JUST A THOUGHT: Nothing happens until first we dream. – Carl Sandburg
*
HIT AND MISS: Heard from reliable sources that the ongoing Metro Manila Film Festival isn’t as much a money-maker as half-expected.
This isn’t surprising at all since the idea of watching festival films online is new to the MMFF public.
Exact figures are hard to come by, but someone says the total gross of the 10 participating films on the third day of the festival is a measly 11 million pesos. A big chunk of this amount went to “Fan Girl,” the festival’s top grosser and best picture.
*
LESSONS LEARNED: There are lessons to be learned here, for sure:
Filipino moviegoers are used to watching movies and TV series for free on social media. Many of them refuse to pay when a screening is held online.
A great majority of Filipino moviegoers, the masa included, are not techno-savvy. They are clueless about so-called apps, the gateway to such a new experience.
MMFF can learn a thing or two from the FDCP’s Pista ng Pelikulang Pilipino, which was also held online a month or so earlier. The figures from the PPP aren’t also impressive.
It is so much easier to pirate movies when they are screened online. Such a sad experience fell on some of the entries. Greater tech controls should be put in place.
Nominated films and personalities should be announced on the night of the awarding ceremony, not earlier. MMFF should provide equal playing field for all entries to make money.
With the outcome of the first online MMFF, will the festival organizers pull another similar edition in 2021?
They can probably learn a thing of two from the lessons of 2020.
