CHENNAI: Claiming that some technicians belonging to the Film Employees Federation of South India (FEFSI) had been disrupting and abandoning film shoots with demands of a higher pay, Tamil Film Producers Council ( TFPC ) president Vishal told his fellow producers that it was not mandatory to work with FEFSI technicians. With footfall in theatres decreasing and online piracy hurting the business further, producers are trying to cut down production cost.FEFSI president R K Selvamani condemned Vishal's stance against FEFSI, announcing that he had actually lowered technicians pay by about 40% to prevent small producers (who produce films with a budget below 4 crore) from going out of business. FEFSI includes about 24 film unions comprising about 25,000 technicians including light men, stuntmen and make-up artists. Selvamani said, "FEFSI technicians have lowered their pay slabs for the sake of producers. Even then, the producer council has said it will not work with FEFSI technicians."It was reportedly a stand-off between film producers and FEFSI members at a shooting spot that led to disagreement between TFPC and FEFSI. The production house Studio 9 suffered losses as the shoot of one of its films was stalled. Selvamani said, "It was personal enmity between some producers and certain FEFSI members that led to arguments. We have resolved never to allow FEFSI members to be involved in such incidents."Selvamani said reducing the salary of the lead actors, cutting down on the use of caravans during shoots and proper planning/scheduling will help cut production cost by 40%-50%. Vishal responded on Thursday that the salary of the film leads could not be reduced as producers pay them in accordance with their market value.

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