PFM appeals against official studio indoor filming directive

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24  -- The Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) is appealing to the government to allow the creative industry to operate, and not restrict filming to only official studios throughout the duration of the Movement Control Order (MCO).

PFM president Pansha said the new ruling directly bans all local filming and production activities being conducted and will only benefit broadcasters (TV stations) that have their own studios and not production companies.

“There have been previous pro-active actions from the Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) in implementing what was discussed about the standard operating procedure (SOP) regarding filming activities together with the Health Ministry, National Security Council and other agencies.

“If there is any change in status, whether MCO, Recovery MCO (RMCO), Conditional MCO (CMCO) or Enhanced MCO (EMCO), the SOP agreed upon should remain, but this is not the reality of the situation,” he said in a statement today.

Pansha said the association understood that although the number of COVID-19 positive cases were rising sharply, just a small percentage came from the industry and it was unfair to punish the entire industry because it would affect all producers, and freelancers who have no steady income, very badly.

In addition, Pansha said most of the artistes’ schedules overlap because of the frequent postponements due to the various MCOs and it cannot be done according to the broadcaster’s contract schedule, resulting in several cases where reminder notices and contract cancellations happened.

The National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) had earlier announced in a statement that filming activities for films, dramas, documentaries, animations, musical productions and such during the MCO would be allowed for indoor filming at official studios registered with the local authorities and the Companies Commission of Malaysia only.

-- BERNAMA