KUALA LUMPUR, April 26 — Efforts to promote Films In Malaysia Incentives (FIMI) must be initiated on a bigger scale and expanded to a wider audience consistently to help Malaysia become an international hub and destination for filming, especially Hollywood.
Malaysian Film Producers Association (PFM) honorary secretary Zahrin Aris said such efforts need the support of the National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) and Tourism Malaysia to ensure Malaysia become a preferred location for international film productions.
“We must also carry out promotional activities consistently and not just at location market. We need to go to a number of countries to invite their film production companies to come here.
“When they come to Malaysia, their investment in the country is huge compared with local film productions. Therefore, these aspects must be given consideration and priority by Finas,” he said.
Zahrin, who appeared as a guest on Buletin Bernama Khas broadcasted on Bernama TV, said although Malaysia is still a preferred location for filming in Asia, the number remains small.
FIMI is an initiative by the government to attract investors from the film industry and television production houses to carry out filming activities in the country by providing a 30 per cent cash rebate and an additional five per cent rebate if such ventures fulfilled elements of Malaysian culture in their production.
Meanwhile, Zahrin, who is also the chief executive officer of Permodalan Penerbit Filem Malaysia Bhd (PFM Bhd) said policies and government procedures must also be reviewed to boost the development of the film industry in the country.
Without stating the policies or procedures that need to be reviewed specifically, he said flexibility in certain aspects was needed to enable local productions to be delivered without any restriction.
“Some of the policies are outdated, therefore there is a need to review and change quickly to enable the development of the local film industry to move forward rapidly according to the demand. If outdated policies are reviewed, I am confident that the industry will develop at a rapid pace,” Zahrin said.
— Bernama
