Community
Mar 4, 2020
Million Dollar Challenge Awardee Baki Zainal has a personality bigger than the smile on his face in his featured clip-and you can't help but smile, too, as you watch him execute a textbook waterslide launch.
All this considered, it makes perfect sense to learn that Baki's day job is working as a TV personality. In Baki's own words, his current gig has him climbing mountains, trekking through rain forests, riding on water buffalo and more. All in a days work, right?!
Read on to learn more about Baki, his tips on using GoPro and his participation in the HERO8 MAX Million Dollar Challenge.
GoPro: When did you first start using GoPro?
Baki: The first time I ever used a GoPro was on my TV show. I host a Chinese travel program in Malaysia, and the crew would constantly get me to hold on to a GoPro as to record my POV and my personal reactions. I really liked the results, so my manager at that time got me a HERO4 as my Christmas present. I remember how excited and how proud I was walking into adventures and outings with my buddies with my own GoPro in hand-plus, it was the latest model at that time. I even got a customized body kit sticker for my HERO4 so that it would stand out from the others. She even had a name; I called her Jane.
For years, Jane followed me on my bike touring sessions, my dives and more. And then, I became part of the GoPro Family, and I remember the moment I got my HERO7 Black. I was working with the latest Sony and Canon cameras at the time, and I was told that the technology was getting so much more convenient on GoPro and it was easier to edit my own videos on the GoPro App. (I am a noob when it comes to tech) So I embraced the challenge and took the HERO7 for a spin, and boy oh boy! By the end of the night, I was in the airport flying home, and I had a two minute video edited by myself and ready to share! I have not turned back and constantly have a GoPro in either my bag or in my pocket.
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by bakizainal (@bakizainal) on Feb 3, 2020 at 5:23pm PST
--
What's your favorite new feature?
Well, I don't know if this is for everyone, but I realized that, slowly but surely, I begin to have a fave function in the GoPro. For me, my fave in the HERO8 is LiveBurst*.
I constantly look for opportunities to use the camera to capture jump shots or be the cool guy at parties ( ) who has a camera with a wide enough angle to fit everyone in the selfie. Or just being able to take nice, pretty selfies with my mom when I bring her on my adventures and travels. My mom can't understand a selfie pose, so she keeps moving. With the LiveBurst, I get to choose that perfect candid shot of her.
*PRO TIP: LiveBurst is best for capture the action and feelings of the moment. It captures a 3-second 4K video, or the equivalent to 90 12MP still frames.
What inspired your awarded clip?
My Million Dollar video was taken in an extreme waterpark in Penang, Malaysia. A few of my friends and I just came off a shoot, and it was a weekday, so I was like: Let's go to the waterpark. It will be less crowded!
This water slide seemed really crazy because it's a free fall that ends with you being catapulted into a 5-meter deep pool. I was like: Yup, that sound like fun! I had set up my HERO8 by the pool and decided to take my MAX onto the slide. There were so many things running through my head at that time-the free fall, the pool, etc.-but I knew I wanted to take a selfie of myself midair for the Gram. When I previewed the shot, I knew I need to post the whole video.
Did you think you had a Million Dollar shot?
My friends told me the video was really funny, especially my facial reaction. I was not really satisfied with it because there was a water drop on the lens. But I remembered that a fellow GoPro Fam member, @BareKiwi, once said: Your ordinary might be some else's extraordinary, so I decided to submit the clip. In fact, after those words, I kept sending in clips of me traveling, diving and out with my mom for GoPro Awards-not just for the Million Dollar Challenge but to see if I have improved and if GoPro would pick up my stuff for their social media.
How do you plan to use your $22,222USD earnings?
This is just cray cray cherry on top. For sure, the three things I want do with the money are:
Bring Mom on more of our Mom Son oversea trips (maybe even Mecca and use GoPro there).
Fund a little project I have going on with the sea gypsy on a little island in Sabah.
Have a solo trip out to either the highlands of Mongolia, Petra or even Iceland.
Watch the full Million Dollar Challenge HERO8 MAX video here.
Most recent headlines
11/12/2025
Dalet, a leading provider of cloud-native, end-to-end media workflow solutions, ...
06/12/2025
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. A new survey from Pixitmedia by Datacore revealed a major shift in the Media & Entertainment industry in media archiving, with 85% of resp...
06/12/2025
HACKENSACK, N.J. LiveU has announced that the national public broadcaster Czech Television has completed one of the largest LiveU live production deployments fo...
06/12/2025
NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS) presented the Excellence in Production Technology Emmy Award to NASA+ and Dr. Tom Leight...
05/12/2025
2025 Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame: Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nati...
05/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Veritone's Sean King on the Power of Mining Video, Audio DataThe company's Data Refinery offers users total control and governance over da...
05/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: Inside the Nashville Predators' Unified, Flexible, Sca...
05/12/2025
Netflix Reaches Agreement To Acquire Warner Bros. Following Planned WBD SplitThe deal does not include WBDs sports assets like TNT Sports (US, UK, LatAm), Euros...
05/12/2025
FOX Sports Returns to Indianapolis for Primetime Broadcast of Big Ten Championsh...
05/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Digital Engagement & Monetization Workshop Tackles the ...
05/12/2025
Atlanta United Lights Up New Emory Healthcare Studio With First Live Broadcast f...
05/12/2025
As Messi Takes the Pitch, MLS, Apple, NEP Roll Out Largest MLS Cup Production Ev...
05/12/2025
ESPN Enters College Football's Most Intense Month With Elevated Workflows fo...
05/12/2025
It's about that time! Awards season is in full swing, and the Film Independe...
05/12/2025
Every year, Spotify Wrapped offers a personalized look back at the audio that defined your year. It's a snapshot of your listening habits, designed to tell ...
05/12/2025
In 2025, Spotify's EQUAL, GLOW, and RADAR programs celebrated women, LGBTQIA , and emerging artists who turned moments into milestones. From breaking record...
05/12/2025
In our latest blog, we explain how Wi-Fi 7 rollouts can drive consumer loyalty with value-add services such as consumer cybersecurity. We also explore how this ...
05/12/2025
LOS ANGELES Netflix announced it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Nielsens Gracenote has launched Gracenote Content Connect, a new ad platform that provides agencies, brands, supply-side platforms (SSPs) and demand-si...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK In an most important update to the workings of deal-based programmatic advertising, IAB Tech Lab has released version 1.0 of its Deals API for public c...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Pass the turkey. Pass the stuffing. Pass the cranberry sauce. All are common requests of Americans celebrating Thanksgiving Day with family and f...
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. Netflix announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of Warner Bros. for $82.7 billion....
05/12/2025
NEW YORK Iris, the new cloud-connected camera control platform, has officially launched with features that turn virtually any PTZ camera into a software-connect...
05/12/2025
WASHINGTON The Federal Communications Commission has approved AT&T's $1.02 billion acquisition of spectrum from UScellular in a decision that was issued sho...
05/12/2025
The Best Coldplay Songs: 21 Tracks That Shoot for the Stars From Yellow to Viva La Vida, Fix You to Paradise, this playlist goes back to the start.
December ...
05/12/2025
Zafris Lecture Series Brings Nabil Ayers to Berklee The 32nd annual James G. Zafris Distinguished Lecture series was held on Thursday, November 13, with guest...
05/12/2025
Friday 5 December 2025
A new Game of Thrones Tale: Official trailer for Sky Exc...
05/12/2025
Back to All News
Don Lee, Lee Jin-uk, and Lalisa Manobal to Star in Netflix Act...
05/12/2025
Tis the season of giving once again and this year we've taken our Give Back Fridays' concept and turned it on its head.
In the autumn we were approach...
05/12/2025
Brayden Gogis doesn't remember a time when he wasn't completely fixated on games in all forms. In preschool, when they asked us to dress up as what we ...
05/12/2025
The Grinch steals the spotlight as the theme for The Late Late Toy Show 2025
Tune in tonight at 9:35pm on RT One and worldwide on RT Player
#LateLateToyShow...
05/12/2025
RT Announces New Presenters of Flagship News Programmes
New RT Six One News co-presenter Tommy Meskill
Sarah McInerney & Justin McCarthy join Morning Ir...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir Blackmagic Design HyperDeck Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & ...
04/12/2025
ToolsOnAir AJA Ki Pro Event Presets for just:in mac pro 2025 & just:in linux
More Details:Starting with version 5.5, both just:in mac pro and just:in linux sol...
04/12/2025
Wangu Kanuri from Kenya and Godwin Asediba from Ghana are two of this years finalists for Thomsons Young Journalist of the Year Award. The pair are runners-up i...
04/12/2025
SVG Sit-Down: ProximaVision's Claudio Lisman on Why Tethered Drones Could Be...
04/12/2025
SVG Campus Shot Callers: Imry Halevi, Senior Associate Director of Athletics, Co...
04/12/2025
Platinum White Paper: LiveU Lightweight Sports Production: A Step Change in Spor...
04/12/2025
London to Riyadh: DAZN brings the boxing glamour to new production levels for Be...
04/12/2025
Analysis: Paramount bets on the battering ram' with Champions League play By Callum McCarthy, Editor-at-Large
Tuesday, December 2, 2025 - 10:12
Print ...
04/12/2025
Space City Home Network Launches SCHN DTC App for Astros and RocketsThe Rockets and Astros were previously the lone NBA and MLB teams without a DTC appBy Jason...
04/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Content Workflows Workshop Spotlights Evolution of Spor...
04/12/2025
New Sponsor Spotlight: Geotech's Patrick Wambold On the Unreal Engine Revolu...
04/12/2025
Curt Gowdy Jr. - Master Storyteller, Nationally and RegionallyBy Jason Dachman, Editorial Director, U.S.
Thursday, December 4, 2025 - 1:52 pm
Print This Sto...
04/12/2025
(L-R) Rebecca Lichtenfeld, Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki, and Judith Helfand att...
04/12/2025
SBS launches Future Frames initiative to support emerging First Nations video ed...
04/12/2025
Coronal mass ejections caused by eruptions on the surface of the sun can have fa...
04/12/2025
Gracenote Content Connect enables media ecosystem to precisely align ad campaigns and programming based on rich content signals
NEW YORK - December 4, 2025 - N...
Community 
