Cooperation between film, TV industries

Cooperation between film, TV industries

JAKARTA (JP): Pessimism is the general mood of those involved
in the motion-picture industry, from actors and actresses,
directors, producers and movie theater owners. Flourishing
television stations are one reason behind this dark mood. Many
have changed direction and it seems that everybody is producing
tele-novellas.

Such a shift could have been avoided if television stations
worked hand in hand with the film industry.

The latest step toward that direction was taken by Sophan
Sophiaan, chairman of the Television and Film Employees
Organization, in cooperation with PT Indosiar Visual Mandiri,
owners of the private television station Indosiar.

Unfortunately, the cooperation turned out to be a disaster.
Indosiar screened Sophan's film Sesal (Regret) at the same time
as it was released in cinemas. The result was not surprising.
Cinema attendance was less than 300 people.

But this was not the first disaster. Putu Wijaya's film Plong
(Relief) was shown on the educational television station TPI, as
well as a number of campuses across Indonesia, when it had not
even been released in cinemas yet.

Despite this discouraging experience, many believe that
cooperation between the film industry and television industry may
yield better results if handled properly.

The following comments reveal the mixed attitudes toward the
local film industry and its challenges, the threat from
television and what should be done to promote a healthier
competition between the two in this era of television domination.

H.M. Johan Tjasmadi, screen writer, director and chairman of
the Association of Indonesian Movie Owners: The Indonesian movie
industry should look to the mechanism in Hollywood, the center of
film culture.

Films are grouped into two main categories, one for cinema and
one for television.

"The film market mechanism in the U.S. is called 'window
time'. Under this mechanism, films produced for the cinema may be
shown on television, but not the other way round," he said.

In the U.S., a film may be distributed in video cassettes or
laser discs six months after its premier screening. It takes
another six months before it is allowed to be screened on cable
television and another six months on any television network.

"This means that it takes one and a half years for a film to
reach public television audiences," he explained.

Sophan Sophiaan, actor, director and chairman of the
Television and Film Employees Organization:

The future will remain bleak for the Indonesian film industry
as long as the government restricts freedom of creativity and
people involved in the film industry fail to be professional.

"Take my film, Sesal, which was aired by Indosiar on the first
night of its release. The film was not censored by the Film
Censorship Board but four minutes were cut by Indosiar," Sophan,
who is also a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party
faction, said.

The deleted scene from the film, about a female diplomat and
her family, was a meeting at the office of the Indonesian embassy
in Germany, where diplomats discussed an "embarrassing" use of
international aid by the government.

"I told them they should have consulted me because, as
director, I hold the copyright; I might have suggested they just
insert a commercial to replace the scene," he lamented.

The incident only intensified his conviction that the future
remains bleak for the film industry as long as the government
restricts freedom of creativity and lack of professionalism in
those involved in the film industry.

"That's why our organization is not a union, because a union,
like the directors' guild in Hollywood, is comprised of real
professionals. A union would secure jobs for its members and be
held responsible for any of its member's misconduct. A union
would not need recognition from the government."

According to Sophan, his organization is heading in that
direction, being a guild/union. The problem is, no one is
interested in upgrading themselves, even though the organization
has held workshops on various topics such as script writing
techniques and other skills necessary for directors and people
involved in film crews.

Turino Djunaedi, producer, director and chairman of the
Indonesia Motion Picture Producers Association:

Indonesian motion pictures have lost the competition against
foreign films on the big screen as well as on television.
American film industries have all the necessary elements to make
good films, which local films don't have. These are money,
sophisticated technical means and freedom of expression.

They are not reluctant to spend a lot of money to make a film
because their market is worldwide, while the market of the
Indonesian film industry is only Indonesia.

Also, due to fears of censorship, local filmmakers abstain
from touching on some sensitive themes, like corruption, which
might be interesting and saleable to the middle-upper class
society. They escape this by producing films which do not require
a big budget or sophisticated technical means. They make sex
films. At first they were rather hesitant to make such films, but
after seeing that the censorship board released Basic Instinct,
they plagiarized it.

The government and film industry need to discuss what is, and
is not permitted, so that there is some kind of certainty among
local film makers that their films will not be butchered by the
censorship board.

However, given the current situation, we are not pessimistic
over the prospects of the Indonesian film industry. We should try
again to create quality films for the appreciation of the middle-
upper class society.

This year, the Indonesian Film Council and the government will
jointly fund the making of two quality films by two celebrated
directors, Garin Nugroho and Nano Riantiarno. The films are
respectively titled Bulan Tertusuk Ilalang (Moon Pierced by
Weeds) and Cimeng 2005 (The Last Prima Donna). Each is to get Rp
680 million (US$309,090) in funds.

With these films, we hope to revive the middle-upper class
public's appreciation toward Indonesian films.

Zainal Bintang, secretary general of the Indonesian Film
Artists Union:

Under the rulings issued late last year, there will be a new
Censorship Board and the National Advisory Council. The latter is
the replacement of the Film Council.

The establishment of the new bodies is based on the 1992 law
on film which recognizes the wish of the film industry to have an
independent film council and an independent censorship council.

Hopefully I'm wrong, but the name National Film Advisory
Council suggests that the new body, although structurally
independent of the Ministry of Information, will have limited
authority.

Structurally, the new body will be independent because the
chairman is no longer the Director General of Radio, TV and
Films. But, as an "advisory council", it appears that it will not
have any authority, unlike the Film Council which had operational
status and could actually produce films. Also, it is still not
clear where the budget will come from.

If it turns out that the new Council will only have an
advisory status, it means the government has only partially met
our requests for an "independent" council.

Noorca Massardi, journalist and film critic:

To encourage a more lively film condition, the government
should not hesitate in subsidizing Indonesian film production.

I think television stations can actually help revive the big
screen movie industry, and fight the domination of American
movies, by financing the production of local big screen movies.
This system has been widely implemented in France. Canal Plus
station, for example, also produces big screen movies which
later, after being circulated in cinemas, are screened on
television as well.

If the five private stations in Indonesia cooperated and
invested in film production, they could distribute the films in
cinemas first. The next step would be for the films to be shown
on one of the stations and the money received from advertisements
divided among the television stations, based on their investment
share in the film. If Channel X invested 20 percent of the
production costs, it would get 20 percent of the advertising
revenue, plus a percentage of what they reaped in from the film's
circulation in cinemas. There would be no problem of which
television station showed the film because they all still get a
profit from the advertisements.

A cooperation like this can be strong and attract a large
number of viewers because the television stations can advertise
the films intensively. Nowadays, if it is not the television
stations who produce big screen movies, who can? Because it is
only these that have the big capital. If a film can be produced
in one month, there will be 12 films a year. If each station
produces one, that can be up to 60 films a year. It is not only
good for the film industry but also for the sake of the
television stations themselves, because they also need films for
their audiences.

With their big capital, they can produce films using modern
techniques, like those used by Hollywood and they can give better
payments to film directors or scenario writers.

Currently, big names like Arifin C. Noer are only paid about
Rp 3 million (around US$1,363) a film. Why not pay him better so
he can produce something better? I believe that if they pay
better there will be more people willing to be involved and it
can also raise the quality of local films. (als/anr/jsk/M.M.S.
Marthawienata)