As one could learn from AFP, the number of films produced in the Philippine movie industry has halved over the past decade in the face or privacy and Hollywood competition, a government study showed.
Only the rise of independent film-makers has saved the industry from declining further, with "Indie" movies now accounting for more than the half the total made in the Philippines.
"There are many factors causing the fall. There is piracy and competition from foreign movies. Local movies are also not given as much support from the oublic", said government statistical coordination officer Gerald Clarino.
No wonder, the top-grossing movies in the Philippines were typically US-made films with multi-million-dollar budgets that the local movie industry could not afford.
Filipino "indie" directors, such as Brillante Mendoza (check out here http://www.germaninthephilippines.tropicalpenpals.com) and others, have won awards at prestigious foreign film festivals.
