Many cinema theatres still lay shut as the tiff between producers and Digital Service Providers (DSP) prolong. The film producers said the DSPs are demanding a high Digital Print Fee for screening the movies. The Tamil and Telugu film industries declared that from the 1st of May, no films will be released until an agreement is reached. There will not be any new releases of Tamil and Telugu films while the other film industries will move ahead with their schedule.
Yesterday, in a council meeting between DSPs and film producers it was decided a committee would be formed to discuss the issues. The council ordered there will be no further talks between the producers and DSPs. The council further sought the State Government’s intervention into this issue. Movies will only be released in theatres having their own projectors.
Initially, films were screened in theatres using reels and it cost around Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 70,000 per reel. After introducing the digitalization system, the DSPs use a projector to screen movies through satellite. Theatre owners who do not have projectors, hire them from the DSPs and pay a Digital Print Fee for it.
The DSPs in an prior agreement with the producers, said they would collect the print fees only up to 5 years until the equipment costs are recouped. Now, the DSPs increased the price owing to the difference in screen sizes across the theatres in South India. The DSPs claim the print fee of just Rs. 22,500 per screen is very low compared to the other countries. The film producers allege they are forced to pay the print fees instead of the theatre owners.
