Submission to LegCo on Movie Fund
10 April 2007
To the Legislative Council
Information Technology and Broadcasting Panel
Regarding
Intervention in the Movie Industry
Dear Legislators,
I write to urge you to reject the HKSAR Government's request for funding approval to spend HK$300m (or any amount) of public money to "help finance film production" and "overcome the shortage of talent" (in the film industry, not the Finance Bureau) as announced in the Financial Secretary's budget speech of 28-Feb-07. One can only imagine where the number 300 came from - perhaps he went to a preview of the recent epic movie about the Battle of Thermopylae?
The reasons that you should reject the request, along with the history of Hong Kong governmental intervention in this sector, are detailed in the attached article "Lights, camera...budget", published on Webb-site.com on 9-Mar-07, which forms part of this submission.
Put simply, Government financial intervention in any for-profit sector of the economy distorts the choices of economic participants and contradicts Hong Kong's commitment to free markets. It makes the economy less efficient and less productive at public expense. The ultimate extreme of that approach is a centrally-planned economy which our nation proved over 30 years from 1949 did not work. The movie industry should stand or fall on its own merits. Bankers and investors are better judges of viability than governments. HK is, after all, an international financial centre, isn't it?
The Government's argument that "other places do it" does not make it right. It is no surprise that the proposed fund has been quickly followed by requests from other sectors for funding, such as the TV production sector (see the letter from the eponymous head of Robert Chua Production House captioned "Government must do more to support our television industry" in the SCMP, 10-Apr-07). Where does it end? A Stockbrokers' Development Fund, perhaps? A Coffee Shop Guarantee Fund?
These views are not just mine. Webb-site.com conducted an opinion poll of its readers, and the poll results are attached. From over 600 respondents, 91% said the Government should not invest public money in movie production. 92% said the Government should stop granting guarantees of private companies' debts for movie production (through the Film Guarantee Fund). 89% said the movie industry should not receive special government treatment, relative to other for-profit sectors of the economy. Finally, when asked "do you think the proposed movie fund bears any relation to the electoral system of Hong Kong?", 68% said it did.
The poll message is beyond reasonable doubt, even with sampling errors. If you approve this money, then you will be approving a scheme which the public (who elected some of you) opposes and which they believe is politically motivated.
Regards
David Webb
Editor, Webb-site.com
© Webb-site.com, 2007
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