Fans of Bollywood actor Kamal Haasan splash milk on his poster during the celebration of his newly released film Indian 2, in Chennai on July 12, 2024. | Photo Credit: R. Sathish Babu
The Tamil Film Producers Council (TFPC) on Monday announced that it has made an eight-week OTT release window mandatory for films featuring big stars. In addition, the film body has called for a temporary halt on all film-related activities from November 1 and new productions to begin from August 16.
The decision was taken by the TFPC after a joint meeting with members of the Tamil Nadu Theatre and Multiplex Owners Association and the Tamil Nadu Film Distributors Association.
Noting the need to control the salaries of film artistes and technicians, the council said it is taking measures to regularise and restructure remuneration to prevent losses to producers. To implement this, 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 wherein several films are stuck and unable to release in theatres. Hence, the film body has called for a temporary halt on the start of production of new films from August 16, “so that production can resume once the new regulations are in place.”
In a statement issued to the press, the TFPC mentioned how some actors and technicians receive advance remuneration from the production banners but start doing other films before completing their commitments with the former. Pointing out that this causes huge losses to the producers, the council said, “It has been decided in the meeting that in future, any actor, actress and technician who has received advance amount from the producers should complete the film and work on the next films.”
Mentioning that actor Dhanush has received advance payments from several producers, the council requested the producers to contact and consult the council before working on their films with the actor.
“It was discussed and decided that the details of the films currently under production should be formally informed to the Tamil Film Producers Association by letter. We therefore request the producers to complete the ongoing shooting by October 30,” the council said in a statement, adding that a joint action committee comprising various stakeholders has been formed to resolve issues related to the film industry in future.
