Joining the film distributors, the Tamil Nadu Film Producers Council (TFPC) announced that film production, shootings and film events will stop from March 16 if their demands on the Visual Print Fee (VPF) given to the Digital Service Providers (DSP) and low ticket prices are not met.
Their demands include zero VPF, reduction in ticket prices and online ticketing fee, regularization and compturised ticketing system.
#TFPC has issued a press release regarding the indefinite strike from March 16th..
– They will no longer pay VPF to DSPs..
A D V E R T I S E M E N T– Theatres should reduce ticket prices depending on budget
– Online ticketing fee should be reduced
– Computerised ticketing
– Rel regularization pic.twitter.com/GFrjTTeHjL
— Ramesh Bala (@rameshlaus) March 10, 2018
Earlier, it was reported that the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association has taken a drastic decision to shut down theatres across the state from March 16 onwards to demand abolition of the entertainment tax levied by the state government.
The Tamil Nadu government charges 8 per cent as local body tax, apart from the theatre charges, in addition to the GST, which ranges between 18 and 28 per cent depending on the ticket rates.
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Distributor Tiruppur Subramaniam told Silverscreen that their association have sought an appointment with Chief Minister E Palanisami. “We have raised our concerns with the government and depending on how the talks go, we will take a call on the strike. Our aim is to reduce the prices of tickets and it’s a collective decision taken by various associations across the state,” he said.
Meanwhile, no new Tamil films have released this month due to the ongoing dispute between the producers and the DSPs. The four South Indian film industries went on a strike from March 1 over the VPF, while the Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam industries have agreed on the 25-35 per cent reduction, the Tamil Nadu faction has not agreed to the new, reduced rates.
If the strike continues, at least 60 per cent of the screens in the state are at risk of shutting down, Tirupur Subramaniam, president, West Zone Theatre Owners’ Association told Silverscreen.