OMB fields volunteers to roam theaters to catch camcording

CDN Photo/ Futch Anthony Inso

To ensure that no camcording activities will take place during the showing of Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF) entries which started last December 25, the Optical Media Board (OMB) deployed more than a hundred volunteers to different movie houses in Metro Cebu.

“We’ve started in Metro Manila during the opening of cinemas, and also today (December 26), we also have teams in Baguio, Cebu and Davao,” said OMB chairman lawyer Anselmo Adriano in a visit to the different theaters in Cebu, Wednesday.

While the deployment of volunteers was a first for OMB in Cebu, the practice is now on its third year in Metro Manila.

Adriano said that around 150 people have registered to volunteer in Cebu to help stop piracy, especially during the MMFF.

The volunteers, Adriano said, are tasked to roam the different cinemas to look out for people who might be illegally camcording the movie.

Two volunteers are deployed in each cinema supervised by an OMB employee during the operation.

“They don’t really need to catch the person who is camcording the film. They just have to approach our personnel and report that person,” he said, adding that this will also deter those who are still planning to engage in the illegal activity.

“This is one of the problems in our industry. The moment that someone get to camcord the movie, transfer it to a DVD and started selling it, no one would like to watch movies in cinemas which would result to loss of income to our producers and to the cinemas as well,” he said.

Adriano explained that piracy also results to job loss for movie directors, cameramen, and make-up artists among others.

Before the operation, OMB notifies the mall management that volunteers will be roaming around freely inside the cinemas.

“We just sendthem the names of the volunteers and they should be in uniform during the operation.” Adriano added.

Adriano hopes to have more volunteers next year to intensify their campaign.

Those who will be caught illegally camcording a movie will face a penalty of six years and one day imprisonment and a fine of up to
P500,000.