The Basics
This is a sarcastic and bumpy ride, so hang on tight. What’s happening to the Indonesian film and movie industry? I am not a movie reviewer and if I were you wouldn’t like me very much… I am very much filled with sarcasm and against the many stupid turns most movies take. So why am I writing this?
Simple, there has been an immense push toward international movie interest in the Indonesian Movie Industry. I have had no less than 5 consultation gigs in the past 6 months. What is happening and why? Well, let’s take a brief look at this phenomenon. The movie industry is well on its way to being what North America used to be back in the day. Why is this? Well, let’s see how and why this is happening. I was the COO for MD Pictures so here are my brief thoughts.
Post Covid
We were on a high before Covid and then we went public. This boosted MD Pictures to another level among the competition. Then Covid hit and we all took a hit.
Now we are back, by we, I mean the film industry. There was a year backup for releases and this weeded out the bad and weeding out it needed. Please understand that many shit films are being made. Yes, shit-films. Sounds like it should be the name of a production house.
This amazingly shitty film is being brought to you by Shit-house and co-produced by Shit-film, presented by Shitty-production.
There, I said it and I am glad. Shitty plots, cheap movies were the rage. Most make no sense, most production value is about as bad as a homemade movie by Dad. This is the state of the movie industry. Everyone is in it with money from friends, and investors hoping to make a quick buck instead of creating something worth watching. Much like I do on TikTok. At some point, my content may be much better.
But Why?
Number one, Most production houses hire writers who have zero clue how to write a script. They have the idea of how to write a script but not the knowledge and experience of how to write a good script.
Number two, most writers are robots and have zero creativity in their brains, they type on a keyboard. In order to write you need to see not only the three-act bit of beginning middle and end, but the clear throughline and execution of that entire process.
Number three, budgets are inflated and money is wasted in production so the full vision of the movie is rarely met. When looking at budgets for location, equipment, and catering, one budget differs very much from the next. Why? Because everyone in Indonesia takes a cut of something, that is a fact, go figure ha?
Number four: Most actors and actresses cannot act to save their lives so even a good script is ruined. Other than screaming and yelling at each other, most Sinetron (soap opera) actors suck. There are a few who can but 90% cannot. Pretty much goes for the box office movies. The worst part is that the directors let this slip and do not encourage better acting.
