Cinema theaters encounter challenges

Cinema theaters encounter challenges

By Stevie Emilia

JAKARTA (JP): Movie theater owners are worried as the final
curtain falls for many of their colleagues.

The problem is dwindling audiences. Some lay blame squarely
with alleged monopolistic practices of a nationwide film
distributor and cinema owner, as well as the boom in home
entertainment.

But the chairman of the Association of Indonesian Movie
Theater Owners, H.M. Johan Tjasmadi, believes movie theater
owners themselves are responsible for their own woes by failing
to change with the tastes of consumers.

Like it or not, Johan said, theater owners must improve their
services to compete, or sign their own death sentence by sticking
to outdated ways.

"The decline in the number of movie theaters is very dramatic.
It has happened because the owners don't want to improve their
theaters," said the 60-year-old executive producer of Fatahillah,
a historical biopic of one of the country's greatest heroes.

"I predict the number of theaters will continue to decline
next year."

In 1990, the association recorded 3,048 screens all over the
country, but this had slumped to 2,000 two years later.
Currently, there are around 1,350 screens nationwide, 300 of
which are located in Jakarta.

During this decade, more home entertainment technology, such
as laser disc and video compact disc players, has become
available to consumers, Johan said. For many, they are now
everyday trappings of their lives.

Johan said theater owners should take this development as the
cue to better their services.

"If people can easily have home entertainment, we should be
able to give them better stuff," said the former owner of three
theaters.

This means better sound systems, screens and more comfortable
seats to lure the public back into the movie theaters.

"Theater owners should do their best to make people willing to
leave their homes and go to theaters," Johan said. "People think
why should they go out and watch something when they can do the
same at home."

He said he continually reminded the owners to view technology
as a challenge, not a threat.

"We can't blame technology for the decline in the number of
theaters. If we're against it, it is the same as opposing the
sun...It's impossible for us to win. That's why we have to learn
from it."

Some owners, particularly of small and medium operations,
complain they lack funds to overhaul their services. These have
been the hardest hit by lower ticket sales, and many have
resorted to screening low-budget sex and violence flicks in a
desperate bid to win back viewers.

"These small and medium theaters are the ones which end up
closing down," he said. "It's a fact that people are now
reluctant to go to low quality theaters."

Even in Jakarta, theater closings are a common occurrence but
the problem is not as acute as in outlying areas.

"But when there's a theater closing in Jakarta, a new theater
is opened. So, the number of theaters here is stable," he said.

He argued that watching a laser disc in the privacy of one's
home did not beat the full experience of visiting a movie
theater.

"I still believe there are many moviegoers who love watching
large screens with a good sound system."

Image

Small and medium movie theaters also suffer from an image
problem as a hangout for hoodlums and the arena for showing of
soft porn.

Johan emphasized that theaters were not merely entertainment
centers, but also places of social interaction. "Inside a
theater, one meets people from different social classes. One
should behave oneself and try not to disturb others."

Families will stay away from movie theaters with unsavory
reputations, he warned, as films were considered entertainment
for all family members.

"Once I was very angry when association members questioned my
objection to them screening titillating movies. They said 'You
should not object because people these types of movies'," Johan
said.

"My conscience objects. If children behave badly after
watching such a movie, is responsible? Nobody refuses getting
money, but, in the long term, movies of this kind are dangerous."

Upscale theaters are considered recreation centers for
families, he said, citing the popularity of children's movies
among kids and parents alike.

"But people are reluctant to visit low-class theaters because
of the image as a hangout for undesirables," he said. "It's a
pity. The theaters should maintain a good image because, once it
is tarnished, it is difficult to restore."