“The Hush” is Channel 5’s latest drama is about the upheaval in the lives of residents after the death of a stranger in the swimming pool. The repercussions of the mystery are felt by every single person in the condominium, which shares the same name as the title of the show.
“The mystery serves as a catalyst for the unravelling of the lives of the people in the condominium itself, ” said executive producer and creator of the series Lee Thean-jeen, 47, who also wrote and directed several episodes in the 13-episode drama.
Lee was the executive producer of the popular legal drama “The Pupil,” as well as its spinoff, “Code of Law.”
From the hush to dialogue
“It’s not uncommon in Western dramas,” said Lee of the premise of the show. “But what I wanted to do was to explore such a situation in a Singaporean, an Asian context.”
“Would people become pantang or be worried about the price of their units? Or would they be concerned about who the boy was? We wanted to ask the question, what would happen in Singapore, and to delve into it in a very local context.”
The Hush sees a large array of Singaporean characters that come from all walks of life — lawyers, students, civil servants, teachers. The only link that they have is that they stay in the same condominium.
“A lot of local dramas revolve around people living in HDB flats, and we thought it would be interesting to have a peep into the lives of condominium dwellers, as they’re of a slightly different profile,” said Lee.
While the show is classified as drama, it also has elements of a mystery, a thriller, and plenty of character drama in it. But is it based on Lee’s personal experiences?
“Every show is biographical in some way, whether it be emotionally or narratively,” shared Lee.
Developing characters for “The Hush”
The show took a little over six months to develop and write, and three months to shoot.
“We had five writers on board,” said Lee. “The characters were already fairly developed, so it was a matter of developing the character arcs.”
“We explored the less conventional kind of relationships on the show.”
But there were no issues with censorship. “The relationships are unconventional but not controversial.”
For example, Thomas (Tay Ping Hui) and Valerie (Carmen Soo) Teo discuss a divorce in their very first episode. They have two schooling children, one of whom is in his PSLE year.
Nelson (Remesh Panicker) has to deal with a recently deceased wife, and struggles with his relationship with Luisa (Cassandra Jean Spykerman), a domestic helper who took care of his wife in her final days.
“Nelson has a lot of layers to him,” said Lee. “He goes through many different emotions, since his wife just passed away. But his son is also part o the management committee of the condominium. As the show progresses, we also see Luisa go from being just a maid to a very riveting character.”
When pressed for a favourite character to write, Lee picked the boy who died in the pool, Zulkifi (Shaquille Daniel). “He’s one of the more intriguing characters for me, especially when it comes to fleshing him out and revealing who he was. There’s a lot mystery surrounding the character and what he was doing.”
Challenges of the show
“This is the largest ensemble of characters I’ve ever had on the show,” said Lee. “The challenge was trying to meld the different story arcs to maintain a consistent tone.”
But the sprawling cast wasn’t the biggest challenge on the “The Hush.”
“It was the weather. When we conceptualised the show, much of it was set around the swimming pool. But we shot it at the beginning of the year, when the weather was crazy.”
“Within one scene, we would have bright sunlight, cloudy weather, heavy storms with lightning and thunder. Then when we wrap, it would be sunny again.”
Lee, however, is no stranger to challenging shoots.
“The challenges are what inspire me to keep going. Every show has got its own unique challenges. While other shows like “Code of Law” or “Zero Calling” fell into their own definitive genres, “The Hush” combined elements from different genres.”
No stranger to the industry
Lee is the managing director of his own production studio, Weiyu Films. He recently won a Platinum Remy at the Worldfest Houston International Film Festival 2016 for last year’s horror film, “Bring Back the Dead,” and a Gold Remy for “Zero Calling.”
“Zero Calling” is a thriller which sees an average Joe co-erced into doing an anonymous caller’s bidding in order to protect those around him.
“Bring Back the Dead” saw its first US screening at the festival. “It was interesting to see the responses of an American audience to what is essentially Asian horror. We’re exploring the possibility of a theatrical release in the US, but nothing is confirmed yet.”
Lee’s mastery of a broad range of genres speaks to his continuing creativity in the production industry.
“After all, life is a neverending source of inspiration.”
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