There is an idea being floated around to limit or ban foreign movies from the Philippines. Of course, this is another idea from the film industry and their supporters among politicians. It is not a new idea. It has been forwarded before. And it is being resurrected again. The concept is inward looking, backward, isolationist and insular.
For an industry which is noted for its creativity, this idea is a very creative way of committing suicide. It aims to support an industry which has not made any attempts to increase sales by increasing its potential market, nor made any serious attempts at making quality output. The industry has for the longest time been conducted in a manner to make easy money; it's benchmark of success is a hundred percent return on investment within the first week of showing in Metro Manila. A movie is treated as a (quick and dirty) short-term project usually finished within a month of signing the principal actors. And any income after the first week's showing is treated as gravy. And full payment of the actors, extras and camera crew only due after showing. The reason being that most movies are financed individually (and probably due and payable in 60 days).
That there are conscientious people within the industry is without a doubt. That they have not been successful in changing film-making in the Philippines is also without a doubt. Most of the time they have fallen victim to the industry's problems.
There are very few companies which make movies and stay viable. A lot of the other film companies are little different from fly-by-night outfits. Making one movie to launch a (favored) would-be actor/actress (sometimes the company owner, the son or daughter), there is no continuity nor a sense of business for these firms.
All of these problems will not go away with a protected industry. Such protection will only spell its end. The principal competition is not foreign films, but other forms of entertainment media, including broadcast TV, cable, VHS and DVD rentals. In
this context, video piracy is a big concern, but not something which will go away in the next five to ten years.
There are solutions, but it needs educating the movie makers. The first is the mindset. A movie company must treat itself as a company. And a company is a continuing concern. Something which will be operating after the first movie has been finished. This is necessary in order to earn the most of the product. In terms of earnings, the company must view other sources of income from the product. The product itself must be treated for what it is, intellectual property. And as intellectual property, it is earning even after the first week's theatrical release. After the theater, there is TV, cable, VHS and DVD. Necessarily, in order to be viewed and bought in the latter forms, it has to be of good quality. For a quality movie, there has to be a sizable investment. Something which might not be payable in the short term.
Another solution, which other countries are already taking advantage of is the global market. Global in one sense that Filipinos are in almost every part of the world. But global in the real sense that the movie has to be world class quality, understandable and viewable by the rest of the world. This is the real market.
The first company which makes this decision will have a big price to pay. However, the stakes are large and the gamble would be worth it.
Friday, July 30, 2004
Thursday, July 29, 2004
going local... and geopolitical repercussions
Recently President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo made a very hard decision. It was a political decision designed to win popularity among Filipinos. She moved the Philippine government for the release of a hostage Filipino cverseas contract worker (OCW) from Iraqi rebels. With mounting pressure from political groups and oppositionists to free the filipino migrant worker, she made the decision, and when the Filipino was freed proclaimed the OCW as a hero of the Filipino people and led in heaping financial assistance to him, his kin and his barrio.
This is a command decision based on "the good of the few against the good of the many." It may have been short-sighted. It was a strong decision but not one on the path of the greater good. Afterwards she gave a sort-of apology to the rest of the world. She pointed out that it was her "personal" decision and that if there would be any blame it would be hers. After more than 2 years in office, she has still to learn that she is the President of the Republic of the Philippines. She has still to learn that she is the Head of State and its main representative. Whatever she does, she does on behalf of the country. Whatever deed she does, is the deed of the country.
In saving the Filipino OCW, Mrs. Arroyo basked in the glory of the rescue. Her popularity is high and the Filipino is satisfied. For now. She then goes to work, and turns to getting new corporate taxes passed because the government is in a huge deficit. She has a lot of work to do in the next six years and a lot of it is going to unpopular.
Unfortunately, this is a locally popular decision. It is insular in its concept. And it is going to put more pressure on her presidency. Mrs. Arroyo has always maintained that she is popular abroad with other heads of state, now that popularity has fast eroded. The American Ambassador has gone to the United States for consultation. This, I believe, was called a "recall." After that, the United States Secretary of State gave a scathing remark about Mrs. Arroyo and the Philippines that it is not only not honoring commitments, but also indifferent to the war on terrorism. The Australian Ambassador to the Philippines is making statements that to the same effect. And now, Filipinos in the United States are suspect and there will probably be a strong drive to sendillegal aliens (particularly Filipinos) home.
On the short term export restrictions will come on line, there's the export of mangoes to Australia, exports of sugar, copra and coconut/palm oil, travel and tourism restrictions for Americans visiting the country. Military and financial aid might also not be given to the country. Jobs where American companies directly hire Filipinos from the Philippines, these might also dry-up.
That the Filipino is brave is not being questioned. That the Filipino turned around is at issue just when the United States was scrounging around for support for their (sagging) war on terrorism. At this point in time, no amount of historical lessons will suffice to support or prove the Philippine stand that we are steadfast in the war on terrorism and that we remain staunch allies of America (and Australia). Bataan is just a 60-year old memory compared to Iraq, Afghanistan and Al-Qaida.
It would do well for Filipinos to note that the current sour relationships between France and America stemmed from a 1969 incident where they were selling arms to both sides of the Middle East conflict. And this, after almost two centuries of close and chummy relationship dating back to the French support of the American War of Independence against Britain.
Even at the start of the crisis, it was clear that Mrs. Arroyo will try her best to save the poor Filipino hostage in Iraq. Whether there was pressure or not from the opposition. She had already negotiated with hostages before, when the son and daughter of a congressman were kidnapped.
I cannot agree with her on that matter, but then again, I am in the small minority who would rather continue with present international commitments and weather the hostage crisis, rather than talk to terrorists. The good of a few hundred people in Pampanga will be short-term. The hardship on the rest of the Philippines is yet to come, and we might not see the end of it. To save face, we might need to send a thousand military troops, more than double that of the Thai contingent. And even then, that might not be enough.
This will be a long and hard six years under the Arroyo Presidency.
--andoy
This is a command decision based on "the good of the few against the good of the many." It may have been short-sighted. It was a strong decision but not one on the path of the greater good. Afterwards she gave a sort-of apology to the rest of the world. She pointed out that it was her "personal" decision and that if there would be any blame it would be hers. After more than 2 years in office, she has still to learn that she is the President of the Republic of the Philippines. She has still to learn that she is the Head of State and its main representative. Whatever she does, she does on behalf of the country. Whatever deed she does, is the deed of the country.
In saving the Filipino OCW, Mrs. Arroyo basked in the glory of the rescue. Her popularity is high and the Filipino is satisfied. For now. She then goes to work, and turns to getting new corporate taxes passed because the government is in a huge deficit. She has a lot of work to do in the next six years and a lot of it is going to unpopular.
Unfortunately, this is a locally popular decision. It is insular in its concept. And it is going to put more pressure on her presidency. Mrs. Arroyo has always maintained that she is popular abroad with other heads of state, now that popularity has fast eroded. The American Ambassador has gone to the United States for consultation. This, I believe, was called a "recall." After that, the United States Secretary of State gave a scathing remark about Mrs. Arroyo and the Philippines that it is not only not honoring commitments, but also indifferent to the war on terrorism. The Australian Ambassador to the Philippines is making statements that to the same effect. And now, Filipinos in the United States are suspect and there will probably be a strong drive to sendillegal aliens (particularly Filipinos) home.
On the short term export restrictions will come on line, there's the export of mangoes to Australia, exports of sugar, copra and coconut/palm oil, travel and tourism restrictions for Americans visiting the country. Military and financial aid might also not be given to the country. Jobs where American companies directly hire Filipinos from the Philippines, these might also dry-up.
That the Filipino is brave is not being questioned. That the Filipino turned around is at issue just when the United States was scrounging around for support for their (sagging) war on terrorism. At this point in time, no amount of historical lessons will suffice to support or prove the Philippine stand that we are steadfast in the war on terrorism and that we remain staunch allies of America (and Australia). Bataan is just a 60-year old memory compared to Iraq, Afghanistan and Al-Qaida.
It would do well for Filipinos to note that the current sour relationships between France and America stemmed from a 1969 incident where they were selling arms to both sides of the Middle East conflict. And this, after almost two centuries of close and chummy relationship dating back to the French support of the American War of Independence against Britain.
Even at the start of the crisis, it was clear that Mrs. Arroyo will try her best to save the poor Filipino hostage in Iraq. Whether there was pressure or not from the opposition. She had already negotiated with hostages before, when the son and daughter of a congressman were kidnapped.
I cannot agree with her on that matter, but then again, I am in the small minority who would rather continue with present international commitments and weather the hostage crisis, rather than talk to terrorists. The good of a few hundred people in Pampanga will be short-term. The hardship on the rest of the Philippines is yet to come, and we might not see the end of it. To save face, we might need to send a thousand military troops, more than double that of the Thai contingent. And even then, that might not be enough.
This will be a long and hard six years under the Arroyo Presidency.
--andoy
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
...some days are like these
Just another day off, I imagine. Today and tomorrow. I took the time to read some blog posts of a friend of mine, Cielo a.k.a. "Sheila." And her posts were full of angst and the feeling of a girl lost in the woods. It was very personal -- she was getting a grip of her job and her co-workers (including myself). Unfortunately, there was no one to talk to and a blog is a poor substitute indeed for a friend who can listen and give understanding. If only she was 20-years old and in UPLB at the same time I was, I think I could have been someone she might have taken the time to talk to. (However, I could not say the same for me being a 20-year old in these days and times. I could not imagine myself being 20 in 2004! My personality when I was 20 would not fit in 2004. Or anytime after 1990!)
There really are days like these when you want to talk to someone, and there's nobody around. Not your wife, your kids, your brothers or sisters. Just someone who will listen and understand. I still get days like those.
Nowadays, nobody talks in the same manner that we did twenty-plus years ago. The kids nowadays talk about computer games, or about gimmicks. They meet in their cars, go to a gas station and drink beer in their cars. Or they go to a gimmick place with tables under the open sky and nurse a single bottle of beer. Just to be there and be seen, I guess. Not to talk, but to smile at that girl, or boy, giggle and laugh as if drunk.
No talk about the senselessness of existence. Or about existence. Or about bull-s**t regarding the girls they've known. The talk nowadays are chats abbreviated to smilies and emoticons. No meaning, no pretense to meaning, just being there and being cute and being nothing.
There really are days like these when you want to talk to someone, and there's nobody around. Not your wife, your kids, your brothers or sisters. Just someone who will listen and understand. I still get days like those.
Nowadays, nobody talks in the same manner that we did twenty-plus years ago. The kids nowadays talk about computer games, or about gimmicks. They meet in their cars, go to a gas station and drink beer in their cars. Or they go to a gimmick place with tables under the open sky and nurse a single bottle of beer. Just to be there and be seen, I guess. Not to talk, but to smile at that girl, or boy, giggle and laugh as if drunk.
No talk about the senselessness of existence. Or about existence. Or about bull-s**t regarding the girls they've known. The talk nowadays are chats abbreviated to smilies and emoticons. No meaning, no pretense to meaning, just being there and being cute and being nothing.
- = o 0 o = -
There are days I just read or I want to write. Anything or nothing in particular. Something which frustrates me for instance. Or a no-brainer. Or worse, an extrapolation of events.
It is quite easy to "predict" some events, if you know what you are trying to read or "throw" into the future. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's campaign for the Presidency of the Republic of the Philippines. That she said she would not run, and then less than a year later, committed to running in the election. That was a no-brainer. Although I did not believe that she would, my father predicted that. That Fernando Poe, Jr. would also run for the election was not unexpected. A former campaigner and bagman for House Speaker Jose de Venecia predicted that almost two years before it happened.
One future which should have been predictable was Call Centers of off-shore phone support. Ten years ago, I would not have imagined that there would be a boom for this business. But re-reading Alvin Toffler's "The Third Wave" made me realize that this was the sort of thing along the lines he was alluding to. That Call Centers would be farmed out, to homes, I never imagined is possible (what with QA, communication facilities and training concerns). However, there are now some job ads exactly for at-home call center businesses. Weird! What's weird about this is that the job even pays more than the commuting type of call center support job.
It is quite easy to "predict" some events, if you know what you are trying to read or "throw" into the future. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's campaign for the Presidency of the Republic of the Philippines. That she said she would not run, and then less than a year later, committed to running in the election. That was a no-brainer. Although I did not believe that she would, my father predicted that. That Fernando Poe, Jr. would also run for the election was not unexpected. A former campaigner and bagman for House Speaker Jose de Venecia predicted that almost two years before it happened.
One future which should have been predictable was Call Centers of off-shore phone support. Ten years ago, I would not have imagined that there would be a boom for this business. But re-reading Alvin Toffler's "The Third Wave" made me realize that this was the sort of thing along the lines he was alluding to. That Call Centers would be farmed out, to homes, I never imagined is possible (what with QA, communication facilities and training concerns). However, there are now some job ads exactly for at-home call center businesses. Weird! What's weird about this is that the job even pays more than the commuting type of call center support job.
- = o 0 o = -
These days I need to write. That is in order for me to learn to express myself all over again. My writing skills have deteriorated. I need to keep on writing. I need to keep on taking pictures. I need to keep on learning how to use the computer. I need to learn how to use the camera. I'll be posting some pictures here soon. Some old, some new.
--andoy--
July 27, 2004
Boracay, February 2000
Boracay sunset
early morning rainbow over Boracay
--andoy--
July 27, 2004
Boracay, February 2000
Boracay sunset
early morning rainbow over Boracay
Thursday, July 22, 2004
internet chess
July 22 Manila
I joined IECG (http://www.iecg.org) about 2 years ago. It's been almost an obsession since. The above GIF file was one of my first games. I made 2 mistakes early on losing 2 pawns. My opponent resigned after a protracted struggle where I lost any semblance of a pawn structure.
After more than 100 finished games in 2 years, I think I'm getting the hang of email and server chess. It is tough, I admit. But fun nonetheless. This is my only vice nowadays. A diversion from the "realities" of my work. In fact, it is more real to me than my work.
Although I have a 50% win-loss record, I have been able to experiment somewhat with the openings. There are several tournaments where I try a specific opening for Black and for White. I am only now understanding some of the theory behind the openings, but I am not yet at the level where I can stir strategy, unless the strategy presents itself. There are several players where I have played against several times but never won. And, of course, there are others who have not won against me. I rather like those others with whom I have an even win-loss record.
The players on the IECG have proven to be the same with players over the board, they don't talk much. But then again, that is what chess has always been about. A mental game which demands focus and concentration. Without focus and concentration, I have lost knights on several games.
Spassky was quoted to have said, "Chess is like life." And Fischer was supposed to have retorted that, "Chess is Life."
--andoy
I joined IECG (http://www.iecg.org) about 2 years ago. It's been almost an obsession since. The above GIF file was one of my first games. I made 2 mistakes early on losing 2 pawns. My opponent resigned after a protracted struggle where I lost any semblance of a pawn structure.
After more than 100 finished games in 2 years, I think I'm getting the hang of email and server chess. It is tough, I admit. But fun nonetheless. This is my only vice nowadays. A diversion from the "realities" of my work. In fact, it is more real to me than my work.
Although I have a 50% win-loss record, I have been able to experiment somewhat with the openings. There are several tournaments where I try a specific opening for Black and for White. I am only now understanding some of the theory behind the openings, but I am not yet at the level where I can stir strategy, unless the strategy presents itself. There are several players where I have played against several times but never won. And, of course, there are others who have not won against me. I rather like those others with whom I have an even win-loss record.
The players on the IECG have proven to be the same with players over the board, they don't talk much. But then again, that is what chess has always been about. A mental game which demands focus and concentration. Without focus and concentration, I have lost knights on several games.
Spassky was quoted to have said, "Chess is like life." And Fischer was supposed to have retorted that, "Chess is Life."
--andoy
Wednesday, July 21, 2004
Yo no hablo espanol
Hola!
Me llamo Antonio Castellano y Castrence. Pero yo no hablo espanol.
This is the first posting on my blog, and hence, serves as an introduction to where I'm coming from. I'm a middle-age man with a wife and 2 kids. Happily married, I might add.
I have been trying to run away from my neuroses. But there are a lot of things going round and round in mind. Paradoxes, and hypocrisies. Angst and concepts. Viewpoints and angles. I don't know if I'll ever sort them out. Or even if I'll ever get around to starting to sort them out.
Maybe with this tool, I can start writing my thoughts rather than just having the chase one another in my mind. We'll see. I have nothing against Friendster and other networking-type web pages, only that some of these give a new (shallower) meaning to the word "friend."
About the page title, "Roses are Black," I'll explain later.
Sincerely,
--andoy
Me llamo Antonio Castellano y Castrence. Pero yo no hablo espanol.
This is the first posting on my blog, and hence, serves as an introduction to where I'm coming from. I'm a middle-age man with a wife and 2 kids. Happily married, I might add.
I have been trying to run away from my neuroses. But there are a lot of things going round and round in mind. Paradoxes, and hypocrisies. Angst and concepts. Viewpoints and angles. I don't know if I'll ever sort them out. Or even if I'll ever get around to starting to sort them out.
Maybe with this tool, I can start writing my thoughts rather than just having the chase one another in my mind. We'll see. I have nothing against Friendster and other networking-type web pages, only that some of these give a new (shallower) meaning to the word "friend."
About the page title, "Roses are Black," I'll explain later.
Sincerely,
--andoy
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