (pictured) attend City Harvest Church, where they also serve as a drummer and worship leader respectively.

Looking ahead, the couple have already started work on their second film titled Children of the Land.

While they are still looking for funding partners and investors, plans are already in the pipeline to shoot overseas.

Sharing that they have a pastor friend who runs a halfway house in Medan, their next production is a Singapore-Indonesia collaboration that touches on the impact of drugs.

“Drugs are quite rampant among the youth there, so they are quite concerned,” said Eric.

“This movie is meant to draw the youth into thinking about their life.”

The plot was also inspired by real-life stories: Three village boys go to the city to study in the university, but their lives are destroyed by drugs.

Describing the movie is “epic”, Careen revealed: “It’s another redemptive story.”

Although the films made by Eric and Careen are intentionally not faith-based to reach a wider audience, they are not ruling out that genre in the future.

“God has given us the tools; we have the tools and the know-how, so the application can be in different areas,” remarked Eric.

For now, they would rather be known as a secular company that is run by Christians instead of a Christian company.

“And in some ways, we attract like-minded people to work together as a team, so that we can be salt and light,” added Careen.

Stressing the importance of making an impact in the marketplace, Eric said that they want hold on to godly values such as excellence and integrity, as well as be recognised for how they conduct themselves.

Summarising their conviction, Careen clarified: “We want to be in the world, but not of the world.” 

Hi Noel opens tomorrow (November 28), and will be playing at all Cathay Cineplexes’ cinemas, selected Golden Village cinemas and EagleWings Cinematics. Do note that the film is rated PG, as it contains brief sexual references. 

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