Bharathiraja, head of the Tamil Film Active Producers Association (TFAPA), announced on Monday that no new Tamil films will be released until the deadlock over VPF (Virtual Print Fee) charges, demanded by digital service providers, gets cleared by theatre owners.
In a press release, Bharathiraja said that producers came to this decision after service providers did not pay heed to five requests made by the TFAPA. He said that producers have agreed to pay only the one-time charge, which includes mastering, cloning, and delivering.
Among the five requests made, the TFAPA said that they were unwilling to bear the VPF to service providers QUBE Cinema and UFO Moviez, which they had been doing for the last 10 years.
Talking about the issue, president of the Tamil Nadu Theatre Owners Association Tiruppur Subramaniam told Silverscreen India, “Tomorrow there will be a meeting between the TFAPA and the Theatre Owners Association wherein we will try to come together to form a consensus. We are looking at ensuring that the service charge is brought down to the minimum and getting a heavy discount on the same.”
Producers were unwilling to talk unless the condition of no VPF has been agreed upon, producer G Dhananjayan told Silverscren India.
“We are united on the front that we do not want to pay VPF. We are looking at how to resolve the issue and release our films. There was a discussion of a meeting but we decided that until the condition of absolutely no VPF is agreed to, we will not talk,” he said.
Two years ago, the industry had come to a standstill for almost 50 days when the TNPF and digital service providers could not come to a decision over the excessive price of VPF.
A month back, Qube Cinema had put out a statement saying that they have reduced the VPF by 50% temporarily from the current price list for Digital Cinema Initiatives and e-cinema to help producers release more films in theatres.
Senthil Kumar, co-founder of Qube Cinema, told Silverscreen India that theatre owners and producers should talk to and resolve matters.
Replying to the TFAPA, Qube Cinemas said in a letter, “You had asked us to discuss with theatres where they pay for the equipment. Since we have binding agreements with theatres where each party’s rights and obligations are clearly laid out, we are not in a legally tenable position to make any unilateral changes.”
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“Further, this issue is one that covers all of India and any change will have to be carried out by all exhibitors, producers, distributors, and digital cinema service providers in the country. It is our request that this matter be addressed in a wholesome manner by all stakeholders in a common forum so that an amicable solution can be arrived at that will benefit the entire industry,” they said.
Ruban Mathivanan, managing partner of GK Cinemas in Chennai, said that the issue needs to be solved between the producers and service providers. “There is a misconception that the VPF goes towards the projector that is being set up in the theatres. That is not the case. We pay our money for the projector to the service provider. These issues are not there in other states. So why does this issue come up every now and then in Tamil Nadu? We are following an all-India business model so asking us to change it is not fair.”
Talking about whether theatre owners were ready to bear the brunt and pay for the charges, Tiruppur Subramaniam said, “That has never happened in history and it will not happen in the future.”