The Saddest Day in The History of Philippine Movies

Most of us didn't really see it coming, and yet slowly, inexorably, the decline came as quietly as the setting of the sun.

It used to be that General Motors sold the most number of cars and car parts in the world. When the American public and the world population in general reversed their habits and bought less and less of General Motors products, the company's revenues sank so low that they had to lay off thousands of workers. These unfortunate workers must have dedicated so much of their lives to their craft and livelihood, and yet, in exchange for years--maybe even decades of service, it became their lot to be rewarded with the loss of their jobs. A host of various factors brought this about, factors which may be both within and outside the control of these workers. But the fact remains that the end result was not desirable, and perhaps even incomprehensible to those very workers.

The same thing has happened to the Philippine movie industry. Where once the Industry managed to produce around 100 movie titles per year, the number has drastically been dwindling as we move closer to the end of the decade. At present, the Filipino moviegoing public can expect only around 40 or so new titles this year, less than half of the previous yearly average.

If you liken this situation to what has happened to General Motors, it simply means that the Industry has been making less, and by necessity has to shed a whole lot of its workforce. Say that, hypothetically, around 50 workers at an average work on one film. That would total to about 5, 000 workers for 100 films ( usually the number of workers per film reaches beyond the 50 mark ). Now, slash the number of films to 40, and you easily see 3, 000 people without jobs. You can imagine a hundred people lined up a city block doing nothing all day. How about 3,000 of them? They would probably fill, oh, about six city blocks.

Which could only mean that the Philippine movie industry as a whole earns a lot less than it did before. Because of this, it wouldn't have enough financial strength to compensate its workers. And with less workers, how can movie producers make more films?

I have worked in the Philippine movie industry myself for over 10 years, and am a personal witness to the steady decline of the Industry. I have seen how so many colleagues of mine have lost their jobs, simply because local movie producers have been making less movies. It saddens me to see them--movie directors, film editors, screenwriters, movie actors--co-workers in the film industry who have dedicated whole lifetimes to their work ( or as some of them would prefer to describe it, their passion ), now left with too little or nothing to do, drifting away like ashes from a dying ember.

The Industry hasn't always been in such a sorry state as this. It was not too long ago when one or two, even three Filipino movies would be showing at the cineplexes for every week of the year, side-by-side with American films. And, like their American counterparts, local films back then did enjoy a considerable amount of patronage. At some indistinguishable point, however, it was slowly becoming apparent that Filipino moviegoers were beginning to avoid local films at the moviehouses, and instead were flocking in droves to Hollywood blockbusters.

The simple explanation for this would be that Filipino moviegoers just got fed up with the sub par quality of local films as compared to that of Hollywood movies. American films have better picture quality and better sound. American movies have better stories. Filipino-made movies simply haven't ever reached the same level of technical and creative excellence. There was a time when we didn't care at all about this difference in quality, but that time is past. Today, in our age of 5.1 digital dolby surround sound, in this age of spectacular technological innovations in filmmaking, Hollywood movies reign supreme and local movies are being left behind.

There had been a time when this difference in quality didn't really matter, because admission prices were more affordable, whether you were going to a Filipino or American movie. However, ticket prices at the box office have been recently skyrocketing. When you choose between two products which have the same forbidding price tag, you normally and logically patronize the better product. In the contest between Hollywood movie wizardry versus the mostly lackadaisical and unspectacular Filipino films, the winner would be very much obvious enough.

Filipino moviegoers readily place the blame on local film workers, who are perceived as unqualified and incapable of matching the abilities of filmmakers in Hollywood.

This finger-pointing, however, is not the exclusive domain of the audience. Filipino film workers themselves decry the fact that local movie producers, or financiers, have never at all allocated the proper budget for their projects. From my personal experience, local film workers have always been yearning to deliver movies to the Filipino audience that would satisfy the demand for Hollywood quality. That yearning remains unfulfilled. Top-notch quality filmmaking, as defined by Hollywood standards, requires top-notch funding in the first place. Local movie producers simply cannot and will never ever allow this. And why so? Hollywood blockbusters have the backing of millions of U.S. dollars as production budgets. Even 100 million Philippine pesos is but a paltry sum compared to that.

Still, the complaint about local movies' scant production budgets is not new. It is, in fact, a perpetual complaint. Local film workers have been struggling with this situation for generations. In trying to break free from this quandary, there has grown a perception among film workers--and even among Filipino audiences themselves--that a more creative utilization of the budget and resources in the making of a Filipino movie would be the workaround to restrictive financial backing. In other words, local filmmakers have to make do with what little money they have, but must find innovative methods which would lift up local movies to the standard of Hollywood. This is easier said than done, because innovations in the filmmaking process require a whole lot of time to plan and execute. Most of the time, local film workers are expected to produce movies within two months, from scriptwriting to shooting to screening. Timetables this tight could never make room for any departures from filmmaking habits, much less any groundbreaking eurekas. No, the only way to deliver movies this fast to the audience is to stick to time-honored Filipino filmmaking techniques, never mind if the technology is advancing. Local movie workers know by heart that, by going this route, the movie won't measure up to what Hollywood gives us. Whenever the local producers shell out the millions, they expect to earn it back fast.

In stark contrast to this, Hollywood has the luxury of stretching its production schedules. The Spiderman franchise, for example, has shown three sequels so far. Each sequel, from script to screen, would cover two years of production. They could never make Spiderman franchise that good if the filmmakers were given two months to execute each one.

So, taking the cue from these conditions, it can be safely concluded that local film workers are hampered by 1) the lack of adequate capital infusion from local movie producers, and 2) mismanagement of timetables. The question then arises whether local movie workers could produce a movie as smooth and sleek as a Hollywood production if they were given the adequate budget and the proper length of time in which to deliver it to the audience. The answer would be a resounding yes! After working in the Philippine industry for so long a time, I could proclaim that Filipinos are not lacking in talent and artistry when it comes to making grade-A films. However, could a situation this ideal ever come to fruition? Off the top of my head, I can only say, "Not in the immediate future". Local movie producers quite simply can't afford bigger budgets, and won't give in to demands that production schedules be stretched. No, the only way this could happen is if some bigshot rich foreigner would risk the opportunity of co-producing a Filipino movie. That would seem to be quite a stretch of the imagination, of course, but then again, maybe there's no reason not to hope for it.

In the meantime, the Industry's downward trend continues. If it's any consolation, there is still to be found among local movie producers one particular studio which is very much able to churn out at least 10 movie titles per year. That studio is so far the most resilient, and it is refreshing to know that their earnings have been buoyed by a rather enthusiastic audience patronage. However, ten films a year is a far cry from the previous number of titles which other studios like them used to make. In the past, rival studios could each successfully deliver 20 or more movies per year. In this regard, it could be said that this particular studio has achieved something enviable today, but falls far short of what it could be achieving.

One cannot also deny the prevalence of many other circumstances which are eroding the health of the Industry. Movie piracy has become so rampant. The Philippine government's censorship body has so fervently pursued a moral stand so prudish and Victorian, to say the least, that it chokes any chance at all for movie producers to reach out to more mature audiences. Local moviemaking is now a domain very narrowly confined by stiff Hollywood competition, the dangers of hefty revenue loss through piracy, and the ever-absurd dogmatism of censorship.

Plenty of what if questions come to mind. What if cineplexes decide to drastically reduce ticket prices? What if local movies were spared from piracy? What if the government censorship body were abolished? There is also that one more frightening question: Do we really care if the Industry survives or not?

After all, we have already entered the 21st century, and it may be that Philippines movies don't hold the same special place in our society anymore. Plenty of other leisure activities are emerging which are taking the audiences away from the moviehouses. There is the fairly new craze over internet cafes, for instance, and it is all too easy to understand why these centers of gaming and net surfing are sprouting up like mushrooms everywhere, to the point that they are multiplying faster than new moviehouses are being built. Spending two hours in these boutiques is way cheaper than watching a movie. There is an added attraction, too, in that the internet is untrammeled by any form of moral censorship. Cable television is also making it easier to stay away from the moviehouses. Who needs to see the film at the cineplex today when you can simply bide your time and just wait when it appears on television?

One can easily imagine a possible point in the future when the last Filipino movie is produced, after which there will never be any other. That would have to be the saddest day in the history of Philippine movies. It might not have really arrived yet, but is it just around the corner?