Jom Wayang Campaign Set To Launch, Hopes To Encourage Audiences To Watch Local Films
WHAT do Kafe Skrin, The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (FINAS), and The Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) have in common?
They are all collaborating to set in motion a very special campaign which aims to draw people back to the cinema to watch Malaysian films!
Jom Wayang aims to encourage audiences to watch local films instead of waiting for them to be available on Astro First. The approach to their objective is by offering 200,000 free tickets for films under FINAS’s Skim Wajib Tayang. Whenever you purchase one ticket for a local film, you will receive one free ticket in return.
Despite critical acclaim, many local films have largely been ignored at the box office.
Mastermind behind the campaign, Zahrin Ishak, sees the move as his commitment to the Malaysian film industry as well as an effort to help boost box office figures. A quick look at cinema takings for local films reveal that our movies barely ever break even.
In the past few years, local audiences have shown that they would rather pay for a Hollywood blockbuster as opposed to a local film because of a lack of trust in the quality of Malaysian cinematic output. This has caused a negative impact on box office tallies for quality local films — gems like Sepet, Bunohan, Lelaki Harapan Dunia, Terbaik Dari Langit and Nota despite receiving good reviews performed poorly in terms of box office collection.
Thus, it’s high time to bring audiences back to the cinemas in order to create a healthy ecosystem for local filmmakers. By giving incentives to audiences in the form of free movie tickets, Zahrin believes that people will feel more of a pull to the cinema. It’s hoped that the spillover effect from this is that producers will then have a sense of responsibility in providing quality to moviegoers.
The organising committee is currently working on attracting sponsors to cover the free tickets while also working with local cinemas to participate nationwide. On their side is the MyFilem team, seeding and promoting the campaign on social media.
The Jom Wayang campaign is set to kick off by the end of October this year.
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