[ad_1]
After ready for nearly seven months, cinema corridor homeowners within the State are desirous to get again to enterprise. They are ready for the State authorities to present a go forward, however movie producers insist that it can’t be “business as usual” till the theatre homeowners conform to their many calls for.
Members of the Tamil Film Active Producers’ Association (TFAPA) have positioned three fundamental calls for, amongst others: abolish the digital print charge (VPF); renegotiate theatrical revenue-sharing formulation and supply a share within the income made by way of on-line ticketing.
VPF is a cost paid by the producer to digital service suppliers to display screen motion pictures in theatres.
Despite digital cinema service suppliers Qube Cinema and UFO Moviez asserting a flat 50% low cost on VPF costs for a mounted variety of weeks, TFAPA vice-president and producer G. Dhananjayan mentioned its members had been decided to abolish VPF.
“We have already placed the demands and theatre owners are yet to reply. We are unlikely to release new films until the issue is resolved,” he mentioned.
Mr. Dhananjayan dominated out a scenario the place producers begin releasing motion pictures in theatres, whereas concurrently participating in talks with theatre homeowners over the important thing calls for.
Favourable choice
Tiruppur Subramaniam, president, Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners’ Association, mentioned he hoped to see producers coming ahead to launch new motion pictures as soon as the federal government orders the reopening of theatres. “We will have to meet the Chief Minister and place a request. We hope to get a favourable decision soon,” he mentioned.
On the calls for made by producers, Mr. Subramanian mentioned he didn’t imagine that that they had renewed their calls for on VPF and different points. “I fully expect the producers to release new movies,” he mentioned.
In a letter to TFAPA, Senthil Kumar, co-founder, Qube Cinema, urged the affiliation to “address the issue in a wholesome manner so that we are not exclusively targeted by such a powerful and important body as yourselves”.
Addressing the cost by producers that they had been being compelled to pay VPF costs whereas Hollywood was exempted, Mr. Senthil mentioned the VPF mannequin adopted within the United States, Europe and Australia was totally different from the one in India.
“Digital service providers there [in the U.S., Europe and Australia] charge a very high VPF of about $850 per digital print, about 90%-100% the cost of a film print [about ₹60,000-₹70,000]. The agreement entered into by the digital service providers with studios allow them to charge such high VPF rates, until they recover the cost of the digital cinema equipment, along with maintenance and support costs, and a reasonable return on investment. This is referred to as the recoupment model,” he mentioned.
Explaining why the ‘recoupment model’ is not going to work in India, he mentioned: “The rate charged per digital print is so low when compared to other international markets. The cost of equipment is even higher here because of the 35% import duties in the country, not just for the equipment, but also for all spares and consumables,” he mentioned.
[ad_2]