Box Office Leakage

Eak Raj Bastola/Dhana Khatiwada

Due to the lack of a digitalized box office network, it has not been possible to carry out the real analysis of the financial status of the films shown in Nepal. Nepali film producers often complain that they are cheated by the theaters, exhibitors and distributors as the latter hide the actual revenue generated by the movies.

It is said that almost 90 per cent of film producers are deprived of the profits their movies make.

Film Development Board (FDB) Executive Member Neelhari Kafle says this has also affected the government's revenue collection from movies. “We estimate that the FDB gets only 40 per cent of the amount collected as film development fee from the sales of movie tickets. The remaining 60 per cent gets leaked due to the lack of a digitalized box office network,” claims Kafle.

However, the exhibitors dismiss Kafle's claim. “We have been giving 55 per cent of the money collected from the sales of movie tickets inside the valley, to the producers. Based on the sales of the tickets, we have also been paying the film development fee to the FDB, VAT and other taxes to the government," claimed Raj Kumar Pokhrel, President of Nepal Motion Pictures Association (NEMPA).

Amidst this controversy, FDB, the regulator of the Nepali film industry, has planned to implement a digitalized Box Office system in the country. According to the FDB plan, the system will be implemented in all the movie theaters in the Kathmandu Valley by June this year and gradually, the Board will bring all the 180 cinema halls across the country into the digitalized box office system.

"This will help the Board get authentic information on the business done by both Nepali and foreign movies, run at the theaters across the country," Kafle told TNP.

The announcement to put in place a digitalized box office system across the country is included in a 10-point FDB plan unveiled last Monday (March 12).

“FDB will soon publish a public notice, calling for a tender from interested parties to supply the appropriate Box Office software," informed Kafle. The Board has already allocated a budget of Rs 3.5 million for the Box Office technology, including the software. Board has planned to keep a Box Office Server at the government’s Data Centre located inside Singha Durbar, Kafle added.  

"In other countries the Box Office is operated as a trade guide and it's not the government who operates it," Pokharel condemned.

However, it's clear that the FDB's latest Box Office decision has not gone down well with NEMPA. Producer and Director of Ma Timro Bhaisake, Bikash Acharya, who is also a FDB Executive Member, has claimed that NEMPA cancelled the scheduled release of his movie in the eleventh hour. "Ma Timro Bhaisake was all set to be released on Friday (today). But NEMPA has thwarted my plan," said Acharya. But NEMPA flatly rejects Archarya's accusations.

Bishwojyoti Cinema Bhawan is the only movie theater in the country to provide the receipts of film development fee, VAT and other taxes to the producers, according to Raj Kumar Rai, President of Nepal Film Producers’ Association (NEPA).

“If we have a digitalized box office system in place, the business done by all movies will be fully transparent. It will surely help boost the income of the producers,” asserted Rai.

K.P Pathak, President, Film Director's Guild of Nepal (FDGN)

FDB has not consulted with the FDGN about its Box Office plan. FDB’s code of conduct and provision of keeping deposits before making a movie are real hindrances to the development of this sector. FDB's 10-point plan has completely ignored the issues of film directors. Moreover, FDB has now banned morning shows, except on Saturdays. This decision will affect the entire film industry.

Aakash Adhikari

Director

Box office is a worldwide trend to make the movie business transparent. Both the theaters and producers will benefit from this system. A digitalized box office will help reveal the actual income of the movies and the theaters. It will greatly help the newcomers in the sector for they will be well informed.

Ashok Sharma

Producer

I wonder why the government is gearing up for the establishment of a digitalized Box Office, which is only used as a trade guide, the world over. We don't need such a measure, as the producers are there to do the math for the business their movies do.  Business depends on trust, the trust between movies makers, exhibitors, and distributors. This is the work of Department of Inland Revenue and not of Film Development Board. There's no guarantee that the box office will give us a fair report.

Rekha Thapa

Actress

It is a good thing if it works fairly. Revealing the exact business done by the movies will also help everyone assess the financial success of the movies. Sometimes, producers lie about the exact income of their films. In Nepal, it is difficult for even the super-hit films to breakeven the investment. But almost all movies are proclaimed as financially successful. I hope FDB's new box office plan will provide a solution to such false claims.

Pradeep Udaya

Distributer

Box Office is very important for the development of Nepali Film Industry. But the Film Development Board has made a plan to materialize Box Office System in Nepal without consulting us. We have done fair business so far.  Exhibitors have paid the revenue on time to the concerned government authorities, who can punish anyone found guilty of evasion of tax or other frauds.