KUALA LUMPUR: The plight of cinema operators whose business had been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic, has caught the attention of the National Film Development Corporation (Finas).
Finas chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid said that the corporation was concerned about this serious problem, which would result in a domino effect on the local film industry.
"We understand the operators' dilemma and their concerns when their premises had to be temporarily closed during this Conditional Movement Control Order (CMCO)," he said in a news report today.
Zakaria said that when MCO was first enforced in March, cinemas in the country was already forced to cease operations for four months.
"From information gathered, the cinema industry suffered a total loss of RM2 million since coronavirus started to spread in December last year.
"The number is worrying especially when the cinema has always been a pertinent component and a platform to help our films as we head for the Oscars," he said.
"So when the government allowed them to operate in July, while adhering to the SOPs, many had taken the initiative to bring back the audience to the big screen. It is understandable when the public gets worried about going to the cinemas, with many opting the streaming service or Over The Top (OTT) services, but of course, the experiences are very different.
"If all cinemas shut their operations for good, it'll also mean bad news for the film industry. How are they going to screen their films? We cannot solely depend on streaming or OTT. Of course, this will smash our Oscars dream altogether," he said.
Zakaria said he had placed Finas CEO Ahmad Idham Ahmad Nadzri and deputy chairman Datuk Norman Abdul Halim to draft a working paper to find the most appropriate solution for the cinema operators.
"We're working on a proposal to help operators obtain easy loans, so that they will be able to weather this storm. We hope to complete this proposal soon, so that we we can present it to Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, as soon as possible."