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Johan said, theater owners must improve their services to compete, or sign their own death sentence by sticking to outdated ways.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