Director Jose Javier Reyes: PH film industry in dismal state, needs urgent support

The Philippine film industry is in a dismal state and urgently needs government support to keep going, veteran film writer and director Jose Javier Reyes said Tuesday.

Reyes made the pronouncement during Tuesday’s congressional inquiry on the plight of Philippine cinema held by the House creative industry and performing arts panel, saying that producing Filipino films nowadays is a losing proposition, if not set for dismal earnings, amid the lingering COVID-19 pandemic and the emergence of streaming platforms. 

“We are trying to revive the Film fund...we are trying to raise a certain amount of money, hopefully from our lawmakers, to be able to give seed money in particular to local producers, to give them a push...an incentive so they can start producing movies again. Right now, the number of projected productions for wide release [in cinemas], and I am not talking about[streaming] platforms [by subscription], can be described as dismal,” Reyes told lawmakers and fellow industry members.

“We need to give local producers a push by providing them with incentives and seed money. Otherwise, it is pointless to go into the festivals, it is pointless to aspire for the Oscars if we don’t have producers producing films,” Reyes added.

Dark times

Reyes said local film producers are not producing movies for cinema release at the moment because they would just end up losing money rather than earning revenue or even breaking even.

“It is dismal. If I gave you the number of the gross [earnings] of the opening day of the Filipino movies that opened last Wednesday, the numbers are unspeakable and very discouraging if we depend on cinemas as sources for Return of Investment of producers,” Reyes said.

Among local producers, only Viva is extremely active, Reyes pointed out, but only because it has Vivamax, its own streaming platform. 

“If ever there are producers who are active, they are no longer serving the local industry alone. They provide content to various [streaming] platforms like Amazon Prime and Netflix,” Reyes said.

“Iyong mga pelikula para sa Pilipino na nasa mga sinehan, bihirang bihira na po kasi to be honest, it is a losing proposition,” Reyes added.

(Filipino movies shown in cinemas now come few and far in between.)

Reyes said that while the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) during the Christmas season draws revenues, having a consistent stream of funding, instead of such seasonal earnings, is the sustainable way to go.

“The MMFF [last year] yielded handsome results, [the] Deleter [movie] earned so much. Pero tandaan natin, Pasko [nun]. Ang tao, may pera. Lahat ng tao nagce-celebrate ng Pasko sa pamamagitan ng pagpunta sa sinehan. Pero ang Pasko ay hindi 12 months a year,” Reyes stressed.

(During Christmas, people have money and people celebrate Christmas by watching movies in cinemas. But Christmas does not last 12 months a year.)

“The MMFF cannot sustain the industry. As it is, ramdam na ramdam na po iyong kakulangan ng magpo-produce [ng Filipino films]  kasi napakalaking risk na sa producers na maglabas ng pera. Ang epekto nito, hindi lang sa mga nagtatrabaho sa industriya kung hindi pati na rin sa ancillary industries tulad ng catering, service rental. Kaya we [really] need the fund so we can share it with our producers. This is a great imperative at this point,” Reyes added.

(We are really feeling the lack of locally produced movies because it has become too costly to produce a film. This affects jobs not only those directly in the industry but also those in ancillary services such as catering, service rental businesses, among others. That is why we really need the funding support.) — LA, GMA Integrated News