The Indonesia Agency for Creative Economy (Bekraf) will be holding the 3rd edition of AKATARA as a commitment to support the funding of the local film industry. Through the collaboration with the Indonesian Film Board (BPI), the annual event for the Indonesia film and business market will be inviting 122 industry insiders within 66 film projects to meet future investors this September.
Since its debut in 2017, AKATARA has expanded its platform to a broader market focus by facilitating the film funding platform not only for film production but also other film businesses, as well as integrating other sectors to develop more established film ecosystems. AKATARA 2019 will take place from 12 to 22 September at Hotel Sultan Jakarta where film entrepreneurs will present their proposals to investors that offer more than 40 sources of funding through a series of pitching forums and ‘speed dating’ table tops. There will be 100 booths showcasing brands from the film industry to attract film enthusiasts at the mini expo during the forum.
This year, Bekraf and BPI have also agreed to put more concern in emerging film company startups which have been developing across the country. Last year, AKATARA facilitated 55 projects from 110 people which was mainly dominated by film production funds. At the upcoming event, other business sectors such as film school, cinematography studio, and film equipment rentals have a chance to secure investment.
AKATARA 2019 will be held in conjunction with Asia Content Business Summit (ACBS) 2019 in Jakarta which opens opportunity to develop the quality of local content and talents, learn from creative industry communities from more than 15 countries. The film market and business event will also be participating in ACBS this year.
The organiser has engaged with multiple partners and gained the support form six government departments to establish convergence among creative sectors. Indonesia Film Producer Association (Aprofi) will debut its initial Intellectual Property (IP) Market to form partnerships in film adaptation from books, animation, novels, scripts, games, and other intellectual mediums. The collaboration includes the partnership with The United Team of Art (TUTA Lab) that provide investment and supervision to early stages of film production to improve the standards of film premise, scripts, and proposal to be developed as original and adapted screenplay.
According to Indonesia Film Board, Indonesia Box Office earned USD 392 million in 2018, ahead of the Malaysia Box Office with a total of USD 302 million. The Indonesian movie Dilan (2018) earned revenue USD 17 million last year with a comparison to international blockbuster Avengers: End Game (2019) with USD 20 million in gross revenue in Indonesia.
Ricky Joseph Pesik, Vice Chairman of Bekraf feels optimistic that the film industry has many potential possibilities to help other sub-sectors in the creative economy in the era of convergence media where tourism, merchandise, fashion, and culinary industry could also be supported through the film production.
“It’s the initial response after the government finally decided to erase films from the black list of investment opportunities. It’s a challenge to make the industry more competitive. AKATARA keeps expanding its base of capital to create a sustainable film ecosystem in the future,” Pesik said in a press conference on Tuesday.
Indonesian director and the founder of Visinema Angga Dwimas said that homegrown filmmakers still have a challenge to convince investors, many of them have a lack of data that provide a projection on film investment. “I hope there will be more investment coming in. Hollywood has existed for a long time because they have an established film funds from a variety of models including the capital market. AKATARA is a good start to optimise the leverage of film production in Indonesia,” Dwimas said.
Beside the film market, AKATARA will be hosting a master class, workshop, seminar, talkshow and other exciting activities. The proposal registration for investment in film is now open until 9 August 2019 to be selected as nominated project to join pitching forum at AKATARA 2019. For more information, visit the website on www.akatara.id
