The Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplexes Owners Association has proposed a streamlined set of regulations as part of a revised revenue-sharing model among producers, distributors and theatre owners.
The regulations had been framed during a meeting of the association held in April and in a statement to its members, the office-bearers had said that this was done keeping in mind the rising financial burden on theatre owners. “While we are growing with joy, it is essential to note that maintenance costs, personal taxes and salary for personnel in the theatres have all been on the rise. To combat these financial constraints, we have proposed to streamline the revenue sharing between the stakeholders,” the statement said.
M. Subramaniam, president of the association, said they sought to revise the already-existing revenue sharing rates where producers and distributors demanded shares as high as 75% for the films of a few top stars. “There are fixed percentages based on how bankable the stars are across the country and only in Tamil Nadu, producers and distributors demand up to 75%, which is extremely high. We have several financial issues to battle as well and have proposed this revision where the maximum will be a 65%-35% split,” he explained.
Actors Rajinikanth, Ajith and Vijay have been placed in the top tier and a 60% revenue share for producers and distributors from ‘A’ centres and a 65% share from other centres in the first week of the film’s release has been proposed. Actors Surya, Jayam Ravi, Dhanush, STR, Sivakarthikeyan and Vijay Sethupathy have been placed in the second tier where there will be a 55%-45% split in revenue in A centres and a 60%-40% split in other centres in the first week of their film’s release.
All the other actors have been clubbed into a third category where the revenue split for the first week has been framed at 50% between the producers and theatre owners from both ‘A’ and other centres.
At present, the Tamil film industry continues to follow a similar revenue-sharing model but a Tamil film producer said that the shares were much more for the producers and distributors at present. “The revised regulations seek to increase the share of the theatre owners by at least 10%. There might be some internal issues that might crop up as well since the actors might have objections,” he added.
Meeting in June
Mr. Subramaniam, however, clarified and said that these regulations were only at the proposal stage.
“A meeting has been scheduled for the second week of June where the proposal will be discussed and a decision will then be taken on its implementation,” he added.
