EIMPA-FCTWEI sign MoU to take 16 and not 19 technicians for foreign shoots

KOLKATA: Instead of need-based employment of skilled workers, the

Eastern

India Motion Pictures Association (EIMPA) has accepted to work only with technicians who are members of Federation of Cine Technicians & Workers of Eastern India (FCTWEI). These are among the 31 clauses agreed upon by EIMPA and FCTWEI – the two organisations that signed on a memorandum of understanding on Monday to “ensure proper utilisation of workforce during shooting”.



President of FCTWEI Swarup Biswas said, “The MoU was there earlier. Every three years, it has to be renewed. We did that now in the interest of everyone. No one has been deprived.”

Foreign shootings have often sparked off controversies. In 2017, a shooting of “Chalbaaz” in UK was cancelled because of a visa row involving technicians. Piya Sengupta, chairperson of producers’ section of EIMPA, is happy that FCTWEI has agreed to bring down the number of technicians for talkie shooting abroad from 19 to 16. “Those technicians will be engaged for foreign shooting whose visa will be approved by the respective embassy. Producers will inform EIMPA a month before going to shoot abroad," Sengupta said.

However, certain key issues have been left ambiguous in the MoU. It remains silent on what will happen if the visa of some technicians are rejected just days before shooting abroad. Will the producer be allowed to begin shooting abroad on the pre-decided date or will he be forced to wait until the visa of all 16 technicians are issued by the embassy? In case he needs to wait, who will take the liability of the producers’ losses including non-refundable advance payments for flight and hotel accommodation and organise the combination dates of artists for rescheduling?

While some producers had wanted FCTWEI to get the visa done for technicians, Sengupta said that onus will be the producers. . Said EIMPA’s deputy chairman Rhitobrata Bhattacharya, “In case of issues, EIMPA will sit with FCTWEI and decide on what needs to be done. Now, we can only take sound engineer for foreign shoots. Boom man, art director, still photographer and assistant art director aren’t mandatory for foreign shoots.” However, even if a shooting abroad doesn’t require a single trolley shot, the producer will still have to take one trolley-setting technician.

For indoor shooting, it is an eight-hour working shift with a recess of 30 minutes between 1.30 pm and 3 pm. “We also get an additional 1.5 hours in a shift while shooting in the outskirts of Kolkata. Unlike earlier days, the still photographer can now be employed for one shift and not throughout,” Sengupta said.

On being asked if a producer has to employ technicians in departments which are not needed for filming, Bhattacharya said, “Most of the technicians will now be employed in a contractual setup.” What happens if a film like “A Wednesday” with no female characters gets shot in Bengal? Will a hair-dresser still be required? “If a film doesn’t have a female character, the hair dresser will still have to be employed on a contractual basis. Just like makeup, hair dresser too is very important for shooting. She might be needed for hair continuity. She might also help in doing the hair for male actors. We can always request a hair-dresser not to come to shooting,” Bhattacharya said.

In case a mishap happens on the sets leading to death or severe physical disability of a technician, the producer will have to pay a compensation of Rs 2 lakh.

Shooting on second Sundays within a radius of 50 km or on May 1 will require the producer to pay FCTWEI Rs 1 lakh. “Technicians will get double payment for working on those days. This clause will not be applicable if the unit is staying anywhere in India or abroad at night for their continuous shooting. Only shooting of government/private news reels will be allowed on the second Sunday,” Bhattacharya added.

The minimum number of technicians within Bengal will be 23-25. For regional feature films in Santhali and Maihali languages whose budgets do not exceed Rs 25 lakh, a minimum of 15 technicians have to be employed. The minimum wages will be charged double for

Hindi

films and four times over for English films. Double wages will have to be given to technicians if they work on January 26, August 15, October 2 and Bijaya Dashami.

For any issues regarding defaulters, a formal complaint – forwarded by FCTWEI - will be lodged by the respective technicians’ guild before the Joint Conciliation Committee within 48 hours. Can a producer hire technicians who aren’t members of FCTWEI after he has already employed the mandatory 16 technicians for shooting abroad? “No, that can’t be allowed since it will only lead to problems. As a producer myself, I will not advocate that. However, producers can always hire dancers or action guys from abroad,” Sengupta signed off.