KUCHING: True to the saying, “a chip off the old block,” Mark Nyambang, bears his grandfather’s legacy of storytelling, bringing it to life through the visual art of filmmaking as a producer and director.
The 46-year-old Kuching resident, started from working as a communication officer, to producing wedding montages and to working on major documentaries.
He has also steadily built a reputation for capturing the culture, history, and untold stories of Sarawak. His work has not only won accolades locally but also earned international recognition.
With a vision to elevate the region’s creative industry, he hopes to inspire and connect audiences to the beauty and uniqueness of Sarawak.
Here, Mark shared with Sarawak Tribune his journey in the filmmaking industry, the challenges faced, and the passion that drives his creative process.
He also discusses the importance of preserving local heritage through his films and how he envisions Sarawak’s creative future.
Sarawak Tribune: Could you share a bit about your early life and what first sparked your passion for filmmaking?
Mark: I was born and raised in Kuching. I have two siblings, a sister and a younger brother.
After completing my studies at SMK Batu Lintang, I continued my studies in Universiti Putra Malaysia, spending four years studying computer science, majoring in multimedia.
I worked as a communication officer for a non-governmental organisation (NGO) based in Kuching before founding my own production company. Over the course of seven years, I was responsible for writing scripts for radio programmes, drafting press releases, and occasionally preparing speeches.
Sarawak Tribune: Were there any specific experiences or influences from your childhood that shaped your approach to storytelling?
Mark: When I was around eight or nine years old, my late grandfather, Andria Ejau used to take me to his office. I still vividly remember watching him type away for hours on his typewriter. As a child, I didn’t quite understand what he was doing at that time.
After he passed away in 1989, I discovered some of his old books at home like Aji Bulan, a children’s book full of illustrations, published by the then Borneo Literature Bureau.
I do believe that his books indirectly influenced my way of storytelling. As the Malay saying goes, “ke mana tumpahnya kuah kalau tidak ke nasi.”
I think both of us are storytellers in our own time, just using different forms of media – he uses a typewriter and I use my computer.
Sarawak Tribune: How did Kayu Malam Productions come into being? What inspired the name Kayu Malam, and does it hold any special meaning for you?
Mark: I was entering my seventh year as a communication officer and I felt it was time for me to try something new.
It was a leap of faith, especially since the job paid well and my wife had just given birth to our son.
But deep down, I believed I could create a better life for my son and continue my grandfather’s legacy in storytelling.
In 2014, I started my business, initially focusing on producing weddings and event montages.
A year later, I decided to register the business as a private limited company. The name Kayu Malam was coined by my mother.
She shared with me that, as a child, she used to play around the Kayu Malam hill in Saratok, near the border with Sarikei.
I immediately loved the name, and in a way, it was to get blessings from my mother for me to start this business.
Sarawak Tribune: What was your first break in the industry?
Mark: For me, our first break came when we were involved as the local coordinator for the Road to Nationhood : Sarawak Reclaimed documentary series, produced by a Kuala Lumpur based production house for National Geographic.
I still believe that to be knowledgeable in this industry, you have to be a fast learner and be on your feet all the time.
After this project, we started receiving a lot of requests from Kuala Lumpur for production services, not just for documentaries but also dramas and films.
From there, we learned a lot about the nuts and bolts of making documentaries.
Sarawak Tribune: What made you decide to focus on making documentaries?
Mark: We haven’t shot weddings in nearly seven years. Instead, we’ve shifted our focus entirely to documentaries and corporate projects.
Why? Because Sarawak is incredibly rich in culture and history, and that’s what drew me to documentaries.
I love doing documentaries because it gives me the opportunity to uncover untold stories.
It is a self-discovery journey for me because the more you learn about the culture and the people, the more you will discover about your own identity as a Sarawakian.
Sarawak Tribune: Can you tell us about your award-winning documentary, Guardians of the Shore?
Mark: The idea to produce this documentary mooted from our involvement in the marine conservation projects, namely the deployment of reef balls in Sarawak waters by the Sarawak Forestry Corporation.
We began documenting the work in 2018 and in 2020, right after the Covid-19 pandemic. We saw the opportunity to pitch the idea of turning it into a documentary for TVS.
I feel that there is still not enough content to show the effort taken by the Sarawak government through documentary storytelling.
It took us three years to produce the documentary, and we faced a lot of challenges during the filming. But I am happy that it turned out to be what I envisioned it to be.
Sarawak Tribune: What was your first film award?
Through Guardians of the Shore, we won our first award at the Kuala Lumpur International Eco Film Festival in 2023.
We were the sole representative from Malaysia to make it to the top 5 finalists, alongside participation from Russia, China, France, and the United States.
In October last year, we were thrilled to hear that we had been nominated for the prestigious ContentAsia Awards. Over 500 entries from 13 Asian countries and territories were submitted, representing production houses and broadcasters including over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix.
Thanks to the grant provided by the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak, we were able to attend the awards ceremony in Taipei, Taiwan.
It was an eye opening experience for us. We had the opportunity to meet peers from different countries and expand our networking as well as helping to promote Sarawak as a preferred filming destination in the region.
Sarawak Tribune: Do you think winning awards is important?
Mark: First and foremost, producing quality content is key. We must align our storytelling with what the audience wants to watch because, ultimately, we are creating content for the masses.
If we can deliver quality and entertaining content, people will start to notice our work.
Personally, I don’t claim that our work is the best but I let our audience decide.
Sarawak Tribune: What is your current and next project?
Mark: We have just finished filming a docu-series for an Australian-based production house. In the meantime, we were recently awarded a grant by National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS) to produce a feature documentary which will start filming this year.
Currently, we are also working on a three-episode docu-series focused on traditional music instruments, and the project is funded by the Ministry of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak.
For our next project, it will be on cultural preservation. Besides that, we are working with a local research company to produce monthly videos for Yayasan Perpaduan Sarawak.
Sarawak Tribune: What is your hope for the company and the creative industry in Sarawak as a whole?
Mark: Kayu Malam is entering its 10th year this year and my hope is that we will be able to produce even more content that can highlight the beauty and uniqueness of Sarawak.
As for the creative industry in Sarawak, we can see there is an abundance of talents from directors, producers and even actors.
I truly believe that by working together and having a healthy ecosystem setup, we can produce more high-quality content that will help to elevate our creative industry in the region.
