Published by American Film Market Dailies

Oct 20, 2022

Every Fall, the Global Film Industry Converges in Santa Monica: Filmmakers, producers, directors and writers from around the world come to AFM to gain exposure, discover new projects and make deals....

Thailand at AFM2022

http://thai.film

Thailand at AFM 2022

During the next couple of weeks, we'll be taking a look at Thailand's film industry.

With Thailand cinema attendances still significantly lower than pre-COVID levels, how will Thailand's industry adjust?

Will international sales become an even more important source of revenue for Thai films, and will producers adapt their films to appeal internationally?

At the same time, Thailand had a record year for international production in 2021 in spite of COVID. Does the future for production services look rosy?

We'll be exploring these questions through interviews with eight key players in the industry, all of whom will be at AFM.

We hope that even if you have no dealings with Thailand, you may find this interesting, since the changes in the film industry are affecting the whole world.

Benetone Films is twenty years old, and has built a strong reputation as one of Thailand’s leading providers of services to international productions.

Benetone has supported hundreds of feature films, television series, commercials and music videos from all over the world.

Rachvin Narula

Co-Founder and Executive Director

What is the current state of the production service industry.

Are productions returning to Thailand post-COVID?

At Benetone, we're certainly seeing productions return to Thailand. Of course, many people are still not quite as comfortable as they once were to jet around the world. But where Thailand offers clear benefits to a production, though locations, value or incentives, producers are making that journey.

We're lucky that Thailand has a great reputation as a safe destination, where the hospitality, the food, and the healthcare are all truly world-class. Cast and crew feel safe coming to Thailand. As the world 'recovers' from COVID, perhaps we all now pay a little more attention to our health, safety and comfort, and Thailand certainly is a world leader in those areas.

Every year, more countries recognize the benefits of international production and start offering incentives - some with higher incentives than Thailand.

Can Thailand maintain its popularity?

Of course we see countries offering 20%, 30%, even 40% incentives, and they look very tempting.

But an incentive really is only one consideration. The cost of filming in many countries is at least 20% more than Thailand, so that can easily wipe out the financial benefits of an incentive.

There are many countries offering high incentives, but which have very limited crew and equipment.

Thailand is still a strong choice because it offers a good total package; experienced crews; a wide range of equipment; amazing locations; great value.

And honestly, when has anybody ever said 'Oh no! I've got to go to Thailand!'?

Benetone is one of the few companies that not only provides production services, but also produces and co-produces its own titles.

What are your plans for production?

It is becoming increasingly hard for ASEAN producers to make films that rely purely on domestic revenue. Audiences demand higher production values, which has driven up costs, but there is increased competition at the box office from international films.

Our mission is to produce high-quality local content, with strong characters and story, and distribute it throughough the ASEAN region.

I firmly believe that a well-told story from Thailand can find an audience in Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Our series 'Wannabe', produced for regional platform 'Viu' showed that we can produce great series at domestic budgets which can appeal to the entire region.

What are your hopes for AFM?

There's a constant need for new content. But many people wonder whether platforms will be able to sustain the high level of budgets.

On the production services side, we're confident that we can not only provide the quality that producers demand, but also help to control costs.

On the production side, we're looking forward to meeting companies from across Asia to collaborate on regional content.