FINAS OFFICIAL SAYS I SOUND LIKE A BROKEN RECORD

On the final day of the seminar organized by World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO)/Malaysian Intellectual Property Organisation (MyIPO) in Kuala Lumpur yesterday, I think I stepped on FINAS’s toes a little too hard. Its representative at the seminar publicly said to me “you sound like a broken record”.

Hmmmmm….if he is the official representative of FINAS, his comments would also represent the official stand of FINAS right?

What happened?

Well, you see, it was the final Question and Answer session before the end of the seminar, when I stood up to comment and query the FINAS representative’s earlier presentation and comments made as a member of the final panel.

I asked:” Why is FINAS so interested in trying to market our films overseas, spending hundreds of thousands of ringgit flying all over the world, when they should help market Malaysian finals back home first, or maybe even regionally first.”

I continued: “In Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, and with the exception of Singapore, most movies hope to make back their money domestically first. Marketing their film overseas is a bonus – if it happens.

“You don’t make a film (at least in Asia) with the hope of making a profit from overseas sales without first wanting to make a profit back home. So what I am suggesting is for FINAS to seriously look to help develop, market and promote Malaysian movies domestically, and for the time being spend less in promoting our films overseas. I wasn’t sure why such a request would irk FINAS.

I also said: “Right now there is an average of 300,000 regular viewers and supporters of Malay movies or Malaysian movies, there should concentrate on how to increase this number of people viewing local movies.”

The FINAS representative immediately replied that I sounded like a broken record.

“I don’t know where Anwardi got this figure of 300,000 from. I want to know if Anwardi has got the addresses and phone numbers of these people or not. If what Anwardi say is true, can he explain how come two years ago, ticket sales was 3 million and last year it went up to over 5.29 million? Where does Anwardi get his numbers?”

“As for us going to festivals overseas, we don’t do it because we want to. We do it at the request of the industry. It is the associations that ask us to organize these trips to markets overseas. We listen to the associations and industry, WE DON’T LISTEN TO THE OPINION OF AN INDIVIDUAL!”

Unfortunately, the panel chairman stopped the beginning of a very interesting debate because I would actually gone on to thank the FINAS rep for proving my figure with his statement.

Firstly, the number 300,000 is not something that I pulled out of a hat. The number is the figure mentioned by the President of the Film Producer’s Association, Encik Ahmad Fuad Onah, in a previous seminar held in FINAS.

Anyway, the figure the FINAS representative mentioned was for the annual ticket sales. Let’s take his biggest number, the 5 million ticket sales last year. He actually proved that Ahmad Fuad’s statement was not accurate but in fact the PPFM’s President’s figure was actually quite generous. The number was LESS!!

Last year, according to FINAS’s website, 25 films were screened. And yes, 5.29 million tickets were sold. This means that an average of just over 200,000 tickets were sold per movie. Not 300,000 as what Ahmad Fuad Onah and I believed it to be. The number is actually quite smaller. In fact, in FINAS’s website, it states under the 2008 statistics column: ‘purata jumlah penonton - 212,000.” (Average viewership per film is 212,000 viewers).

Yes, he was right when he said more 5 million tickets were sold. However, this does not mean that there are 5 million Malay movie fans out there. It was, and FINAS’s website confirms it, an average of 212,000 viewers per movie.

That’s what FINAS statistics says. Not Ahmad Fuad’s. Nor mine. And therefore, if we had only ONE movie screened last year, and the ticket sales for the same year is 5.29 million, yes, I would agree that there is probably more than 5 million viewers that watch local movies,

Now, as for the industry wanting FINAS to find international markets for their movies and FINAS listening to these wishes by the industry (associations), let me try and make some sense of this statement.

For one, the industry has asked for many, many things from FINAS, but NOT ALL were granted. Which is fine. We cannot be and we should not be spoon fed or even fully subsidised by the government. But how come this particular request was given due recognition?

Does FINAS think there are billions of Ringgit waiting for Malaysian movies out there? Are there distributors and cinema owners in Europe and the Americas that are dying to screen Malaysian movies? Doesn’t FINAS give advice to the industry when they make unrealistic demands? Why doesn’t FINAS tell the industry, “Hey guys, why don’t you buck up locally first? Why don’t we try to promote locally produced movies amongst non-Malays? That’s a huge market waiting to be tapped IN MALAYSIA!”

But fine, let’s say that FINAS always acquiesce to industry’s demands and, as the FINAS rep says, they listen to the industry. Well. if the industry wants FINAS to start a national cinema chain (which they have asked for for the past decade) why haven’t they done so? Maybe because such endeavours doesn’t entail any overseas trips?

Anyway, my ramblings in my blog or at workshops and seminars will not make any difference right? Of course not. According to him, FINAS doesn’t listen to the individual’s opinions. We, filmmakers, who always consider ourselves as individuals first and everything else second, are nothing. FINAS only listens to the industry. Not the industry players'. Not individuals'.

I had better stop. I am beginning to sound like a broken record.

(Endnote: Another participant at the seminar told me: “Di, if you sound like a broken record, what does FINAS sound like? Hmmmmmm.)

FILM FUND FIASCO - WHO IS TO BLAME?

In the front page of the Sunday Times today - REEL MESS RM50m loan scheme for film producers a failure.
And the blame is being put solely on the producers who got the loans and produced non-performing movies at the box office and also those who didn't even finish making their films.
Of the so many people who received the loans, the DG of Finas commended the KRU brothers for producing Cicakman that made money and actually serviced their loans. The FINAS KP actually told other producers to emulate them.
Now, back to the question at hand. Firstly, the fund is a loan. Not a grant. It is to be paid back to the government.
It is managed by FINAS and SME Bank. The vet and approve the loans.
There is a committee that vets the proposals. This committee recommends and, at a recent seminar in FINAS, claims to oversee the production (I wrote about this in an earlier posting). The supervisory factor it seems is so strict that a producer who changes the approve cast or even location would be fined a sum for doing so.
Now, having said that, if the recipient of the loan fails to produce a movie (that they approve) that made back its money, who is to blame? The committee that approves it or the producer that got the money and spends it any which way he can?
For Pete's sake, it's a loan. It's not a grant.
Didn't the committee check if the recipients are capable of paying back the loan?
Wasn't there a stop gap measure imposed to ensure that the loans are paid back?
Didn't any of FINAS lawyers aware of the loophole that states the loan will only be paid when the movie is screened? So the producers who failed to complete their movies and not get it on screen need NOT service the loan? Wow!!
Man!! I wished I had taken a loan, spent a bit of it on a fictitious movie and the rest on a Mercedes or a Beamer, and just sit tight and smile. Fuck the movie. I don't have to pay it back because I am not going to screen it.
So what is the KP of FINAS doing about this? Looks like he's going for a knee jerk solution.
He is going to review the disbursement of the loan.
Instead of the previous 60 percent up front disbursement, he is thinking of releasing only 10 percent. The rest will be released in stages to ensure the funds is used responsibly.
And I thought he has production experience. He was, if I am not mistaken, the MD of Pesona Pictures before he took on the helm at FINAS. So he should understand that the burn rate in fillm production is FAST! You have a 30-day shoot schdule, and you spend a million buck within that 30-days. Money MUST be in place to ensure smooth production. Now is FINAS thinks that progressive payments to the producer is the solution, and that the producers need to request payments every five or seven days from FINAS, he is clearly not in the right frame of mind.
Everyone knows that dealing with most government departments, getting payments ready and approved takes weeks, even months, and not days.
The paper work, the approvals, the procedures and the signatories required are crazy. In this scenario, either the production of the movie comes to a screaming halt and the personnel jumping ship, or a 30-day production schedule turns into an expensive 90-day staggered shoot.
Nevertheless, the BIG question is, if the film fails, at the box office or even at the production stage, who shoulders the failure - FINAS or the producer?
Isn't it FINAS who approves the loan, and therefore in doing so, isn't it a rubber stamp signifying that they believe the producer and his product will make back the money?
Isn't it logical that they wouldn't have approved and released the money if they thought the movie won't make money right? Or has the criteria in receiving the funds changed? Or are they now approving loans for films that they think will fail or for producers they think will screw up the production?
Hey, if I were a producer, and I came up with a proposal to produce a movie about a chicken that can talk through its backside, and FINAS approves it, and yet it fails in the box office - why blame the me? Shouldn't you blame FINAS for thinking a movie about a chicken speaking through its arsehole can make back RM1.5m at the box office?
What do you think?
But I would rather also talk more about the reason for setting up the fund.
Wasn't part of the reason the fund was created was to develop in the film industry? To help serious filmmakers achieve their visions and for putting Malaysia onto the world cinematic map?
Out of the few titles mentioned in the article that were given loans - Aduhh Saliha, The Chini, Gentayangan, Kantoi, Eeee Hantu and Jibam - were any of these titles of movies that would have made a difference in our cinematic inventory? Were these movies of quality? Were they made by filmmakers who want to make a difference? Were these titles of movies that we can be proud of screening at festivals overseas?
At least, if they fail at the box office, the movies can still be considered by certain parties as khazanah budaya (and by this a box office failure might get even a Ministry to buy the movie wholesale in order to pay off the loan - but even then you need political clout and even bigger strings to pull).
Nevertheless, I guess with titles like those mentioned above, there's no point even considering it as cultural products. So why were these movies approved in the first place? Was it more of a commercial decision than a cultural or artistic ones? Who approved them? And who oversaw the projects?
All these needs to be answered because producers like me, who are thinking of getting such loans, will now suffer because the funds were 'mismanaged' and now it would be more difficult for genuine filmmakers to get loans or grants (if there are any).

ARE TAMIL AND HINDI MOVIES MORE APPRECIATED BY LOCALS?

Isn't it strange that in a country like Malaysia, its own local films are shunned by the masses. Contrary to what you may have heard or read, there is actually no real revival of Malay language movies. If there was, don't you think the cinema operators would have identified or even operate a hall or cineplex meant specifically for Malay laguage movies?
Yet there hasn't.
This means that cinema operators feel that Malay language movies cannot sustain a cinema hall because the fans of Malay movies, and most of them have to be Malays, are not regularly watching these Malay language movies.
However, there is enough of a fan base for Tamil and Hindi movies to actually have cinema halls catering for this 'small' community. Strange.
For example, in Kuala Lumpur and PJ I know of at least four cinema halls are considered 'Indian cinemas' - State, Federal, Capital Square and Odeon cinema. These halls book more Tamil and Hindi titles than most cinemas, and surprisingly, these cinemas make money and get regular patronage from the Indian community.
So you can excuse my confusion if I wonder why Malaysia, being a Malay majority country, cannot have one cinema hall that caters to only Malay language movies.
In my opinion, as long as Malay language movies are not considered viable products by the cinema operators, I cannot consider them (Malay languaged movies) as something loved and supported by Malays, less so Malaysians.
I don't know when this will change. Some say it's a chicken and egg situation.
Build a cinema chain for Malay movies first, and the fans will come.
But cinema operators want to see the fan base increase ten fold first before they can even consider creating a cinema chain specifically for screening Malay language movies.
There was once talk about creating a national cinema chain, to be managed and run by GLC's or even FINAS. However, I guess, even FINAS doesn't have the courage nor confidence to run a cinema chain for Malay-language movies or Made-in-Malaysia movies. If they think it was viable, they would have done so.
Maybe with the existence of a new RM200m fund announced recently, the plans for a nationalised cinema chain can be revived. Especially a digital cinema chain, allowing local filmmakers to produce and screen their movies in digital format.
These ideas and policies need brave and strong leadership in our industry. I don't think we have that. So it will not happen.

RM200 MILLION CARROT DANGLING IN FRONT OF FILMMAKERS

Yesterday's budget by the Prime Minister made filmmakers, advertising executives, content producers, musicians and animators drooling with anticipation. An RM200 million fund has been mentioned available to boost our content industry.
Whilst the details are not yet clear, the PM said that the fund will be managed and channeled through Bank Simpanan Nasional. This is a surprise as previously, most of the funds for filmmaking, were channeled through the SME Bank and the Bank Pembangunan.
There was also mentioned that the funds would have an easier mechanism for those applying for it.
So we wait with baited breath again for the fund to be clarified and materialize.
I remember still many months back, an announcement of an RM15 million fund to be created for filmmakers, specifically for those who want to produce patriotic, historical and cultural themed movies. When this was announced, new wannabe producers with political 'connections' suddenly appeared with new production companies proposing movies based on Hang Tuah, Mat Kilau and many other historical 'icons'. Til to date, nothing has materialised.
No FINAS official is willing to confirm the existence of such a fund. Some however said that they are still studying the creation of the fund. Some just said wait and see whilst a few actually told me, they were just waiting for the money to appear.
Meanwhile, savvy producers who knew people who knew other people, managed to find funding from other sources - especially from MDEC and MOSTI. These two institutions, it seems are more than willing to fund heavy visual effects laden movies to the tune of millions.
I won't mention which producers had received some of this rumoured funding and neither will I identify what movies were made from these funds, but what I can tell you is that these movies were not successful at the box office, to say the least. But what do the producers care, the funds they received, it is rumored, were actually grants or what we in the industry like to refer to as 'free money'. This means box office returns doesn't mean a thing to them.
Meanwhile, other serious producers await for more funding to be made available. Uwei Haji Shaari, one of the more well known Malaysian filmmakers in the global stage, actually found funding (not from FINAS) and is prepping his latest movie - AFTER more than ten years of struggling. I wish him well. I only wished that he should have found his funding much much earlier.
Nevertheless, on a positive note, we as filmmakers can just sit and hope that now with the RM200 million fund created, we will see the quality, and not quantity, of our local films improve by leaps and bounds.

STOP DEMONISING LOCAL MOVIES FOR THE ILLS OF SOCIETY!!!

I really hate it when politicians take pot shots at movies for their own warped ends. Why do they keep doing that I don't know.
I didn't want to even mention or touch upon the ongoing UMNO meet at PWTC. I got no reason to since every other blog covers it to death. However, when one Putri UMNO member takes pot shots at the movies, I can't but voice out my concern over such rhetoric.
Why oh why did this member be allowed to go to the platform and make a call to ban all horror and scary movies? Not only locally produced movies of such genre but also foriegn ones. According to her, if such movies were allowed to be produced, people would lose faith in religion (Islam). She wants producers to make movies of good moral values, proper storylines and meaningful subjects for the betterment of society.
And what's worse, her motion on this subject was PASSED!
Only last month, the Minister of Communication, Information and Culture announced that the Government would not support no condone movies or TV productions that highlight the rempit culture. Okay, that's one genre down the drain. Now horror movies.
This has been done before during the famous banning of VHS movies - VHS meaning violence, horror and sex. We barely recovered from that, until some producers started tweaking and testing the waters until Shuhaimi Baba broke the barrier with Pontianak Harum Sundal Malam.
Since then, producers became more courageous and now were brave enough even to produce pure horror movies like Histeria and Jangan Tegur. Not that they were any good, but they were genuine horror movies. What we cannot deny is that horror is a popular genre. Even a half baked production like Momok The Movie, based on my theater play Hantu Hantu Yang Saya Kenali, is raking in millions.
And as far as I know, there is no correlation nor study that proves such movies erode the viewers' faith in religion. Horror movies have been around since the Jalan Ampas days with early Hantu Kubur and Hantu Jerangkung movies.

"Booo!!! Seriously...does this face from the 60s scare you?

Who can also forget Jahlelawati's portrayal of Pontianak or Mariam Manado's Comel on the screen? I know it really looks dated when viewed today, but when it was released back in the 60s, it scared the pants of thousands of viewers.

And there were even horror movies from the US and England being screened. Malayans were introduced to werewolves, vampires. zombies and mummies through the silver screens.
S0 was there a marked decrease in anyone relinquishing their religious views since then? Did Muslims lose faith in God the minute they stepped out of the cinema halls after watching Dendam Pontianak or Sumpah Orang Minyak?
If not why the frequent fear by politicians and the powers that be, that horror movies can be detrimental to our psyche or our society and our religion?
If fact, I remember well when such movies actually made more Malays memorise as many ayats from the Quran as possible to ward of evil. The ayat Kursi also was especially memorised by children to protect themselves.
Is this a bad thing?
In the movies, the azan too was shown as being an effective way to chase evil away.
On the other hand, I also remember once, when we were not allowed to make Malay horror movies, Malay viewers went to see instead Chinese and English horror movies to sate their desires for such cinematic wares.
I could see instead, young kids beginning to believe that plastering yellow pieces of paper on the foreheads of zombies will make them stop hopping and also making the crucifix sign will ward off all evil.

Popular Hongkong Keongsi movies are loved by young and old, Malays and Chinese.

See? If we don't have Malay movies to show that verses from the Quran or specific doas are used to protect oneself, young Malaysians would instead pick up from the foreign movies other funny explanations on how to get rid of ghosts and monsters. These include using garlic bouquets, driving oak stakes into the hearts of vampires and even holding your breath to confuse Keongsis.

I really really hope that calmer heads and clearer minds run our political arena. There are so many other important issues to focus on. Banning horror movies is not one of them.
If you want to ban something that has been proven to be deadly then ban long public holidays. We all know that long public holidays create massive traffic exodus called balik kampung. And hundreds have died and thousands maimed and injured every time such holidays take place. This is fact.
As far as I know, no horror movie made in Malaysia has killed a single person.
So which is worse?
So stop picking on filmmakers. As it is, our censorship is already stifling. Stop demonising our local films and let us make movies for the masses and give them what they want.

NEXT DOCUS FOR AWANI...YEAY!!!

Awani has just commissioned me to do three more documentaries by year's end. Had a meeting recently and the three documentaries would basically be reflections on certain events that occurred in 2009.
One is about the sidelining of the English language in our education system - especially the retraction of teaching Mathematics and Science in English. I plan to approach this documentary, though 30 minutes in duration, in a Micheal Moorish documentary style. A light hearted look at the issue. Hopefully Awani can accept this treatment.
The second one is a look baack at the performing arts scene in Malaysia in 2009.
The third, which will be the biggie, is an in-depth documentary on environmental issues and finding out where Malaysia stands on these issues. This would be interesting as United Nations has just announced that it was disappointed with the recent environmental talks held in Bangkok which is a precursor to the more important Copenhagen meet before the year's end. The Copenhagen meet is important because the UN is trying to replace the soon-to-end Kyoto Protocol with a sterner and more firm declaration for all to agree on.
I know most of you really don't think going green is not important or rather most feel that the global environmental problem is not yet a crisis and if it was, it's the problem of governments and not individual citizens.
I belong to this group. I am hardly a green person.
Nevertheless, I have been watching documentaries over the past weeks about global heating and other environmental problems.
And then the tsunami in Samoa happened, and followed by the storms in Vietnam and Philippines.
A few days back, thousands died in Padang in a massive 7.6 earthquake followed by a 6.6 aftershock a day later.
I was thinking - maybe Mother Nature trying to tell us something? Is she angry? Is she saying that all the previous signs that she has shown should not have been ignored? Is that why within a fortnight she showed her might?
These recent events, has made me think about my position in the whole issue.
And I think I would want to know what other Malaysians think about it too. What more the positions of other Malaysians - both laypersons and scholars, along with the people in charge of policy making.
Through my documentary, I would want to know if the Malaysian government is just giving lip service but maybe not that serious about taking part in the global checking of pollution and other dangerous emissions from industries?
What about our private sector? Are they ignoring the need to be more conscious about green matters too?
I hope to shift through the chaff and find answers. And if I can't find answers, at least I want to get people to ask questions, because I believe now, that we really cannot be selfish and leave a dead planet as a gift for future generations.

I KNOW I KNOW

Yes, I've been lazy. Can you blame me after a week of Hari Raya open housing and makaning? It's the lontong, the lemang, the rendang, the soto...oh my god...too much of good things lah. And all these have made me lazy.
I wanted to write about my week long Raya in Singapore. Post photos. But I did that on Facebook. Had a great time. So did the family, so much so they want to do the same thing again next year. Glad to see my kids get to know their cousins and aunties and uncles and grand uncles and grand aunties. Of course, they enjoyed receiving duit Raya in SingDollars too.
And the food. Yes the food. I don't mean to put down the Malays in Malaysia, but there's something about home cooked Singapore Malay food that is just mind blowing. Is it the rice? Is it the water they use? Is it the spices? Is it the recipe? Or is it just the cook? I don't know. I mean my cousin's nasi beriani was just excellent.
Have been wanting to write about a few things that are on my mind. Things bothering me about where Malay culture is going....about the Arabicizing of the Malay world....for example are we becoming more Arabic leaving behind our Malay roots? Think about it. Is all things Malay taboo? But then again maybe that's too deep.
And then the Padang quake happened...so many lives gone in the blink of an eye, and for no good reason.
Yes it's God's will people say....but just think of the thousands of people suffering right now in Padang...no home, no food, no water, no electricity, no medicine and not a great future in store for them.
Even good news that came my way ( got commissioned to do three more documentaries for Awani before year's end) seemed out of place.
I don't know.
Maybe I should take a break from blogging. Maybe for a few days more.
Let's see how it goes lah.