All Eyes On Telugu Producers To Honor Window Promise

In a ground-breaking move, South Indian Movie exhibitors who met today passed two key resolutions. The first one is about scrapping the rental system and films running on a percentage basis. Secondly, they want an 8-week OTT release window to be locked, which otherwise they might not exhibit those movies. While these resolutions are not new, here’s what the talk is around.

If the 8-week OTT window has been locked, it requires every film across India to adhere to this rule. At the current time, if films don’t run well for even a week, OTT platforms are paying more money to Telugu producers, so they would release the movie immediately, and that’s benefiting the cash-strapped producers. Now, if that facility is scrapped, a lot of producers might feel it is different and difficult. Many are wondering if the Telugu producers will obey this 8-week window rule. And if producers obey this window, how will the OTT platforms pay them more is another question.

Secondly, the rental system has been scrapped, and exhibitors will transition to a percentage-based model, while the percentage will be decided soon. However, if distributors are buying a film for a huge price, why would they give a share in every single ticket to the exhibitors is something to be seen. If movies are being released on a percentage basis, then the need to have a distributor in place becomes void. That’s why everyone is looking forward to seeing how Telugu producers honour these 8-week OTT window and percentage-on-ticket promises.