The current working committee of the Producer’s Association has completed its six months since election. In a recent program held to mark the occasion, the Association made public its progress till date and highlighted the upcoming plans.

President Akash Adhikari, who is a central committee member at Federation of Nepalese Chamber of Commerce and Industries, felicitated the new committee of the FNCCI and also pledged to complete the remaining election promises from his campaign in the coming days.

The program was attended by prominent figure from the cine industry, business community and other walks of life.

Some significant progresses of the Association during these days include:

Efforts to ease censor procedure in India: Nepali movie industry has a limited internal market and in this context, India is a place where we can increase our revenue intake, especially given that there are a significant number of Nepali language speakers in India. However, the procedure for getting Nepali movies censor certified for screening in India is not easy. In this context, President of the Association, Akash Adhikari, visited India and met the President of the Central Board of Film Certification(CBFC), Pahlaj Nihalani. The meeting has bore positive results and the CBFC has agreed to ease out the current constraints in certification with the provision for online censor application already implemented.

 Presidential Meet-up: The Producer’s Association facilitated a recent meeting between the President, Bidhya Devi Bhandari, and various professional bodies of the Nepali Cine Industry. During the meeting the President agreed to do everything that is within the bounds of the government to help the cinema industry.

 Share distribution with film hall owners: The issue of share distribution with film hall owners is a long standing problem of the industry. Producers have not been getting enough percentages from the cinema hall owners despite investing millions in the movies. A committee formed under the First Vice President of the Association, Madhav Wagle, is working on the issue with cinema hall owners. Agreement has been reached on most issues but the share distribution issue in multiplex halls with projection greater than 2K still remains to be solved out. Moreover, for movies screened via Cube server, Gopi Krishna Movies has decided to reduce the server charge, which the Association has welcomed and has also urged DCN cinemas to do the same.

 Efforts at the Ministry of Finance: FNCCI recently facilitated the meeting of the Association at the ministry where the Association has presented a 4 point suggestion to the authorities including a request to reduce the import duty on film equipments.

 Regarding screening of Nepali Films outside country and organization of Nepali Film Festivals: Despite individual efforts to screen Nepali films outside the country there has been an absence of government effort to take Nepali films to the global audience. The Association has made efforts via the FNCCI in contacting various Embassies and consulates of Nepal and urged them to organize screenings of Nepali films and festivals on regular basis. Recently appointed ambassador to Oman, Sharmila Parajuli, has been presented an official request to help screening of Nepali films in Oman.

 Efforts to establish film industry as a genuine industrial sector: Despite millions being invested in the cine industry and the fact that it supports a huge number of families, Nepali cine industry is yet to get full industrial accreditation from the government and has been categorized as a service oriented sector of the industry. The Association is making continuous efforts with the FNCCI and the government to provide a full industrial recognition to the cinema sector.