The future’s been upgraded for award-winning Weir

It was his first award in his 11-year career, so he was profuse in an Instagram post thanking the series’ producer, director and (maybe most of all) the casting team at Channel 7. After 11 unrecognised years, Sukollawat admitted, he was starting to wonder why he was still in the business. “Winning this award confirms to me that this is where I belong, and now I can be happy about it.”

Regardless, Weir’s done quite well in showbiz for someone who graduated in civil engineering, especially lately. He tells the magazine 247 that he’s feeling lucky, having been in steady demand for nearly a decade and also having made the leap to the big screen.

Though still mainly popular due to his appearances under contract on Channel 7, he’s got a proper movie coming out, “11 12 13 Rak Kan Ja Tai”, a horror comedy in which he stars as a playboy haunted by an ex-girlfriend. Previously we’d only seen him briefly in the cinemas, a few years ago in a surprise supporting role in “Kid Tueng Wittaya” (“The Teacher’s Diary”) and then not really at all in “Pitupoom” (“Fatherland”), which was pulled out of circulation by its own producer due to the controversial subject matter.

Weir says he was so busy making TV shows for years that he never gave much thought to the movies, but now he’s more mature and is keen to expand his talents there. The award will surely help restore his love for the profession – and maybe a career awaits him behind the camera too.

Weir recently scored a master’s degree in communication arts, specialising in entertainment management and production. He says he just wanted to learn more about the craft, but let’s see if he ends up running his own studio.

 

Poj pulls a ploy

Movie director Poj Arnon might still be best regarded for “Bangkok Love Story”, the gay drama that won awards in 2007, but now he has something else to crow about with his “Luang Pee Jazz 4G” mowing down the box offices in Bangkok and Chiang Mai.

Poj’s first project for the Major Cineplex group opened last Wednesday, a national holiday, and immediately pocketed Bt22.93 million, an astonishing figure for yet another farce about wayward monks.

In the subsequent five days it’s earned more than Bt72 million, and of course high numbers like that draw a buzz, as they did in making “Pee Mak Phra Khanong” the top-grossing Thai film of all time.

Impatient for word of mouth to keep putting more bums in theatre seats, Poj made another clever strategic thrust by announcing on Instagram that the movie will not be released on DVD or VCD. So if you don’t get to your nearest cinema now, he said, you won’t be seeing it at all.

Just in time for the Songkran holidays, as they say in marketing, showman Poj has come up with a ploy that could rocket his film to the magic Bt150-million milestone.