Issue of film practitioner royalty should be reviewed - PM Ismail Sabri

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob wants the issue of royalty for those involved in the film industry to be reviewed.

The Prime Minister said it was earlier discussed when he was Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister.

In fact, he said during the period, the Copyright Act had just been amended to provide royalty to singers and composers.

"So during my time, we have just started... we hope the matter be reviewed for us to look after the interest of actors, producers, directors and those involved in filming.

"InsyaAllah. As the prime minister, I may not have time to do it myself, but I have already laid the foundation, maybe Tan Sri Annuar Musa himself will look into the matter," he said in his speech when closing the Keluarga Malaysia Creative Community Exploration Programme (Ekspresi@Finas) here today.

Also present were Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, K-Komm secretary-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Mentek, National Film Development Corporation, Malaysia (Finas) chairman Senator Datuk Seri Zurainah Musa and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama) chief executive officer Roslan Ariffin.

The Prime Minister said based on the Department of Statistics report in 2019, the film industry contributed 1.9 per cent or RM29.4 billion to the Gross Domestic Product and generated 216,811 job opportunities.

However, the industry which encompasses the production, distribution and screening of films experienced losses amounting to more than RM10 billion since March 18 2020 due to the implementation of the Movement Control Order to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

"From the total, the cinema screening industry lost a gross collection of RM1.08 billion in 2019 to RM138.9 million in 2020 and RM28.9 million in 2021," he said.

On the post-pandemic economic recovery process, Ismail Sabri said the impact of the government's efforts to attract foreign investment can also be seen through Finas' Film Production Incentive (FIMI) investment data amounting to RM129.7 million until last August, which exceeds the RM100 million target.

While for the domestic market, the success of Mat Kilau movie, which recorded the highest box office collection of over RM90 million, is proof of the ability of local films to compete with international films that dominate 60 per cent of the box office.

This, he said, was followed by the success of films such as Air Force The Movie and Abang Long Fadil 3, which also recorded collections exceeding RM25 million, which gave confidence to producers, distributors and exhibitors about the ability of local films to break the setback due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

He said the government is aware that going forward the economic environment is expected to be more challenging and various issues have been voiced by stakeholders such as copyright ownership, welfare of practitioners, production payment rates by broadcasters, entertainment duty exemption, tax incentives and so on.

"The government is always concerned about the issues raised and based on long-term planning, these issues will be studied and improved along with the industrial ecosystem that is going through a phase of change," he said.

He believes that industry stakeholders have great potential to make the country's film industry a commodity to drive the economy domestically and internationally.

"I hope that the local industry will continue to be strong through the increasingly challenging economic situation and rise progressively so that the entire Keluarga Malaysia can benefit," he said.

On 2023 Budget for the film industry, Ismail Sabri said a total of RM152 million was allocated to Finas to drive the development of the industry which benefits various stakeholder groups including investors, producers, distributors, exhibitors, service providers and production personnel.

He said, this includes an allocation of RM50 million for the National Creative Content Special Fund, an allocation of RM102 million for the Digital Content Fund and a tax deduction for contributions to the Film Community and National Film Development Fund under Finas.

In addition, exemption from import duty and sales tax on studio equipment and filming production and 80 per cent contribution by the government for the Social Security Organisation's Self-Employed Social Security Scheme for Finas' artists.

"However, all this will only be enjoyed if the 2023 Budget is presented again and approved after the 15th general election. This means that the government today needs to be re-elected to lead the country," he said.

-- BERNAMA