Imphal : Film production is a serious business that could run in crores of rupees having three aspects – the Creative aspect, the Technical aspect, and finally the Business aspect. The first challenge of any film project is turning an idea into a compelling screenplay. It is the job of the film producer to plan, coordinate and manage the development of the screenplay as well as plan and manage to cast for the film, decide who is going to direct, edit, plan, and manage the finances for the production as well as plan and strategize for the publicity for the film, release of the film, marketing, and distribution says Laimayum Surjakanta, Chairman, Film Forum Manipur.

Interacting with Eastern Chronicle at Manipur State Film Development Society, the apex Film body of Manipur,  Surjakanta stated that Manipur has a lot of content to offer for motion picture storytelling but this content does not reach the global platform because of the use of  non-standard semi-professional equipment and ill equipped post production studio in the state.

He further went on to say that the state Government as well as the North East Council under the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) should come forward to make the standard professional equipment accessible to the local filmmakers by subsidising rentals on this equipment.

The Manipur State Film Development Society can be the agency where this equipment can be made available suggested the Chairman of Film Forum Manipur.Although Manipur has managed to be on the top of the game in filmmaking winning laurels and critical acclaim all over the world with their unique and local stories, Surjakanta said the current ecosystem of film practice has to change if Manipur cinema is to come up to its age.

Surjakanta highlighted that in Manipur the term filmmaker seems to be restricted to mean only the director of a film. This ‘misinterpretation’ stems from the prevailing eco-system of film production in the state where someone who has the finance, and wants to make a film of an idea he or she might have, finds a director who not only directs the film but also performs all of the roles of the producer.

Although elsewhere in the globe, the technology used for film production has evolved and used the world standard digital cinema equipment, the production eco-system in Manipur failed to update with the world trend and that must be why Manipuri Cinema could feature in world cinema events as much as it should, he stated.

Surjakanta echoed that the film business in Manipur can grow leap and bounds if we can bring professionalism in the way the films are produced and marketed using standard digital cinema equipment.