Actor Nong Kuul Finances Short Film 'Long Take' as Director and Producer
After 14 years as an actor, Nong Kuul has shifted behind the camera to direct, write, and finance the short film 'Long Take,' investing over a million baht and assembling top professionals to execute his ambitious vision of a 45-minute cont
After spending over 14 years as an actor, Nong Kuul Chanan Santindhrakul has decided to try something new by taking on the roles of director, screenwriter, and producer for a short film titled 'Long Take'. He handled everything from writing the script and contacting the production team to financing the entire project with over a million baht, assembling accomplished professionals to join the effort.
Kuul announced the project at a Thai Actors Association membership drive event, where he serves as vice president of the association. He plans to submit the short film to various film festivals both domestically and internationally.
When asked about his motivation, Kuul explained: 'Yes, it's a project where I wanted to try something new. I've been an actor for 13 to 14 years, and I felt I'd reached a point where I wanted to attempt something different. I tried writing the script and handling everything myself. I was very fortunate to work with many top-tier professionals, including cinematographers who worked on popular productions and a director who has collaborated with me on several series. The cast was outstanding too, and even the association president helped me out.'
Regarding the investment, he said: 'It's in the millions, though for a short film the scale isn't as large as a full feature. I wanted to make it as good as possible and submit it to various festivals. I brought together a lot of skilled people because we wanted to shoot in long takes. Long take filming requires fairly experienced actors—if something goes wrong, you can't recover and have to restart from the beginning.'
Kuul acknowledged the stress involved, particularly on shooting days. 'Everyone was new to long take filming. My short film has a 45-minute continuous take, which is quite ambitious. There was definitely tension, but I'm grateful to the entire cast and crew, especially my director and the whole team, for keeping things relaxed on set.'
When asked about AI-generated short films currently flooding the market, Kuul responded: 'I think they're different things. AI short films or vertical-format AI series are a different medium with different audiences. People who watch vertical-format AI series have one type of viewership.'
On his perspective of AI in filmmaking, he said: 'I see AI as a tool. Whether creating films or series, I think using it as a tool is fine. Personally, I have no problem using it.'
