Future of TV industry may rely on 'sinetron'

Future of TV industry may rely on 'sinetron'

By Marselli Sumarno

JAKARTA (JP): The annual Indonesian Film Festival was scrapped
in 1993 in response to the national film industry's decline in
recent years. But the TV film industry, called sinetron, has
skyrocketed since there have been five TV stations.

The third Indonesian Sinetron Festival was held on Thursday
night and 44 cups were awarded in various categories. The cup for
best sinetron went to Vonis Kepagian (Premature Verdict) directed
by Dedi Setiadi.

The Indonesian Sinetron Festival was set up to promote and
develop local TV programs, whereas the Indonesian Film Festival
was grounded in the national film world. Therefore there are two
questions: Will the sinetron festival fulfill its objectives?
Will the festival live long?

To answer it is necessary to look at local TV programs.

The government has appealed to TV stations to get at least 70
percent of their programs locally. Although a 70 percent quota
has not been reached more local programs have proven to be as
good as imported ones. The series Si Doel Anak Sekolahan (Doel,
the School Boy), for example, has managed to edge out the popular
Baywatch series.

Asiaweek magazine splashed an attractive report in its Nov. 8
edition about the quality of local Asian programs which attracted
local viewers. In short, there is no need to worry about an
onslaught of imported programs.

Consequentially, local producers have to be ready to meet
rising demand. Five years ago Indonesia made hundreds of sinetron
programs a year. This year almost 3,000 were made. The increase
is greater if music shows, quizzes, talk shows and other programs
are included.

Several hundred production houses have cropped up but only a
handful, those that have been involved in the film industry, are
strong. Examples are Marissa Haque's PT Ratna Artha Mulia, Raam
Soraya's PT Soraya Film, Gope Samptani's PT Rapi Film, Chand
Warwez's PT Star Vision and, the biggest of all, Raam Punjabi's
PT Multivision.

They can survive because they have adequate capital and
management experience.

So it can be said TV program production in Indonesia has
entered the industrial stage and become capitalistic. It is a
public secret, for instance, that private TV stations have
allotted air time for strong producers whose programs are certain
to attract advertisements.

However, producers tend have the same interests. Sinetron
series, resembling the popular South American telenovelas, are
screened on Indonesia's five TV stations.

They usually have a dramatic love theme and are heavily
colored with intrigue and hatred. They are set in cities and
feature beautiful and handsome people. The plots are deliberately
confusing to draw the series out.

Another trend is repeating national films in a mini series
form. For example Badai Pasti Berlalu (The Storm Will Pass) and
Si Kahayan.

The latest trend is for sinetron producers to buy the rights
to popular Indonesian novels.

Sinetron programs based on popular novels (like stories by
Mira W. Ike Supomo) are expected to flood TV programming next
year.

But subject uniformity will bore viewers and the trend will
limit program variation. People are objecting to the films being
made and lamenting that only a few family programs or stories
about teenagers' lives are being made, even though today's youth
have many complex problems which would make for interesting
television

Sinetron programs about social issues are rare. Surely viewers
would be interested in everyday themes and problems which are
familiar to them.

The award for Vonis Kepagian shows viewers are longing for
social themes.

The story was about a female teacher, in a small town, trying
to solve the rape of her ex-student and her friend. She failed
because the rapist was the son of a high official who wielded his
power so justice was not done.

Considering this, what are the prospects for the Indonesian
Sinetron Festival? Because it is new the festival still stands in
the shadow of the defunct Indonesian Film Festival.

Firstly, there is a sort of dependency on the government which
restricts freedom of performance. Secondly, no limitations have
been set about the type of winners as categories are more related
to the production of programs.

One thing was realized at the U.S. Emmy Awards. There were
various categories which all spawned a variety of attractive
programs. The documentary picture Anak Seribu Pulau (Children of
thousands of islands) should not be rejected just because it was
not taped on video. Also, if awards are for sinetron alone, what
about the best quiz and talk show producers?

Thirdly, popular and artistic programs would be assessed on
their merits.

If the Indonesian Sinetron Festival could solve these
problems, the sinetron industry would become a yardstick in the
Indonesian TV industry's development.