Seeking better deal for producers
REFERRING to the THEStarOnline report “Sharifah Amani: Lopsided contracts a norm in the Malaysian entertainment industry” (March 28), the Minority Media Organization (MiMe) cannot but totally agree with Sharifah’s views and concerns for artistes, writers and crew (the creatives) of the industry.
MiMe recognises that this is a “chicken and egg situation” currently faced by not only the creatives but also by producers. Previously, most producers made films with the promise of grants and TV content on a shoestring budget provided by broadcasters. This situation is different today with over-the-top (OTT) media services and other platforms available to exploit content in both local and international markets.
Therefore, MiMe urges producers to look forward and not restrict themselves to selling all rights of their productions perpetually to only one distributor or TV station to recover their investments in one sale. Instead, producers should look towards film and TV content as a long-term investment to be exploited on the currently available and future platforms, resulting in long-term profits. In this way, producers would be able to extend better pay packages to creatives, resulting in better job security.
MiMe also urges creatives not to sign contracts blindly just to secure jobs faster. If possible, creatives should seek legal assistance to look for lopsided terms and flaws in contracts and negotiate proper clauses pertaining to matters such as royalty payments, and insurance and provident fund schemes. MiMe is always willing to assist in introducing creatives to legal assistance pertaining to contracts with producers.
Further, we urge creatives to invest in personal insurance and saving schemes as they sometimes work for more than one employer a year.
We hereby propose that for a start, the Information, Communications and Multimedia Ministry and RTM look at the restructuring of content acquisition pricing and agreement terms with producers, allowing them the flexibility to sell and exploit their content on other available platforms.
The ministry could also look at spreading the workload of content production across a mix of current and fresh producers. This will encourage younger producers to inject fresh ideas into the creative field, thus creating more jobs and stimulating the local entertainment industry.