The producers from Telugu, Kannada, Tamil and Malayalam, cinema industries came forward to solve the issue of extra rents to be paid by producers as Virtual Print Fee, to Digital Service Providers, DSPs. The JAC formed by the producers decided to do a strike against DSPs and not release their films till, the DSPs like UFO and Qube, come to terms with their demands. So, from 2nd of March, they have announced an indefinite strike till the discussions come to amicable terms.
Damodar Prasad part of JAC explained the issue. He said, “From 2007-08, the complete digitalization of projection system in India and South states started taking shape. DSPs, then installed projectors in Theatres free of cost and asked us, producers, to help them survive in the Industry and thrive. Looking at the cost-cutting measures and digitalization around the globe, we encouraged them.
“They asked us for a nominal VPF, Virtual Print Fee per center per week and also asked permission to play ads before the movie starts projection and in the interval break. We gladly agreed as they said, after five years, the maintenance charges will be collected from Theatres directly and producers will not have to pay, VPF, anymore.
“So, we are demanding them to reduce the cost of VPF, by 25% and also, reduce the ads to 8 minutes and give us those slots to show next release movie trailers and ads. They are getting all the ad revenue that is generated because of a producer’s film. Audience come to a theatre, to watch the film and not ads. Merchants are happy to pay the ad prices because the audience are in theatres and not because some DSP is showcasing films. They are saying that they can only agree up to 10% and one of them who lives on us, Industry, said, “All the best, Industry”, in a satirical way. As producers we need not bare with them, we can bring in alternatives too. These people should come down and accept our demands,” concluded the producer.
Suresh Babu, the representative of JAC from Telugu Cinema Producers, said, “We have broader issues like these that need an amicable solution for every producer, small budget, and big budget. It cannot be few people monopoly anymore. We are not asking a share of their profits, just trying to reduce our losses. They should also understand this. We (DSPs, exhibitors, and producers), should act reasonably and responsibly here. This strike will end the moment we find an amicable solution with DSPs.”
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