Createk Multimedia using film creatively, meaningfully

The National Weekender

BY ISAAC LIRI
Once upon a time in 2011, a few young men in Buka (Autonomous Region of Bougainville) decided to team up and form a company.
These young men had a thing in common; they were all passionate about filmmaking.
To get things going, they started contributing money to register with the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA).
The company they registered is now known as Createk Multimedia, which has over a thousand subscribers on You Tube and over a thousand followers on Facebook.
If you’ve subscribed and follow Createk Multimedia, you would have a fair idea on what they’re all about.
Followers in Bougainville and Papua New Guinea have come to know Createk Multimedia as a growing film company or Small Medium Enterprise (SME) that produces short comedy films.
Interestingly, if you take time to watch these comedies, you would realise that the videos are educational; depicting real life issues happening throughout modern contemporary societies in Melanesia.
These videos showcase issues of alcohol abuse, money borrowing habits, social media influence, cultural transition and many more.
Watching these videos will make you laugh your heads off, but at the end of it, one can pick up the message and relate to the reality around us.
Createk not only focuses on comedy, but various content as well like music videos, tourism videos, events, commercials, and the list goes on.
They also have a collective goal and vision, which keeps them in line on what they want to achieve and where they want to see themselves in the future.
Their goal is; to become the leading film production company in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville. And their vision is; to build a standard and world class film production company that can compete with others in the film industry.
Although they’re in their infancy stages, their dream is alive, and they know that the sky is the limit.
Max Wabi from Siwai (South Bougainville) and Selau (North Bougainville) is Createk’s film director, scriptwriter, talent trainer and concept developer and is an ex-thespian from the UPNG Theatre Arts Association.
Max recalls it all started when he had discussions with Bruno Louey (Createk Multimedia Founder).
Bruno had something already established, with the name Createk, so when Max and the others joined, they all agreed to use that label, as long as they produced films on various social media platforms.
Thanks to technology, they use social media platforms to promote their final products for instance; You Tube, Facebook and Instagram.
So far, Createk has released 100 plus videos of various content and these videos have caught the attention of many and also influenced many in different walks of life.
Max, Bruno and others in the business saw that the interest in the field of creative industries in Bougainville is massive, and that is why they keep on delivering. Doing what they do best has also captured a lot of attention and many are inspired by their work.
The crew behind Createk Multimedia, are qualified film makers, comprising of;

  • Bruno Louey as the producer, graphics cinematographer editor;
  • Ishmael Palipal as cinematographer and editor;
  • Max Wabi as the film director, script writer, talent trainer and concept developer
  • Joseph Breddy – admin and finance and also graphics designs and makeup.

Initially, there were a lot of members but due to busy schedules, only a few continued to keep Createk functioning.
Createk believes their work can influence the government and others to add more support into the field of creative industries.
“We want to play our part in developing the creative industries because Bougainville has a lot of stories to tell and by telling them in a creative way through films is what we love doing,” Max said.
“We believe creativity changes the world, and we are growing everyday in business and attracting many followers as we journey on.
“PNG and Bougainville must continue to keep the world of creativity alive. For some of us, this is the only place we find peace. This is the world we find nothing is right or wrong.
“We are also thinking of trying to do a feature film one day, and maybe one day we can get that support we really need.
“What Createk Multimedia is doing is rare in Bougainville therefore we must first prove to ourselves, to the general public, NGOs and the government.”
“Maybe in the long run we will get that support we need, or one day the government will see the importance of the creative industry and invest more into it.”
Meanwhile, one of the biggest challenges they face currently is no proper work station.
“We do not have an office space so we just improvise and work from our own spaces in our respective homes. But we have long term plans to set up an office in Buka in the near future. But that will depend on funding, and how much we make from our upcoming projects,” Max added.
Meanwhile, Createk is planning an educational masterpiece from 2022 to 2025.
“We may need support on this special project from various organisations but if there’s no support, we will just continue on. Nothing we do is about us, but for the good of Bougainville and PNG,” Max concluded.