Pinoy flicks now not just for ‘bakya’ crowd

The bakya crowd may be a thing of the past as most moviegoers who watch Filipino films have at least finished high school, a survey of local moviegoing habits conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) has indicated.

The survey, conducted last June and commissioned by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP), however found that most fans who watch in moviehouses come from the Class D (67 percent), with the bulk coming from National Capital Region and balance Luzon (57 percent).

"As the market changes, so will the product or movies change and cater to that market," FDCP chairman Rolando Atienza said, basing the observation on the overall profile of the movie-watching Filipino, not only in theaters but also on television and on video compact and digital video discs, both original and pirated.

With regard to educational attainment, the SWS survey said that those who typically watch Filipino movies in moviehouses mainly are graduates from high school or had some college education (49 percent).

Among those who watch movies at least once a week either in theaters or at home, those coming from Classes ABC comprise the bulk at 56 percent.

"This is the most significant finding of the survey, because it means that the audience for Filipino movies is changing from the masa to the more educated," Atienza said, emphasizing that this could help spur producers to bankroll better quality and more mature films.

"It could also be the dictates of economics, because the price of a movie ticket is already high, and many people resort to watching pirated copies," he added.

A majority of those who watch Filipino movies still rely on television (77 percent), 29 percent by VCD, seven percent through moviehouses, six percent by DVD, and only two percent by VHS or vertical helix scan.

The same survey also said use of pirated VCDs is relatively more prevalent in the rest of Luzon, in Mindanao and among the lower classes.

The frequency of watching local movies is relatively higher in Mindanao, where 61 percent say they watch Philippine movies once a week or more frequent.

The FDCP, which commissioned the survey, oversees the Cinema Evaluation Board, which grants tax rebates to quality films. The CEB’s latest grade A film is "Kubrador," directed by Jeffrey Jeturian.

Only eight other Filipino movies were given a grade A — entitled to a 100 percent tax rebate — in the past three years since the CEB was reconstituted from the old Film Ratings Board.

Atienza, however, is not optimistic that "Kubrador," originally done in digital then blown up into film, would make a killing at the box office.

Other findings of the SWS survey, conducted in the last week of June, said more males than females watch Filipino movies, and that the preferred genre is action. The urban dweller is also more likely to watch Filipino movies than his counterpart in the rural areas. — Juaniyo Arcellana