Fan of Bollywood actor Kamal Hassan splashs milk on his poster during celebration of his newly released movie Indian 2 in Chennai on July 12, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.SATISH BABU
The Tamil Film Producers’ Council (TFPC) on Monday announced that it has mandated an eight-week OTT release window for big-star films. Further, the film body has called for a temporary halt on all film-related activities from November 1, and the commencement of new productions from August 16.
This comes after the TFPC held a joint meeting with members of the Tamil Nadu Theater and Multiplex Owners Association and the Tamil Nadu Film Distributors Association.
Noting the need to keep the salaries of film artists and technicians in check, the council said it is taking measures to regularise and restructure the remuneration to prevent losses to producers. To implement the same, the film body has called for a halt to all film-related activities from November 1.
Further, the council said that new regulations are set to be passed to resolve the current situation in which several films are stuck in the can and are unable to find a release in theatres. Hence, the film body has called for a temporary halt in the commencement of production of new films from August 16, “so that the production can start after the implementation of the new regulations.”
In the statement released to the press, TFPC noted how some actors and technicians receive advance remuneration from production banners, but move on to do other films before fulfilling their commitments to the former. Stating how this leads to the producers incurring huge losses, the council said, “It has been decided in the meeting that in the future, any actor, actress and technician who received an advance from the producers should complete the film and move on to the next films.”
Mentioning that actor Dhanush has received advance payments from several producers, the council requested producers to approach and consult the council before they work on their films with the actor.
“It was discussed and decided that the details of the films currently in production should be formally communicated to the Tamil Film Producers Association by letter. So we request the producers to complete any ongoing shooting by October 30,” said the council, in a statement, adding that a Joint Action Committee consisting of various stakeholders has been set up to resolve issues related to the film industry in the future.
