Blitz plexes Indonesia

Exhibitor ready to develop market

By PATRICK FRATER

HONG KONG -- For the world's fourth most populous nation, Indonesia has a small movie sector. If decent figures existed -- and they don't -- they would probably show nationwide annual B.O. of $40 million-$50 million, less than Singapore, its city state neighbor with only 6 million inhabitants.

A new company, Blitz, aims to change that. It is opening Indonesia's first true multiplexes in a market largely comprised of single-screeners and three or four-theater cineplexes. Blitz is challenging a company that holds a near-monopoly in exhibition and distribution, and a status quo that has suited local and foreign companies for more than a decade.

Country's cinematic immaturity stands in contrast to other parts of a booming economy. Downtown Jakarta challenges any notion that Indonesia is a developing country. The capital is crammed with shopping malls of spiraling grandeur, linked by toll roads choked with powerful SUVs and Korean-made taxis.

Moreover, despite Indonesia's political instability and highly visible security, country's consumer economy is taking off. Malls are stuffed with stores repping the world's most upmarket brands.Country's mobile phone sophistication means Indonesia is often a launch territory for latest models by the likes of Nokia.

Blitz believes this makes the country ripe for a new movie model and will open its first nine-plex in a mall in Bandung, a university town of 5 million inhabitants 110 miles from Jakarta. That will be followed in November by an 11-screener in an upscale Jakarta mall. Two plexes are skedded for the following 15 months.

Company is headed by local businessmen Ananda Siregar and David Hilman, who have backgrounds in banking, architecture and the civil service. They have put about $12 million of their own coin into the project, topped up with $3 million of bank finance.

"We are only going to build complexes of eight screens or more, and only in key locations," says Hilman. Blitz's complexes will come with entertainment options such as pool tables and restaurants to make its cinemas destinations where youngsters will spend lengthy periods and plenty of cash.

"We are establishing links within the creative community and are betting heavily on the success of local films," says Siregar. "In a nine-screen complex we can offer four screens to the (Hollywood) majors with the remaining five programmed with a mix of local and foreign independent films."

Blitz's 11-screener with 3,100 seats in the Grand Indonesia mall also expects to host part of December's Jakarta Film Festival (Jiffy).

"What we are doing is nothing new, it's been done elsewhere," says Siregar, who points to modern complexes in Thailand, boasting combinations of regular and luxury theaters. Blitz is using Malaysia's Golden Screen as its technical consultant. "It is just that the incumbent doesn't feel it necessary to do it, because the people come anyway."

The country's main exhib, 21 Group, was founded in 1987 and became a private sector operator after the fall of the Suharto military regime ten years later.

But it retains some aspects of state control. It operates over 300 screens at 75 locations or approximately 90% of the country's commercial cinema screens. It is also the dominant distributor operating under three labels; Camila and Satrya, which handle Hollywood product, and Amero Mitra, which acquires foreign indie titles.

Local titles are often released on distribution-only terms, which see producers handling marketing and P&A costs. On a recent visit, the most prominent film outdoor advertising was for a producer-promoted film "Berbak suami" (aka "Love for Share"), while newspaper ads were largely of the simplest "playing now" variety.

No surprise, 21 Group argues that it is doing most to develop the market. "Last year we opened seven sites with 30 screens. So far this year we have opened four sites with 16 screens. We plan to open nine more sites this year," says CEO Harris Lasmana by email. "This year we expect to have more than 40 (Indonesian) titles for theatrical release."

There is little doubt that the movie industry in Indonesia could do better. M.M. Bakri, government director of film, says the import quota of 160 films per year and other internal restrictions were removed in 1997. But the number of films being released has barely budged since.

"Because nearly all the cinemas are owned by 21 Group, there are still limited opportunities for release," he says. "It is not the government's job to make the distribution choices, but it is clear that there are not enough cinemas."

And with the theatrical market restricted, consumers have turned to home entertainment and pirate discs.

Lasmana puts the ball back in Bakri's court on this issue. "I believe the Indonesian market will grow if the government can control the rampage of piracy."

It seems logical that the Hollywood studios would applaud Blitz's attempts to grow the market. This has been the case with MegaStar, the new entrant in nearby Vietnam. But Blitz admits the majors have been "lukewarm."

Explanation may lie in Indonesia's geography, ethnic mix and politics, all of which are fractured and difficult to maneuver. "In a country where corruption is predominant, 21 Group is a reliable partner with solid reporting structure. Obviously we don't want to do anything to damage that," says a senior Asia executive of one of the majors.

"On the other hand, I can't see anyone allowing state-of-the-art multiplexes to stand empty for want of prints. I'm sure Harris will have to supply them."

Another difference between the two cases is that MegaStar is under the wing of Hollywood veterans Ted Shugrue and Tony Manne.

Blitz admits that many are waiting to see how the concept is executed.

"We can hardly wait to open for business," says Siregar. "That way, we hope to convince film suppliers and the private equity investors that have been circling, but not yet committed."

Achieving that may take a willingness to embrace not only exhibition, but also distribution. For that, Blitz has turned to San Fu Maltha, a former PolyGram exec who until this year co-owned A-Film, the largest distributor in the Netherlands. "Indonesia has a lot of potential, and I've been very impressed with Blitz, their ideas and their business plan," says Maltha.

Maltha and L.A.-based scout Mirjam Wertheim of Orange Entertainment are looking for single- and multi-territory acquisitions that could span other parts of Southeast Asia. The Cannes market is expected to see their first deals.

Read the full article at:
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117943114.html

Telkomvision Takes a Run At Premiership TV Rights

The country’s second-biggest pay-TV provider, Telkomvision, appears to be on course to share rights to broadcast English Premier League football this week after a tender was held last month by the joint owners of the rights, ESPNSTAR Sports and All Asia Multimedia Network.

The rights, which are effective from this month for a year, were offered to a number of pay-TV providers on a nonexclusive basis.

“We submitted our bid earlier this month,” said Bambang Lusmiadi, the marketing director of PT Telkom subsidiary PT Indonusa Telemedia, which owns the Telkomvision brand. “We expect the announcement of the winner sometime this week.”

Lusmiadi said ESPNSTAR and All Asia Multimedia Network had offered Indonusa a share of the rights in June. He acknowledged that the company was interested in acquiring broadcasting rights because of the Premier League’s huge fan base in Indonesia.

He declined to disclose how much the rights to Premier League matches would cost.

“It would help us increase subscriber numbers and to add to our current Italian League matches,” he said.

“However, the rights are not going to be exclusive, meaning that we will have to share them with other broadcasters.”

The exclusive right to broadcast Premier League matches was purchased for $25 million last year by pay-TV provider Aora, which is owned by former Trade Minister Rini M Soemarno, her brother, Ongki M Soemarno, and Vice President Jusuf Kalla’s son Solihin Kalla, who holds a 5 percent stake.

Since 2007, ESPN has allowed some of the Premiership’s games to be broadcast by TVone after a request by the government.

If Telkomvision wins the rights, it would have to share them with Aora, at least initially. Gaby Motuloh, Aora’s corporate secretary, declined to comment on whether Aora would be interested in seeking an extension of its existing contract.

Indovision, the country’s biggest pay-TV provider, said that although it had also been invited to bid for a share of the Premier League rights, it had decided not to do so.

The Supreme Court in June upheld a decision by the Business Competition Supervisory Commission (KPPU) that ESPNSTAR, AAMN, and Astro, a subsidiary of Malaysian media giant Astro All Asia Networks, were guilty of operating a monopoly in respect to the 2007-2010 English Premiere League rights. Later the rights were transferred to Aora.

“If Telkomvision wins, it will definitely have an impact on the market. But it hasn’t happened yet and we’re still studying the situation,” said Arya Mahendra, the corporate secretary of Indovision, which is owned by Media Nusantara Cipta.

He said that after the rights were awarded to Aora, subscriber migration [from Astro] was not as large as expected.

The country had about 850,000 pay-TV subscribers in 2008, accounting for 2.13 percent of the estimated 40 million households with TVs.

http://thejakartaglobe.com/business/telkomvision-takes-a-run-at-premiership-tv-rights/321716

An Inside Peek Into the World Of Jakarta’s Illegal DVD Trade

“Freddy” — who entered Jakarta’s huge pirated video and later pirated DVD market more than 20 years ago — has experienced police raids several times. Yet, he’s still in business.

Shedding new light on the depth of the market, how it works and why pirated DVD stores continue to flourish in Indonesia, Freddy told the Jakarta Globe over the weekend: “It’s a lucrative business. As long as they are people buying, we’ll continue to sell pirated DVDs.”

Freddy claims to make Rp 300 million ($25,500) a month selling DVDs, adding that some of his friends even make more.

Freddy, not his real name, owns three stores in Jakarta and is very particular about their location. He prefers smaller, middle-class malls over the more elite retail areas, largely due to the demography of the buyers and “security.”

“Places like ITCs [Indonesian Trade Centers, malls dedicated to small- and medium-sized enterprises] are the favorites,” Freddy said. “They have many exits and the layouts of such malls are like labyrinths, enabling us to escape whenever the police raid the place. Usually we rely on the doorman or the security guards to alert us and we immediately stash our goods and shut down the stores.”

There are a number ITCs throughout the capital, and each one can host up to 10,000 stores that sell a huge range of different products, enabling pirated-DVD outlets to be unobtrusive.

The ITCs are also divided into hundreds of blocks of stores. Navigating through them can be disorienting.

One South Jakarta mall, categorized as an ITC, has an entirely separate section dedicated to pirated DVD stores, which can remain hidden to first-time visitors.Denny, a frequent buyer there, said he was once trapped in the section when the police arrived.

“They immediately cut off the section by closing down the metal gates and rolling doors,” he said.

“They also turned off the lights at the section entrance and put trash bins and scaffolding in the way to make it appear that this part of the building was not used or under construction.

“Inside, it was business as usual. My heart was racing. A sales girl told me that raids like that are frequent and that they never get caught. She even showed me a secret exit stairs for ‘just in case’ and continued to offer me DVDs.”

Some people are not as fortunate. Police and the government brag about their achievements, boasting that more than four million illegal DVDs were confiscated last year and more than 100 sellers were prosecuted.

“Four million? The number is far more than that,” Freddy said, indicating the raids would not put a dent in the market. “I say in Indonesia, there are at least a hundred times more.”

The International Intellectual Property Alliance estimates that each year, the US music and film industry loses more than $205.2 million due to copyright piracy in Indonesia.

The alliance ranks the country among the biggest offenders in the world and places it on a watch list year after year.

Pirated DVDs, Freddy said, can be categorized into certain groups based on their quality and origin.

Low-end DVDs are recorded using a camera smuggled into movie theaters and the quality is usually amateurish. He sells those kinds only for movies that are currently, or yet to be screened, in Indonesian theaters.

“The people recording them are usually slackers wanting to get some quick money,” he said.

“You can take your recorded materials and send it to an agent. The agents pay you a fixed rate based on the popularity of the movie. If your materials are pornographic, you can get up to Rp 100 million.

“It pays to be the first. About one week after a movie is screened you can find the pirated version,” he added.

For the higher-quality DVDs, people have to wait up to a month after a movie is released, Freddy said.

“The pirates work with a local theater and copy the reels on to a DVD master, which is then duplicated,” he said. “That’s why the quality is better. For non-English movies, we usually import them. All they have to do is to sneak one master copy in and the movie is pirated.”

Freddy said that the pirating business is as elaborate as the legitimate movie industry.

“They have their so-called production house, they have translators of every language imaginable, they have factories, graphic designers, distributors, wholesalers,” he said.

“We retailers never meet these people. It’s a business that relies on secrecy, much like selling drugs. It’s cutthroat, too.

“Often, the pirated DVDs get pirated by amateurs. I guess that’s karma,” he said with a laugh.

Jakarta Post
http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/article/9926.html

Fiksi Film Terbaik FFI 2008

13 Desember 2008 00:59 WIB

Sutradara film 'Fiksi' Moully Surya-- ANTARA/HERU SALIM

JAKARTA--MI: Film Fiksi terpilih sebagai film terbaik versi Festival Film Indonesia (FFI) 2008 yang berlangsung di halaman Kantor Gubernur Jawa Barat atau yang dikenal dengan nama Gedung Sate, Jumat malam. 

Kemenangan film Fiksi ditentukan pilihan para juri yang terdiri dari ketua dewan juri film bioskop Niniek L Karim, ketua dewan juri untuk film dokumenter Iwan Wahab, dan Hardo Sukoyo sebagai ketua dewan juri film pendek. 

FFI kali ini didominasi banyak sutradara muda. Uniknya lagi, ada empat sutradara perempuan yang masuk daftar nominasi menemani Garin Nugroho, satu-satunya sutradara pria senior. 
Tahun ini jumlah film yang masuk untuk dinilai sebanyak 50 judul, meningkat dari tahun sebelumnya yang hanya mencapai 40 judul film. 

Berbeda dengan pergelaran sebelumnya, kali ini FFI digelar dengan konsep festival jalanan di depan Gedung Sate. Konsep itu bertujuan menghilangkan kesan eksklusif dan lebih dekat pada masyarakat pencinta film Indonesia. 

Di tempat terbuka itu, para artis yang datang disambut melalui prosesi ala red carpet. ''Kami sengaja menghadirkan acara di tempat terbuka agar masyarakat merasa dekat dengan orang-orang film,'' kata Ketua Panitia Pelaksana FFI Akhlis Suryapati. 

Hal lain yang juga berbeda dengan FFI sebelumnya adalah Piala Citra dengan desain baru bertemaBangkit menuju citra baru. Piala Citra desain baru itu menggantikan piala rancangan seniman patung Sidharta (almarhum) yang telah digunakan sepanjang FFI berlangsung sejak 1966. 

Turut hadir pula Gubernur Jawa Barat Ahmad Heryawan, Wakil Gubernur Jawa Barat Dede Yusuf, Menteri Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Jero Wacik, dan Direktur Film Departemen Kebudayaan dan Pariwisata Ukus Koswara. 

Ada dua panggung yang dipersiapkan untuk FFI, yakni panggung penghargaan dan panggung hiburan yang diisi beberapa grup penyanyi terkenal seperti Tata Dewi-Dewi, Changcuters, dan Gita Gutawa. (Eri/M-6)

Masa Depan Perfilman Indonesia Makin Baik

Selasa, 16 Desember 2008 06:28 WIB

JAKARTA--MI: Film Indonesia yang saat ini meningkat dari segi jumlah dan kualitas akan semakin baik perkembangannya di masa mendatang apabila para sineas muda diberikan kesempatan seluasnya untuk menciptakan karya-karya yang bermutu. 

"Saya optimis melihat generasi muda di perfilman Indonesia saat ini, mereka punya kebebasan dalam menciptakan karya. Hal ini sangat berbeda dengan apa yang saya alami dulu ketika soal judul dan tema film masih disetir oleh Departemen Penerangan," kata aktor senior Ikranegara usai mengikuti acara diskusi tentang Industri film di Indonesia dan persaingan usaha perfilman nasional di Jakarta, Senin. 

Pemeran Pak Guru Harfa dalam film Laskar Pelangi ini mengungkapkan pada tahun 1970an para sienas membuat karya dengan beban dan tekanan dari pemerintah. Ada ketakutan yang dirasakan si pembuat film karena akan dilarang tayang atau dipotong pada beberapa adegan tertentu yang dianggap merugikan pemerintah. 

"Ada salah satu film yang saya bintangi sebagai mahasiswa yang vokal melakukan demonstrasi di film Bandot Tua, tapi karena film itu dilarang tayang dan boleh ditayangkan dengan sebagian besar cerita dipotong dan diganti judulnya menjadi Cinta Biru (1977, red)," katanya. 

Ikra mengatakan masa depan perfilman Indonesia ada di tangan generasi muda saat ini dan mereka harus didukung untuk bisa menghasilkan karya-karya yang berkualitas. Ia mencontohkan karya-karya Hanung Bramantyo, Garin Nugroho, dan Nan T Achnas. 

Persoalan 

Sementara itu salah satu pembicara dalam diskusi tersebut, sutradara film, Hanung Bramantyo mengatakan sutradara saat ini menghadapi persoalan yang berbeda dengan masa lalu. Sutradara menghadapi kendala karena produser selalu menanyakan tentang siapa pasar film yang disasar dan apakah ada jaminan film itu akan sukses atau tidak. 

"Di Indonesia sutradara harus ikut menentukan kelahiran film ini di masyarakat, ikut berpikir soal penayangan dan estetika, padahal tugas sutradara harusnya hanya berpikir soal skenario film sampai film itu ditayangkan," katanya. 

Ia menambahkan film yang diminati sebagian produser bukan yang sinematografi dan temanya bagus, tapi ditanya soal pasar filmnya dan apakah ada jaminan film itu akan sukses. 

"Ketika saya sodorkan film agak berat tentang Gerwani pada produser yang mereka tanyakan bukan soal bagaimana kira-kira gambaran film ini nantinya, tapi mereka tanyakan siapa yang akan menonton dan berapa estimasi jumlah penontonnya, dan pertanyaan ini membuat saya berhenti bikin film itu," katanya seraya tersenyum. 

Hanung mengatakan fenomena yang terjadi saat ini, produser juga bisa mendikte dan memaksa sutradara untuk membuat film dalam waktu yang singkat tanpa memerhatikan segi estetika film itu.

"Sekarang ini produser bisa saja memilih waktu kapan filmnya akan ditayangkan meskipun film itu belum dibuat, dan ada sejumlah produser yang sudah mendaftarkan filmnya ke bioskop walaupun baru punya judul filmnya saja," katanya. 

Keadaan ini, lanjutnya, membuat sutradara tertekan dan bekerja bukan atas dasar hasil yang memuaskan. Sutradara bekerja dibawah tekanan jadwal tayang film yang sudah ditentukan oleh produser tanpa mempertimbangkan soal molornya jadwal produksi. 

"Kondisi ini terus-menerus terjadi hingga akhir tahun ini, sehingga untuk mengantisipasi keadaan semacam ini ada dua pilihan yang saya lakukan, yakni membuat film digital dengan skenario ringan dan cerita yang mudah dipahami, lalu yang kedua membuat film idealis yakni film dengan tema dan penggarapan lebih serius dan menggunakan pita seluloid," demikian katanya. (Ant/OL-03)

Daftar Pemenang FFI Indonesia 2008

BANDUNG--MI: Malam Anugerah Piala Citra Festival Film Indonesia (FFI) 2008 di Gedung Sate, Bandung, Jumat malam (12/12), telah menghasilkan sejumlah pemenang. 

Para pemenang dipilih melalui proses penjurian yang dilakukan oleh tim juri yang diketuai oleh Niniek L Karim untuk kategori Film Cerita Bioskop, Iwan Wahab selaku Ketua Dewan Juri Film Dokumenter, dan Hardo Sukoyo sebagai Ketua Dewan Juri Film Pendek. 

Berikut ini adalah daftar lengkap pemenang Piala Citra FFI 2008: 

1. Film Cerita Bioskop Terbaik: Fiksi produksi Surya Indrantara. 

2. Film Dokumenter Terbaik: The Conductors karya sutradara Andi Bachtiar Yusuf, produksi Bogalakon Pictures. 

3. Film Pendek Terbaik: Cheng Cheng Po, BW Purbanegara, produksi Sahabat Gloria dan Lima Enam Films. 

4. Pemeran Utama Pria: Vino G Bastian, dalam film Radit dan Jani, produksi Investasi Film Indonesia. 

5. Pemeran Utama Wanita: Fahrani, dalam film Radit dan Jani, produksi Investasi Film Indonesia. 

6. Pemeran Pendukung Pria: Yoga Pratama, dalam film 3 Doa 3 Cinta, produksi Investasi Film Indonesia dan Triximage. 

7. Pemeran Pendukung Wanita: Aryani Kriegenburg, dalam film Under The Tree, produksi SET Film/Credo Cine Art. 

8. Penyutradaraan Terbaik: Mouly Surya dalam film Fiksi, produksi Surya Indrantara. 

9. Penulis Skenario Terbaik: Joko Anwar/Mouly Surya dalam film Fiksi. 

10. Penata Musik Terbaik: Zeke Khaseli dalam film Fiksi. 

11. Penata Gambar Terbaik: Yoga Krispratama, dalam film Claudia/Jasmine. 

12. Penata Suara Terbaik: Satrio Budiono, dalam film May. 

13. Penata Sinematografi Terbaik: Ical Tanjung, dalam film May. 

14. Penata Artistik Terbaik: Budi Riyanto dalam film Under The Tree. 

Penghargaan khusus 

Pada FFI 2008 Dewan Juri juga memberikan penghargaan khusus kepada Film Animasi Terbaik yakni film A Kite karya sutradara Achmad Rofiq, serta penghargaan khusus kepada Film Pendek dengan Tema Terbaik yakni film Nyawa-nyawa Mendamaikan Persada karya sutradara Robby Ertanto.

Festival Film Indonesia 2008 diikuti sebanyak 57 judul film cerita bioskop, 39 judul film dokumenter, dan 48 judul film. (Ant/OL-02)

JIFFest closes with a flurry of prizes

Written by Marcus Lim
Thursday, 11 December 2008

MACAU - Indonesian comedy "Quickie Express" was awarded the Best Feature Film prize at the 10th Jakarta International Film Festival (JIFFest) which closed Wednesday.
The film, chosen from the 84 eligible Indonesian films released theatrically in the past year, took home a IDR 25 million ($2,300) cash prize. The festival's Best Director prize was awarded to Mouly Surya, helmer of "Fiksi."

The festical's other competitive segment, the Script Development Competition, awarded four prizes ranging from $2,300 to $6,900 to an assortment of genre scripts.

The Documentary Script prize was awarded to Rngga Kusmalendra's "I am a Beggar," while "Night of the Bride"and "The Teacher" both won the Short Fiction Script category. The $4,600 Best Feature Film Script prize was awarded to Tumpal Christian Tampubolon for his screenplay "Sidewalk Dogs."

Next year's JiFFest is skedded to bow Dec 5.

Extreme Mumbai, Without Bollywood’s Filtered Lens

By SOMINI SENGUPTA

LONDON

When the British filmmaker Danny Boyle went to Mumbai, India, to make a movie, he found what has all but vanished from cinema here at home: life in extremis.

He also lost what he once considered central to his craft — the power to control what unfolds in front of his camera.

In Mumbai, which is also known as Bombay, thousands of people gathered every time he started shooting “Slumdog Millionaire” on the streets. Permits were delayed, then granted in the nick of time. Sometimes the city morphed overnight, as new construction sites came up and down. Best-laid plans proved useless. India took over. Kindly adjust, it seemed to say. “You have to let go,” is how Mr. Boyle described the experience this month, in an interview on tamed, temperate Long Acre here. “You don’t act omnipotent. You have to let whatever is there get into the film.”

The result is a part-vérité, part-magical journey into ground zero of the Indian dream — a Mumbai slum — with a film that tells the story of love, pluck and greed through the eyes of a child forced to grow up too soon.

“Slumdog Millionaire” is ostensibly about a young contestant on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire.” The story of his short but rich life unfolds in a series of flashbacks, one game-show question at a time. Foreign audiences will find some of those flashbacks to be brutal, even revolting, but such is an Indian slum dog’s life. And Mr. Boyle, 52, the maker of films as varied as “Trainspotting,” “The Beach” and “28 Days Later,” does not flinch from it. He sees this as a movie about memory, each remembrance pulling the hero closer to the woman of his dreams.

The movie opened in the United States on Wednesday, and is to be released in India in late January, assuming it can clear that country’s often-prickly censor board.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about “Slumdog Millionaire” is that, despite the director’s strenuous denials, it could well be a Bollywood film, “almost an homage to the ’70s masala potboiler” of Indian cinema, the film’s co-director, Loveleen Tandan, called it. Its protagonist is an underdog striving to strike gold, flanked by a malevolent brother and an underworld don, with a woman stuck in the middle — all classic elements of popular Indian cinema.

The movie is awash with song — and even a little dance. There is a proper Bollywood star, the fabulously creepy Anil Kapoor with his fabulously creepy slicked-back hair. Most audaciously, for a film that expects to win over an American audience, close to a third of the dialogue is in Hindi, with English subtitles. Imagine Abbas Kiarostami making a Western, with a third of the dialogue in English.

“They think you’ve gone potty,” Mr. Boyle recalled of the initial reaction from his backers in Hollywood.

The decision to go with Hindi stemmed from a need to find child actors who could be true to the characters in the script. Ms. Tandan, who is Indian, said it was impossible to find English-speaking Indian children who could play hard-knuckles slum kids. Mr. Boyle immediately understood that, she said, and agreed to rewrite the script into Hindi. Ms. Tandan ended up hiring real kids, some of them from the Mumbai slums, to play the three lead child characters.

“For us it’s almost like a validation of our celebration of cinema, the way we tell our stories,” Ms. Tandan said. “It feels like it’s ours.”

“Slumdog” is decidedly not Bollywood in one crucial respect: It was shot on the streets of Mumbai, from the dense warrens of a tin-roofed shantytown to a red-light district to the architectural landmark Victoria Terminus train station. Most Bollywood filmmakers do not shoot on the streets of the city — they recreate it in studios or they choose to shoot in more exotic locales (Brooklyn, for instance) — because that way, as the “Slumdog” crew learned, lies a certain madness. Mumbai is not only crowded, it is also a city where tens of thousands of people live on the streets. The street is their living room; why wouldn’t they crowd around Mr. Boyle’s crew?

Christian Colson, the producer, recalled that during filming in the red-light alley at least 3,000 people encircled the crew. They didn’t all seem friendly. To try to drive away the crowds would be folly, Mr. Boyle quickly realized; not only would the effort be costly, but a new one would gather just as fast. Sometimes, he recalled, he would leave a scene not quite knowing whether he had gotten the shot he needed. Invariably it turned out that he had much more.

“The control freak would say you need a bigger army,” he said. “It’s not about that really. If you go with it, if you abandon that kind of control freakery, it will give you something extra.”

There were many lessons in cross-cultural understanding. On scheduling, an Indian cast and crew simply didn’t operate in what Mr. Colson called the militaristic style of a British operation. There was the Indian bureaucracy: permits would arrive a few minutes before a scene was to be shot, or at least once, after it had been shot. And then there was the need for, well, a certain authenticity. On one occasion, Mr. Colson recalled, the Indian authorities took umbrage at a scene in the script in which a suspect is tortured by a police commissioner during interrogation. The Indian authorities told Mr. Colson to take out the police commissioner. No police officer above the rank of inspector should be shown administering torture, they said. The makers of “Slumdog Millionaire” obeyed.

For Mr. Boyle one of the toughest challenges was casting the lead role: the 18-year-old protagonist, Jamal Malik. He auditioned one young Indian actor after another. Many of them were capable, but they all looked buffed out, Mr. Boyle recalled, because they were all grooming for roles in Indian cinema.

In the end Mr. Boyle went with an actor his teenager daughter recommended: Dev Patel, from the British television series “Skins.” That choice could be called the most dissonant part of “Slumdog Millionaire.” Though he is a fine actor, Mr. Patel’s accent gives away who he is: a Briton of Indian origin. Not a kid from a Mumbai slum.

For Mr. Boyle the only knowledge he had of Mumbai came from the stories his father told. As a soldier in the British Army during World War II he had been stationed there, en route to Japan, “waiting to die,” as Mr. Boyle put it.

“He was there in Bombay when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima,” he said. “He said, ‘We all knew we were going to go home.’ ”

Mr. Boyle’s Mumbai picture is based on a novel, “Q&A,” by the Indian writer Vikas Swarup, and adapted by Simon Beaufoy, the British screenwriter best known for his Oscar-winner, “The Full Monty.” Shot over three months, for about $13 million, “Slumdog Millionaire” was temporarily orphaned when its original backer, Warner Independent Pictures, was shut down this year. Stuck with the movie and facing a crowded release schedule of its own, Warner Brothers, the mini-studio’s corporate parent, contracted with Fox Searchlight to distribute and market the movie in North America. In September “Slumdog” won the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Mr. Colson, the producer, said he likes to think of “Slumdog Millionaire” as a Dickensian story playing out in the Asian megalopolis of the future: “Oliver Twist set in Mumbai.”

Mr. Boyle, for his part, does not think he has made an Indian movie. “No, no, no, it’s not a Bollywood film. It’s a good story. It’s a narrative.”

But there is a reason it is set in Mumbai. “The extremes of storytelling are available there,” he explained, “and it’s kind of disappearing here.” There is also a reason the movie had to be shot there. Whatever you call it, Mumbai or Bombay is not a city that can be manufactured on a set, Mr. Boyle maintained. It is not distinguished by its architecture, but by its atmosphere, its noise. “Slumdog Millionaire” captures all of that, though because it is a movie, it misses one thing that truly distinguishes Mumbai, the way it smells: part drying fish, part human waste.

“You immediately know, don’t fake it,” Mr. Boyle said. “You feel a miasma of detail in a city. It is just marching. You are racing forward. You have to go with it.”

Menabur Ilmu, Menuai Generasi Baru

Perfilman adalah sektor industri nan seksi. Siapa sih yang tak ingin melirik pada bisnis satu ini? Para investor berduyun-duyun menanamkan modalnya di sana. Apakah para pelakunya siap menghadapi tantangan ini? Di sini letak masalahnya. Proyek memang tak pernah kurang, tapi justru malah sumber dayanya yang kewalahan.  

Untuk mencari sumber daya yang mumpuni memang tak mudah. Salah satunya adalah melalui pendidikan formal. Sebut saja Institut Kesenian Jakarta, tapi apakah cukup? Ini masalah yang lain lagi. Jika mayoritas pekerja film adalah lulusan IKJ, maka tiap tahun kandidat pekerjanya datang dengan standar dan materi yang nyaris seragam. Sutradara Nia Dinata sempat mengeluhkan fenomena ini. “Ya bagaimana, para pekerja film kita semua datang dengan standar IKJ, tidak ada perbandingan,” ungkap sineas yang kerap disapa Teteh ini.

 

Bagaimana dengan sekolah film di luar negeri? Boro-boro. Kuliah di IKJ saja tak ada biaya, apalagi harus ke luar negeri. So, adakah solusi lain yang lebih mudah?

 

Salah satunya adalah activism, ini istilah dari Teteh lagi. Beberapa waktu silam dia menyebutkan bahwa Indonesia butuh banyak aktivis di bidang film dan bukan hanya mereka yang menjadikannya ajang memupuk laba. ”Sampai kapan industri ini bisa bertahan? Kalau bisnis ini sudah tak jalan, bisa-bisa mati suri lagi seperti masa lalu,” keluhnya saat itu.

 

Laku activism tak hanya melulu bertaut dengan regulasi. Pelatihan film tanpa melewati jalur formal bisa jadi piranti yang dimaksud. Misalnya workshop ataupun pelatihan ketrampilan di sektor film.  

 

Prakarsa ini banyak dilakoni oleh sineas kita belakangan ini. Ada yang pernah mendengar nama Reload Film Center? Ini merupakan institusi bikinan Rudi Soedjarwo. Langkah senada juga dilakoni Hanung Bramantyo lewat  Dapur Film Community. Kemudian ada pula Moviesta dari Monty Tiwa, Happy Ending Pictures dari Nia Dinata, ataupun Timur Merah milik Helfi CH Kardit.

 

Semuanya bermuara kepada pembelajaran soal film sekaligus penciptaan regenerasi dari kalangan sineas sendiri. Diharapkan kelak, muncul banyak sineas yang bisa diandalkan guna menjawab tantangan produser untuk menggarap lebih banyak proyek lagi.  

 

Tanpa Bayar

Boleh jadi apa yang dilakukan Nia Dinata dengan Happy Ending Pictures-nya sangat unik. Divisi baru dari Kalyana Shira Films menampung siapapun yang memiliki naskah atau minimal sinopsis yang baik. Kelak cerita ini dibangun bersama-sama untuk menjadi film utuh plus sebuah strategi promosi. ”Banyak sekali potensi sutradara dan penulis di luar sana yang tak mendapatkan wadah untuk meluncurkan tulisannya ke publik. Nah, saya ingin mendirikan institusi yang mewadahi itu,” begitu kata Teteh.

 

Duet sutradara Agasyah Karim dan Khalid Kashogi sudah merasakan tangan dingin Teteh. Kata mereka Teteh membimbing untuk membangun proses yang dibutuhkan untuk sebuah pembuatan film. Mulai dari penggodokan skrip, persiapan produksi, pemilihan pemain, produksi, pasca produksi hingga promosi, semua dilakukan atas supervisi Teteh.

 

”Menjadi menarik, karena kita memulai sesuatu yang baru, segar denganfilmmakers baru yang bisa kita ”nurture” lewat proses praproduksi sampai pascaproduksi,” komentar Teteh suatu kali. Untuk magng membuat film dengannya tak sulit. ”Asalkan punya naskah yang menarik, saya tidak mau ketemu orang kalau tidak membawa skrip. Minimal sinopsislah,” ungkapnya bersemangat.

 

Sang Pionir

Jauh sebelum Teteh, Rudi Soedjarwo sudah melakoni hal serupa dengan Reload Film Center. Bedanya, Rudi memberikan pelatihan lebih spesifik kepada masing-masing bidang dalam proses pembuatan film.

 

Reload Film Center berdiri tahun 2006. Di sana tersedia pendidikan di bidangScriptwriting, Editing, Directing, Acting, Cinematography dan Producing. Namanya juga sekolah, so pasti siswanya kudu membayar sejumlah uang. Namun lantaran ini sekolah non formal, metode mengajar lebih condong kepada praktek. Untuk pemberian materinya lebih sering dilakukan dengan diskusi, siapapun ingin bertanya pasti akan dijawab.

 

Kang Dali, salah seorang dari Reload Film Center, mengatakan bahwa siswa di Reload Film Center selalu aktif untuk bertanya. “Misalnya suatu ketika para siswa Reload akan membuat film pendek, untuk itu mereka akan dibimbing oleh Rudi ataupun para senior yang ada di Reload, lebih banyak belajar dari praktek,” demikian ucapnya. Dijelaskan Dali lagi, setelah mereka banyak belajar, maka tak segan-segan mereka akan dilibatkan untuk magang dalam film-film yang diproduksi oleh Rudi,” ujar Kang Dali lagi.

 

Nyaris Serupa

Semangat serupa untuk menciptakan pekerja film terlatih juga dilakoni Monty Tiwa lewat bendera Moviesta. Kok bisa sama? Tentu saja karena Rudi mendirikan Reload Film Center sendiri bersama Monty Tiwa. Perbedaan visi dari mereka berdua membuat mereka bubar jalan. Menurut Monty, perbedaan visi itu disebabkan oleh masalah penanganan SDM.

 

Rudy dalam Reload Film Center-nya melihat setiap orang harus dapat bekerja sesuai tuntutan industri. Monty lain lagi. Menurutnya, anak-anak adalah anak-anak. Biarkan saja mereka berkembang sesuai porsi masing-masing. “Anak-anak disini kan masih ada yang berusia 18-20 tahun, jadi ngga bisa kita paksa mereka untuk bekerja selayaknya profesional, karena satu hal yang menjadi penekanan gue disini adalah, kita sama-sama berangkat dari cinta film,” tegas Monty.

 

Berangkat dari kecintaan pada film, lalu belajar membuat film, dan akhirnya membuat film. Agaknya itulah bentuk yang ingin dicapai Monty dengan Moviesta familynya. Sebagai sebuah komunitas, so pasti Moviesta terdiri dari orang-orang dengan visi serupa. Pembelajaran tentang film pun dilakukan dalam bentuk workshop yang digelar untuk internal mereka.

 

“Selama ini sih kita memang masih menyelenggarakan workshop untuk kita-kita aja, tapi kita udah punya planning untuk melakukan workshop ke SMA-SMA,” ujar Ika salah seorang anggota komunitas Moviesta. Dalam Workshop yang dilakukan oleh Moviesta itu sendiri juga masih berkenaan dengan script writing, directing, hingga kamera.

 

Kendati selama ini kegiatan Moviesta masih untuk kalangan sendiri, bukan berarti mereka tertutup bagi yang ingin bergabung. “Dateng aja kesini, syaratnya apa ? Kuat-kuatan main pimpong aja sama gue,” ujar Monty setengah bercanda. Ya, komunitas yang berlokasi di Jalan Perdagangan No 1, Bintaro ini memang dibentuk sedemikian rupa layaknya sebuah rumah yang diisi keluarga. “Yah palingan patungan buat bayar listrik aja,” jelas Monty. 

 

Dari kiprah Moviesta Family sendiri sudah terbukti jika regenerasi dan pendidikan film itu penting adanya. Hasil itu tampak dengan munculnya personil mereka dalam tim produksi film Otomatis Romantis, serta menjadi tim penulis skenario dalam film Barbi3. “Gue juga sudah mempersiapkan Vander Tejasukmana, Dias Ardiawan, sama Indra Zahri untuk bisa jadi sutradara,” seloroh pria bertubuh besar ini.

 

Aktivitas Informal

Sungguh menarik kiprah aktivisme para sineas itu. Hanung Bramantyo punya kiat lain lagi lewat Dapur Film Community. Komunitas ini konon didirikan untuk menciptakanfilmmaker-filmmaker yang berkualitas. Awalnya kegiatan dalam komunitas ini bentuknya informal semata.

 

“Paling saya nanya-nanya directingitu apa, segala macam,” cerita Iqbal. Belakangan, lantaran banyak koleksi film dan buku tentang film di sana, dia juga banyak belajar. Hal senada juga diungkapkan Fajar BGT. Dia malah mengawali karirnya di tempat ini dengan ikut magang bersama Hanung. “Saya menjadi pencatat skrip dan asisten editor di film Brownies,” demikian ucap Fajar. Ya, proses belajar itu dilakukan dengan metode learning by doingdiselingi dengan berbagi wawasan.

 

Fajar BGT dan Iqbal Rais adalah dua orang hasil gemblengan Dapur Film Community yang telah mendapatkan kesempatan untuk membuat film. Tahun ini mereka muncul lewat film debutnya, masing-masing Best Friend ?serta The Tarix Jabrix. Khusus untuk yang belakangan, mendapatkan sukses besar di bioskop.

 

Kini Dapur mulai mengarah menuju bentuk formal. Caranya, dengan workshop-workshop dimana para pesertanya juga membayar. ”Tapi nanti dikembalikan dalam bentuk makan siang atau buku diktat,” jelas Fajar. Tak hanya workshop untuk filmmaker, lantaran Dapur juga membuka kursus akting yang disebut DFC Acting Course. Saat ini setidaknya sudah mencapai tiga angkatan yang nantinya mereka akan disalurkan dalam jaringan kerja Dapur macam  film layar lebar, sinetron, video klip, iklan, dan lain-lain.

 

Anak Bungsu

Lahir paling belakangan, Timur Merah asuhan Helfi CH Kardit memang belum punya bukti apa-apa. Tapi jangan salah, dengan semangat ketimuran, Helfi melihat kaderisasi adalah wacana yang akan diusung dalam program Timur Merah.

 

Kaderisasi -termasuk pembelajaran film di dalamnya- dilakukan dengan santai oleh Helfi. Artinya, selama masih ada tempat untuk belajar (magang), sudah barang tentu Helfi akan menerima. Baginya, karena Timur Merah bukan tempat short course maka selama masih ada tempat pasti diterima. “Disini ngga ada pungut-pungutan bayar, karena ini bukan tempat kursus. Yang pasti mereka mau belajar, dan kalau tempatnya masih ketampung pasti gue akan terima,” ujar Helfi.

 

Helfi mencontohkan posisi editor. Helfi memiliki satu orang editor yang menjadi “pegangannya”, namun bukan berarti ia tidak butuh orang lain untuk menjadi editor. “Gue punya dua alat editing, yang satu alatnya itu dikerjakan oleh dua orang,” ujar Helfi. Maka sesuai dengan yang diungkapkan, jika memang ada kuota pasti akan ada kesempatan bagi yang lain.

 

“Waktu itu ada satu anak mahasiswa yang pengen jadi editor, ya gue ajak ngobrol dan dari situ kelihatan apakah dia punya bakat editing atau ngga. Akhirnya sekarang gue kasih kesempatan dia jadi asisten editor. Yang penting harus cinta film dululah,” jelas Helfi.    

 

Kiprah para sineas melakukan regenerasi di atas memang patut dihargai. Pasalnya, mereka tak hanya sekadar berbagi ilmu kepada rekannya yang lebih muda melainkan juga bisa semakin mengasah ilmu lewat proses dialog yang terjalin di sana.

 

 

 

 

 Berikut ini profil singkat "lembaga-lembaga kursus film" tersebut.

Dapur Film Community didirikan oleh Hanung Bramantyo pada tahun 2004. Dalam programnya, Dapur Film Community memberikan workshop yang berkenaan dengan film sekaligus pelatihan akting dengan membayar registrasi di awal. Setelah semuanya berjalan, anggota Dapur Film Community akan dilibatkan dalam beberapa produksi film. Sebagai bukti, Iqbal Rais dan Fajar BGT adalah dua yang telah menjadi sutradara dalam film The Tarix Jabrix dan Best Friend ?. Tertarik untuk bergabung ? Datang saja langsung ke Jl.AMD VIII No. 40 Lenteng Agung, Jakarta Selatan. Nomor Telephone 021 – 7803212.      

 

Reload Film Center didirikan Rudi Soedjarwo pada tahun 2006. Dengan membayar iuran sekitar Rp 2.500.000, Reload Film Center memberikan Pendidikan di bidang Scriptwriting, Editing, Acting, Cinematography dan Produksi. Sama dengan Dapur Film, Reload Film Center juga akan melibatkan anggotanya dalam film-film yang diproduksi Rudi Soedjarwo. Hal tersebut sudah berlaku bagi anggota Reload Film Center dalam film-film Rudi sepertiMendadak Dangdut, Ujang Pantry 2, Pocong 2, Liar dan Sebelah Mata. Reload Film Center berlokasi di Jl. Paso No. 19, Ragunan, Jakarta Selatan.

 

Moviesta adalah sebuah komunitas yang didirikan Monty Tiwa pada tahun 2007. Dalam kegiatannya, Moviesta yang bertempat di Jl. Perdagangan No 1 Bintaro ini mengadakan workshop yang berkenaan dengan film. Kegiatan Moviesta sendiri masih dalam lingkungan internal, tapi bukan berarti Moviesta tidak menerima pecinta film untuk ikut bergabung. Moviesta juga mengerahkan seluruh anggotanya dalam setiap produksi film yang akan dikerjakan Monty Tiwa, contohnya dalam film Otomatis Romantis serta Barbi3. Oh iya kalau mau ikutan, iurannya hanya sekedarnya koq. Kalau mau tahu informasi lebihnya, telfon aja dulu ke 021 – 70995738.

 

Happy Ending Pictures beralamat sama dengan kantor Kalyana Shira Films di Jl. Bunga Mawar No.9 Cipete, Jakarta Selatan. Lewat programnya, Happy Ending Pictures yang didirikan oleh Nia Dinata, akan selalu mencari naskah yang menarik untuk kemudian digarap bersama menjadi sebuah film. Seperti yang berlaku bagi Aga dan Ogi dalam film Gara-Gara Bola. Jadi kalau kamu punya naskah atau minimal synopsis yang menarik, kirim saja langsung, atau bisa telephone dulu ke nomor 021 - 7503223 / 7503225.

 

Timur Merah bisa jadi yang belakangan muncul, namun bukan berarti Timur Merah yang didirikan oleh Helfi CH Kardit tidak membawa semangat tinggi. Berdiri di tahun 2008, Helfi CH Kardit menyediakan tempat bagi siapapun untuk belajar sekaligus praktek pengerjaan film seperti editing, artistik ataupun lainnya. Silahkan saja datang ke Jl.Cibulan 1, kawasan Kebayoran Baru, Jakarta Selatan. Selama masih ada tempat, pasti akan diterima kok.(ajo/bat) 

Channel Profile - Asian Food Channel (AFC)

CHANNEL: Asian Food Channel (AFC)

COUNTRIES: Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Brunei and the Philippines

LAUNCH DATE: July 26, 2005

OWNERSHIP: Privately owned by Hian Goh and Maria Brown

DESCRIPTION: Targeted at adults aged 25 to 45, AFC is the first and only Asian food TV channel in the region. The pay-TV network aims to offer viewers the best in food programming from across Asia and around the world, providing a mix of both Eastern and Western programs in a variety of formats.

MANAGING DIRECTOR, ACQUISITIONS & PROGRAMMING: Maria Brown
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Hian Goh

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: According to Maria Brown, the co-founder and managing director of acquisitions and programming at AFC, the philosophy of the network is simple: “In short, the Asian Food Channel is all about food, food and more food.”

Brown notes that as the network is about food and “the people who love it,” the viewer base is very diverse. “The channel’s core audience is made up of all adults aged 25 to 54, including high flyers, modern women and discerning foodies,” says Brown. “It’s a real mix of genders, ages, and professions and something we are very proud of.”

A zeal for food drove Brown to launch the network with Hian Goh, a managing director at AFC. “Both of us love food and think it’s an important genre for a region that is so passionate about eating,” explains Brown.

The channel’s daytime strategy is centered on stripping content so that it “can create relatively predictable, and hence, comfortable zones for the audience,” says Brown. Prime time features the channel’s top culinary shows, helmed by popular chefs like the Michelin-starred Briton Gordon Ramsay in Hell's Kitchen, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares and The F Word, and Mark McEwan in THE HEAT with Mark McEwan.

Aside from stripping programs that already have a strong following, AFC has also created some specific zones where viewers can find a variety of content that has done well in the past. “We have a 'Best of Asia' zone in which viewers can expect to find repeats of some of the best food programming from around the region.”

AFC acquires content from around the world, but is “mainly focused on English-speaking territories and the territories in Asia,” says Brown. As the channel is fairly new, Brown says that the percentage of original programming on the channel is “relatively small,” but the channel will be looking to “ramp up its original productions in a significant manner” this year.

Brown is pleased about the growth of the channel but is aware of the challenges that a young network like AFC can be faced with. “If you look at any of the major channels here in Asia, it has taken them at least ten years to build their brand and viewer loyalty,” notes Brown.

WHAT’S NEW: A slew of new programming will be launching in prime time in January, including the second season of Hell’s Kitchen and the fourth season of Chef at Home, in which Michael Smith shows viewers how to prepare uncomplicated tasty meals. February will see the rollout of the third season of Restaurant Makeover, in which two industry top guns must overhaul a struggling restaurant and set it on the path of success with a small budget and very limited time. In the series The Cookworks, premiering February 4, Chef Donna Dooher entertains and inspires teams of largely inexperienced, everyday students who have sought out her culinary expertise. And The Naked Chef, featuring popular British chef Jamie Oliver, will premiere on February 10.

Brown is not actively pursuing new-media deals yet. “I’m sure new media will be a money spinner someday, [but] until then we will participate selectively in those windows,” she says. “At the end of the day, we are a TV channel, and we still believe strongly in our core product, [which] is television.”

WEBSITE: www.asianfoodchannel.com

Channel Profile - Astro Aruna

CHANNEL: Astro ARUNA

COUNTRY: Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam and Singapore

LAUNCH DATE: February 2006

OWNERSHIP: Astro All Asia Network

DISTRIBUTION: 2.5 million in Malaysia and Brunei, and 500,000 in Vietnam.

DESCRIPTION: The first-ever dedicated 24-hour Indonesian drama channel in Southeast Asia, with content that covers all areas of the genre, including romance, action, thriller and fantasy.

SENIOR MANAGEMENT:
Executive Director, Astro Entertainment: Zainir Aminullah
Channel Head: Meniek Andini

PROGRAMMING STRATEGY: With more than 1,000 hours of original productions, Astro ARUNA looks to provide the best of Indonesian entertainment for its viewers, which are largely females aged 20 to 50. Though the channel carries many female-skewed programs, it also continues to entertain its audience with a variety of daily serial dramas, sitcoms, mini-series and TV movies that are suitable for the whole family.

Zainir Aminullah, the executive director of Astro Entertainment, explains, "Astro ARUNA features the best drama selection for the family, packing it with the widest range of drama, comedy, romance, action, thriller and fantasy that feature popular Indonesian actors like Ari Wibowo, Lulu Tobing, Lenna Tan and Alexandra Gottardo. We believe that this combination appeals to Astro ARUNA's target market."

Aminullah points out that the original productions, which include drama series, telemovies and mini-series, are from PT Tripar Multivision Plus, one of the major production houses in Indonesia. A remaining 30 percent of the network's schedule is derived from co-productions and commissions.

"We are deeply committed to providing strong and compelling programs in a variety of genres for our viewers," Aminullah says. "Due to Astro's strong relationship with its channel partners, we work with a select group of production houses to offer quality programs."

Among the dramas that have achieved high ratings on Astro ARUNA are Bidadari, a fantasy story about a beautiful fairy sent to earth to help people do good deeds; Sulaiman, which has famous cast members, including Anjasmara, Nova Eliza and Lucky Widjatmoko, on a quest to fight evil and spread kindness to humankind; and Wah Cantiknya, a romantic comedy about a rich girl who needs to marry in order to receive her father's inheritance.

Even though Astro ARUNA has the competitive advantage of being the only channel in Southeast Asia that offers exclusive Indonesian programming, the network is keen to keep providing fresh content to ensure that the viewers continue to tune in.

"To delight our viewers, we broadcast an average of 50 hours of fresh drama titles monthly," Aminullah explains. "Astro ARUNA also schedules its programs based on a convenient viewing format, slotting in specific dramas at specific times to adapt to the different viewing styles in different regions." Its schedule is also shaped around the principle of additional screenings, repeating its programs to give viewers the convenience of catching a missed a program at a different time.

Aside from on its website, which features program-related information, Astro ARUNA’s content is also available on mobile in Malaysia as of November 1.

WHAT’S NEW: In November, Astro ARUNA will be airing Malaikat-Malaikat Kecil. The drama sees Indra Bruggman and Chaty Sharon starring together in a "heart-warming" family drama, says Aminullah. Astro ARUNA fans can look forward to three new mini-series by the end of 2008, as well as a host of fresh telemovies in various genres, including mystery, thriller and action.

WEBSITE: www.astro.com.my/channels/aruna

—By Kristin Brzoznowski

Asia-Pacific pay TV hits growth spurt

Written by Patrick Frater
Wednesday, 29 October 2008
Story Categories: Cable TV, Hong Kong, Satellite TV, TV,

Pay TV subscriptions in the Asia-Pacific region will grow 17% to 300 million this year, according to a report presented Tuesday at the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Assn. of Asia's annual confab in Hong Kong.
Of that number, 71 million will be digital connections, said the report published jointly by Casbaa and Standard Chartered Bank. It forecast that Asia's digital pay TV total will soon overtake the U.S.
"Digitization is good for consumers and the industry. Given a greater choice of programming, the possibility of buying content that suits their particular interests and the opportunity to view it when they want, where they want, customers willingly buy," report said.
Report also underlined digital's role in cutting TV piracy.
Study said according to its definition of TV piracy (which excludes content on the Internet, but includes illegal connections, decoder card sharing and satellite overspill), the cost to companies had hit $1.77 billion, and that its growth from 2007's $1.54 billion was fractionally lower than the growth of the legitimate pay TV market.
By far the TV industry's greatest loss -- $1.12 billion -- is in India, which combines under declarations with illicit redistributors. That compares to a legal market worth only $21 million.
But the study did not place piracy as a major fiscal problem for the government as many Indian pirate operations pay tax on their illegal earnings.
Other territories where pirate TV exceeds the legitimate pay TV market include the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.

Tutie Kirana, Kembali ke Layar Lebar

Di tengah maraknya wajah segar yang berseliweran di layar lebar, terselip satu-dua yang terhitung veteran. Tutie Kirana menjadi salah satu nama yang dimaksud. Ibu dari Djenar Maesa Ayu ini termasuk aktris yang belakangan ini laris manis dan selalu muncul dalam film nasional. Pemilik nama asli Puji Astutie ini mulai tampil lagi sejak lima tahun silam dalam besutan Nia Dinata. Ca Bau Kan, setelah absen belasan tahun.

Saat ditawari bermain film itu Tutie sempat bertanya kepada Nia tentang siapa yang merekomendasikan namanya. ”Tahu nama Ibu dari Oom Remy,” terang Tutie mengulang ucapan sang sutradara. Remy Silado adalah penulis novel Ca Bau Kan, yang diangkat Nia ke layar lebar dengan judul yang sama.

Remy dan Tutie sendiri sempat main bareng dalam film Tinggal Sesaat Lagi, yang dibesut oleh sutradara Edward Pesta Sirait. Lewat film yang sama, Tutie masuk unggulan untuk Peran Pembantu Terbaik dalam FFI 1987. Dan setelah film tersebut kemudian namanya hilang dari gemerlap layar perak.

Kendati mengaku tidak tampil maksimal, tak pelak Ca Bau Kan menjadi peretas jalan Tutie untuk kembali di jalur film nasional. Pasalnya, setelah film itu beredar, berbondong-bondong sutradara meminangnya untuk tampil dalam film-film mereka. Sebut saja nama-nama macam Riri Riza (Gie dan Tiga Hari untuk Selamanya), Rudi Soedjarwo (Pocong 1—tak jadi diedarkan, dan In the Name of Love), Lola Amaria (Betina), Lance (Jakarta Undercover), dan terakhir ada Viva Westi (May).

Kisah tentang terjunnya Tutie ke dunia film terdengar sungguh klasik: main film karena mengantar saudara atau teman. Alkisah, awal 1970-an, Tutie datang mengantar rekannya Nuke Maya Saphira ke tempat Ratno Timoer. Sutradara Pitrajaya Boernama saat melihat Tutie langsung kepincut dan memberinya peran yang sama dengan pemain yang sudah lebih berkelas macam Nuke dan Camelia Malik dalam film Pendekar Bambu Kuning. Sedangkan Ratno Timoer sendiri menjadi pemeran utama dalam film yang dimaksud.

Pengalaman serupa terjadi lagi pada film berikut, Mama. Ketika itu, Tutie mengantar Agus Melasz berangkat casting pada sutradara Wim Umboh. Lagi-lagi Wim malah lebih tertarik kepada yang mengantar. ”Wah, gue ngga mau lakinya. Gue mau bininya aja,” demikian Tutie menirukan ucapan sang sutradara puluhan tahun silam. Walhasil, Tutie didapuk untuk sebuah peran utama dalam film 70 mm itu.

Kendati sempat bersuamikan seorang sutradara besar macam Sjuman Djaya tidak membuat Tutie kemaruk untuk tampil dalam filmnya. ”Aku bukan tipe orang yang aji mumpung,” ungkap Tutie.

Diakuinya, di era itu banyak aktris yang suaminya sutradara memanfaatkan betul kesempatan itu. ”Kalau aku mau Bung Sjuman itu membuat film kayak Atheis atau apa itu lamaran apa (maksudnya Pinangan- red), itu adalah peran-peran yang sebetulnya Bung Sjuman minta aku main pada saat itu. Tapi aku nolak,” terang Tutie. Alasannya, dia ingin menjadi dirinya sendiri.

Tak semua film yang disutradarai Sjuman, Tutie menolak untuk main. Ada satu alasan yang membuatnya mau berakting dalam Si Doel Anak Betawi. ”Karena aku ngefans ke Benyamin S,” terang Tutie tanpa ragu. Dia menyebut Benyamin luar biasa. ”Sampai ngga bisa syuting. Lihat tampangnya ketawa aja. Habis ekspresinya begitu.”

Dari sekian banyak film yang dimainkannya, Tutie menyebut film yang diproduksi tahun 1972, bertajuk Flamboyan sebagai film yang amat berkesan baginya. ”Itu film luar biasa. Baik untuk cerita maupun teknis ya, set-setnya. Untuk ukuran pada tahun itu sangat mahal. Luar biasa!” tutur Tutie. Namun karena masalah yang terjadi antara Sjuman dan produsernya, film itu batal beredar di pasaran. ”Itu filmnya Bung Sjuman sebelum Si Doel Anak Betawi.”

Bermain film agaknya sudah jadi candu buat Tutie. Katanya, seperti ada yang kurang jika lama tak berakting. Bedanya, kini dia tak harus repot-repot lagi untuk casting sana-sini, melainkan memang diminta untuk bermain. ”Soalnya ketika mereka meminta, kayanya serius,” ujar Tutie.

”Saya sudah dalam posisi yang nothing to loose. Aku sudah sampai di tempat seperti ini dengan usia segini. Bukan sok atau bagaimana, tapi terlalu ngoyo kalau aku harus ngelamar-ngelamar (peran). Jadi istilahnya ya nunggu untuk beberapa peran yang seharusnya aku yakin sutradara muda itu punya referensi, punya visi.” lanjut Tutie lagi.

Setelah puluhan tahun menjadi aktris, Tutie mencoba menjadi produser. ”Ini tantangan sekaligus coba-coba,” terang Tutie. Semua faktor campur-aduk muncul di dalamnya.

”Ini benar-benar modal sendiri sama sepupu. Karena pada saat Rudi datang dengan modal script, sudah jadi, yang ditulis oleh Titien. Menurut aku ini tantangan,” terang Tutie.

Dari sekian banyak kendala yang dipikirnya berat ternyata bukan permodalan, melainkan promosi. Sebagai produser, Tutie mengaku puas dengan karya Rudi itu. (bat)

ASEAN sets digital TV standards

HONG KONG - The broadcast regulators of seven South East Asian countries Thursday set regional standards for the transition from analog to digital broadcasting. They agreed a set of tech specifications for digital set-top decoders and to create new content for digital broadcast.

Sixth running of the ASEAN Digital Broadcasting meeting in Singapore, involving Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, said "alignment of technical specification standards for set-top-boxes will create economies of scale for equipment manufacturers and help lower the prices of set top-boxes."

The 60 delegates also decided to create an ASEAN High Definition Centre which will provide training for HD production and facilitate HD co-productions within the region. They agreed to produce a 10-part ASEAN documentary series focusing on lifestyle, heritage and culture that will act as a regional unifier and a showcase for global auds.

he ADB meeting built on the earlier decision by the ASEAN ministers responsible for information (AMRI) conference in May 2007 that adopted Europe's Digital Video Broadcasting-Terrestrial (DVB-T) as ASEAN's common standard for terrestrial digital broadcasting.

The ADB officials must now prepare detailed policy considerations for analogue switch-off and submit recommendations to the next AMRI meeting in 2009.

Outstanding topics include: exploring interactive TV software costs; MPEG4 licensing issues; establishment of a common Digital TV sound standard; and a study of the high-definition 720p/1080i transmission and production formats.

Ramon Tungka Siap Sutradarai Film

Sosok aktor yang satu ini memang belum lama di dunia hiburan. Ramon Tungka mengawali karir dalam film karya sutradara Hanung Bramantyo, Catatan Akhir Sekolah. Namun lantaran selektif memilih peran, tak banyak film yang dilakoninya. Sejak 2005 dia baru membintangi 5 judul film. Empat judul lainnya adalah Cinta Silver, Ekskul, Pesan dari Surga dan Tali Pocong Perawan. Kini dia siap-siap melangkah sebagai sutradara film.

“Gue ditawari teman sekaligus manajer gue untuk men-direct project film buat home video,” demikian kabar yang diungkapkan Ramon lewat manajernya Ichwan Persada.

Asal-muasalnya, Ichwan memang ditawari investor untuk menggarap paket film itu sebanyak enam judul. Salah satu yang kebagian termasuk Ramon. Sebelum ini Ichwan memang juga acapkali terlibat dalam produksi beberapa judul film.

”Cuma karena persiapannya mepet dan gue juga pengen mengawali dengan baik, maka gue memutuskan untuk mempersiapkan mental maupun pengetahuan gue dulu,” reaksi Ramon atas tawaran itu.

Menurut pengakuan Ramon, tambah Ichwan, setiap kali syuting dia banyak bertanya kepada sutradara atau juru kamera. Saat ini, Ramon juga mulai membaca buku-buku yang berhubungan dengan pembuatan film.

Namun ini hanya soal waktu. Pasalnya, tambah Ichwan, seiring dengan kematangan dan pengalaman di dunia teater setahun belakangan, Ramon siap untuk menyutradarai film perdananya akhir tahun ini. (bat)

Usai Fiksi, Zeke Tak Kehabisan Proyek

Sudah nonton film Fiksi? Jika anda jeli, ada adegan unik muncul ketika sekelompok pengamen melantunkan tembang Profesor Komodo milik kelompok Zeke and The Popo di tengah hiruk-pikuk warung tenda. Kok bisa lagu indie dibawakan tukang ngamen? Tak usah bingung, penata musik film ini yakni Zeke Khaseli ternyata merupakan frontman band tersebut. Iseng-iseng, dimasukkanlah tembang bernada riang itu. Kok bisa begitu?

”Saya membuat scoring (ilustrasi musik) setelah ada gambarnya,” Zeke menerangkan. Sebelumnya, Zeke juga sudah membaca skenario yang ditulis oleh Joko Anwar. ”Dari cerita itu, musiknya lebih banyak untuk menggambarkan bagaimana suasana hati Alisha,” tutur dia.

Saat hati Alisha (diperankan oleh Ladya Cherryl) sedang girang itulah Zeke menyelipkan tembang bandnya dibawakan oleh sekelompok pengamen. ”Wah, riang-riangnya mereka seperti mengingatkan pada Bob Dylan gitu,” komentar alumni Art Institute of Seattle ini.

Atmosfer gembira yang mendera Zeke mau tak mau berpengaruh jua pada album bandnya. ”Album ZATPP yang kedua sepertinya bakal terpengaruh oleh film Fiksi deh. Genrenya alternatif rock, indie rock gitu. Lebih ringan ketimbang sebelum-sebelumnya,” paparnya.

Kelar menuntaskan ilustrasi musik dalam film karya sutradara Mouly Surya, Zeke harus siap-siap untuk gawe berikutnya. Ke depan, setidaknya ada dua proyek lain yang harus dibereskan. Dua-duanya thriller pula, satu untuk film Joko Anwar, yakni Pintu Terlarang dan satu lagi untuk Mo Brothers yang bertajuk Macabre.

Setelah Kala dan Fiksi, kok thriller terus. Mau jadi spesialis thriller? (bat)

Buah Kelana Viva Westi

Viva Westi dilahirkan 21 September 1972 di Manokwari, ketika itu namanya masih propinsi Irian Jaya. Terjun dalam dunia film apalagi sampai menjadi sutradara mungkin tak pernah terpikir di benaknya. Namun, suatu kali ada satu kejadian yang memaksanya untuk mencemplungkan diri dalam dunia nan glamour ini.

Syahdan pada awal 1990-an, ia sedang jalan-jalan untuk nonton bioskop bersama teman kampus IISIP-nya di Taman Ismail Marzuki. Tak dinyana seorang pria mendatanginya dan kemudian berucap,“ Halo, saya Garin Nugroho. Saya mau bikin film dan saya rasa kamu cocok.“ Demikian ungkap Westi mengenang momen batu pijakan awal dia terjun di dunia gambar hidup.

Proses untuk berakting dalam film, yang kemudian diketahui bertajuk Surat untuk Bidadari itu memang tak mudah. Awalnya, tutur Westi, dirinya cenderung untuk menolak namun ketika sudah bilang setuju, eh produksinya malah batal pula. Akhirnya, setelah vakum dua bulan proyek itu jadi terlaksana. Maka berangkatlah tim SET syuting di Sumba selama sebulan. ”Syutingnya seru sekali. Di sana saya pertama ketemu dengan Nurul Arifin, Adi Kurdi, Monica Oemardi, Jajang C Noer. Itu syuting yang luar biasa.”

Rupanya kapasitas akting Westi dilirik pula oleh sutradara sekaliber Teguh Karya. Sebuah FTV yang diputar di stasiun SCTV bertajuk Indonesia Berbisik menjadi unjuk kemampuannya yang berikut. Lewat lakon yang diputar dalam rangka 50 Tahun Indonesia Merdeka ini Westi beradu akting dengan Alex Komang. Lagi-lagi di SCTV, ia kebagian peran dalam satu lakon arahan Slamet Rahardjo yang bertajuk Suro Buldog.

Jalan hidup Westi benar-benar berubah sepulangnya syuting dari Sumba. Garin menanyakan kenapa tidak mendaftar di kampus Institut Kesenian Jakarta? Kepalang hanya sekadar menjadi anak wayang, berangkatlah ia ke kampus Cikini untuk menimba ilmu penyutradaraan. Ya, jadi sutradara betulan. Sebagai pemanasan, Westi memulai langkahnya dengan mencoba menulis scenario sinetron Malam Pertama, dan Virgin The Series.

Agaknya Garin ditakdirkan punya campur tangan yang kuat dalam karir Westi. Putri dari Amril Datuk ini diajaknya terlibat dalam beberapa proyek berikut. Tahun 2002, Westi diajak berangkat ke pulau kelahirannya Papua untuk menjadi asisten sutradara Aku Ingin Menciummu Sekali Saja. Setelah itu mereka bareng Lianto Luseno dan Toni Trimarsanto menggarap Serambi. Film ini sempat diputar di ajang Un Certain Regard, Festival Film Cannes 2006.

Diam-diam ternyata Westi tak menyangkal kegemarannya terhadap film horor. Bahkan ia berteman baik dengan sutradara horor macam Arie Aziz dan Nayato Fio Nuala. ”Saya suka Nayato, saya sangat ngefans. Saya selalu bilang sama dia Suster N itu Suster Nayato...,”seloroh Westi sambil tertawa. Recycled, sebuah film milik Pang bersaudara adalah film yang disukai Westi.

Tahun 2007 Westi bertandang ke PT Virgo Putra Film. Usai berdiskusi dengan pihak produser, disepakatilah untuk mengeksekusi satu scenario horor miliknya, Suster N (Dendam Suster Ngesot). Westi sempat mengaku senewen lantaran sobat karibnya Arie Aziz menggunakan idiom suster ngesot juga untuk filmnya, namun akhirnya disepakati dengan tajuk Suster Ngesot The Movie. Apapun hasilnya, Westi tetap lega lantaran merasa sudah membuat sesuatu yang berbeda ketimbang arus utama.

”Sampai saat ini saya masih mencari produser yang ingin dibuatkan film horor. Saya mau,” celoteh Westi. Film horor itu adalah produk yang tergolong sulit dibuat. Pasalnya, shot dibikin harus benar-benar tepat saat hantunya lewat, ekspresinya pas dan itu harus melalui tipuan kamera tukasnya lagi. Intinya, membuat penonton untuk takut lebih sulit ketimbang membuat penonton menangis.

Kelana Westi dalam jagat perfilman rupanya berfaedah. Heru Winanto, produser film ketiganya ternyata orang dari Prima Entertainment, di mana dulu ia biasa menyuplai skenario. Ketika mereka bersua lagi, skenario May yang ditulis oleh Dirmawan Hatta ditawarkan kepadanya.

Lagi-lagi, Westi bersyukur karena selalu ditawari film yang berbeda-beda. ”May ini buat karir saya luar biasa, karena ada satu produser yang ngasih bujet dan kita bisa membuat film yang bagus tanpa dibebani. Ini harus banyak yang nonton ya, harus ini, harus itu.” lanjut Westi lagi.

Di matanya, May adalah satu tontonan alternatif yang berbeda karena berani mengambil kerusuhan sebagai latar belakang. Isu-isu sosial macam begini memang sudah menjadi makanannya karena beberapa ftv bertajuk macam Wo Ai Ni Indonesia atau Jangan Panggil Aku Cina pernah lahir di tangannya. Ini memang tentang perbedaan ras.