Government to introduce e-ticketing and box office system

After receiving a positive response from the government, the BFDC has begun drafting the DPP on e-ticketing and the box office system.

BFDC Managing Director Masuma Tani told Prothom Alo last Wednesday that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has given the matter serious importance since the BNP government assumed office. She said she had received the green light from Information and Broadcasting Minister Zahir Uddin Swapon and State Minister Yasser Khan Choudhury.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, an official at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting said discussions on e-ticketing and the box office system at ministry meetings had been positive. Following those discussions, the BFDC was asked to submit a DPP. The corporation has been working on the proposal for around 20 days.

Masuma Tani said the proposal would be submitted to the ministry’s development wing before Eid. She said, “I held a meeting with the state minister (Yasser Khan Choudhury) on the matter. He said the work should be completed at the minimum possible cost. We will also try our best to ensure that.”

Before drafting the DPP, the BFDC held meetings with film industry stakeholders, including the cinema hall owners’ association, directors’ association, producers’ association and representatives of streaming platforms. According to the BFDC, all parties responded positively to the proposal for e-ticketing and a box office system.

What will be included in the Development Project Proposal (DPP) titled ‘Establishment of a Central Server, E-ticketing and Box Office System’? Responding to the question, Kamal Mohammad Rashed, director (Admin and Finance) at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation, said the plan is to bring all cinema halls in the country under a unified technological system. The proposal will primarily include four components.

A central server will be established at the BFDC. Information such as ticket sales at cinemas across the country, which shows are houseful and how much revenue is being generated will be visible instantly on a dashboard. Producers will also be able to monitor the earnings of their films through an app.

An e-ticketing system will be introduced gradually in all cinema halls. At present, many halls still use manual ticketing, leading to complaints over revenue and expenditure records. Under the new system, ticket sale proceeds will automatically be distributed according to a predetermined formula. The shares for producers, hall owners and the government will be allocated through software.

The proposal also includes plans to install special devices to prevent piracy. Any attempt to illegally record or broadcast a film will be detectable.

A box office system will be introduced. Information such as how much a film is earning and which films are leading the charts will be made public. Similar to international markets, this ranking system is expected to bring greater transparency to film marketing. A website will publish data on film revenues and ticket sales.

Everything from film copies to the number of screenings will be managed through the central server located at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC). Films will first be prepared in a specific digital format and uploaded to the BFDC’s main server. Each cinema hall will have its own server or digital player connected to the projector.

Films will then be sent from the main server to the servers of specific cinema halls. Each hall will have a separate user ID and password, allowing hall authorities to download and screen films. An internet connection will therefore be required at every cinema hall.

Under this system, producers will be able to log into the server and monitor which halls are screening their films and how many shows are being held. This is expected to increase transparency in both box office reporting and film exhibition management.

A server system operated by Jaaz Multimedia is already in use at single screen cinema halls across the country. However, those halls do not yet have e-ticketing or a box office system.

The term ‘box office’ refers to a cinema hall’s ticket counter. Whether a film makes a profit or incurs a loss depends entirely on ticket sales. Revenue figures published on the basis of ticket sales are known as ‘box office’ earnings. Functional box office systems are already in place in Hollywood and Bollywood. However, Bangladesh has yet to introduce a formal box office system.

Online ticket booking, commonly known as e-ticketing, is currently available only at a handful of multiplexes in the country. Tickets at single screen cinema halls are still sold manually. As a result, there is no reliable way to determine exactly how many tickets are sold for a particular show.

Film producer Shahriar Shakil welcomed the initiative to introduce e-ticketing and a box office system. Speaking to Prothom Alo, he said, “There could hardly be any better news for the film industry than this.”

However, Shahriar Shakil believes single screen cinema halls will need upgrading for e-ticketing to function effectively. “Many cinema halls do not have fixed seating. People watch films sitting on chairs or stools. It would not be possible to implement e-ticketing there. So fixed seating arrangements are necessary in cinema halls,” he said.

Awlad Hossain, president of Bangladesh Film Exhibitors Association, told Prothom Alo, “Introducing e-ticketing and a box office system would benefit both producers and cinema hall owners. We want the government to implement it quickly.”

An official at the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the DPP after it is submitted would first be placed before a ministry meeting. Once the project is formally accepted, it will be sent to the Planning Commission for approval. The BFDC will begin implementation after the project receives final approval.