US facing Thai movie shortage

Hmm. Seven Thai film studios sent delegations to the US last year for the American Film Market trade fair, but only two bothered with this year's.

Is Yankee influence waning with the strength of the dollar? Or is our movie business just moving on?

Sahamongkol Film and Five Star Production had people in Santa Monica, California, this month, but in fact the other five studios have pretty decent excuses for skipping the tribal sales.

GTH says its current offerings don't quite fit the US market. It's shifted from the horror movies that people of all nations love to romantic comedies that have more regional appeal.

Phranakorn Film feels the same, but also admits that the cost of the junket is prohibitive. If the government chipped in, then maybe it could muster the interest.

Soopsip has to point out here, though, that Five Star's "The Red Eagle" didn't need much taxpayer help landing in theatres in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei, and negotiations are under way with 30 other countries too.

Having said that, ?

The counter-argument is that government should backing local filmmakers precisely because they're doing well overseas.

South Korea, a country that never seems short of talent for making hit flicks, has actually begun drawing on Thai expertise.

Director Prachya Pinkaew is now working on the action film "The Kick", a joint venture between Thai studios and Seoul's CJ Entertainment.

CJ is covering 70 per cent of the cost, and the rest comes from Film Bangkok and Sahamongkol. Only 30 per cent, yes, but after all, they also brought in Prachya, who shot "Tom Yum Goong" and "Ong Bak".

And they anted up with rising female action star Yanin "Jeeja" Vismitananda and Phettai "Mum Jokmok" Wongkumlao, who can act, direct and be very funny too.

CJ saw the Thais' bid and raised them TV star Jo Hae Hyun to play the lead.