Published on November 23, 2005

Thai filmmakers could be set to enjoy financial benefits of around Bt300 million a year from the French government’s financial assistance programme.

The project, initiated by the French government’s French Development Agency (AFD), would provide an annual Bt300-million loan which would be distributed to Thai filmmakers by the Federation of National Film Associations of Thailand (FNFAT) in order to support filmmakers, said FNFAT president Somsak Techarattanaprasert.

“If the deal is agreed, the financing would give opportunities to independent filmmakers who are not attached to film studios, because it would be open to any filmmakers that have the potential to return the money,” said Somsak.

The conditions of the loan would differ from sponsorship proposals submitted to movie studios, which mainly focus on profit, with the idea being based on filmmakers only returning the initial sum borrowed.

The loan would be interest-free for the first year and have an interest rate of just 2 per cent for the second year. The duration of the loan would be calculated by the filmmaking cycle, from the start of the project when the loan would be received, to the point when the film is released on VCD and DVD.

“It is too soon to comment any further right now as we are still working on the details of the project, but we hope that we can reach an agreement as soon as possible,” said Frederic Alliod, the Audiovisual Attache of the French Embassy.

“I think that as directors who are already working with well-known studios should not be involved in the project, my company Saha Mongkol Film will not get involved. And I hope that other large companies will do the same,” added Somsak.

The committee will be divided into two groups. The first group will be appointed by FNFAT to examine the project, the second will comprise three parties: FNFAT, the French Embassy, and a representative from the AFD.

The AFD has granted similar interest-free financing programmes for Vietnam and Cambodia, but those programmes have offered significantly smaller sums of money to the filmmakers.

The deputy secretary of FNFAT, Surasak Supitakseree, said the financing would be of most benefit to small-budget movies.

“Films with budgets of between Bt1 million and Bt2 million, though they might not make profits from cinema releases, will be able to repay the loan through the VCD and DVD copyrights,” he said.

Surasak added that the financing project is a potential dream come true for the Thai film industry, which has previously pinned all its hopes on the Thai government for funding.

The Korean government has launched a similar project to boost the Korean film industry and build its reputation as a key player in Asia’s film scene.

“It is the same idea here. The only difference being that the funding would not be provided by the Thai government,” said Surasak.

“I hope that the Thai government will see the benefits of the funding being provided by other countries, and decide to offer this kind of funding itself in the future,” he added.

Parinyaporn Pajee

The Nation

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