Vijayawada: The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday convened a special committee meeting in Hyderabad to discuss several issues affecting the Telugu film industry in both AP and Telangana.
Film producers, exhibitors, and other stakeholders discussed the release of films over-the-top (OTT) platform and appealed to producers not to sell the new film for release on OTT from the date of film's release in theatres for a period ranging from eight to 10 weeks. At the meeting, exhibitors and other stakeholders stated that theatre owners were losing money due to the release of movies on OTT platforms.
The meeting also discussed cost-cutting measures for film production in order to avoid losses if the film did not perform well at the box office. They wanted the exhibitor to pay the virtual print fee, as opposed to the current practice of the producer or distributor doing so.
The Telugu Film Chamber of Commerce committee members expressed concern about the steep increase in ticket prices in movie theatres, citing it as one of the reasons for declining patronage from moviegoers. They also discussed who should pay for rent and a percentage on box office collections. Meanwhile, sources privy to the developments in the committee meeting said that the Producers Guild threatened to stop film shootings from August 1 over the issue concerning pay of film employees. However, the committee is scheduled to meet again on August 2 to discuss certain issues concerning the film industry.
