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Have you ever wondered whether you can become a film exhibitor? It’s no longer a business restricted to the rich and well-established.
Film director Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) has just made 330 film enthusiasts distributors for his latest Telugu film Anukshanam . They won the bid in an online auction hosted by Varma and producer Manchu Vishnu, who is also the hero in the film.
Vishnu, the elder son of veteran actor-producer Manchu Mohan Babu, managed to get a software solution to enable the auction on the portal www.filmauction.in . “We have just closed the auction. We will reach out to the highest bidders soon,” the site says on its homepage.
When this film is released this Friday in 450 theatres, the new breed of distributors can sit at home and get a daily report of collections from the producer. “Or, they can go to the theatre and check the collections themselves,” Manchu Vishnu told BusinessLine .
While all the background work of signing up with the theatres to release the film will be handled by the producer, the small-time distributors can even put up a huge vinyl hoarding, saying that they are the presenters of the film.
The Varma-Vishnu duo had fixed a base price for each of the theatres based on its location. “About 70 per cent of the 450 theatres have been auctioned. We will release the film on our own in the remaining theatres,” Vishnu said.
Small filmsVishnu said this is going to be an excellent model for small films which are generally looked down by big distributors. “You can tap the opportunity from film buffs who don’t mind spending a few thousand rupees on buying the film,” he said. This is Ram Gopal Varma’s second innovation in recent months. He introduced the flow-cam method that brings down the cost of production significantly, as it reduces dependence on human resources and infrastructure. Vishnu said his company will offer its IT solution to other film-makers as well. “We see this a sustainable model. I am going to release my next two films too in this model,” Vishnu said.
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