CTHV, Mitraguna tie up in licensing of movie titles

JAKARTA (JP): Columbia Tristar Home Video (CTHV) and PT Mitraguna Likorindo announced yesterday an agreement which will enable the licensing of CTHV titles on video cassettes and laser discs in Indonesia.

The agreement, signed by the president director of PT Mitraguna Likorindo, Firman S. Tjandra, and vice president and regional director of eastern hemisphere licensing for CTHV, Janet Robertson, has been effective as of yesterday, a statement from Mitraguna said.

To carry out the agreement, Mitraguna has appointed PT Golden Multi Cahaya Video as importer, and PT Kencanapratama Bhakti, which trades under the name "Video Trek", as distributor.

Under the agreement, Golden Multi Cahaya will import an average of 10 CTHV titles per month to be duplicated on VHS- format video tapes and two CTHV titles on laser discs.

The wholesale price of a video cassette will average Rp 20,000 (US$8.90) and initial estimates suggest 5,000 cassettes of one first-class movie can be sold in the first year of operation.

The recordings will be available for sale in supermarkets, bookstores and other shops. They will also be available to rent.

Currently there are 502 rental stores in Indonesia, including 119 in East Java, 90 in North Sumatra, 80 in Central Java and 60 in Jakarta.

According to the statement, all movies released in video format and several laser disc formats, will be subtitled in Indonesian.

CTHV is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company and is affiliated with Columbia Pictures and Tristar Pictures, which release 20 to 30 feature films a year.

Mitraguna Likorindo is a subsidiary of the Mitraguna Group established by Indra U. Bakrie, among others. The group is also engaged in logging, plywood manufacturing, aviation services, steel mesh production and trading agencies.

Mitraguna Likorindo is involved in the home entertainment industry, with video-duplicating facilities at the Lokananta recording complex in Solo, Central Java.

Lokananta, which has been operating since 1956, currently operates the equipment on behalf of Mitraguna, with a duplicating capacity of 90,000 cassettes a month.

Golden Multi Cahaya is a subsidiary of the Sritex group of companies which has extensive investments in the textile industry. It is also a member of the Video Film Importers Association.

Under the agreement, Golden Multi Cahaya will be responsible for the registration of all movies licensed by CTHV with the Ministry of Information, and the submission of all movies for censorship.

It will also import CTHV releases on laser disc. Since the company will manufacture laser discs specifically for Indonesia, the discs can be subtitled and censored to comply with government regulations. (pwn)