The Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) said in a press release on Monday that film producers need not submit any letters to the Exhibitors Association regarding their film’s release until a final decision is taken between the two bodies.
According to the press release, the TFPC and the Theatre Association held a meeting and decided that producers need not provide any letters temporarily.
The press release also mentioned that until a final conclusion is reached, if any producer is asked to provide a letter then they should contact the TFPC regarding the same.
Talking to Silverscreen India, TFPCvice president RK Suresh, said, “The decision that has been taken isn’t final. This is a temporary settlement till the two bodies come to a proper agreement. There’s a big meeting going on today let’s wait to see what happens in that.”
S Sridhar, joint secretary of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association, told Silverscreen India that their decision to fix a time period before a film can premiere on an OTT platform after its theatrical release will not change.
“The TFPC requested us to not ask for any letters regarding any film’s release on OTT after theatrical release till the next and final meeting is held between the two associations. The next meeting is supposed to be held this week,” Sridhar said.
” We are very clear that films should release in OTT only after 30 days of running in theatres. Because if there is no specific time period set and films can go to OTT whenever the producers wish then the audience won’t spend Rs 120 to go see it in a theatre. They will rather watch it on the OTT platform for which they have already taken a subscription. Our decision will be the same in the next meeting. We will either need a letter from producers or we can come up with some other form of agreement regarding the number of days,” he said.
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Recently, Vijay‘s Master released on Amazon Prime Video after only 17 days of its theatrical release. After this, the Tamil Nadu Film Exhibitors Association decided that films will have to run in theatres for 30 days before premiering on an OTT platform.
Meanwhile, makers of the Tamil film Aelay decided to skip its theatrical release and opt for a direct television premiere. While no reason was given, a statement by the Tamil Film Active Producers Association supported the film’s makers. The statement said that despite the producers opting for a theatrical release, cinema hall owners objected to the film releasing on a streaming platform soon after its theatrical release.