Suara.com – Always underestimated, horror films are now increasingly stretched and have become the audience’s favorite genre today. The success of KKN in the Dancer and Servant of Satan Village is one of the proofs.
But unfortunately, not all horror films provide quality, so there are also many horror films that only last a day or two in theaters.
The role of cinema also has a big influence on the success of a film. But the cinema also has business calculations, with a large amount of money. So, there must be good communication between the producer and the cinema owner.
Those were the main ideas in the film discussion event entitled “Horror Movies Upgrading, From Grade B to Prestigious Genres” initiated by the Entertainment Journalists Forum (Forwan) in welcoming National Film Day, which was held at the Popular Theater Studio in Kebon Pala, Central Jakarta, recently.
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The discussion presented director Joko Anwar, film producer H Firman Bintang, chairman of the cinema organization H Djonny Syafruddin, and senior actor Slamet Rahardjo as the host.
According to Joko Anwar, horror stories in films have existed since the early period of cinematography technology was invented. Joko also mentioned that Indonesian horror films had been shown on four continents.
Joko Anwar stated, making a horror film is not easy, because all the elements have to be precise. There are many repetitions of scenes, but filmmakers are always challenged to present them differently. So that the audience always feels that they are getting something new.
Even so, said Joko Anwar, Indonesian horror films have many advantages that filmmakers can explore. Different from Hollywood films, Indonesia has around 42 types of ghosts that can be developed in film stories.
“Compare this with the West, which only presents three types, Dracula, monsters and zombies,” said Joko Anwar, who has had success with the horror films Servant of Satan and Women of the Land of Jahanam.
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As for the producer Firman Bintang, of the 30 films produced, 20 of them are horror films. For him, the market for horror films is the lower middle class. According to him, if you want to play in a horror film, then you have to focus on that group.
During the production of horror films, Firman Bintang admitted that he had difficulty finding a director. “Many openly say they can’t, many don’t want to,” added the younger brother of senior journalist Ilham Bintang.
“So far I have collaborated a lot with Nayato because he is willing and able to meet the criteria I want. In fact, I am open to collaborating with anyone,” he said.
Aside from the difficulty in finding directors, Firman Bintang also admits that he often encounters problems with cinemas. Many of the films produced by Filman Bintang did not meet the target audience because cinemas rushed to roll the films.
According to Firman Bintang, completing the work into a film is only halfway for the producers. Because the next trip fought it to the cinema manager to show it, to get the screen.
So far, there has been injustice to Indonesian film producers and filmmakers, he said. For imported films, especially Hollywood, cinema managers automatically provide 300 screens at a time. Meanwhile, there are only dozens of national films. Even for just a few screens.
“And they are not open. Once my film was shown with Iron Man, yes, it was destroyed! One day it was shown, it immediately dropped!” he recalled. “There was also one time when my film was pitted against another national film with many stars. I protested. If I do nothing, it’s suicide,” said Firman Bintang in a high tone.
Meanwhile, Djonny Syafruddin as chairman of the cinema entrepreneurs asked the producers to have a lot of dialogue with cinema entrepreneurs. Films are certainly produced with capital. Cinemas are also operated with money and must pay employees.
“For one cinema screen, the investment is Rp. 2.5 to Rp. 5 billion,” he said while revealing that currently there are 2,000 cinema screens in Indonesia, 1,600 screens of which are managed by the network.
Cinema entrepreneurs and producers must equally carefully map out the audience. He expressed the importance of publication and marketing. The journalist has a role as a guide for the audience.
In the region, many Western films are not selling well, in fact, local films are in demand. “In Cilacap, where my cinema is, news of Luna Maya being dressed up so Suzzanna has been awaited and asked when to play. And it’s true, 80 percent of those who watched were women,” he said.
