Assault of VCDs, TV and crisis kills Yogyakarta movie theaters

By Gin Kurniawan and Sri Wahyuni

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Local movie theaters are facing a critical business situation.

In the past five years, the number of movie theaters here has shrunk by half -- from 16 to eight. And the surviving theaters are in trouble because they are failing to attract moviegoers. They are even forced to cancel a movie sometimes as there are only a handful people wanting to watch a movie.

The Association of Indonesian Movie Theater Businessmen's Yogyakarta branch chairman, Kelik Mujiarto, said the condition has been getting worse for the past three years.

"If the condition persists, I'm sure most of us will no longer be able to bear it," said Kelik, who also manages Widya Theater.

Widya is one of three low-class cinemas still open. The other two are Permata and Senopati. Four others -- Soboharsono, Istana, Indra and Royal -- have long stopped their operations.

Permata, which is managed by NV Pervebi, sells tickets for Rp 700 and Rp 900 each, for day and night shows, respectively. The movie theater is now dying because only a few people show up even when it screens soft-porn films, its top offer for shows.

Permata is currently suffering difficulties paying its daily operational costs, including the wages of its 10 employees.

Permata Theater's owner, Subagio Abdullah, said, "We had to sell our generator and air-conditioning units recently for Rp 20 million to cover our daily operational costs."

He added that his company has, for two months, failed to pay the building's monthly rent of Rp 1.6 million.

Things are no better for the city's upper-class cinemas, including Mataram and Empire, whose managements are under the supervision of the Subentra Group -- holder of the monopoly to import films. Often, both theaters have to cancel movies due to a lack patrons.

Empire's manager, Agus Darsono, said, "We're facing the same problem as other theaters in Yogyakarta."

The number of Mataram's moviegoers has dropped sharply to an average of 60 people, less than 10 percent of its 630-seat capacity.

Mataram Theater's manager, Mustofa, said, "Last year, we could have an average of 200 moviegoers per show."

Mataram, with tickets priced at Rp 4,000 each, could get a monthly gross income of about Rp 70 million previously. Now, this has dropped to about Rp 30 million a month, forcing the management to take efficiency measures, including laying off 17 of its 42 employees.

According to the theater managers, the ongoing crisis must be the main cause of the theaters' difficult business situation because for most people, the first priority is buying staple foods and not spending money for movie tickets,

They said a weakening rupiah against the U.S. dollar has made it difficult to import good films. As a result, due to the lack of films, the same film can be screened for weeks -- sometime for a full month, in the same cinema. There used to be about four new films a month.

"Boredom might also have made moviegoers reluctant to go to the movies," said Mustofa.

Another thing which keeps people away from the cinema is the vast growing number of video compact disc (VCD) rental shops in the city and the expanding broadcasting range of private television stations.

"The number of moviegoers began decreasing when private television stations reached most of the regions in the country," Kelik said.

This was confirmed by another movie theater manager, Subagio Abdullah of Permata, who also runs movie theaters in the Central Java's towns of Banyumas, Banjarnegara and Wonosobo.

"People prefer to watch television than go to the movies," Subagio said.

He said the condition was much worse for him because most of his top films -- especially Indian and Mandarin action films -- had been broadcasted by private stations even before his theaters screened them.

Yayuk Agustin, a 35-year-old housewife, said that good television programs, including the news and entertainment shows, have helped her family save money.

"I'm reluctant to go to the movies nowadays. It's just wasting money, especially in a time of crisis like this. Besides, we have good TV programs, and for the films we want to see, there are VCDs to rent," Yayuk said.

Most people feel that renting VCDs is much more efficient than going to the movies. At only Rp 1,500 for one, or Rp 5,000 for three VCDs, the whole family can enjoy their favorite films without even leaving home.

According to Yogyakarta's Association of Video Businessmen's chairman, Ade Effendi, people's interest in running a VCD rental business in the city has sharply increased, especially in the past three years.

The association has recorded 147 registered VCD rental shops over the years. Most are located in the Yogyakarta municipality (71) and Sleman regency (67). Reportedly, there are also hundreds of others which are not registered.

Running a VCD rental shop is indeed very profitable. An original VCD costs about Rp 50,000 or Rp 60,000, while illegal copies are sold at Rp 15,000 each. It is no secret that pirated VCDs are widely available here. Those which are pirated include new films which have not been screened at movie theaters.

An exception of this is Garin Nugroho's Daun Di Atas Bantal (A Leaf on a Pillow). The film is not available at any VCD rental shop. That probably explains why a huge number of people go to the cinema to watch it.

"I suppose it's because the film is not available on VCD, it can attract so many moviegoers," Empire's manager Agus Darsono said.

He said more than 17,000 moviegoers came to his theater in the first week of its screening in mid-October.

He hoped that the authorities would crack down illegal VCDs and that more good local films would be produced in the near future to help revitalize the movie theater business.