M9 News is into bringing some very interesting interviews. Recently, we had an interview with Tollywood’s Top Four Producers sit for a Round Table discussion. Now, we have another exclusive interview about Telugu film Business in the United States.
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M9 News Journalist Nishant sat with Leading Overseas Distributor Teja Boyapati of Sarigama Cinemas to discuss. This is the first time a US distributor sat for an interview and discuss the interesting details involved in US film business.
We discussed about the life cycle of a film right from the first copy to all its way to theaters in the US.
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We spoke about the role of Qube, the meaning of KDMs, VPF Charges, etc.
He spoke at length about the three major theaters chains in the US – Cinemark, AMC, and Regal. The ease of business, the difficulties, how they open the bookings, the payment terms, the timing of settlement, how difficult it is to find theaters when in clash with Hollywood films, how IMAX and 3D films are released, the costs involved to enable all passes, etc.
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He also explains the meaning of ‘All Passes Enabled’ and why it is not practical to enable passes right from the day-1 to all films. Sarigama Cinemas has enabled all passes from Day-1 for their upcoming film, Ooru Peru Bhairavakona
We asked him about an infamous scam – how a distributor added some bucks to a young hero’s film so that he can hit the One Million Dollars mark.
He spoke about how HanuMan producer went back on the promise and what happened during NTR Biopic.
Teja also explained how postponements impact distributors and he cites the example of RRR which got postponed at the last minute.
He also explained the money overseas distributors make for every One Million Dollar collected and how the box office trackers should calculate share for a film.
We also quizzed him about the Liger controversy where it is alleged that the producers did not even attend the distributor’s calls.
Teja also spoke about how students buy tickets for a Hollywood film and sit for Telugu films, the headaches they face due to celebrations in theaters, etc.
We also asked him about the rumors of how Kammas are inflated Balakrishna’s film collections in Dallas and how fans buy and cancel premiere tickets to show high premiere number on Comscore (previously Rentrack).
Having distributed films previously in UK and Africa, Teja also explained the Rest of the World Overseas business, Censor issues in Gulf countries, the Growing market in Canada, etc.
He also revealed some interesting details about his forthcoming projects – Ooru Peru Bhairavakona, Family Star, and Vishwambhara.
