Who doesn’t like to watch movies? Movies have made our lives better by creating stories that make us cry, laugh, and happy. Eversince the pandemic, people have been stuck in their homes to self quarantine. One of the choices of activities that can be done while in quarantine are watching movies. Online streaming services have gained popularity ever since people are stuck at home. The existence of online streaming services like netflix, hulu, amazon prime, apple tv, and Disney+ have made people’s lives enjoyable as they have accompanied people through their self quarantine times.
On the other hand, because of the increasing numbers of users in the online streaming services and the closing of many public areas including cinemas due to the social restriction policy, the film industry in Indonesia has had a devastating impact on the pandemic. The social restrictions policy has put film releases, film production, and film distribution on hold. With that being in effect, many producers, crew, and actors in the film industry community have no income and resources to resume their work. One of the well known Indonesian film producers, Chand Parwez Servia, who owns StarVision Plus, said in an interview with TribunNews.com that many of the people in the film industry community are now living with no income and are struggling to survive through this pandemic. According to Budi Irawanto, a lecturer at the Communication Science Department at Universitas Gadjah Mada, the loss that the film industry is taking due to this pandemic reaches across 200 billion rupiahs per month.
A lot of effort has been done by certain people from the film industry to help its community bounce back and survive through this pandemic. Many people are involved in opening charity and donating boxes to help those in the film industry community who are struggling in this pandemic. But, the film industry could not rely only from donations and charities. Somehow, they have to find new ways to create income and produce money in this pandemic.
Many of the film production companies are taking the online streaming services as an alternative to make money. For instance, production companies like MILES Films, Falcon Pictures, Visinema Pictures, and Base Entertainment have established cooperations with Netflix to release some of their films into the online streaming service. With major film production companies starting to take over the online streaming services, viewers now get the chance to watch many memorable films from Indonesian filmmakers. For example, the film ‘Petualangan Sherina’ has made viewers reminisce about their childhood memories by seeing the film. It’s now available on Netflix and Disney+ for everybody to watch.
On the other hand, many underrated films from Indonesian filmmakers do not have the privilege to put their films in mainstream online streaming services like Netflix. Many film enthusiasts in Indonesia are trying to demand award-winning films that are not available on any mainstream online streaming platforms. For example, people are starting to search for films like ‘Siti’, ‘Keluarga Cemara’, and many more. People are starting to demand Indonesian based legal streaming services that could provide them with varieties of films from Indonesian filmmakers because of the limited access to such films.
On 6th July 2020, many Indonesian film enthusiasts were indulged with the best of award-winning Indonesian movies with the release of BioskopOnline.id. BioskopOnline.id are providing affordable access to many award-winning films. Users just need to pay around five thousand to fifteen thousand rupiahs to watch films from award-winning filmmakers. It is easy to access the film since there’s no need to pay a monthly subscription as it only requires viewers to pay for the films they want to watch. Viewers could pay for the film with e-wallet platforms like Gopay, Dana, OVO, and many more.
In my opinion, online streaming services like BioskopOnline.id can help the film industry bounce back from it’s loss due to the pandemic. With easy access to films that is highly demanded by many film enthusiasts, the opportunity for filmmakers to make money from the streaming service is higher. Also, many award-winning movies that were previously inaccessible for viewers online, could be another attraction to the website. The site itself could be an alternative for both the audience to watch movies and filmmakers to make money.
Author: Nabielkhan F. Afandi | Student of International Undergraduate Program-2020
