21 November 2017, Goa
The largest Film Producers Body in India – Western India Film Producers Association (WIFPA) which was established in 1960 opened its Goa Branch today in Panjim.
Speaking at this ocassion, Dilip Dalvi, the Joint Secretary of WIFPA and Convenor of the Branch office in Goa announced, “We are proud to state that we have crossed over 29,000 members of the which itself is ample proof of the association’s appreciated activities of looking after the welfare of our Producer Members. WIFPA treats its members like a family by organizing Blood Donation and Eyes Donation Camps and even financially helping its members for Cancer Treatment.”
WIFPA’s activities include attending to grievances of the film producers of the problems faced while shooting, they also have a Vigilance Committee which acts as a watchdog, resolving title disputes and other bottlenecks.
“We are the biggest Producers body in India with offices in Lucknow, Pune and now Goa, apart from our main office in Mumbai. The thrust now is in encouraging and assisting the regional filmmakers and therefore the motive of inaugurating the Goa office is to promote Konkani cinema. Our main aim is to set up a Single Window Clearance forum for our producer members to register their Banner name, book film titles, getting shooting permission, get Publicity Clearances, availing of subsidy for Regional Films, and liase with the Cultural Department of the Goa Goverment,” he added.
Ravindra Arora, the Hon. Treasurer of WIFPA said, “The association provides Pension Scheme for its members, resolution of disputes purely on merits and giving a fair judgement on any challenging issues between a producer and actors, technical persons, deviances from its contracts, etc.”
“The game-changer decision to implement FREE TRADE policy aims to protect the rights of any Indian citizen giving free access to hire any worker who may not be registered with any asssociation. We have now even changed the terms of a newly elected committee to perform for 3 years, instead of annual elections – a move which has also been accepted and implemented by other associations across India,” revealed Arora.
The Goa office will be headed by Sandeep Kotecha who is a known face in the industry having acted in several film, been a line producer assisting several International projects and also been a casting director since several years.
Dilip Dalvi and Ravindra Arora were all praise for Kotecha’s initiatives and crediting him for the inception of the Goa Branch. “Our aim is to minimise the formalities to be carried out by a film producer, minimising costs while filming in Goa, promote Konkani films and take care that proper justed is meted out to persons belonging to all departments of filmmaking business in Goa,” stated Sandeep Kotecha, the in-charge of Goa Branch of WIFPA.
“
