PE makes it big with new icon: TV movies
Luas Samudera, Contributor, Jakarta
The biggest news out of the production house industry lately has been the skyrocketing position of Prima Entertainment (PE), which reigns supreme in the land of prime time producers of trendsetting programs for television stations.
The birth of PE in August 2000 sent shivers down the spines of already established houses, such as Multivision Plus, Kharisma Starvision, Persari or Soraya Film.
PE's arrival was heralded in the print media with large ads listing its programs. Weekly news magazine Gamma said PE had spent some Rp 10 billion (about US$1 million) on those ads.
"Promotion is a part of the production cost. It is a kind of boost to our corporate image," says 54-year-old Leo Sutanto, PE president director, the man behind the success of PE.
"I have been involved in the entertainment industry for years, so this isn't like an overnight success. I find it normal for us to expand our business in this industry. I like to provide varied programming so that my products are not limited only to series that have been extended due to overwhelming popularity, but also made-for-TV movies and miniseries," Sutanto said.
As a new player, PE entered the industry with big ideas. In late 2000, it introduced FTV -- short for Film Televisi, who some refer to as made-for-TV movies and movies-of-the-week for SCTV private television station.
Although, it is not the first of its kind, PE has given TV movies a touch of instant success. Its maiden broadcast grabbed a 9 percent rating.
Other stations like ANteve, RCTI and Indosiar, launched these programs under the banner of Telesinema, but the effort did not attract much interest from viewers. Indosiar, which also launched a program by the end of last year, suspended the slot.
"The local series market is associated with middle to low (income) viewers. I want to change that assumption by creating a market for middle to high audiences, too. One of our successful series Pernikahan Dini (Dini's Wedding), I think is for everybody," Sutanto said.
One of the secrets behind the success of FTV is that the shows are less complicated and less expensive than theater movies. That's one of the reasons FTV works better than wide-screen movies.
At a time when Indonesian series and serials mostly show soap opera-like plots, love affairs and extended seasons, PE comes across with fresh new looks and one-off stories with big stars and directors.
In terms of ratings, it has grabbed 7 percent to 13 percent of the market share. With prime-time programming competition among commercial stations reaching cutthroat proportions, double digit- rated programs are considered successful.
FTV has become an icon. In view of the response from viewers and advertisers, SCTV has increased its running time to twice a week, plus it is airing FTV Gold for special holidays, such as a made-for-TV movie about the Chinese community during the lunar new year.
Prima produces 13.5 hours of weekly programming, including six hours of FTV for two stations, 90 minutes of miniseries and six one-hour weekly television series.
Starting out from scratch, PE is now home to about 1,200 crew members, including a pool of writers, talent and production crew members. It has recruited almost all high-flying directors, such as Chairul Umam, Harry Suharyadi, Paquita Widjaja, John De Rantau, Jonggi Sihombing, Arswendo Atmowiloto, Ida Farida and Riri Reza.
"Artists love to work with us because we treat them like family members. There are no gaps between the artists, crew members and Prima. Artists can have a say in the production as long as it is necessary. They can say no to a script when they don't like it. No problem," he said.
Each FTV episode features big stars of entertainment industry.
"But I still find it hard to guess viewers' tastes. A title which we think will pull in the audiences, suddenly becomes a flop in the ratings. I think our viewers love a happy-ending love story and a simple plot," said Sutanto, who produces 104 FTV episodes annually.
Inspired by the success of FTV, Sutanto brought in another format of miniseries under the SMS and LMS banners. Two competing stations, RCTI and SCTV, are running the programs.
Leo Sutanto is a familiar name to most in the entertainment industry. He joined Subentra, which used to hold a monopoly in wide-screen film distribution from 1972 to 1996, before setting up his own company with three friends, who he refuses to name. He was also involved in the production of a couple movies, such as Panji Tengkorak and Ibunda (Mother).
But PE's success story has also had its share of consequences. As the number of terrestrial stations doubled from five to 10 last year, the need for quality programming has also risen. With limited talent to haul in ratings for television stations, competing production houses have had to reach deeper into their pockets.
"Operational costs have risen at a rate of 10 percent to 20 percent annually, but for talent, the rate can go as high as 300 percent," Sutanto said.
Some PE competitors blame this raise partly on Prima Entertainment. With production running in full steam, PE is naturally hungry for talent.
Sutanto has also scored successes in selling Indonesian television programs abroad, which is a rare occurrence.
FTV has traveled even to The Netherlands. "They may be exportable to Malaysia, Brunei and Singapore, but not for other territories due to the language barrier. But certain genre, like telemovies, work better even in the United States and the Netherlands," Sutanto said.
Sutanto's Prima Entertainment has sold 30 titles of telemovies to a Dutch station and is still in negotiations with a distributor in the United States. "What they can do is screen these made-for-TV titles for an Indonesian film week, for example," he said.
Sutanto still has a dream to produce wide-screen movies. "To finance a movie, we need more than one billion rupiah ($100,000). We have made a start with FTV."
"I am now 54 years old, so there is still a little time to make my dreams come true and hopefully we can hope revive our film industry."