After a huge box office collection of movies, the Telugu Film Industry is planning to halt film shoots from the 1st of August.
According to sources, the Active Telugu Film Producers Guild (ATFPG) has decided to halt film shoots, till the industry is able to resolve issues such as star fees and cinema ticket prices. The decision was taken in view of the ongoing movie ticket issues and other financial concerns related to the Tollywood film industry. The halt in shoots would result in serious business implications because Telugu cinema brings 12% to 15% of revenue to the national box office collection and to the two Telugu states, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Notably, Andhra Pradesh contribute 3%, whereas Telangana contributed 21% to the revenues of the major multiplexes, notably PVR and INOX.
The Producers Guild statement announcing the strike said, “Post-pandemic, with the changing revenue situation and increasing costs, it has become important for producers to discuss the issues we are facing as a community of filmmakers.” It further added, “It is our responsibility to better our ecosystem and ensure that we are releasing our films in a healthy environment. In this regard, all producer members of the Guild have voluntarily decided to withhold shootings from August 1, 2022, and to sit in discussions until we find a workable resolution.”
The producers say their business has been affected for three reasons:
- The fees of the stars are too high to ensure a decent return on investment
- The reduced four-week window between the theatrical and OTT releases of films is not practical — it would be conducive to trade if big-budget films continue to have an eight-week window and the ones with small to medium budgets could opt for four weeks
- Cinema ticket prices, this is a problem unique to the Telugu-speaking states cannot be economically unviable; instead, these too could be organised into three slabs for small-, medium- and big-budget films.
The strike, according to the Guild, will continue as long as these issues remain unresolved.
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