Representatives of the four major South Indian film industries – Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada – met on Wednesday to discuss the possibilities of creating infrastructure to digitally distribute movies to theatres.
In the preliminary meeting, Tamil Film Producers Council president and actor Vishal said that a decision to support Telugu film industry’s strike against the high tariffs on March 1 was taken.
“We also discussed the possibility of making alternative arrangements such as setting up our own digital distribution infrastructure. The distribution companies are not being fair. Speaking to Qube has not and will not take us anywhere,” said Mr. Vishal.
He further said that it was wrong to assume that the industry was dictating terms to a company. “It is the other way round. The terms are being dictated to us while it is our content that is being distributed. The lower fee will only benefit small film producers,” he said. He added that several other companies had approached the collective and offered to do business. “We have received offers from two other firms. We will take a final decision on January 31,” he said.
The south Indian film producers have long alleged that the companies that provide digital distribution solutions charge steep and unfair rates.
Asked to comment on the latest development, V. Senthil Kumar, co-founder and Director, Qube Cinema Technologies Pvt Ltd, said the company had already presented a few proposals but was yet to receive a formal reply or invitation to discuss the issues. “We have given proposals. We had an opportunity to discuss with the Malayalam film industry. Tamil and Telugu film industries are yet to respond.”
Stating that a strike will only be detrimental to the industry, Mr. Senthil Kumar said, “ A strike never helps. More people will lose more money.”
