Tired of seeing revenue that should be rightfully theirs go into someone else’s pockets, Tollywood producers are trying to come together and set up a corporate entity by which they can protect their interests and ensure that they get their fair share from TV channels, music companies and websites that are making crores, thanks to their films.

Recently, 30 producers met to discuss ways to streamline “film content” through a single window. The producers are of the opinion that currently TV channels, music companies, etc., are minting money on film content and downloads.

“Most producers are suffering due to this situation. This body will ensure maximum revenues for every producer,” says a top producer who is one of the 28 signatories of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

Around 900 Telugu producers have lost crores of rupees since film-makers have been “individually” negotiating with music companies, websites and channels for satellite rights.

While there are 40-odd channels that generate most of their revenues, music companies too have been making quite a tidy sum. For instance, a company that pays Rs 50 lakh for music rights of a film recovers the investment just through music downloads, says a source.

“For big films, the download requests are around 15 lakh and customers pay up to Rs 15 per hit which translates to Rs 2.25 crore. Music companies pocket one-third of this amount,” says the producer.

Bigwigs like Suresh Babu, Burugupalli Sivaramakrishna, Aswini Dutt, C. Kalyan, Anil, Gemini Kiran, Dil Raju and Allu Arvind attended the meeting.

Meanwhile, producer Sai Venkat has a different take, “It is only meant to protect the interest of the ‘creamy layer’ and not the 300-odd small producers. Our budgets are always in check while the big producers go overboard. So they are now desperate to chalk out plans to recover their exorbitant investments,” he concludes.