“Interest on the money I borrowed from private individuals is piling up. It has affected me a lot. I really want to screen my movie and pay back the money. If given an opportunity, I am willing to screen my movie today,” said Gyem Dorji, an actor/producer. Movie theatres closed early into the pandemic, causing production houses to delay releasing films and inflicting millions of losses to those employed in the film industry.
With cinemas closed, production has come to a halt. Like Gyem Dorji, many producers have invested millions of ngultrum in producing movies and their movies are shelved for over a year now.
“One of my movies has been complete since March and the impact is definitely visible. We couldn’t screen at all which is the only source of revenue for making a movie in our country. So when the production house does not earn, we cannot plan other projects,” said Dorji, a producer.
“We take loans from private individuals to make a film. On usual days, we screen our movie within six months and return the money but this year, movies were made before the pandemic and theatre were closed right before we could screen our movie. This has affected all the 24 movie producers,” said Rigzang, a Board Member of the Film Association of Bhutan (FAB).
There are 24 films waiting to be screened once the government lifts the restriction on entertainment centres.
After Bhutan had the first COVID-19 case in March last year, like any other entertainment business, movie theatres were closed. The theatres otherwise filled with music and laughter remain deserted for a year.
“After the pandemic, we had to close our theatre and we don’t have any income. We depend on this business for livelihood and to run the family. However, since His Majesty waived the loan interest and my theatre owners waived the rent, things had been easier for me,” said Tobgay, from Trowa Theatre.
This has left more than a thousand crews and artists jobless. One of them is a sound designer, Chencho Dorji. Both his Drayang and the studio had to shut down since March. He has been without work for over a year.
Chencho usually makes around Nu 200,000 from designing a background score for a movie.
“I completed producing music for a movie and then theatres were closed. After that, no producers were producing movies and my work stopped completely. My Drayang was also closed since March and it’s almost a year now. I spent all my savings paying rents and on other expenses,” he said.
While making a movie, a producer recruits on average 50 crews and artists. However, these producers fear losing skilled crew members to other jobs if theatre continues to remain closed.
“The greatest fear at this point of time is not just in terms of revenue losses, we might also lose the skilled technical team to other sectors. As we are planning to enhance the quality of the movie and if we don’t have a skilled team, then it will be the main cause of concern for any filmmaker,” said Dorji.
This massive realignment in the film industry, they say, will have implications for entertainment ventures going forward.
“For another two or more years, we will be bearing the brunt. This is because we don’t have many theatres. So if a movie takes a month for screening on average, the last movie of the 24 on the list will be screened only after two years. The producers will have to wait for another two years to make revenue,” said Rigzang.
After many in the film fraternity requested to open the theatres with protocols in place, the FAB wrote to the government. However, they say the government did not give any response.
With the vaccination program around the corner, they hope the theatres will be opened soon and get their cameras rolling once again.
Sangay Chezom
