Dear Members,
I was against the strike from the beginning but I was told that a strike would be beneficial to the Producers as well as the Industry and I obliged. I stopped my shoots in progress to support the cause and I incurred severe losses along with other members. It has been around 10 days since the strike began and I stand with no clarity on the issues that were raised by my fellow members of the industry.
The following is my take on the issues brought forward by the members.
1. OTT RELEASE
The point in question is that the release of films on OTTs 2 weeks after their respective theatrical releases is affecting theatrical sales. The fact is that many members of the Active Producers guild have already made their sales to OTTs until 2023. How has the decision to refrain from selling films to OTTs until 8 weeks of theatrical release have a positive impact for Producers? The price they wish to sell their films won't be achievable and technically they will be at a loss because 60-70% of the costs are being recovered from Hindi Dubbing, OTT and satellite. The decision to hold back will only lead to self infliction of losses. Why do this, when the whole point of the strike is to benefit the producers?
2. TICKET PRICING?
Producers choose scripts with the best of intentions to deliver a great product to the audience. It’s also the Producer’s call to increase budgets based on the content and the Hero’s market. The pricing of the tickets has less to do with affecting the Exhibitors but more to do with Producers. It’s not the Exhibitors who are increasing the pricing. The power to control flexi ticket pricing lies with the producers and should be also. What are we trying to say further regarding this as we’ve gone on a strike?
3. PERCENTAGE SYSTEM
To discuss this, we need to present a scenario. For example, A Producer sells the film to the Distributor for an X amount. The Distributor, depending on various factors and with the intention of primarily recovering costs, comes to a conclusion whether to go with the rental or percentage system and conveys the same to the Exhibitor. For example, If the Nett sales on the film is 10 L, The rental is 2 L and the percentage system will be a 50% split. If the Distributor/Producer goes with the rental deal, he will be at a profit of 8 Lakhs, whereas in the 50% split, he will be losing money to the Exhibitor. The Exhibitor is usually supportive and agrees with Distributor/Producer by giving rent or percentage option to them and they can choose whichever is beneficial to them. The problem arises only when the rentals are high for prime properties in the big cities where the percentage system can be implemented and this is the Producer’s call. How are we, Producers being benefited by indulging in a strike?
4. VPF
A mystery that never seems to unravel.
Producers do not wish to pay these charges. Distributors do not wish to pay these charges. Exhibitors do not wish to pay these charges.
Who is going to pay is surely a mystery.
5. PRODUCTION COSTS
Our South industry is driven by the Heroes and they are worshipped as DemiGods. The Director is the backbone of any project. As our industry purely runs on Demand and Supply, The entire film Ecosystem runs on the Hero’s market. The bigger the hero, the higher the remuneration and the production costs will be. If the Hero, Director and the Producer are on the same page, we will have everything under control.
But Whom are we targeting ???
I request everyone to rethink this whole thing, keeping our egos and internal conflicts aside. As a Producer myself, I urge the Active Producers to not let me succumb to further losses and allow shootings AS OUR MAIN AGENDA IS TO SAFEGUARD PRODUCERS
Lastly, I believe that good content will always succeed. So, our focus should lie there alone.
Abhishek Nama
