Three Production Sdn Bhd has pledged to make its final payment to members of the crew involved in making the film ‘Come Play with Us’ but expressed hope that they would wait patiently for the money to come.

However, the company disputed the amount owed to the crew members for the payment of back salaries.

The movie crew had previously claimed that Three Production held back their salaries for seven months, collectively amounting to RM500,000.

In a press conference yesterday, company's founder Stanley Law stressed that only 29 crew members were involved and the amount owed is not more than RM400,000.

Law said the allegations of fraud and dishonesty made by the crew to the media on Aug 17 for not making the payment were "malicious".

He reiterated that the company was not able to settle the wages because its Singaporean investor did not make their payment as promised.

“We have updated the crew members through a WhatsApp group and informed them that producer Peter Poon has filed a suit against the investor at the High Court in Singapore.

"So they knew about the action we took before they held a press conference on Aug 17," he said.

Law also claimed that some people have sabotaged Three Production and added that the company sincerely wanted to solve the problem, but just needed more time to do so.

"I think it involves a small group of people with bad intentions. Most of the crew members have good relationship with us.

"Just on the day before the movie premiere of 'The Kid from the Big Apple', the media got the news about the incident (back pay issue). Then on June 3, before the movie celebration dinner, reporters were asking about the incident and we had to make clarifications.

"So I suspect someone deliberately sabotaged me, the movie 'The Kid from the Big Apple' and my company Three Production," Law added.

He said 'The Kid from the Big Apple' has been nominated for nine awards at the 28th Malaysian Film Festival and he hoped to prevent any more sabotage.

'We did not force them to work'

Law said his company did not force the crew members to continue working after he told them about the problem regarding the investment.

"I told them that they can stop working if they are worried about their pay, but many crew members agreed to continue. We did not force them.

"We also told them we will add 15 percent to their last payment if they continued to work, and 90 percent of them agreed at the time," explained Law.

He said the company exhausted the available cash flow and he himself had to invest RM500,000 for the movie ‘Come Play with Us’.

Meanwhile, Three Production's lawyer Loi Kwong Fon pointed out that the words "salary arrears" used by the media in their reports were inaccurate.

"I want to clarify that the words are wrong. Salary is meant for employees. However, the crew members signed as independent contractors with the company.

"I hope everyone can use the correct words to avoid any misunderstandings," Loi said.

Apart from the police report they lodged on Aug 17, the crew members also filed a complaint with the National Film Development Corporation (Finas) through the Malaysian Video Staff Union (Profima).

The court case in Singapore is expected to start early next month.