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Production incentives sought to propel Indonesian film industry
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Screening ritual: Moviegoers line up at the ticket counter in a cinema in Jakarta. Under new regulations, foreign investors can now fully own local cinemas, film production houses and distribution firms. (Kompas.com/File)
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span ms="" style="font-family:" trebuchet="">The government should start providing filmmakers with significant financial incentives to support their productions and help drive the country’s film industry, a movie producer said.
MD Pictures CEO Manoj Punjabi said although the government now allows foreign investors to fully own local cinemas, film production houses and distribution firms, such policies would not allow local movies to immediately compete with foreign productions.
A movie production taking place on the resort island of Bali, he added, was more expensive than productions in Europe due to various fees filmmakers have to pay to central and regional administrations.
Inviting foreign actors for local productions also creates headaches.
"Having foreign actors in a movie enables us to sell the movie to their respective countries, but the issuance of working permits is awfully complicated," said Manoj, who also serves as Association of Indonesian Movie Production Companies (PPFI) executive.
This year the industry witnessed a new high after Falcon Pictures’ Warkop DKI Reborn: Jangkrik Boss Part 1, the remake of the classic comedy hit Warkop, emerged as the most successful Indonesian movie with over 6.5 million viewers.
In 2013, MD Pictures’ Habibie & Ainun topped the box office with over 4.6 million viewers. (hwa)
