Film-makers' real fight is against pirates

Film-makers' real fight is against pirates

The makers of the action flick KL Gangster 2 were outgunned by pirates who leaked the film onto YouTube and on disc a month before its theatrical release this week.

Singapore film-makers face the same challenge. They tell Life! that while the authorities have clamped down on physical bootlegging, online piracy remains a challenge.

Clover Films managing director Lim Teck, 38, says: "There is no longer the threat of pirated DVDs and VCDs, the piracy is in the form of downloads from the Internet."

He adds that this has dealt a blow to the video market, which is now "almost non-existent". He estimates that the drop in revenue of the films they produce and distribute is about 30 per cent.

The scourge of physical bootlegging of local films was at its peak from the late 1990s to the mid-2000s.

Eric Khoo, 48, who produced the comedy Liang Po Po: The Movie (1999), says that after a preview screening on a Thursday night, there were reportedly 100,000 VCDs available on the street by the following Monday.

He says: "If those VCDs had really come out in those numbers, then it really did impact the box office. We panicked."

The film went on to make about $3.7million at the box office, meeting expectations, "but could have made more without the pirates", he adds.

One of the reasons Money No Enough (1998) and other films "in the earlier period" were spared, he surmises, was because the proliferation of VCDs came only later.

The seminal comedy was directed by Tay Teck Lock, with Jack Neo scripting it and starring in it. It earned $5.8 million and was the top-grossing local flick of all time until last year, when it was overtaken by the first instalment of Neo's military-themed Ah Boys To Men. It earned $6.2 million and Part 2 trumped that with $7.9 million.

Neo, 53, points out another reason Money No Enough escaped piracy. "Because of a lack of experience, the sound for the film was terrible and apparently, the pirates couldn't get a clear audio recording in cinemas. They thought that with such poor sound quality, even the least discerning buyer would not bite."

He adds: "Also, no one thought that a locally made movie would be so popular, hence the pirated copies came out very late."

Once the pirates realised that there was indeed demand, even niche arthouse films could not evade their clutches.

Khoo recalls seeing copies of his feted drama Mee Pok Man (1995) for sale after theatrical release - complete with a new artwork. "They made it really sexy with a girl in a lacy outfit," he says of the dark film about a noodle-seller who is obsessed with a prostitute.

Mr Lim estimates that about 20 per cent of a local film's takings in Singapore comes from its post-cinema shelf life, while executive director of mm2 Entertainment Melvin Ang, 50, says the figure ranges from 20 to 50 per cent.

Mr Ang points out that piracy affects downstream revenue after a film's cinema run. "We all hope that piracy can be managed so there can be more legitimate platforms and our movies can go from one window to another, from video-on- demand to online, pay TV and free TV."

While film-maker Kelvin Tong, 40, says that "it has been rather rare that Singapore movies are pirated online", he adds: "We need to be vigilant and not let piracy rear its ugly head to the point that it can make film-making in Singapore unprofitable."

The most basic step he takes to protect his films is to outsource his post-production processes to a reputable company. He says: "I have to make sure that the post-production house I choose takes security very, very seriously as most piracy occurs at the last few stages of the film-making process."

Mr Ang also points to the industry practice of watermarking every copy given to distributors and partners for subsequent usage. He adds: "Not just a simple watermark, but one that identifies the exact party you give it to."

Preview screenings, Tong believes, are not a danger as "most of the attendees are invited and therefore unlikely to be shooting the screen with their mobile phones". That is not to say that there is no need for security measures. He adds: "Cinema staff are also very vigilant these days in making sure that no one is recording during a screening."

Neo says that the key thing is really making sure that the film is not leaked before its release in cinemas in order to minimise the impact of piracy.

But he points out that most of those who watch the illegal versions are unlikely to pay money for a ticket anyway and that converting this group into cinema- goers "is a very difficult task".

While the general consensus is that the piracy situation has improved with the authorities clamping down, much can still be done.

Tong notes that one area which can be improved on is online accountability and the authorities should target those who violate copyright on the Internet. This is no easy task as it involves huge set-ups such as YouTube.

He adds: "That said, companies such as YouTube are also very careful when it comes to intellectual property. A film- maker whose movie has been posted online can request the Internet firm to take it down. So, the first line of defence and vigilance is still the film-maker."


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