KUALA LUMPUR – A handful of actors and industry giants are in support of producer Datuk Afdlin Shauki’s observation that creatives in the nation’s entertainment industry have been “used” by TV stations and politicians.
On Rocky’s Bru blog, actor and creative director Jehan Miskin said the seeds of the industry’s problems were sown decades ago, when the government effectively allowed TV stations to monopolise the industry.
“RTM is state-run, TV3 monopolises free-to-air (content), and Astro is the sole player in paid TV. This has led to a tremendous exploitation of the creative industry, with TV stations dictating terms, hardly paying a living wage, owning all IPs outright, and (committing) many other violations that can only happen in a monopoly.
“This situation leads to the industry losing many skilled and talented film-makers every year. After all, would you stay in an industry where you can hardly earn a living, especially if you are ambitious and crave success?
“I myself have found that my company produces more commercials over the years, simply because it is healthier to compete in a free market, rather than one monopolised by TV stations.”
He believes that as long as there is no political will to improve the situation, the entertainment industry will continue to be exploited and lose its best talent.
Journalist and content creator Saniboey Mohd Ismail said industry creatives have been treated like “slaves” by broadcasters.
“To those broadcasters and TV stations, the ideas that the creatives come up with don’t mean a thing. They (ideas) have zero value (to these stations), and when these ideas do get produced into content (which is valuable), the people who created those ideas get paid once, and that’s it – they’re told to take a walk. This is what I call slavery.
“This is how the government or the people managing this country see art, and therein lies our weakness as a society. When we (creatives) ask for some sort of royalties or sharing of IPs, the TV stations tell us that since they are funding the project, they have full IP rights.”
The associations governing the entertainment industry must stop acting like politicians, and instead, stand up for the industry and help creatives deal with these problems, he said, adding that it is also a matter of these groups’ survival.
Actor Datuk Hans Isaac said some of the positive changes he effected during his 14-month stint as National Film Development Corporation (Finas) chairman under the Pakatan Harapan administration are not recognised by the new leadership installed by Perikatan Nasional.
“I personally gave it a shot as chairman of Finas before being terminated due to the ‘backdoor government’. In nine working months, we managed to deliver a report card of 26 improvements.
“But, the top two were to increase the RTM TV budget by 15% to 20% across the board, and to get Selangor to give a lower cinema tax rebate from 25% to 15% in the 2021 state budget.
“Having said this, our report card was not recognised by the new Finas line-up, and in short, they did not want to show that we made an impact. This is all due to politics. I’ve always said creatives and politics don’t mix well.”
However, he said, industry creatives need government support to push for legal and financial backing while providing funds and guidelines where the structure and implementation must be designed as a commercial and viable identity for the long term.
He added that the industry needs a restructuring, where many of the 100-odd associations governing it should be abolished.
Blog owner Datuk Ahirudin Atan, meanwhile, took Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Abdullah to task, as the fate of creatives are directly under his purview.
“For the people Afdlin refers to as ‘creatives’ come under Saifuddin’s watch. In other words, Saifuddin is directly responsible for ‘(we are) the whores in an industry where the pimps make all the money and treat us like crap’.
“The pimps here do not refer to Saifuddin, though. Rather, they are the television stations and investors so used to their pound of flesh. At least, I think so.
“But politicians like Saifuddin are equally responsible because they hardly do anything to improve the system and stop the prostitution/slavery of the creatives. Afdlin wrote that these politicians would use the creatives for political and government events, and then forsake them.”
Former communications and multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said Putrajaya must be open to these issues, and more discussions are needed to handle the various problems facing the industry.
“(When I was minister,) I organised brainstorming (sessions) with the creatives. More discussions should be held to tackle the various issues, step by step. Look at it positively.” – The Vibes, January 2, 2021
