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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider MOVIEGOER: Lessons from MMFF 2020

MOVIEGOER: Lessons from MMFF 2020

Published Dec 31, 2020 07:23 am
Charlie Dizon

JUST A THOUGHT: Nothing happens until first we dream.---Carl Sandburg

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  HIT AND MISS: Heard from reliable sources that the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival isn’t as much a money-maker as half-expected.

   This isn’t surprising at all since the idea of watching festival films online is new to the MMFF public. Note that watching movies is a high point when families troop to the malls during Christmas. The experience is second only to dining out, or simply chilling around in a park/mall setting.

    Exact figures are hard to come by, but someone says the total gross of the 10 participating films on the third day of the festival is a measly 11 million pesos.

    A big chunk of this amount went to Fan Girl, the festival’s top grosser and best picture, winner of several other awards, including best actor (Paulo Avelino), best actress (Charlie Dizon), and best director (Antonette Jadaone).

     Pre-Covid, the MMFF is the biggest moneymaker in the local movie industry. In 2019, MMFF’s eight entries earned a total of P995 million gross sales in the box-office.

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    LESSONS LEARNED: There are lessons to be learned here, for sure:

     Filipino moviegoers are used to watching movies and TV series for free on social media. Many of them refuse to pay when a screening is held online.

      A great majority of Filipino moviegoers, the masa included, are not techno-savvy. They are clueless about so-called apps, the gateway to such a new experience.

      MMFF can learn a thing or two from the FDCP’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, which was also held online a month or so earlier. The figures from the PPP aren’t also impressive.        

       It is so much easier to pirate movies when they are screened online. Such a sad experience fell on some of the entries, sending their producers climbing walls of despair. Greater tech controls should be put in place next time.

       Nominated films and personalities should be announced on the night of the awarding ceremony, not earlier. MMFF should not precondition the market but instead should provide equal playing field for all entries to make money.

        Drama films are not the top choice for viewing by online audiences in this festival. They end up being tail-enders.

Vhong Navarro in 'Mang Kepweng: Ang Lihim ng Bandanang Itim'

        Top choices are rom-com (Fan Girl), horror (The Missing) and outright comedy (Mang Kepweng, The Boy Foretold by the Stars). Such an observation is nothing new. All other MMFF editions in the past yielded the same results.

       With the outcome of the first online MMFF, will the film fest organizers pull off another similar edition in 2021? They can probably learn a thing or two from the lessons of 2020.    

Filipino moviegoers still prefer watching movies at the cinema. They are not ready for watching films online.

Related Tags

Fan Girl Mang Kepweng MMFF 2020
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