The Movie business

CEBU, Philippines -  Making movies is both arts and science. What the public commonly sees is the art part; to most people, that's all what movies are about. But a movie is a lot more than what we ultimately see on the screen. For instance, it is a business, too.

A movie does not come into being overnight, not even in three days or a week. It goes through a tedious day-to-day process that takes quite some time to complete, 45 days on average per local practice. There are several phases in the course of a movie's creation, mainly the preparation phase, the actual filming, then post-production.

The whole undertaking is put together by the producer, the person primarily responsible for steering the project from conception to completion. The producer is not necessarily the financier, although sometimes he is also the one that sources the funds. He keeps a very close watch throughout the whole production stretch, always seeing to it that everything goes as planned.

The producer religiously attends the shoots, checks all expenses, evaluates each scene shot, demands that everyone on the payroll perform at their best - from the cast to the staff and crew. He does whatever is necessary, to ensure that the investment on the project is well protected.

Even before the production process begins, the producer is already deep at work. He searches through tens or hundreds of materials for something that he thinks has box-office potential. This alone is already a head-breaking job. As soon as he has picked something, he contracts the people to work on it. He chooses people the way a rocket scientist would choose parts for a lunar module.

The movie business is not simply wild risk-taking. And yet some movies flop. Why is that? Like in any business venture, things can sometimes just go wrong with a movie project.

We have all at least seen a theatrical movie that looked like a kindergarten class project. And we wonder who's the moron behind it. How can film producers with supposedly high artistic standards - not to mention astute business sense - tolerate such shoddy works?

Sometimes a movie producer will carry on with a project that already shows signs of failure right from the start. After having viewed some terrible footage from the first few shoots, on which, say, more than a million pesos must have already been spent, many producers would decide to sink in another few millions or so, and more money still, in order to complete a project. Why is that?

The answer is the usual businessman's argument. Good money has already spent; therefore, he should spend more in order to salvage his initial investment. Finishing the movie is more likely to bring him back his money than letting rolls and rolls of unfinished film grow molds in the storeroom.

Or, maybe the producer really has faith in the viability of the whole venture. Maybe the story is good and the bad scenes thus far filmed can be enhanced or re-shot or scrapped altogether. Or flaws can probably be fixed later in post-production.

Procedures vary from company to company, but the basics are generally the same. Business interests rule. Seldom during the entire production is the film's contribution to fundamental human values or the arts a dominant consideration. The issue may have cropped up during the initial story conferences, but were soon drowned by business goals. Onwards, the only thing that matters is profit or, simply, how to recoup the investment.

And so the shoots go on, and the cost shoots up accordingly. As soon as, say, 12 million of the 25 million budget, which is a modest figure nowadays, has been consumed, the producer or financier - or the two of them together, if they're not one and same person - has now reached a point of no return. From then on, by hook or by crook, the movie must be completed.

If only to appease himself, the beleaguered producer will seek advice from some knowledgeable industry people, often the ones that have vested interests in the project's continuance - his own scriptwriter, director, cinematographer, talent managers etc. And they would tell him that the film lacks something - additional scenes that the viewing public will surely go for. The advice is sometimes honest, but oftentimes not.

Against his wisdom, the producer orders either a re-shoot of some scenes or the addition of new ones, as recommended by his team: more violence, more nudity. He'll worry about the censors later. The new footage would cost millions more; how much more would depend on the nature of the scenes.

Then the whole movie is done, at last. But, still, the expenditures continue. There's the other huge cost to be incurred in marketing the finished film. The promotional blitz for a good movie can mimic the cost of producing it. For sure, more money is needed to sell a bad product. 

The staggering amount of money it takes to make a movie makes many producers hesitant to make films outside of the so-called "formula." They stick to the same type of films that had drawn big crowds in the past. The same plots over and over; only the stars and the titles are changed.

Filipino filmmakers possess the skills and talent to do great films. But the person who decides on the kind of movies we will see is the one who holds the money. Sadly, that person seems so scared to try something new.

For its part, the viewing public that has had enough of the same old stuff begins to train its sight elsewhere for fresher options. And how many other options there are to find, especially with the free entry of foreign films into the country.

Business has gone bad, very bad, our movie produces say. Making the situation worse, there is now the bigger problem of film piracy that's shaking even the most solid movie industries of the world. Pirated DVDs, cheap and easily available, pre-empt a film's legitimate theatrical screening, thus depriving the producing company a big part of its due returns. 

But then again, if the prevailing attitude on the part of our own production companies persists, the movie business in the country can only get much worse. (FREEMAN)