Asia IP

The Indonesian film and television industry contributed Rp7.675 billion (US$845.1 million) to the country’s economy and created more than 191,000 jobs in 2010, generating USD$86.5 million in tax revenues, according to a study by Oxford Economics, a global forecasting and research consultancy.

Presented by the Motion Picture Association (MPA) to representatives of the Indonesian film and television community at a press conference on the sidelines of the MPA ICAD Film Workshop held at the Grandkemang Hotel in Jakarta, the Economic Contribution of the Indonesian Film and Television Industry study is the first of its kind to comprehensively measure the direct, indirect and induced economic impacts made by its indigenous film and television industry.

“A vibrant screen industry is valuable to our country both culturally and economically. This report will provide an important foundation for identifying our industry’s areas for potential growth,” said producer Shanty Harmayn. “We’d like to take this opportunity to celebrate the creativity and commercial endeavor of all those who contribute to the screen community in Indonesia.”

Filmmaker Mira Lesmana said the the report also reveals how the film and television industry stimulates a range of service industries and significant employment in other sectors. “Our industry helped generate an ‘indirect’ GDP contribution of US$1.23 billion in 2010 and supported a further 158,900 jobs,” Lesmana said. “This is a considerable contribution and one worth promoting.”

Mike Ellis, president and managing director of the MPA Asia Pacific said the findings highlight the potential role of the Indonesian film and television industry as an economic driver. “Studies such as this are an important stepping stone to the development of a flourishing creative industry,” he said. “Indonesia has long been known as a place of creativity and its film community has a growing pool of innovative talent. This report further highlights that there are good economic reasons to continue to nurture this sector.”

Taking into account the direct, indirect and induced transactions, the film and television industry’s total economic contribution to GDP in 2010 was US$2.98 billion, or 0.43% of economywide GDP. The industry supported 491,800 jobs overall and generated tax revenues of US$310.3 million.

However, despite these strong figures, the report indicates clearly that Indonesia is yet to achieve its potential to provide an appropriate number of cinema screens for local audiences. The report showed that only 675 cinema screens are currently catering to the country’s 245 million population.

“We are a movie-loving nation,” said Chand Parwez, an Indonesian producer and representative of Indonesian Motion Picture Producers’ Association. “However we’ve yet to develop our screen industry to its potential. In Malaysia, for example, in 2011, 639 screens catered to a population of 28 million. More screens would benefit both audiences and local producers. We’d all love to see more local movies with bigger budgets being seen by more Indonesians.”