Number of local movies dwindling

PHILIPPINE cinema’s glorious years are no more.

The once-lively movie industry is barely thriving, as can be seen by the number of movies locally produced every year.

Data compiled by the National Statistical Coordination Board (NSCB) revealed that the movie industry’s blackest years were from 2000 to 2009, when the output of local film producers declined.

The statistics board on Tuesday said that from 1960 to 1999, the number of local films shown in the country had averaged more than 140 a year.

However, only 732 films were shown during the past decade, or an average of 73 movies a year, which was half the average in the preceding four decades.

Also, from 2005 to 2011, the number of local and foreign films shown was fairly steady at about 220 per year.

“Mainstream local films have gone down in number, but digital films—more popularly known as indie films, which cost less to produce—are on the way up with an output of 44 films in 2011,” the NSCB said.

Indie films boosted movie outputs, increasing from 24 percent in 2005 to 34 percent in 2011.

“The number of foreign films shown locally has also gone down, while the average number of local films has increased from less than 60 per year in 2005 to 2008 to more than 70 [from] 2009 to 2011,” the board added.

In terms of revenue, four out of the country’s 10 top-grossing films in 2008 were locally produced. However, from 2009 to 2011, only two of the top 10 movies were made locally.

The top-grossing film in the Philippines was Transformers: Dark of the Moon, which raked in P423.2 million. Only two of the biggest-earning movies were locally produced and both were shown in 2011—third-placer The Unkabogable Praybeyt Benjamin with P331.5 million and sixth-place No Other Woman with P282.5 million.

Other high-earning local movies in recent years were You Changed My Life (2009), A Very Special Love (2008), One More Chance (2007), My Amnesia Girl (2010), Miss You Like Crazy (2010), A Love Story (2007), Caregiver (2008), In My Life (2009), For The First Time (2008), Catch Me, I’m in Love (2011), In The Name of Love (2011), Here Comes the Bride (2010) and Petrang Kabayo (2010).

For Metro Manila Film Festival entries, Enteng ng Ina Mo (2011) generated the highest revenue with P237.9 million, followed by Ang Tanging Ina Niyong Lahat (2008), Si Agimat at si Enteng Kabisote (2010), Ang Tanging Ina Mo (2010), Kasal, Kasali, Kasalo (2006), Enteng Kabisote 3 (2006), Segunda Mano (2011), Sakal, Sakali, Saklolo (2007), Iskul

Bukol 20 Years After (2008), and Ang Panday 2 (2011).

The NSCB said that based on the 2008 Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry, of the total 3,667,065 employed in 2008, only 3,531 workers were employed in motion picture and video production, animated films and cartoons production, and motion picture, audio and video projection represented about 0.10 percent of total employment in the domestic economy.

NSCB Secretary General Romulo Virola said that they gathered data on the film industry to provide some insights on the sector including its economic contribution, particularly in the generation of revenues and employment.

“Films have been used as a tool for tourism to promote the culture, sceneries, and traditions of a nation,” he added. –MAYVELIN U. CARABALLO REPORTER, Manila Standard Today