Move to sue reviewers who ‘cross limits’ directed at YouTubers: Producers

CHENNAI: A day after an official note released by the Tamil Film Producers’ Council created a furore among journalists, the Council held an emergency meeting with some media persons on Tuesday even as members justified the decision to ‘ban’ or sue reviewers who ‘crossed limits’ in the context of certain YouTubers. 

According to the note released late Monday evening, the Council, currently led by State government-appointee District Registrar (Admin) N Seker, was making three changes in its film promotion strategies to cut down on expenses. First, it would stop providing gifts or rewards to media persons at film events. Second, it would stop providing snacks for media persons covering the events. Third, it would will henceforth “ban mediapersons, who posted abusive film reviews containing personal attacks on film celebrities, from attending all film-related events”. Further, the council threatened legal action on such reviewers.

Amma Creations T Siva explained the rationale to Express. “The problem is hundreds of people, who are in no way connected to press or cinema, enter our events and screenings pretending to be reporters. Our first goal is to stop them... This is why we have decided to stop extras like gifts and food distribution,” he said.

He added that producers were of the view that some unqualified people, posing as film reviewers, were hindering the commercial success of films. “A critic has every right to point out the pros and cons of a film, but they have no business asking the audience to see or not see a film. Some YouTubers even verbally abuse the cast and the crew in the name of criticism. We want video reviews to be as dignified as print reviews. I believe that the decision to file cases on abusive reviewers will truly make a difference in the industry,” he said.

Interestingly, public relations professionals, who attended Monday’s meeting with the producers, were not all on board with the decision. A popular PR person said that the decisions were taken only by a few members of council. “All the producers have to agree to these conditions for them to be implemented. I don’t see this happening as there is a lot of difference of opinion,” he said.