Film exhibitors agree to assessment demand

KOCHI: Signs of a temporary truce between the warring sections in the Malayalam film industry emerged here on Thursday with the Kerala Film Exhibitors Federation (a combine of �A grade centres) agreeing to include the noon show collections while calculating the hold over percentage of a film. (Hold over is the assessment of collections before shifting a movie from a theatre).

The producers and distributors had wanted to take into account the noon show collections while fixing the hold over percentage for a film. But the exhibitors had earlier decided to restrict it to three screenings, excluding the noon show.

Federation general secretary M.C. Bobby said the body had rejected the demand for enhancing the share of publicity cost of the exhibitor.

He said exhibitors were now providing four per cent of the publicity cost. The producers and distributors associations had demanded that the exhibitors share be raised to nearly seven per cent.

Mr. Bobby urged the producers and distributors not to burden the exhibitors by demanding a hike in the publicity cost share.