ShoWest: The film industry's convention

Las Vegas: We're staying at the Circus-Circus Hotel along the famous Las Vegas Blvd Strip, as it is convenient for us to be nearby the ShoWest Convention held at Bally's and Paris Hotel. Early dawn exactly a week ago, we were awakened by a huge terrifying bang, complete with fireworks, which shook the hotel like a 7-magnitude earthquake. Looking out the window, we could only see a few fireworks and dust. Minutes later, we heard the sound of applause and the silence returned. What the hell was it?

It was only when we left the hotel that morning that we learned that the famous StarDust Hotel, one of the icons in Las Vegas was imploded before a cheering crowd of thousands of spectators. Wow! We were but less than 150-yards away and we missed seeing this once-in-a-lifetime event! Apparently, my cousins Dr. Jonathan Reboton and Mrs. Ester "Batchay" Barcenilla thought that the hotel would warn their guests about this event. But no one told us what to expect.

Now I can say I have felt how the people working in the buildings beside the World Trade Center felt when the twin towers collapsed on that fateful day of 9/11 in New York City. It was horrifying. We almost fell out of our beds! We only saw the collapse of Stardust Hotel on TV when we woke up. In Las Vegas, when old business don't make money anymore, they give way to new ones. They make it a huge event for tourists to watch a building being imploded and collapse in just a few seconds.

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Feb.27th, we wrote a full article on the Film Industry because of the proposal by the Metro Manila Film Festival (MMF) through its chairman Bayani Fernando (head of the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for the ailing Film Industry to hold a Summit to tackle the issues plaguing not only the Film Festival but also talk about the numerous problems plaguing the entire Film Industry as well. But Bayani Fernando's call was greeted by nonchalance from an industry that many people say is already in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

Apathy and indifference is an ugly Filipino trait, which is why today, we still have problems in our political system because politicians consider their elective positions as an heirloom. This is why the Cebuano Film industry died decades ago and why the Tagalog Film industry is in the ICU today. No one within the Film industry cares to find solutions to the many problems that they already know are the causes of why the Film Industry is ailing. Imagine this call for a Film Industry Summit coming from someone who doesn't even belong to the Film Industry!

In the past 33 years, the National Association of Theater Owners (NATO) in America held its annual convention to find out common problems and seek common solutions together with the Film Producers and Distributors. NATO has since expanded this convention to include an International component, which I attended ten years ago. They also have an Asian component called CineAsia, which is held in Hong Kong or Singapore. Why can't they hold it in the Philippines? I can only second-guess that it is because of the same indifference of Filipino film producers to their industry.

Going to the ShoWest convention also gives me an insight of the Film Industry from an international perspective. I'm not in the US for a vacation. This is my job to find out whether the Film business is still viable to day; after all, my grandfather Don Jose Avila pioneered the movie business in Cebu in the early 1900's. We are the 3rd generation in this family business and thanks to computer or video technology, the film industry faces its most daunting challenges. No one can predict what the future holds. While it maybe our family business, the effects of the Film Industry has a greater impact on our people, as Filipinos are avid moviegoers.

America too face the same problems of technology, which is perhaps why the ShoWest convention had one of the highest attendance in Vegas this year. ShoWest delegates are not only treated or hosted lunches or dinners by the big film producers like Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Warner Brothers, MGM, Walt Disney or Sony, we are also treated to see the up and coming movies, including a world premier of the movie "Disturbia" and "Mr. Brooks". Mr. Brooks was quite a bloody and violent thriller! Unfortunately, we didn't have time to see the other shows.

ShoWest delegates were also appraised with new technologies where serious and thorough discussions are made on whether once and for all, movies done on films would finally give way to digital movies. I will be discussing this issue in length in the succeeding columns as it affects every household that has a CD or DVD player. Film Piracy has become an international problem. I met a woman who runs a theater in Guam, showing Tagalog Films and she lost a lot of moviegoers because pirated Tagalog Films are shown in Guam before the theaters even show it. More on this tomorrow.