Chan leads protest against H.K. pirates

1,500 march; 73 cinemas darken screens

By MAUREEN SULLIVAN

HONG KONG -- In an unprecedented show of solidarity, Jackie Chan led an estimated 1,500 protesters Wednesday in a march through the central business district to protest the escalating trade in pirated goods.

As part of Anti-Piracy Day, all of Hong Kong's 73 cinemas darkened their screens. Organizers said the aim was to raise public awareness of piracy's cost, which they put in the tens of millions of dollars annually, and to get the police more involved in enforcement.

"It creates a noise," said George Chan, general manager of AMC's 11-screen complex that opened in December.

Actors, directors, Cantonese pop singers and officials from the film, music and broadcast industries -- as well as ushers and popcorn vendors -- converged on government offices, where they presented a petition to Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa.

"I can promise you that I myself and the (Hong Kong) government will work with you together to reach this important goal," Tung told the demonstrators.

Cinemas have seen attendance and revenues plummet over the past several years, pegged in part to pirated videos. From a recent high of 41.3 million in 1992, admissions declined nearly by half -- to 22.2 million -- in 1996 and have continued to slide. Revenues of $160 million in 1996 compare with last year's total of about $100 million, including a record-smashing $15 million for "Titanic."

While piracy is the industry's pet whipping boy, it's certainly not the only reason for declining fortunes. Hong Kong's economy is in recession with no sure signs of imminent recovery. Ticket prices continued to climb during the good times, and discounting began just two years ago.

Also, too many substandard cinemas meant audiences were ripe for assaults from cable, satellite and video-on-demand services as well as cheaper videos and DVDs. A movie ticket goes for about $7.50 compared with about $2.50 for a black market DVD.