Filmmakers find cheap ways to produce films

JAKARTA (JP): In this time of crisis when prices are skyrocketing, filmmakers are finding economical ways to reduce costs without sacrificing quality that can attract more sponsors and advertisers.

There is no point in insisting on using expensive celluloid film if filmmakers cannot afford to buy it, according to director Marselli Sumarno.

"To be practical, a filmmaker should use an ordinary video camera," Marselli says.

The video can later be sent for post-production abroad where it will be transferred to 35mm celluloid film. A minute of transfer costs about Rp 15 million (US$1,250), he says.

A 90 to a 100-minute movie would therefore cost around Rp 1.25 billion, cheaper than the normal Rp 2 billion to Rp 3 billion cost of a comparable movie using celluloid film.

"Companies in Australia, Los Angeles or Singapore have been doing this all the time with commercial advertisements," Marselli says.

The head of the Film School at the Jakarta Arts Institute added that companies normally took takes for advertisements with a video camera.

Via computerized editing, they do away with bad shots and final editing would see the remainder transferred onto celluloid film.

Noted director Garin Nugroho says that the soaring costs of film cans and post-production -- that include voice mixing and film printing -- could be lowered.

"Explore the possibility of finding sponsors that you have never thought of before," he says.

This trick has led him to starlet Christine Hakim's business partners who referred him to the Hubert Bals Foundation in Rotterdam which helped finance his Daun Di Atas Bantal (A Leaf On A Pillow) in which Christine stars.

The film also received two million yen (Rp 169 million), compliments of the executive committee of Japan's Kobe Film Festival which provides grants to filmmakers from developing countries.

In addition to foreign sponsors, Garin has also been successful in alluring local sponsors, including the government.

He secured government subsidies of Rp 680 million (US$56,000) for his third production, Bulan Tertusuk Ilalang (When The Moon Dances).

Johan Tjasmadi, former chairman of the National Film Assessment Board (BP2N) which distributes government subsidies for local film production, says he asked the then minister of information Harmoko to support the movies to help boost them into the international limelight.

The government, through BP2N, also helped Slamet Rahardjo produce Telegram, with a loan of Rp 250 million and a subsidy of the same amount.

Telegram is a joint production of the Indonesian film company PT Ekapraya Tata Cipta Film and France's Artcam International. It cost three million francs, of which Indonesia will shoulder 70 percent.

Slamet says having a French partner will especially be helpful in promoting the movie in international fora.

He says screening movies in international film festivals helps a lot with the movie's publicity and could lead to attracting sponsorship.

"Telegram will be taken to the Cannes Festival in May, and might garner some attention. This will help its screening here," he says.

Other ways that filmmakers have tried to promote a film is seminars, workshop, discussions and other gatherings which attract wide publicity.

Daun di Atas Bantal is one example. No single media company, print or electronic, has missed reporting on this film, since long before it debuted.